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FRANK BEARD JR : 1877 HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF A 14 YEAR OLD NEW YORK BOY AND DEDICATED, ERUDITE AND ROMANTIC DIARIST

32mo - over 4" - 5" tall. On offer is a super look at the life and times of a teenage boy in 1877 Ontario County New York. This 6" x 3" diary for the year 1877 is written by Frank Beard Jr. of Halls Corners, Ontario County, New York. Frank turns 15 during the writing of the diary, and lives with his mother, father and younger brother Charlie on a farm. Uniquely for a boy Frank is a tireless, erudite and somewhat romantic diarist and he faithfully has an entry for every day from Jan 1st, when he bids "good bye to the Centennial Year, until June 17th. Many of the remaining pages are filled with figures for purchases and work performed, and lists of the names of "witnesses". Frank wrote of his daily activities, work on the farm, his school, trips to the surrounding towns - Geneva, Penn Yan, Canandaigua - where he and his parents sell produce, etc. He makes meticulous notes on what was paid for the produce, and what he spent on clothing, food etc on these trips. Both he and his brother perform chores 7 days a week, as well as plowing, seeding, milking, tapping trees and making syrup etc. He travels to Halls Corners to the Post Office for his copy of "The Youth's Companion" which he reads diligently. He also writes, and very sadly sometimes, of his neighbors and of the horrible toll of small pox taking their lives, as well as of his own vaccination. He notes one family losing 6 members to smallpox. He mentions Hayes becoming President. Although his grammar is not the best, he appears to have been an intelligent and hard-working young man. A few of his entries: Jan 1- "Good bye to the Centennial Year. The new year has come. The centennial year has gone and the new century begins. I feel a little better today. There has been 6 died with the small pox. Jan 3 - "I have had a very sore arm from vaccinating. It is getting better now. Staid home all day. I done the chores this morning. Pa and I drawed the buggy in the barn. There is another one of the B.....girls died of the small pox. There is 5 in that family died". Mar 4 - " I staid at home most all day. We done the chores this morning. It froze up today. It is quite cold. This is the 4 of March, the day they inaugurated the President - Grant is no longer President. George Rolf is very sick. Several names of neighbors and relatives are mentioned throughout. The leather cover of the diary is damaged but the inside pages are in good condition. It takes some getting used to Frank's poor hyphenating and some misspelled words, but his writing is legible. This is a very interesting look at rural life in the 1800's. Overall Good+.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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