Saturday, Mar 24, 1917

Saturday, Mar 24, 1917
In forenoon went shopped, got Dress fitted bot 2 pairs stockings, a union suit, white floss & embroider centerpiece. Mary gave me, a towel to embroider & patterns & silk to work a design on my blue suit collar. To shoes & Espositos & plates to Phelps. Tried on hat came home at noon. Ate. Transferred pattern to trace paper & got corners of my collar done. Went to sewing school. Then up town. Called on Aunt Mener. Mood was there & we went to Mebricks. Bot a little street hat. Came home & finished my collar. Ate supper & did dishes. Mrs. Rutenber & Miss Peek came. I made button holes in a French vest & worked on bag making ears. They went about 9:30 and I tried to sit up and read but the fires were banked so I went to bed. A pleasant spring day!

Notes: Anyone have any idea what an Esposito is?

Calla has an Aunt name Maranda Curtis, (her father Fayette King's sister) according to several online sources, so this is probably a nickname for her. I may have transcribed it incorrectly as well.

Is Mebricks a local story in the Otsego area?

Page 17-B of the Unadilla, Otsego, NY Census for 1920 shows a Mary A Rutenber, wife of George A Rutenber. I do not see a Peek in the county at that time, or in 1910.

Not sure my description of the fire as "banked" is a correct transcription. Can anyone read that any better?

Friday, Mar. 23, 1917

Friday, Mar. 23, 1917
Ivan's Birthday & he would 40 today were he alive. We are sad today. The wind blows tonight and it rained when I came home from school. After school I went to look for a dress brought two home from the J.H. Smith Store & like one very much. Tonight I've nearly tied a raffia bag - tied one a new way, hoping it would be long shaped - but it was just like a basket. Am going to take a bath & go to bed early. Began "Columbus" by Seelye & "Green Mt Boys" by Thompson.

Wed., Mar 21 and Thurs., Mar 22, 1917

Wed., Mar 21, 1917 Vernal Equinox
Regular spring weather. Sun warmer but wind chilly. Robins are here. Hard day in school; worked from 4 to 6 in library. Had long letter from P.L. this morning. Am going to look over paper & go to bed. Wrote to Mae Sherwood.

Thurs., Mar 22
Ideal spring day. After school Dora, Frederica, Ethel, Marguerite, & Alice walked home with me. Mother didn't feel well all day, so I helped get dinner. About 7 went to Rushton's to stay with Joseph while Mrs. Dalley & Molly were taken to church. When Mr. R. got back, I went to Bessie and we went to the library & worked from 8:15 to 10:15. Got my letter from the Board $605 for next year. What is there to do but to accept?

Notes: In the previous entry I am sure that P.L. refers to the Public Library. But in this entry I am not sure. Why would she have received a long letter from the library? Especially when she had worked there the day before, as well as that day? P.L. in this case may be a person.

Sheet 14A of the Unadilla Township census for 1920 lists a Joseph H. Rushton living next door to the Kings. He had a 3 year old son also named Joseph at the time of the census so Joseph Jr. would have been a newborn at the time of this writing. Ellen Dailey (or Dalley not sure which) is also living in the household and her relationship is listed as Mother In Law. Joseph's wife is named Mary so likely the Molly referred to here is her nickname.

Update: The Bessie mentioned here is likely Bessie Talcott who was the librarian at the Sidney Public Library during this time (Thank you for the anonymous tip about that G.)

Monday, March 19, 1917 and Tuesday March 20, 1917

Cold, sunshiny day clear crisp air. Went to school at 8. Gave flag talk after chapel. Left school at 4 to work in P.L. from 4 to 6 cataloging books. After dinner read "A Honey Moon Experiment" by Margaret & Stuart Chase. Then fixed Pictures Roll and gave the 7th Grade: To bed at 10 -- studied Lesson for next Teachers' Meeting.


Tuesday March 20, 1917
Nice day; saw first robin. After school dusted upstairs Library. In evening attended 1st Home & School Improvement Association Meeting. Mrs. McKinnon read a paper & Mrs. Lines sang. Tea & cakes were served. Home at 12:15.

Notes: P.L. refers to the Public Library. Calla frequently worked there.

I cannot properly transcribe the area following the phrase "7th Grade" in the first entry. Can anyone figure out what follows the colon?

Calla is listed in the 1920 Census (the closest to this date) as living in Otsego Co., if we assume that the others mentioned in the diary are also in that area then the Mrs. Lines that she refers to here is likely Harriet Lines, wife of Howard Lines, the only Lines family in Ostego at the time.

UPDATE: The Mrs. McKinnon listed is likely Mary McKinnon of Sidney, NY. A later entry in the diary includes the obituary of Frank H. McKinnon. That obituary will be included when I get to his date of death 5 April, 1918.

Consensus seems to be that the sentence is "To bed at 10" so I've changed it.

Sunday, March 18, 1917

Have missed keeping a journal so much that I'm going to begin another hoping to be able to keep it up.

Today has been a typical March day -- snowy, blowy, with sunshine at times from behind banks of bluish grey skies & reflected on bluish purple hills partly covered with snow. This morning a big beautiful downy came to the suet for a long feast.

I attended church & heard a powerful sermon on "Investments in Patriotism;" staid to Sunday School. Misses Russell & Rich were in the class. After dinner Miss Russell called & we walked to Unadilla called on Agnes Kilpatrick & started back about 5:20. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk. Ate some sap icicles for old times sake. How well I remember getting them from the old 'sugar bush' up in Pittsfield back in the old schoolhouse. Miss Russell staid to lunch. We looked at the Bird & Moth books & had a nice little visit. I finished "Cardigan" today it is a good story of Sir Wm Johnson & the Indians & the conditions preceding the Revolution & taking in the Battle of Lexington. Wrote to Mrs. Prossen & enclosed some "current event" papers. I have many letters to write but need to go bed to rest for tomorrow's work. Wrote to Bertha Jewell & Blanche Moffatt.

Notes: I am unsure of the name Agnes Kilpatrick. I do not see anyone by that name in the census records for Otsego county in either 1910 or 1920. If anyone can better read the name, or knows who this lady was please let me know. There is an Agnes Kilpatrick in Walton, Deleware Co., NY for both those census years, which is about 20 miles south of Unadilla.

My transcription of Calla's reference to "ap icicles" may not be correct. The page is torn a bit at that area and I am unsure exactly what she is referring to. Could it be "pop" icicles? What would they have been called in 1917? UPDATE: Corrected to "sap" icicles. Thanks to my sister.

The Project

A few years I purchased a diary from a vendor at a flea market in Savannah, GA. It was an unassuming document, just a simple composition notebook. The vendor had originally been asking $40 for it, but I manged to haggle him down to $20. The diary was written beginning March 18, 1917 by Calla Louise King, a teacher from Sidney, New York. At the time I had a growing fascination with antique pictures and diaries, and purchased quite a few of them in similar circumstances.

Now almost a decade later I have begun to satisfy the urge that probably led to buying these items in the first place and I've begun doing research into my family history. As a result I've come to realize what a genealogical treasure this diary is. Miss King was a very active woman in her community mainly in the area of support for the American troops that were involved in World War I. She kept a detailed account of the events that she attended, including the names of other people who were in attendance, or who helped with the event. The diary is full of newspaper clippings about local WWI activities, church events, plays, and other community activities. Miss King's diary also includes letters from relatives and friends, photographs, maps, church bulletins, and tons of other information. She even included class rosters and grades for the children that she taught. The diary is short, covering only about 100 pages and the dates from March 18, 1917 to September 22, 1918.

Once I started thinking about it I decided that this treasure should be shared. I tracked down a few of Miss King's relatives who had been doing genealogical research and publishing their work online. I sent a letter of introduction and offered the diary to them, but either the e-mail addresses were invalid (which they were in several cases) or the parties had no interest because no one ever responded to me. My next step was to contact the Historical societies for the two counties that Miss King lived in during the era that the diary covers. I have yet to receive a reply from either of those institutions. (If either institution does contact me at this point I will be perfectly happy to donate the diary after the conclusion of this project.)

Beginning today I will be posting the diary here. A page at a time, including all of the ephemeral information contained within. Where I can determine a date on the letters and news articles I will post them in chronological order, where I can't I'll find the best place for them. I will post both scanned images and transcripts of the pages to make sure that anyone who is searching for these people would be able to find them. It is my hope that by doing this I'll be able to open up this information to the families of the people in the area which Calla lived in. The diary mentions and Sidney, New York, in Delaware County, as well as Otsego County New York, and the cities of Unadilla, and Middleburg, NY. I may discover other geographic information inside once I get started on the project. If you research that area, or are interested in people who lived there, or simply in the daily life of a professional woman from that era, please check back.