Mar 14 Plowed south piece. Ground still cold. Mule balky.
Mar 18 Corn in. 3 bu saved from last.
Mar 22 Rain all night. Creek up to the lower fence.
Mar 23 Rain. No field work. Fixed the harness.
Mar 29 Baby girl born to J. and E. Named Ruth.
Apr 02 Corn up in patches. Rabbits bad this year.
Apr 11 Set out sixteen tomato. Mother's slips.
Apr 19 First rhubarb. Stewed it.
Apr 24 Traded a setting of eggs for half bushel of seed pot.
May 03 Lilac out. Lost a hen to something — fox most like.
The Ruth born on March 29, 1947 is, almost certainly, the same Ruth Elwood whose passing started this project. We didn't know that when we first opened the book. Mrs. T— did. She smiled and didn't tell us until we got to that page.
Jun 09 River up 2 ft over Tuesday. Moved cows to the ridge.
Jun 10 Still rising. Barn floor wet.
Jun 11 Rising. Took the chickens to the porch.
Jun 12 River over the road. Lost the garden. Mama cried once.
Jun 13 Crest at 24.3 ft per the gauge on Sorrel Mill bridge.
Jun 15 Starting to drop. Mud everywhere a person can stand.
Jun 16 Snake in the kitchen. Out the back door directly.
Jun 20 Neighbors came to dig out the smokehouse. Fed them cornbread.
Jul 04 Bottom still won't take a plow. Will be a late year.
The '73 flood is in four of the books we've read so far — the H—, the T—, the Sorrel, and one anonymous. Each family remembers a slightly different crest. We're making a composite map, pinning each note on a contour line and seeing where the stories meet.
Oct 02 Hogs to market. Good price — .22 a lb.
Oct 04 Put up 14 qts tomato.
Oct 08 First frost on the low ground. None on the hill.
Oct 12 Church supper. Took two pies.
Oct 19 Killed a snake in the corn crib. Long as my arm.
Oct 24 Apples picked. The russet tree bare, the greening heavy.
Oct 28 Settled up with Mr. B. Owed him half a day. Paid in sausage.
Nov 05 First real cold. Banked the house.
Taped inside the back cover, on a piece of feed-sack paper: a recipe for persimmon pudding in a firm pencil hand. We have not transcribed the recipe out of respect — it's the family's, and they'd like to keep it. (See the kitchen pages for recipes we have been given leave to share.)
From the Book of a family who asked not to be named
Winter, 1931
Jan 03 Cold. Very cold. Pump froze.
Jan 04 Cold. Burned the old fence rails.
Jan 07 Flour down to the bottom of the barrel.
Jan 09 Brother came with a side of bacon. God bless him.
Jan 14 Warmer. Thank the Lord.
Jan 22 Trade: a setting of eggs for a pound of lard. Even.
A hard winter in a hard year. The family asked that the book be returned quietly and that no photographs be shared. We include these few lines because they gave their blessing for "just a little — so folks know we made it through."
From the Book of the Sorrel family
Orchard pages, 1962–1968
1962 Grafted 4 onto the old wild tree by the lane. 2 took.
1963 Russet heavy. Greening light. Baldwins middling.
1964 Late frost May 8. Lost most of the bloom.
1965 Nothing to speak of. Borer in the two south rows.
1966 Pruned hard. Paid the boy two dollars for the day.
1967 Good year. Cider pressed Oct 14. 23 gal.
1968 The old tree finally gave out. Took it down Oct 30.
Saved a length of the trunk for the mantle.
The "old wild tree by the lane" is, per Jody's best guess, a chance seedling that predates the Sorrel orchard proper — likely eighty or ninety years old when it came down. The mantle is still in the house, over the parlor stove. You can see a knot in it shaped like a fish.