15-year-old Helena wrote a hundred years ago today:
Saturday, February 4, 1911. Got up late this morning. The time we usually get up on Saturday mornings. Went to Watsontown this afternoon. Bought some valentines. I was rather fortunate. I got a ride both ways from and to home which I was glad of because the roads were so slushy. Ruth did my milking tonight. Twas a wonder.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Did Grandma have to milk the cows every evening? . . . what about in the morning? Did she milk them before walking to school each morning? It seems like needing to milk cows daily was a major commitment, yet she never mentioned it during the entire first month of the diary. Apparently from Grandma’s perspective it was only worth mentioning on the day when she went to town and her sister Ruth had to do her milking for her.
Watsontown is about 2 miles west of the Muffly farm, and is somewhat larger than McEwensville. The MyWatsontown web site has some wonderful old photos—and lots of other history resources—that provide a sense of what Watsontown was like in 1911.
This is an absolutely incredible blog!!