Introduction
About the Diarists and Letter Writers
The unifying elements of Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M .Tice are TIME, PLACE and CULTURE. The best qualified persons to tell us about all three are the diarists whose work is included here. The following collection includes letters and diaries from the residents of Sullivan and Rutland Townships in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Rutland is north of Sullivan and both are on the border of Bradford County, PA. The writers were located near or on the Sullivan-Rutland border. My original collection has been supplemented extensively by submissions from other locales in the Tri-County area represented by my web site.
One of the elements the diaries share is that the writers express few opinions. Mainly they serve as logs of work done, people who visited and places they went. Farm life was about work and that is the central focus in the diaries. The most extreme expression of emotion or feeling is an occasional reference to feeling “blue.” They didn’t focus on their feelings, only their work, and occasional social, activities. Rarely do any of the writers express an opinion about another person. They simply record events. As farmers, they are very focussed on the weather as it was, and is, such a controlling factor in their farming success. They also frequently use the diary as a log of expenses and revenues, debts owed, debts paid and so on. The Eugene Crippen diaries are refreshing in that they do offer opinions about events of the day.
Together, these diaries record the changing lifestyles of rural Americans. Tractors and cars replace horses. The phone comes as a novel invention and then is forgotten as it becomes too common to notice. Electricity and new furnaces are installed.The roads are maintained. New kitchen equipment and television comes into households. Genealogists will find many birth, death and funeral dates of note. Many burial datres are noted in the Eugene Crippen diaries as he was caretaker of Watson Cemetery in Roseville in the 1930s. The Burt Strange diaries also are full of burial dates as he dug graves.
Most of these people lived in what we would think of as very small worlds. They did not travel far from home and did not see or know as many people as we are accustomed to. With the exception of Lois ZIMMERMAN McConnell and Jim McCONNELL who traveled more than most in the 1930s and 40s, Joe HOLLY’s 1880 trip to Wisconsin to see his brother is one of the most distant journeys. For the most part, they went to Roseville or Elk Run (Chandlersburg, Bungy) or Mainesburg for horseshoing or church or Grange. They went to Troy or Mansfield for more extensive shopping. In later years, they went to Canton, Towanda, and elsewhere. A big shopping trip meant a trip to Elmira, New York either by train in the earlier days, or by auto in the more recent era.
I have transcribed the spelling as it was written. We have to remember that many of these people, particularly in the earliest dates, may have had no more than 6 weeks of education a year. They were not stupid people, and we must keep their environment in mind as we read what they write. We may be amused by their grammar and spelling, but keep in mind that they reflected the standards of their time and place. In later years many did not attend schooling past the eighth grade. Herman TEARS graduated form high school and Carrie McCONNELL Beardslee graduated from Mansfield Normal School. Jim McCONNELL and Lois ZIMMERMAN McConnell, whose diaries are here represented only in excerpt, were both Cornell University graduates.
The few letters we have show much more personality and opinion than the diaries. Through these we can really get to know our Sullivan Township neighbors we missed in time. Through the sequence of these writings we can watch the changing times, the changing lifestyles, babies born and dying of old age, the flow of time in Sullivan and Rutland Township. It’s a quiet journey. Enjoy yourself.
Since the original introduction was written several years ago, many diaries from other areas in our three counties have been submitted by guests. These are the voices of the diarists and give them a prolonged opportunity to tell us about the world they lived in. It is with the utmost respect and admiration that we present these here and give the writers the opprtunity to extend their world views.
