Diary of Margaret Beckwith REED (1822-1892)
Wife of Lucius REED (1818-1898)
..... These are some excerpts from a diary kept by Margaret REED, a long time resident of Schuyler Falls, Clinton co, NY. This is where some of my ancestors got their start in New York State. It seems a lot of the early settlers of the Lake Champlain Valley in NY came from Vermont and settled here and later they and their descendents moved west. An example is Ezra 6 BIGELOW , (my great,great,great,great grandfather) was born in Colchester, New London,CT. As a young man, soon after his marriage on 21 Aug 1781, he moved to Manchester, Bennington co,VT. He lived there a number of years, and his children were born there. Soon after 1802, he moved across Lake Champlain, and lived in Plattsburgh,NY, actually Schuyler Falls. His son Jared 7, also my direct ancestor, was one of the early settlers of Schuyler Falls on Lobdell St. Another son, Hiram 7 was also mentioned in the early history as one of the first settlers in an area just east of Schuyler Falls. They are all buried together with their wives in an area now overgrown with lilac bushes behind one of the historic houses in this area, the Turner-Roberts Home. This cemetery was mapped and recorded by the Schuyler Falls Historical Society and records stored at The Special Books Collection, Feinberg Library, Plattsburgh State University, NY, along with this diary. I have only recorded notes that are of interest to me. The diaries cover many years and many books and are hard to read, but this is what I gathered from them so far. Jan 22, 1997.
1874 .. 4/9 Mercie Rice died of brain fever.(Mercie was the daughter of Stephen and Fanny (BIGELOW) RICE, and is buried in the Union Cemetery, West Plattsburgh, NY with her parents. She was 23 years old.)
1876 .. 4/10 Great Fire in Keeseville, NY.( My maternal grandmother's family, the Lesperances, lived here during this time.)
1876 .. 4/19 Libbie Rice married this afternoon.( Another daughter of Stephen and Fanny RICE, wife of E.W. Avery. She died 30 May 1884 at 30 years, 5 mos., same cemetery)
1876 .. 7/6 Dispatch about Custer Massacre. ( It was interesting how she wove world events with everyday life in Schuyler Falls.)
1879 .. 1/31 Dannemora train open for business, carried mail 2/1.
1879 .. 2/1 Dannemora stage does not run now.( Dannemora is my hometown and my wive's. Also the home of my father and grandfather.)
1881 .. 7/1 Comet in NW sky. ( An omen?)
1881 .. 7/2 President Garfield shot.
1881 .. 9/20 President Garfield dead.
1881 .. 11/11 visited David Johnson's widow Seba M. Ayer.
1882 .. 10/14 Comet.
1882 .. 12/06 Viewed transit of Venus across face of Sun.
1882 .. Our family: Mother Reed 85, Melville 34, Lucius 64, Margaret 60, Fannie Williams 21, Hattie Thompson 14, Charly Ferris 16.
1884 .. 7/25 Mrs. Henry has a Telephone.
1885 .. 2/11 Train engine went into snow in Dannemora. Killed 5 men.
1885 .. 4/3 Lucius caught black hen eating eggs as fast as laid.
1885 .. 4/8 General Grant near death.
1885 .. 7/23 General Grant died.
1886 .. 11/11 Grandma Reed died 89 y 5 mo "free of suffering". (Ann A. Reed 1797-1886, wife of Myron Reed 1786-1866)
1889 .. 3/24 Isaac Tichnor Ayer died , son of Ebenezer Ayer, cousin of Uriah. Buried 3/29.( Isaac T. Ayer was the husband of Tamson Bigelow, daughter of Jared 7)
1889 .. 6/5 Jamestown Flood.
1889 .. 7/24 Barnum and Bailey Circus in Plattsburgh.
1889 .. 9/12 Plattsburgh Fair had balloon ascent "drank moxey".
1889 .. 8/6 William Henry Ayer elected trustee.( He is buried in the Union cemetery, West Plattsburgh, behind Tamson and Isaac T. Ayer, "William H. Ayer ; b Oct 6, 1847 ; d Feb 26, 1930.)
1889 .. 8/12 Peter Ayer reaped wheat and rye.
1889 .. 12/7 Jefferson Davis dies.
1892 .. 1/16 Letter to Bigalow for 1 1/2 doz photos. (Bigalow
was a well known Photographer in Plattsburgh. Checking on his ancestors.)
rodbigelow@netzero.net
