Jeremiah White Graves Diaries

1859 July 16th overseer Bob & claiborne getting & Hewing Logs for Stables Balance working Potatoes etc,-

17th Stayed at till 2 Oclock & went to CH

18 At Court attending to Sunday business Sent waggon to yates to cut Tires, balance cutting wood & Piling, & Hewing Plates for Stables & Sills,- Halled up Sand in evening Sold JD Hunts Buggy for $138 Saddle for 21.34 etc etc, Rained a little in night Sallie wiht [with] me to Court, Bro Yates brot her back & I borrowed Mr Hargraves Saddle & bridle,-

19 Cloudy & like for Rain Halled up Rafters etc for barn & negro Houses John Came here yesterday to lathe our House & Plaster the Joice. balance Cutting wood etc clem Spining & Picking wood, etc, — chumbly & Henry at work On Barn this morning etc Turned things in fresh field last week

20th John at work here Bob gone to Shop with Mrs Hunts Horses at work on negro House Halling Plates & Sills from aspen Grove, Cutting grass down there

21st Bob here helping chumbly about Rafters of House putting up Rafters & weather Boarded Gable Ends Halled all the p^s this morning John finished Lathing & is plastering I went to whiteheads yesterday evening & paid him 275.79½ for Joshua Stone Dec^d from P. Stone dowers negroes - collected to this^day

22nd John began to Plaster big Room Friday 12 Oclock, worming in succoring Tobacco finished weather boarding negro house - etc about 11 Oclock work on Barn

1859 Augt 9th I am going to the CH to day to see about Mrs Stones business as Comm^r Agreed with Cothran for another year as overseer —dry weather yet Mr Waldron brot another Load Shingles 1977 hundred above like the others I got of him @$3½ pr Thousand. dry weather yet

10. 10th Raised The Top of our Barn to day Mr Cothran Jordan Sandy & Lowry Came up to help us got it done & they went home little after 12 Oclock I went to Edge Hill to meeting — dry here yet tho fine Rains not far off

11th I stayed at settling with Mr Faris Whitehead wrote Several letters etc one to Bro. Jno & Jonathan Duffy & Henry Wingfield, Mr Chummy & Henry & claiborne at work on Barn, balance Cutting clem spining & drying fruit

12th Same work to day I am going to aspen Grove this evening & James Shields

13the went to meeting to day Mrs Hunt Came back here dry & Hot yet 14th went to meeting

15th went to Court. Balance claiborne little Henry & Jim gone to Fannies to thrash wheat Halled 2 Logs to Mill & Halled plank from mill wormed & Succored & toped Tobacco got done a little after 12 oclock round ing & Jointing shingles in evening I Bob Worked here this day —

16th Mr chumbly Hunting Corn wheat or something to Eat. Henry Rounding shingles Bob Here again this morning —

& Mrs Johns & Scared about something etc etc

14th Sent Bob ^^{& claiborne} to old place to Roll Logs Sewing Oats, fencing here to day — Raining a little Sewing Oats, burning Brush etc Fencing in early part of day

15th Sewing Oats & fencing, Nannie & me went up to Mr Moses to day & settled with them & Jacob P. about my trip to Louisa, etc - & they gave me my commission to buy me a horse ^{altho I offered to give it to them}etc I gave Mr Moses my horse Ball I got from W^m Shields; expect to Roll Logs at aspen grove tomorrow; very good weather

16h All hands but Smith & Charles went to aspen Grove to Roll, & I went too & it will push them to get done sent Phil to shop by Pal Smith went to Mill & Chalk Level, clem piling Brush & trash

17th Rained all day I staid at home Fannie W Fitzgerald here cool rain

18th cloudy & like for Rain, Halled up stack Fodder & Oats this morning - very cool 15 or 16 Lambs at Plantation, one stole last Friday night or day did not ^{that is did not finish}roll all the Logs. It began to snow a little about 10 or 11 Oclock & by 12 It Snowed very fast till late in the evening 3 or 4 Inches Deep & real winters day. We halled up 1 stack fodder & 1 stack Oats & began to Hall wood till evening then went to striping Tobacco it has been cold ever since Friday - work in new some this morning

19th Striping Tobacco to day halled up 1 Load dry wood, finished all the Tobacco we had down I went to Mr Hunts Place to have spring branch Ditched We have sent 2 hands to Mr Hunts place to Roll Logs 1 hand to Blanks’s 1 to Allen Scruggs 1 to whitehead & 5 to aspen Grove to roll this spring - snow till [faded] to day - & 1 to Ja^s Kelleys to Roll

our Oats giving Henry etc 3 Stac[…] Sticks stack in them & Six Hundred Twenty five pounds of three other stacks the 3 stacks towards the house in a row making 3 stacks & 635 lbs of the crop this is Beatifull weather indeed — clear & moderate,

19th Halled in all our Tobacco last Cutting & put it old prize Barn, Jerry Smith Came^{back here to day}

20th Beet apples, in part in morning & finished in evening, smoking Tobacco Halling rails to fence in Top Stack & pretended to pull Sorghum fodder & done nothing at it hardly old Henry made hounds to 2 Horse waggon

21st Richard Whitehead came here last night & this morning started home

22nd Nannie & myself went down to Mr Millers to see Mr Beckey Miller sick & I wanted to get the wheat 2 Bushels wheat I bot of Geo. Roper belonging to to George F Miller & he had sold it to another man, & I got none, Henry Halling wood to fire Tobacco Ben went to Cutting down Corn to Sew wheat in fresh ground by p^s Tobacco, Milly Ann Sick & done nothing to day began to gather Peas & there came up a cloud & it rained little Henry began to Plow in Lot for wheat Throwing Tobacco stubble down, cloudy & like for rain, I went up Saturday evening to Keens store after my Papers, –

[…] 23rd, Henry Digging Trough & firing […] little Henry plowing for wheat […] Cutting down Corn to sew wheat Pulling fodder off Sorghem Seed Beautifull weather I went to Carry Richard Carry all to Yates for him to make shafts,

24th Turned out 10 Hogs of which there is 7 shoats 3 Sows including spade sow 1 Pig with that 1 there is 5 Pigs out in woods & 3 or 4 in Pasture that I could not get, the sow I got from Sallie 7 yearling Hogs has been out for sometime 1 young sow & 1 Boar in that number, - Large frost this morning clear Beautiful weather Plowing for wheat Henry cutting wood, Ben picking out Cotton this morning Billy came here yesterday morning & at work on Cart Body

25 Henry Cutting & Halling wood little Plowing in Lot ground we did not put in Tobacco Billy getting Pieces for cart body & he helped yesterday evening about Sugar Cane

26th Digging Sweet & Irish Potatoes & Begun to Sew wheat in Lot yesterday evening & sewing this morning - sewing Guano first & then wheat Billy helped dig Potatoes made about 12 or 15 Bus Sweet & 10 Bushels

27 Sewing wheat in Tobacco Lot

28th I went to Strait Stone no Preaching

29 Raining all day & towards night & in the night very hard Jerry started to Court soon with Bill Fanned out our wheat made 28 Bushels & divided it, & I give Henry 1 Bushel of the Screan Shelled out 1 Hh^d full & 1 Barr. Shelled Corn in Corn House & fixed up for pulling Corn in got Large Box full shelled^Corn 2½ Bus Corn for meal for us 2½ Bushels for old Henry 1 of which I Lent him, working on Roads.