[WOMEN] [DIARY] Event-filled 1903 daily diary - full year The Standard DIARY 1903

Pitcher, Chenango, New York, 1903. Cardboard covers. Dark cloth covered "pocket book" with cloth buckle. Good. Kate (Catherine Hakes) Blackman (Aug 31, 1840 - Aug 17, 1917) was born in Pitcher, New York, and raised on a farm, surrounded by many siblings. Kate later married her husband Birdsall Blackman and settled down on a farm in her hometown. Pitcher, located near Cincinnatus, New York, a small town in Cortland County and part of the region of the Central New York Military Tract used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. Kate and her husband Birdsall were small famers raising chickens and pigs and cultivating potatoes, oats, cabbage, cauliflower, and apples. In this well documented diary, we see that Kate is literate but most likely lacked a full education. Kate writes every day, commenting on the weather and her daily activities. Kate seems to be in charge of the egg sales, noting sales most days and giving the year end tally of $396 dollars from 180 hens. From the beginning of the year, Kate notes the first sighting of Robbins in March and the blue birds singing. Early in the year she notes the sap running and the tapping of the maple trees - also the various neighbors boiling sap. The spring brings the hatching of the chickens and the plowing of the potato, oat, and cabbage fields. During the summer her husband and grandson go fishing and there are picnics to attend. Fall brings canning of plums, peaches, and the making of cider and vinegar. Another fall occurrence is the slaughtering of the hog. Throughout, Kate notes the deaths in the community as well as trips to Cincinnatus, a larger town nearby. The dairy is written in every day, even if there is just a weather account. Covers heavily rubbed. (Inventory #: 4526)