to Dr. Holliss church, and afternoon meeting at Fruit Hill -- church. Very hot. I took cold. Sore throat etc. Rather an obstinate one.
Frid.
Mary, Watty & the Dr. spent Thanks. with Laura -- E.B.
December 25th
Christmas -- still cold & threatening snow. We did not go out. Had music & reading in the eve. I wrote all afternoon to Rachel C. The fall weather has been favorable and today, 26th, is the first snow storm.
Sat.
Small Mary went to the city with her father & spent the day at Mrs. Gardners
Sund. 27th
My cold was too bad to go to church. I wrote to Dr. & Watty.
Wednes. 30th
Finished knitting a pr. of under sleeves for M.H. Cushing
Thurs.
I drove the horse & took Mary to the sewing circle. I felt refreshed by the ride. Cold better.
Frid. 1st of January 1858
Mary & I took some vegetables etc. to Ann Eliza. She had gone out but we saw her husband & children. I rec'd from P.O. a letter from Charles & Watty and Home Journal & Christian Reg.
Sund. 3d
Mary & I went to Dr. Hall's church. Gave one dol. to box. George C. jun. came home with us. I wrote long letter to L. Phipps in the eve.
Mond.
I washed my own clothes as usual, began some under sleeves -- to knit for the girls -- gave them winter gloves. 50 cts.
Tues. 5th
Mr. Angel called, finished putting on the double window. We picked over 4 bbls of apples. A fine warm day. In afternoon Mr. & Mrs. Bowens in a hack. -- then 4 Beldons, -- Mrs. Brooke. 9 callers. In the eve Orrin & Swain -- to play on the horns. We ladies retired to aunt's room and Mary read aloud in "Absentee", having finished "Helen"
Wednes. 6th
A severe North snow storm.
Jan. 15th
Watty & Willie Goddard came up in open buggy.
Sund.
I wrote to Charles 18th. Ellen sprained her ankle in Boston. A letter from Susan containing 6$ for Ann Eliza. W. Goddard returned to B. leaving Walter sick with a cold on the 22nd -- and Dr. C.W. arrive the same night staid till Tues. 26th Jan. The dog was sent to Mr. Beldens. I lent M. for Margarett 2$. Mary Smith having teeth out and prep. for new sett.
Sund. 31st
Cold day. Did not go in to church. I read all day. Wrote to Dr. in Brookline. M & I called Sat. on Whipple & Swans
Wednes. 3rd
Mary & I called on the Beldens -- Bourne -- Jastram
Thus.
M. Sewing circle. I finished my skirt that Sue gave me. Aunt read loud in the eve. Watty posting all day
Frid.
A call from E. Hedge & Lippet
Sat. Feb 6th
M.J.W. 60 yrs. old today. Comfortably well and quite contented -- in chamber where I slept while a young girl -- and am now [visiting?] this.
Sund. 7th
Snowy. N.E. We did not go to church. Enjoyed reading and music. E.J.C. & Watty went over to Fruit Hill.
Mond. 8th
Dr. C.W. came at eve. fr. Brookline. Great rain at night
Tues.
He & Watty attended to the accounts.
Wednes.
Morn. E.J.C. went to Boston thence to N. York. Very pleasant weather. Muddy. Dr. went to Lonsdale to enquire about Carr the farmer. In the eve. wrote on his books. Watty went with his friends to Smithfield.
Thurs.
Dr. & Watty took the afternoon train for Boston leaving behind the horse & buggy. So cold & windy. At night it was below zero.
Today Frid. 12th Feb.
10 above Z. Mrs. Dr. Pierce died at her home in Brookline aged 80 yrs.
The Home Journal was a popular magazine aimed at the American middle class with a focus on lifestyle, fashion, social, and literary taste. Owned and edited by Nathaniel P. Willis until his death in 1867, it was renamed Town & Country in 1901 and is still published today.
The Christian Register was the leading Unitarian newspaper of the mid-19th century. See the note on page 28 for more on that publication.
George W. Cushing Jr., (1835-1888) was the son of Edward Jarvis Cushing's brother George.
The Absentee and Helen were novels by Maria Edgeworth, (1768-1849). A 10-volume set of her novels was published by Harper & Brothers in 1857.
William Dwight Goddard, (1834-1866), two years older than Walter Wild, was descended from two men closely associated with the Revolutionary War. His maternal grandfather was William Dawes who, along with Paul Revere, carried news to the countryside of the British troops marching on Lexington and Concord in 1775. (Dawes' route took him through Brookline.) Goddard's paternal great-grandfather John Goddard was the wagonmaster for George Washington's army during the siege of Boston.
William Goddard became the first Brookline man to enlist in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War.
The Goddard homestead, built in 1767, still stands today at 235 Goddard Avenue.
The Whipple family and several members of the Swan family lived in the Fruit Hill section of North Providence, just to the south of where Mary lived. Their homes are indicated by red arrows in this maps showing the area in 1870. The location of Mary's house is marked "Mrs. Wild" (underlined in red).
