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

Wednesday, September 2, 1914: It need not be recorded for there is nothing important to write.

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

Grandma—

You sound a little down. Yesterday you wrote that you missed your sister Ruth now that school has begun, and she is teaching at Red Hill School. And, your little brother Jimmie probably also started school—so it’s just you and your parents on the farm.

Your oldest sister Besse also was a teacher before she got married. Did you ever want to be a teacher like your sisters?

You’ve never written anything about seeking a teaching position. . . so maybe I’m letting my imagination run wild. However, you graduated from high school, so it seems like you’d be qualified. What happened? Didn’t any schools offer you a job . . . or did you decide that you preferred to stay home and work on the family farm?

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

Monday, August 31, 1914:  Went to Milton this afternoon to have my teeth filled. Took my filius (?)  along too.

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

Grandma—

Ouch! How many teeth needed fillings? It doesn’t sound like much fun. Hopefully your teeth feel better now.

—

I can’t quite make out the third word in the second sentence of this diary entry. I think that it says something like “filius.” Any ideas?

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

Sunday, August 30, 1914:  Went to Sunday School this morning. We made out to have our pictures taken this afternoon. Came home and got my dinner, and then started out. Met Carrie on the way. The pictures were taken at the home of our Sunday School teacher.

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

In my imagination I see an itinerant professional photographer with a tripod and huge camera taking the picture, but it could have just been a church member with a Brownie camera.

It’s difficult to tell how far in advance the photo shoot was planned. Was a professional photographer engaged to take the pictures? . . . or did a Sunday School class member suggest on the fly during class that morning that she had a camera, and they really should take a class photo?

—

Carrie Stout was a friend of Grandma’s. She lived on a nearby farm that was situated midway between the Muffly farm and McEwensville.

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

Saturday, August 29, 1914:  Ruth and I painted the interior of the schoolhouse where she is going to teach this winter. We made sort of a picnic out of it. Ruth had a friend along. We were well-dabbed with paint by the time we got through.

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

What a fun way to get the schoolhouse freshened up for the new school year! Teachers sure had to wear a lot of hats back then. Grandma’s sister Ruth apparently not only needed to prepare lessons and teach—she also needed to organize a work crew to renovate the school building.

The previous day Grandma wrote that she went to town with her sister to help carry some things, and that she tore her dress on a pane of glass. I’m now wondering if the glass was needed to repair a window in the school.

I’m not sure where Ruth taught in prior years, but according to the History of the McEwensville Schools by Thomas Kramm she was the teacher at Red Hill School during the 1914-15 school year. It was a one-room school house at the south end of McEwensville.