May -- 6th 1853
Frid. I met Mary & Laura the Phipps' babies & Anna Arnold at the old Colony depot
-- and at 5 they went to Bridgewater.
Wednes. 11th
Mr. Cushing & Dr & self went to Mrs. Barneys party
Thurs night.
E. Cushing spent with us
Frid.
Mary went to East Boston bought spoons for our present to Sue Cushing -- 16'50. We called up to Mrs. Blakes
Sat. Morn.
Dr. & Mary went to Prov. I borrowed 1$ of Rachel.
Sat. 14th
Auction at Pawtuxet. I had our porch over front door taken down and vines tied up -- &c -- I worked so hard got too tired to sleep.
Sund
gruel & could not go to church.
Wednes 11th May
Margarett Curly went to Lex -- to a wedding. Spread it 3 nights
Sat 14th
She returned
Mond 16th
Dr. went to N Port to the old gent. Woods funeral
Tues.
I was sick -- miserable, very sick. G.A. W. called on his way to Phil.
Sat May 21
I went to Hopkinton for my health, staid 11 days & improved. -- I returned June 2d. found cook M. Curley ready to quit. C.W.W. rather more comfortable -- I had to get a new girl, have the house cleaned &c &c. -- and now begin to need Hop. again. Daniel Kendall's wife died
Mond. 6th June
I have been to ride every afternoon for a week with Charly.
13th
I bought of Field 60 cts worth of blck. stockings -- paid Mrs. Brown for Mrs. L -- 2'25 for mats. -- & 6'10. Bakers bill for Mary. Let Dr. have '25.
Tues. 14th June
I have been putting my house in order to leave again for Hop.
Mond. 6th June
Bought a box of soap of Jennison - 4'50.
Wednes. 8th June
I left again for Hop. having used up most of what I had gained and still having too many cares & anxieties to encounter . I felt it a duty I owed myself and family, to leave all , either for the spring on -- C.W.W. was gaining slowly, which was a comfort to me. Ann & Bridget got a along nicely together, which was another comfort. Rachel could do without me, because of her intense interest in the Morlands. The Drs. only came home to eat & sleep and [???] their horses. -- So my duty was plain, to try to gain sufficient strength -- to bear & forbear as a
The Fall River Rail Road connected Boston to Fall River and towns along the way, including Bridgewater, where the Phipps family lived. Trains would use the old Colony depot on Kneeland Street in Boston or the nearby Boston & Worcester depot.
The Barney family lived in a house at the corner of Harvard and Vernon Street. Mrs. Barney could be Susan R. (Pell) Barney or her mother-in-law Lydia Barney. Susan was married to Lydia's son George Coffin Barney.
It's unclear if this is an auction of land or other property left after the death of Mary's father or something else. Pawtuxet is a Rhode Island village spanning the Pawtuxet River, partly in Warwick and partly in Cranston. (It is distinct from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.)
John Wood, father of the Wilds' son-in-law George A. Wood, died in Newburyport on May 13th at the age of 78.
The mineral springs in Hopkinton, Massachusetts were the site of a popular spa from 1816 to 1859. Mary made frequent trips there for her physical and mental health, starting well before the years covered by the diary. Travel to Hopkinton was provided by horse-drawn stages and later by the Boston & Worcester Railroad. Read about what is left of the springs in a 2009 article from the Boston Globe.
Mary Hall (Rhoades) Kendall, (1818-1853).
These next two entries are dated after the previous two entries for some reason.
This Bridget is different from the Bridget O'Neil who had left the Wilds' employment almost a year earlier. This Bridget apparently was hired but only stayed a short time. In August she is referred to as "Bridget the second" and leaves the Wilds to work for the Littell family in Brookline.
Rachel Cushing's half sister Ruth (Cushing) Morland was married to John Morland (or Moreland), a merchant active in Cuba. The Morlands had a house on Jamaica Pond but were apparently living in Brookline at this time. (John died in 1856 and Ruth in 1862, both in Brookline.)
