Aug. 22nd [1855]
I hurt my knee in N.P.
Sept 27th
Katy Early came for ten & sixpence per week.
About Oct. 4th
Laura & family moved back to Bridgewater. Dr. staid one night with us in N.P. & returned to B. 11th Oct. 1855
Mond. Oct 15th
Roby died -- worn out with a cancer. Wed. I had an ill turn at her funeral so that I could not return to Brookline before 20th Sat. afternoon. Ed. Mary Atkinson called out to N.P. & that day and came down in the cars with me.
Sat. 21st of Oct 1855
Sund. 22 -- John Candlers wife Lucy was buried - a great loss to her husband & 3 babes.
Tues. 23
Mike & Julia under my directions took up straw carpets in parlors, cleaned & rolled them up. We fitted up the front parlor with stove, till the furnace was repaired, busy all that week.
Sund.
Called in the eve. up Sue & Anna H. Same the amiable Miss Lydia G. I kept on day after day, doing, and having cleaning done -- till we have got fitted up for winter. The sofa put out in the barn to pull out the stuff and dust. Mike took out the nails. Furnace repaired. Weather fine -- then come the old fashioned N.E. storm lasting week or more. So I cut me out 9 undergarment, draws &c. Julia helped sew. Julia went to Boston to get a bonnet and give her wages to her mother.
Nov. 1st
Fine weather. Last week Dr. & I went to B., got some cloth to cover the sofa -- and set of tea & two preserve spoons -- a cake basket for M.C. Heath. Then we went up & spent the eve. and left them. I have been out most every comfortable day to take fresh air. Made number of calls such as Mrs. Candler -- Crafts -- Mrs. Pierce -- Olivers -- Hannah Stearns -- Davis, Mellen, Tolman, Brackett, Sullivans, besides the two Heaths. But the main reason why I continue to improve in strength is that my husband is more considerate towards me & kind.
Besides writing to every one of my children. One to Ed & Ellen tonight. Nov. Sund. 18th. (A letter to Charly 13th). Our first snow storm Sat. 17 Nov. Dr. sick with a cold. Last week I read the "Hidden Path" -- Bethan's friend. Very interesting indeed. Weeks before I read the life of Sydney Smith. Now I have "Two Years in Mexico" Too much spun out. One vol. would have held all the useful. I called at Mr. D. Bethan lent me "Alone" -- a cheap production not so good "as the hidden path."
Sat. 24 Nov.
We had a short call from son Phipps on his way to Prov. prch. for Rev. Hedge.
Wednes. 28th
I got ready to take the O. Colony cars -- and Dr. left me at Davis's while he made vis. Bethan was resting after her ride. I did not see her. We arrived at the O.C. cars three min before the time. Next day was Thanksgiving -- and E.J.C., Mary & daughter, Watty dined with us at the Phipps. We had a happy day. I went to church with L. next day. M. returned to Prov. and Sat. Watty went to Brookline. Bethan Davis died on Sat. Dec. 1st. I stayed with L. till Mond., having made a very pleasant visit.
Lucy Almira (Cobb) Candler died on October 15, 1855 at age 23. She was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Her husband John and their daughter Lucy are also buried there, along with John's second wife and a daughter from the second marriage.
The Wilds' barn stood behind the house. In 2014, when the main house was renovated, the barn was torn down. (Original plans called for it to be renovated into a separate house, but the condition of the barn at that time led to its demolition and the construction of a new house (1 Somerset Road) on the site.)
Mary Caroline Heath (1830-1907) and Edward Atkinson (1827-1905) were married on October 4, 1855.
Alone and The Hidden Path were the first two novels by Mary Virginia Terhune. The reference to The Hidden Path as "Bethan's friend" is apparently metaphorical.
A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith by his daughter, Lady Holland, with a Selection from his Letters, published in 1855. Sydney Smith was an English writer and clergyman.
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country by Frances "Fanny" Erskine Inglis, Marquesa of Calderón de la Barca. She was a Scottish-born writer who married the Spanish ambassador to the United States in 1838 and shortly thereafer moved with him to Mexico where he served as ambassador to that country.
Louis-Phillipe Jullien's band, which Mary had seen in Philadelphia (p22), played at the Music Hall in Boston this week. Members of the family attended several times.
