19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Friday evening, August 21, 1914: Back again to you dear book and ready to tell you what all I have been doing.

Monday, August 17, 1914:  My mind was so filled with thoughts of the coming trip that I could not sleep sound last night. I was up before three this morning. We left here about five. Pa took Alma and me to town. Ruth came with Rachel. We left before they did. I was in such awful anxiety for fear they would not get there, for then it would be no go. We crossed the Susquehanna in a row-boat and got to the station in time for the train.

We changed cars at Williamsport. There were so many in the station getting tickets. We had to wait quite awhile before we could get ours. When we entered the train all the seats were taken. We were sent back in a Pullman. I thought it was simply grand; and wanted to stay there all day, however we had to move when we arrived at Corning. Arrived in Niagara after six. Was long enough to leave the cars.

We proceeded at once to the Temperance Hotel. We were on the fifth floor. It seemed rather monotonous climbing all those stairs. We washed and dressed and then went down to supper. It was the first time I had ever eaten in a hotel. Guess I didn’t commit any serious mistakes. From my place in bed I can look out over the lighted city.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

When Grandma got home on the 21^st, she wrote an entry for each day of the trip. Over the next several days, I’ll share the trip description on the appropriate day. I guess that I’m technically jumping ahead by posting this entry—but this is how Grandma organized the diary.

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Wow, what an adventure for Grandma, her sister Ruth, their cousin Alma Derr, and their friend Rachel Oakes. . . from crossing the Susquehanna River at dawn in a row boat (The first bridge across the river at Watsontown was not built until 1927.) . . . to riding in a Pullman sleeping car for part of the trip. . . to eating in a hotel restaurant for the first time. . . to looking out on a city lit with (probably electric) lights!

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, August 15, 1914:  Got up earlier than usual so I would soon have my work done. We went up to Turbotville on the train, the place where the reunion was held. Met Alma there. She came along home on the train with us, so as to be here on Monday morning.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Alma Derr was a cousin of Grandma’s, so it must have been a Derr family reunion. There probably were lots of aunts, uncles and cousins there since Grandma’s mother had seven brothers and sisters.

There was a whistle stop of the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick train at the feed mill near the Muffly farm. Turbotville was only about 5 miles from the farm so it would have been a short train ride.

It sounds like the trip to Niagara Falls was a go, and that Alma would be going with Grandma and her sister Ruth.

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Friday, August 14, 1914:  We are getting ready for the reunion. Ruthie made two cakes today. Was busy washing Daddy’s wagon down along the run this afternoon.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

I wonder why the wagon needed to be washed. Warrior Run (sometimes called Warrior Run Creek) flowed along the edge of the Muffly farm. In central Pennsylvania small creeks are often called runs—though my sense is that the term is not used in many parts of the US.

In a previous post I mentioned Warrior Run, and Jim in IA commented on the regional variation in terminology used to describe creeks and other geological features. He provided a link to several very interesting Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) maps that show which parts of the US use various terms—brook/creek/branch/run, gulch/hollow, gap/pass/notch/saddle, etc.

Geographic Terminology Maps

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Thursday, August 13, 1914:  Wrote to Alma so she knows about the change. Hope it won’t disappoint her very much. Wonder how I would feel if I didn’t get to go. Well for my part I don’t want to experience the feeling. Don’t think it would be a pleasant sensation.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

The previous day Grandma wrote:

. . . My heart slumped down to my very feet this morning or so it felt when I learned that Ruthie had received a letter from the ticket agent stating that the excursion to Niagara Fall next Monday was not going. Any way our crowd decided that we would go, and so I began to get relieved.

We now know the name of another member of the group going to Niagara Falls. Alma Derr was a cousin of Grandma and her sister Ruth. She lived near the hamlet of Ottawa in Montour County, Pennsylvania which is about 10 miles from the Muffly farm.

What did Grandma write? Maybe she just told Alma about some relatively minor price and schedule changes—though Grandma seems very worried about how Alma will react.

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Wednesday, August 12, 1914:  Our new preacher was down here this morning to make a business call. He came in this automobile.

My heart slumped down to my very feet this morning or so it felt when I learned that Ruthie had received a letter from the ticket agent stating that the excursion to Niagara Fall next Monday was not going. Any way our crowd decided that we would go, and so I began to get relieved.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Wow, I’m surprised that the minister has a car. This is the first time in the diary that an automobile has been mentioned within the context of day-to-day activities–though obviously automobiles were still rare enough to be worthy of mentioning .

Previously cars were always viewed as a novelty. For example, on May 30, 1912 Grandma wrote:

Memorial Day: Carrie and I went up to McEwensville this morning. This afternoon we went over to Watsontown accompanied by another girl friend. We had the pleasure of getting an automobile ride. It was the first time I was ever in one and consequently never had experienced a ride.

Excursion Trains

Grandma, her sister Ruth, and several others were planning to visit Niagara Falls. In the early 20^th century, there were special excursion trains that took people directly to tourist spots. Apparently too few people booked the Niagara Falls trip, so the excursion train was canceled. It sounds as if they were now planning to just take regularly scheduled trains to Niagara Falls.