26 Handwritten Diary Archive Joslyn Swett Family Hardwick Vermont 1865-1918 RARE

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26 Handwritten Diary Archive Joslyn Swett Family Hardwick Vermont 1865-1918 RARE:
$395.95

I don’t usuallyput a reserve but the reserve I have on these is not much but needed to put oneto help recoup some of the money I have into them. It\'s getting tougher and tougher to find diaries, especially ones which have staid together such as this archive.

Theseare the diaries of the Joslyn family of Hardwick Vermont who were early pioneer farmers ofthis area. There are 26 of them in thislot and the authors are Joseph S. Joslyn and his son Henry Augustus Joslyn.Joseph was born to the parents of Lewis Augustus and Susan Swett Joslyn onSeptember 2nd, 1834. He married Agnes Blair in 1866 and they hadthree children Susan Elizabeth (b. 1871 d. 1907), Henry Augustus (b. 1866 d.1948) and Jennie Agnes (b. 1879 d. 1957). Joseph died in 1903.

The earliestdiary is from 1865 and the latest from 1918. Here is how they lay out accordingto how much writing is in each and which years are represented: 1865 FULL, 1866FULL, 1869 FULL, 1870 FULL, 1871 FULL, 1872 FULL, 1875 FULL, 1878 about ¾ full,1879 about ¾ full, 1880 about ½ full, another 1880 about ¾ full, 1882 about ¼full, 1883 about ¾ full, 1884 about ¾ full, another 1884 FULL, 1887 about ¾full, another 1887 about ¼ full, 1890 almost full, 1891 almost empty, 1904about ¼ full, 1907 about ½ full, 1908 about ½ full, 1911 about ¼ Full, 1913only a few days worth of entries, 1916 about ¼ full, 1918 only 6 days haveentries.

Because thereare so many diaries in this lot I chose to only read the earliest one to gatherquotes. However because I saw that Susan, Joseph’s daughter, died in 1907 andwhen I read that entry about her death I was touched. She died in childbirth asdid the baby and she had only been married for 2 years to Thadius SobinskiFarrand. I quoted from that portion of the 1907 diary too….

1865

“January 26th,Quite moderate. Oiled harness in forenoon. Afternoon went to Hardwick, also toG. Hane’s. Quite an excitement about election of Capt. of Militia Co. (Capt.Brigam promoted to Lt. Co.). Father been to carry poultry to So. H. received.15 per lb……January 28th, Pleasantand moderate. Been to Hardwick. Militia co. met G. A. Haynes chosen Capt.unanimously, all the other officers promoted one grade. Col. Brigam drilled thecompany. Father paid tax of $204 to collector F. French….February 11th, Sharp keen air all day. Mended horse collar. Went to South Hardwick to military drill in evening. B. Stuartdrill master. Called at William Swett’s. Found him sick and been sick for 5weeks with Erysipelas sore on leg….May 3rd,Went to St. Johnsbury with Capt. George Haynes. Had his horse and LieutenantsStevens and Goff went to St. Johnsalso. The Capt and lieutenants ordered their uniforms whole cost of outfit forCapt. $_3 minus a few dollars less.Roads dry and excellent(couldn’t quite make out the full cost of the outfit)….June 20th, Cloudy, quite ashower in afternoon. Plowed out potatoes and had some of them. Rubin Knightswife’s funeral today. She died the 18th. Did not attend the funeral.Been to Hardwick after supper. Got some oil, lead, wallpaper, benzene, lime…..September 28th, In camp on the fairgroundsat St. Johnsbury. Pleasant foggy inn morn. Very warm in middle of day. Put uptents yesterday. Company drill first….September 29th,In camp on the fairgrounds at St. Johnsbury Pleasant, foggy in morn. Warm&c. Pretty much like yesterday. Inspection of arms quarters &c. today.Broke camp about 4 P.M. Got home 9 P.M. Capt. G. H. stayed here one night.”

Then here is theentry concerning Susan’s death…..

“June 27th, 1907.Rainy and much cooler. I went to Farrand’s about 2 P.M. to see Susan who wasbad off. Had two Md’s this morning. Took baby away dead. She has been havingconvulsions all day by spells. She died between 7 & 8 P.M. Helped Sobeskydo his chores tonight. Peter did nothing but help about chores….June 28th, 1907. Pleasant and warm. I wasdown to Farrand’s nearly all day helping make arrangements for funeral etc.Helped him do his chores, came home in time to separate etc. Peter done nothingexcept help about chores….”

I tried to writedown as many names that I could of the folks in the area, some of which are:Capt. Davis, Capt. George Haynes, Shipman, Wakefield, J. M. Stevens, A. B.Chase, Levi Goodrich, Aiken, R. White, Osgood, J. Paige, Gills, Osgood, King,Warner, Blair, Hill, F. Farrington, Gilkerson, Campbell, Weston Whipple, MilesSheffield, Eugene Griffin, Batcheldor, Darling, Noys, and many more.

The diaries arein a variety of conditions; some great some not so great. All in all a greatlot that deserves further research.