Creator

Purdy, Horace, 1835-1909

Title

Horace Purdy Journal, July 1860 Entry

Date

1860-07-01

Description

7pgs

Subject

Danbury (Conn.) -- History.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal Narratives.

Boughton Family

Brother Pegg

Father Griswold

Fred Bradley

Gussie Purdy

John Bouton

Peter Starr

Purdy Family

Publisher

Western Connecticut State University

Abstract

JULY 01 – SUNDAY – (9 o’clock AM. I took breakfast with Mrs. Baxter. Cloudy and some prospects of rain. I found Prince this morning over to Mother Griswold’s locked up in the house. He had been there since sometime yesterday. He followed me over home for his breakfast. He was very hungry. I went up to Dr. Bennett’s and got a half pint of milk for him after going over to Harriet’s for some fragments of meat. 10 o’clock in the evening. The clouds have passed away and it has been a pleasant day. I attended church alone. Brother Pegg preached from Revelations, second chapter and the latter clause of the tenth verse. Text in the PM was Exodus 12:14. The sermon was on the celebration of the 4th of July. It was good. George came home with me from church and helped me pick some strawberries to bring up home for tea (as I went up there to tea instead of Mrs. Baxter’s). John Boughton being alone also, he went up with us, his wife having gone to Norwalk. Gussie, I expect, enjoyed herself today with her old friends in Essex. JULY 02 – MONDAY – I rose about 5 o’clock. I made my bed and went over to Mrs. Baxter’s to breakfast, after which I took my dirty clothes over for her to wash. I worked as usual in the shop. Before tea, I varnished my sitting room and returned the brush in the evening. I went to the depot with Harriet and George to meet Mrs. Jones. I walked up home with them after she came. I stopped at the church and left three dollars towards my seat with Peter Starr. JULY 03 – TUESDAY – I hoed in my garden before breakfast. We had only two dozen hats to finish. I finished them before dinner and came home with my dinner and ate it. I finished painting my piazza in the PM. Father Griswold came home on the 2 o’clock train. I went to the depot when the evening train came to see if Mrs. Jones trunk had come. It came. I got Mr. Beatty to take it up home. I rode up with him and back again. The German who was so brutally beaten by the Irish a week ago died last night. He was buried this afternoon. The Irish are to be tried next Thursday. JULY 04 – WEDNESDAY – There not being any celebration here in town, the village has been quiet with the exception of pistols and firecrackers. I walked down to Main Street after breakfast but soon returned again and went to work in my garden. Father came down and picked some dwarf peas for dinner and some strawberries for Mrs. Jones and Harriet. I worked in the garden until early 11 o’clock when I locked up and went down to the Post Office and got a letter from Gussie in Essex and went up home to dinner. About 2 o’clock, Mrs. Jones and Harriet came home with me for a walk. We walked around mine and Father Griswold’s premises. We went in for a short time. When they went home, I went back to work in my garden. I worked until teatime and then shaved and cleaned up and took a walk downtown and went to class. I answered Gussie’s letter and wrote one to Aunt Mary in Ridgefield for Mr. Crofut. Emailed them both in the evening. JULY 05 – THURSDAY – A stormy day. I have had all the work I could do in the shop. On my way home from work, I stopped at Mr. Woodford’s and got my watch, which he has been repairing and cleaning. It cost me $1.75. I brought home a letter for father Griswold from Fanny in Elyria. I wrote a letter in the evening to Brother John Miley about the wrong certificates which were sent to Clark Beers and myself. JULY 06 – FRIDAY – Cloudy in the morning but it soon cleared away and the day has been pleasant. There was a report this morning that burglars tried to enter the house of Alfred Hyatt on Wooster Street last night and that he and his dog found an Irishman secreted in his currant bushes. After getting up and going out, I have been working in the shop all day. The examination of the Irishmen arrested for the murder of the German closed this morning. They have been bound over to a higher court. I took tea as I have done since Gussie went away at Mr. Baxter’s. I attended drill in the evening. I came home and copied the minutes of the military meeting and retired. JULY 07 – SATURDAY – The day has been pleasant. I have had all the work that I could do today in the shop. Mr. Crofut had a piano put up in the shop for his daughter, Laura, to take lessons on as she keeps the books and is home but little. She thought it would be more convenient for her at the shop. I received a letter this evening from Uncle Jesse Mills from Ridgefield saying that Aunt Mary would come up to help Mr. Crofut as a nurse on next Tuesday, provided we would come after her. I also received one from Gussie in Essex. I went to market and bought a piece of meat for Prince and came home. After reading Gussie’s letter to Mother Griswold, I retired. JULY 08 – SUNDAY – Cloudy in the morning. Brother Pegg preached in the AM from Revelations 2, part of the 17th verse. Sunday School Prayer meeting at noon. Sacrament in the PM. Preaching in the evening by Brother Pegg. Subject, “God in the Floral Kingdom”, text, Matthew 6:28. I went up home to tea, after which Miss Jones and Harriet came down to Abel’s with me and we had a sing before evening meeting. We sat upstairs in the evening, Miss Jones, Harriet and myself. I walked up home with them after meeting and brought home some milk for Prince. JULY 09 – MONDAY – Rainy in the morning. On my way to the shop, I mailed a letter to Gussie who is still in Essex. I had work all day in the shop. It cleared off before night and was very warm. I attended our Sunday School Teachers’ Meeting in the evening. I have a boil on the left side of my face which annoys me very much. JULY 10 – TUESDAY – Pleasant. I have had blk. work in the shop today. I stopped work at 3:30 o’clock to go to Ridgefield after Aunt Mary for a nurse for Mr. Crofut. I found her at Uncle Jesse’s at the old grandmother place. We took tea with Aunt Riana and started for Danbury. We arrive about 9 o’clock. I drove the horse up to Crosby’s Stables and bought some meat for Prince and came home. Mr. Crofut paid for the horse. JULY 11 – WEDNESDAY – I went to the shop in the morning and finished off the work which I left last night to go to Ridgefield and then I waited until noon for work, and there not being any prospect of getting any very soon, I went up to the church and took out of the school library 143 books to make room for 84 new ones which were larger. I numbered them and put them in the library besides tying up the old one to send up to the Boggs’. After tea, I hoed out my cabbages and called on Aunt Mary over to Mr. Crofut’s a few moments. I then went down to the Post Office and before I came home went to market and bought a piece of meat for Prince. I brought a letter home for Father Griswold and retired about 10 o’clock. JULY 12 – THURSDAY – Cooler but pleasant. Mrs. Baxter had breakfast ready about 5 o’clock. By that means, I got an early start for the shop. The foundry caught fire this afternoon, but it was soon extinguished by our shop hands who ran over each carrying pails of water (or all who could get pails). I worked rather late. I did not attend Prayer Meeting in the evening, but went over to the Post Office and back. There has been a circus here today and this evening. P. T. Barnum, the say, is interested in it. JULY 13 – FRIDAY – Pleasant, but the mornings are rather cool. I have had full work today. I received a letter from Gussie. I attended drill in the evening, after which I went up home to see Miss Jones as she is going back to Brooklyn tomorrow. JULY 14 – SATURDAY – I went to the depot in the morning to see Miss Jones off. I had only 10 hats. I brought my dinner home and went over to Mother Griswold’s and ate it with them. I attempted to paint, but it was so hot that I could not. Jacob Blissard’s wife died this morning. I hoed my turnips after tea, and went down town and bought a pair of shoes for $1.37. JULY 15 – SUNDAY – I commenced a letter to Gussie, who is in Bloomfield, before church. I finished it before evening meeting. Brother Pegg’s preaching has been excellent. Today, his text in the morning was Acts 12:5. In the PM, Hebrews 1, last of the 27th verse. We have an addition of 84 volumes in our library. I gave them out today for the first time. I went over to Mother Griswold’s to tea. After tea, I went over and sat a little while with Michael Knapp and his wife. I went to church in the evening and walked home with Aunt Mary and Jane (Mother Griswold’s girl). JULY 16 – MONDAY – Pleasant and warm all day. I have worked all day in the shop. On my way home, I called and balanced my account with Stevens & Hoyt. Mother Griswold has been very sick today. There was a shower passed overhead In the PM, but it did not give us any rain. It was soon clear and pleasant again. Another one came up in the evening and it rained considerably, accompanied by a great deal of lightning and thunder. Report after report in quick succession, many of them sounding like the discharge of firearms and some of them like a volley of musketry. It was the most terrific thunderstorm I have witnessed in a long time. JULY 17 – TUESDAY – Pleasant. I finished my work in the shop a little after dinner. I came home and picked currants for Mrs. Baxter to make jelly for Gussie tomorrow. She being in Bloomfield, Mrs. Baxter offered to do it for her. I pulled weeds in my garden before tea and hoed it afterwards. I gathered my dwarf peas for seed. I walked down to the Post Office in the evening. An Irishman named ___, who was killed by lightning last night on Spring Street, was buried today. JULY 18 – WEDNESDAY – An eclipse of the sun this morning. It lasted about two hours, commencing about 7 o’clock, passing over nearly half of the sun. The drab work being scarce in the shop, I was put on blacks. I had plenty to do. Mrs. Baxter made Gussie’s jelly today (currant). When I came home from work, I found Harriet at Mrs. Baxter’s waiting to see me. She stayed and took tea with us, after which I went up home with her and lent her two dollars to get her teeth cleaned. JULY 19 – THURSDAY – Cloudy in the morning with a prospect of a storm but it came off very warm and pleasant in the afternoon. I have felt the heat more than at any time this summer. In the evening, Mrs. Baxter and I pasted paper over dishes of our jelly. JULY 20 – FRIDAY – It has been very warm again today. One of the apprentices at the shop (Pahquioque), Miles Doran, was 21 years old today. He had refreshments out under an apple tree east of the factory. It was a pleasant place and we had a pleasant time. Henry Harvey and Ebenezer Bailey took corrosive supplements instead of sugar in brandy this evening and my latest information is that they are not expected to survive. JULY 21 – SATURDAY – A thunder shower in the morning. Another hard one in the afternoon. A meteor was seen last night a little before 10 o’clock to rise in the northwest and pass through the heavens to the southeast. Those that saw it say that it was a beautiful sight. My blinds were brought home today by the painter. After I came home from work, I put them on. I went to market in the evening to get a piece of meat for Prince. Mr. Harvey and Mr. Bailey are no better from the effects of the poison. JULY 22 – SUNDAY – Pleasant and a little cooler. Brother Pegg preached in the morning from Mark 14, first of the 8th verse. The Reverend Mr. Sanford, preacher in charge at the Five Points In New York City, preached, or rather talked ( for he did not take a text) talked to the congregation about the working of the mission in that place after which a collection was taken for the support of the mission, the clothing of children, etc. The collection was a liberal one. His remarks and description of the place, the suffering and the degradation and the wickedness of the place which is crowded in that vicinity was interesting to listen to and drew tears from a large part of the congregation. At 5 o’clock, the several Sunday Schools assembled at the 1st Congregational Church where he addressed them on the same subject until about 6 ½ o’clock. Mother Griswold’s girl, Jane, wanted company to the church in the evening, so I let her walk down and back with me. Mr. Sanford preached from Romans 8:26. The sermon was excellent. JULY 23 – MONDAY – Cloudy and some rain in the forenoon, but it cleared away in the PM. There was but little work in the shop – only one dozen. I painted our sink room. Father Griswold came home in the afternoon on the train. I went over home in the evening to see him. Abel and Harriet were there singing. They wanted me to sing, but the music they were singing was new to me so that I could not enjoy the sing very well. I stayed until after prayers and then came home feeling lonely and low-spirited. I retired as usual since Gussie has been away with my only companion, Prince. JULY 24 – TUESDAY – It appeared this morning very much like a September morning – clear and cool. I went to the shop but there was no work. I came home and mowed my dooryard again and trimmed the edges of my yard walks. It kept me busy all day. The burglars were around again last night. They took from Henry Crofut’s pantry window their breakfast which had been prepared overnight and some milk. They also tried to enter a house on Franklin Street through a window, but while attempting to do so, was struck at with a knife by B. F. Skinner. He hit him and the fellow ran. He has not been heard from yet. He was not recognized. His features were black; he was either masked or he was a Negro. I went into the street in the evening after some meat for Prince. The two persons which were poisoned are fading fast. Ebenezer Bailey is not expected to last until morning. Mr. Harvey remains about the same. JULY 25 – WEDNESDAY – Ebenezer Bailey died this morning about 2 o’clock from the effects of the poison (corrosive supplement) taken last Friday evening. No work in the shop. I went up with Nelson Nickerson and performed an operation on a kitten for him and then came home and painted some Dahlia sticks and went partly over my sink room with another coat besides fixing window springs and putting in two new blind fastenings which were broken at the painter’s at the time of the fire. I paid Andrew Knox $15.00 on debt for paint and painting my blinds. I mailed a Jeffersonian to Gussie and went to class. JULY 26 – THURSDAY – I worked in the forenoon in the shop. I came home for dinner and dressed myself to attend the funeral of Ebenezer Bailey at 2 o’clock. There was a shower during the services, which were held at the Disciples’ Church. Immediately after the services, I went down to William Bradley’s to attend also the funeral of his youngest child, a boy, aged one year an nine months. I bought me a silver pencil with a gold pen attached of Mr. Huntington - $2.50. I borrowed two dozen boxes of blacking of Mr. Hanford until I can get some from New York. I am getting it to fit out Fred Bradley to peddle as his health is poor and consequently is not able to work in the shop. I wrote a letter to Mr. Palmer ordering 12 dozen large boxes and three dozen small for Mr. Hanford. We had another shower about six o’clock. I went into the street in the evening to mail a letter and to exchange my pen. I did so and returned home. JULY 27 – FRIDAY – There was a very hard shower last night after I retired with very strong thunder. I have been to the shop and worked until about the middle of the afternoon and then stopped because of a pain across me in my right side and back. I think I have taken cold, probably after mowing my door yard last Tuesday. My back being a little lame after it, I think the cold settled there. Fred Bradley came to the shop this morning and told me that Harry Stone kept Palmer’s blacking and sold it for 10 cents per box. I returned the blacking I borrowed of Mr. Hanford (Fred having sold only one box) and then telegraphed to new York and countermanded the order I sent Mr. Palmer for 15 dozen this morning. Mother Griswold tried to persuade me to go to Canton tomorrow morning and take the time now that I don’t feel very well to visit instead of visiting a week later. I was almost persuade to go, but upon considering the matter a little more, I saw plainly that it would not be convenient and immediately gave up the idea. I attended drill in the evening. There being no business done, we adjourned early. JULY 28 – SATURDAY – Last night before retiring, I wet a towel in cold well water and bandaged it around me for the lame side and back which I had. When I arose this morning, I found that the difficulty was entirely removed. The nights and mornings are very cool for the season. I went to the shop feeling quite well but after dinner, I was taken with a severe headache and worked all afternoon in severe pain. I paid my board to Mrs. Baxter at the tea table. I went down to the Post Office in the evening. I helped James Maynard carry over to the school library 13 bibles which he was ordered to purchase for the school. Twenty were ordered but the whole amount could not be obtained at a time. I brought a letter from the Office for Father Griswold from Fanny who is in Madison, Wisconsin. JULY 29 – SUNDAY – Cloudy with more or less rain all day. A love feast at 9 o’clock. There was a melting. A warming influence pervaded the meeting. Many were blessed and I think all were profited, both those who spoke and those who didn’t. A strange minister, Mr. Bailey, preached for us in the AM. His text was Daniel 1:8. Brother Pegg preached in the afternoon from John 7:47. Brother William Hoyt, our presiding elder was to preach to us in the evening and I supposed he did. I did not attend on account of the storm. I spent the evening over to Mother Griswold’s. I sang a little with Harriet and Abel before I came home. JULY 30 – MONDAY – Hot and sultry. The heat in the shop has been very oppressive today. Mr. Harvey died this morning about 4 o’clock from the effects of the poison which he took a week ago Friday. I went to the Office in the evening and had a letter from Edwin Palmer in New York, a business letter about blacking and one from Gussie mailed from Bloomfield, but she is to start for Canton tomorrow. I only earned $6.00 this week which I received this afternoon. JULY 31 - TUESDAY – Warm again today. . Mother Griswold told me this morning that Prince had killed another of her chickens. Mr. Henry Harvey was buried today at 2 o’clock. I went downtown in the evening to mail a letter to Gussie. I intended to mail in the morning, but by spending so much time trying to find Prince, I was too late. I found him after I came home from work and took him over to the coop and showed him the chickens and punished him severely.