After leaving a fun antique store in Fort Ann, New York, this past Sunday, my husband surprised me with a great early Valentine's Day present - an 1874 pocket diary filled with handwritten entries. A first glance offered no name or location for the author, but did mention other names and places throughout the pages. I was instantly intrigued...
Flipping through pages in the diary, one of the first things I ran across was a postscript near the end, stating that it was written nine years after the rest of the diary entries.
"Nine years have passed and I am a contented happy wife and mother among these very people among whom I spent a large share of this year [apparently referring to the year 1874 when she kept this diary]; the same yet has changed. 8 years ago Emma Martin passed triumphly over the river and had an abundant entrance into the mansion over there. Her husband Gurdon Martin is now my husband. I am living in her home, and would that I was taking care of her three boys. I am the mother of four children of whom one little girl goes to school in the same schoolhouse where I taught so long ago. Of my scholars, Albert, Barnet, Alma, Satira and Lucy are married. All are living Christian lives except Will Bohonon, Charles Roberts and Charlie Davis."
I wasn't sure on the spelling of "Gurdon" or if I was just misreading "Gordon," but it turned out to indeed be Gurdon which made my search much easier. I began by searching the 1880 census for a Gurdon/Gordon Martin in the Vermont/New York area because Barre, Vermont was mentioned as a nearby town in one of the diary entries, and the diary itself was found just across the New York/Vermont border in Fort Ann, New York. Sure enough, a simple search brought up a Gurdon Martin living in Williamstown, Orange County, Vermont, with wife M. Ella, and five children from the age of 10 down. M. Ella was listed as "keeping house" and not as a school teacher, but this wasn't surprising given that she was married and had four children of her own by this point if she is indeed my diary's author.
Going back to the 1870 census, Gurdon Martin is found in Williamstown with wife, Emma, and son Thadious. He is indexed as Gurdion, but was easy to find by searching for "Emma Martin" in Williamstown since the diary entry lists Emma as his previous wife. I now feel fairly certain I have the correct town and people. Even better there is a Goodrich family living next door, with children Albert (age 16), Barnet (age 14) and Alma (age 9) - likely three of her "scholars" in 1874.
So, who is Ella? And is she indeed the author of my diary? A quick Google search on "Gurdon Martin" from Williamsport, Vermont brings up a book in Archive.org titled "Edmund Lewis of Lynn, Massachusetts, and some of his descendants" by George Harlan Lewis of Los Angeles, California. In this work, there is a Gurdon Martin listed as the son of Aaron Gurdon Martin, and Julia Lewis. A further Google search brought up another publication on the Lewis family in Google Books, "Lewisiana, or The Lewis Letter." On page 93 of Volume 14, Gurdon Martin, son of Aaron Gurdon Martin & Julia Ann Lewis, is listed as having been born on 3 Jan 1848 in Williamstown, Vermont. He first married Emma A. Perrin on 31 Mar 1869 and second married Ella M. Burnham on 1 Jan 1876. This fits perfectly with the clues from the diary - first wife Emma, who died in 1875, with whom he had three children, and second wife, Ella, with four children. Further research should confirm that Ella is indeed the author of this 1874 pocket diary and provide more details about her life.
More to come, stay tuned!
How exciting! I would love to find something like this and try to find out as much as possible about the author and family. This type of detective work I think is so much fun. Can’t wait to read more about it!
What a thoughtful gift. This is exciting, to be able to learn about one of our sisters from 135 years ago or so. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Such a thoughtful, perfect Valentine’s Day gift!
Thank you for sharing this! I took a little autograph book off of my mantle to find a date in it…April 14, 1883 was written on a page with a very fancy penned bird. We cared for the owner of this book until she died at age 98, as she had no children. She claimed that she sat on Abraham Lincoln’s lap as a child. She is from Illinois, but I’ve never found proof of her story.
Becky
That is wonderful. I would love to find something like that in my family to help fill in a lot of gaps especially on my moms side. Thanks for the smiles. Will look forward to more next time. God Bless
Yes this is exciting. And what alovely thoughtful gift from your husband. I used to see large oval framed pictures with no names at Goodwill Industries and took pcitures to put them online..I still wished they could have gotten back to the original people. I love antiquing too–great story want to read the rest now–my friend found some of her own family pictures on a little known site “Ancient Faces”—thanks, for sharing!
Now if you can find a “live descendant!” … thank you for sharing this great find and wonderful story. I bought a sweet little Sunday school autograph book from the turn of the 20th century … I should research this young girl and see if I can find her descendants.
Love these old diaries and journals. My family (wife and daughters) have purchased a number off of E-Bay, over the years. We enjoy researching who and where and how it happened to be available… Look forward to more on yours… perhaps I can dig out some we have, one day….
Keep these ancestor stories coming!
Bill
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
Author of “13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories”
Yoiur research yielded some excellent results in a relativley quick time. Good work. I guess you must be excited to prove Ella is indeed the author. Look forward to hearing your find on that
I grew up in Williamstown; some of the Martin family still live there and Wayne Guerdon Martin was on the school board when I was in high school. It’s interesting that Ella mentions painting in her diaries as I have one of her paintings; “Mrs. Ella B. Martin” is written on the wooden canvas stretcher in pencil although the painting itself (a small oil landscape) is not signed. I purchased it at a local flea market some years ago.