Something Old

LANGHORNE, PENNSYLVANIA. The diary is small enough to carry in a large pocket or in a purse. On the flap it simply reads, “Standard Diary No. 251.” But when you pull away the flap and open it you see that it is a diary for the year 1893. It is 118 years old and the pages are still strong. So are the words written in it, strong, simple, and not an unkind word about anyone in it. That is a lesson in itself to remember.

When you thumb through the pages you find one entry that is highlighted in yellow. They did not have highlighters back then. So this entry was set apart from all the others by someone else. The diary belonged to Anna Persis Potter Blood the Great-grandmother of our Princess who is getting married this Saturday. The person who highlighted the entry was L. Pauline Blood Winger, Anna’s youngest daughter and Ruthie’s Grandmother. The entry was for a Wednesday, like today, only it was September 6th, 1893. She says that the weather is pleasant and cool. Then she writes the following:

“Leila (her best friend) came this morn and about 11:30 Rev. E. C. Best and wife came. At 12N or little after We were married. After dinner, Leila took me to the depot to take the 4.05 train. Clarence (her brother) and wife also went with us. Clyde’s brother Deforest who came this morn rode with us. We found C’s father and sister waiting at Conewango and we reached his home about 7 P.M.”

So this was the day that Anna Persis Potter of Collins Center, Erie County, New York married Clyde Lincoln Blood of Cold Springs, Cattaraugus County, New York. The day before she had written that her thumb was hurting her, evidently from picking blackberry’s and that Clyde had come that night. The day after the wedding she writes that Clyde and his father went to Randolph to look at a stove. Then on Friday she and Clyde went and bought the stove. Finally, on Saturday she writes that Mother (her mother-in-law), Elva (a sister-in-law), and Clyde go over to his Aunt’s home and spend the afternoon. It is her birthday. She is twenty-six on Saturday, September 9th, 1893.

It seems all simple and matter of fact does it not? They both came from large families. Farming was a way of life as well as cutting timber and taking it to the mill. Knowing and teaching that working hard was the way of everyday life. Family kept it all together and every Sunday, except when they were sick or the weather was really bad, they were in church. It is a rich heritage, worth doing the research, and very much worth writing about. This is the nature of making sure that family history is passed on to the next generation and the next. Perhaps this is another lesson to remember.

The Blood Family - Front: Clyde (44) , L. Pauline (3)

Back: Anna (44), Flora (6) and Marion (12)
1911 - Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York

Our Princess is getting married on Saturday. It will be a wonderful day in the life of our families and someone will write about it and maybe, just maybe, her Great-granddaughter or Great-grandson will read about it one hundred years from now in someone else's diary. May you live long and prosper Ruthie and John, and…

Remember your leaders. Those who taught you about God. Consider the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:7, 8).

Love you both,
Dad