Fri. 4 Arthur’s birthday. Age 10

Fri. 5 Cousin Carrie and Elmore Treadway were here.

March 1897

Mon. 8 Village election. Rained. Papa was elected a trustee. Mr. Nill(?) Bacon was elected president. Made bon fires and fire works in the evening.

Mon. 15 Lillie DePew (Lillian E. (Lillie) Armstrong ) had a baby. Guss. and I spent evening at Carls. Played "India"

Wed. 24 Mr. Hoover took out our cupboards in the dining room. Got a letter from Aunt Sarah

April 1897

Thurs. 15 Esther was one month old. Pleasant day.

May 1897

Fri. 14 Mamie married one year. (Mary Ellen (Mamie) Armstrong married Alton Flectcher) Rained all day. Effa came home

July 1897

Thurs. 1 Pick came to the lake. (according to note from my grandmother, Pick Plass was the grandson of Uncle J. B. Armstrong, son of Louise) Went swimming

Thurs. 15 A party of us went after harvest apples and went through the woods and carved our initials on a tree. Eloise Goodell (daughter of James Monroe Goodell) came to the lake with Effa.

Fri 23 Belle came to the lake to spend the day. We all went in bathing. Papa’s birthday - Age 53

Rolla S. Armstrong

August 1897

Sun. 1 Mr. and Mrs. Dell Norton (?) and family were here to the lake. Lillie and Charlie and the two children came up. We had 23 to supper

Mon. 2 Cousin Dell went to Chelsea to Mamie’s and Lillies.

Tues. 3 My birthday. Age 14 Went to Chelsea with Mr. Palmer, and Arthur and I came back in the evening

Thurs. 10 Effa, Eloise G. and I took a ramble through Ransom’s woods back of the cottage.

Mon. 16 Kittie Goodell (daughter of James Monroe Goodell)

Thurs. 17 Ransom, Arthur, and I went to Barnum and Bailey’s circus at Ann Arbor. We saw a woman 9 ft. high and a little fellow 23 inches. Stayed till the train at night when Arthur and I came home and Ransom stayed. Came to the lake right after the train got to Chelsea and Lillie and Esther and Harlan came. Romey slept all night with me and we had a great time.

Jerome B. "Romey" Armstrong, Jr.

Wed. 18 Geo. Beckwith was found dead in the Huron River by Delhi. He had been to Barnums Circus with Ransom and they were walking home together from Ann A. and Ransom suddenly missed him. Men heard his cry but got to him too late. He was sick during the day.

Thurs. 26 Rolla Heath (Son of Olive Armstrong and Sydney Heath – wife Lillian) and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Sell (?) from Chicago came to the lake.

Fri. 3 Gussie, Rolla and Lillian, Mamma and I went to the lake

Mon. 13 Arthur, Harlan and I drove up to the lake after Mamma

Tues 14 Arthur and I picked over twenty crates of corn. Got some chickens

Sat. 18 Arthur and I caught a lot of frogs for Ransom to go fishing with Jimmie Moran.

Sat. 25 Harlan’s birthday Age 6; Sport’s Day; Drove to the lake.

Wed. 6 Aunt Sarah (Sarah Anne Armstrong, wife of George Lewis) came to our house

Tues. 12 The morning began by Arthur and I quarreling in bed. Went down town in the evening and some boys had some powder which they would put on your hands and make them itch terribly.

Tues. 26 Grandpa Tichenors birthday Age 95

November 1897

Mon. 1 I gave a lesson to Vera in Latin. Frank Stevens and his wife and boy came from Paw Paw to see Lillie

Thurs. 4 Lillie and Charlie and the children and Frank stevens afolks stayed here to dinner and Leora Baldwin came over to supper

Fri. 5 Aunt Sarah and Mr. Stevens folks went home and Effa went visiting to Ann Arbor. Had supper ro Lillies and had noodles.

Mon. 8 Staid home in the evening. Aunt Amy, Arthur, and I were alone. Snowed a little.

Thurs. 25 I am sitting by the table in my room writing, my turkey just settled and I feel better. Uncle George, Aunt Amy and Romey were here to dinner. (Aunt Amy Amelia Goodell and Husband George Cooper) In the morning we were very much surprised at seeing Frank Armstrong, Lillies and Mamies brother. I spent my evening at Lillies.

Sat. 4 Arthur’s eleventh birthday. Had a headache most all day. Was over to Aunty Gates in the evening with Effa.

Howard and Arthur Armstrong

Mon. 20 Arthur got a letter from Pick Plass saying he would come and spend some of his Christmas vacation here. Arthur and I went downtown and each of us got a present for Effa. Papa gave us some money to buy Christmas presents with.

Wed. 22 Went down to Vera’s in the evening and heard a new Gramaphone Mr. and Mrs Glazier brought with them from Chicago in the morning. It would sing all kinds of songs and seemed just as natural as if the people were singing right before us. There were two pieces by the United States Marine Band of Washington, the greatest band in the U.S. It was perfectly lovely. First time I had ever heard one.

Thurs. 30 Lee Palmer, Pick Plass, Arthur, Frank Armstrong, Uncle George and myself went to the lake. The ice boating was dandy but there was a good deal of water on the ice, so I got my feet wet a number of times. When I got home I found that Effa had quite a few boys and girls here and so we had a good evening. Went to bed about 12 P.M.

Thurs. 6 Mamma and Aunt Amy went to the lake ice boating. Finished my book after supper and then took it down to Veras. Staid there part of the evening and then came home and played a Geography game.

Tues. 18 Cousin Elmore came and stayed to supper. I was sick and could not eat any supper and I was sick all the evening.

Sat. 22 Was down to Vera’s part of the morning. Guss. was down in the afternoon. Was down to Lillies part of the evening. Snowed and then rained in the evening. Arthur was up to the lake with Papa and Frank Armstrong & Effa stayed all night with Nellie Hall and Uncle George was in Detroit so our family was pretty small.

Wed. 23 Went to school again. Effa and I went to a concert at the town hall under the auspices of the Masons. Frank Armstrong started for North Dakota.

Fri. 25 Aunt Amy went to Corunna to visit Aunt Angie (Hannah Angeline Goodell wife of David West)

Tues. 15 Esther is one year old today. Rained. We bought her a little ring. Guss. was down after school. In the evening Effa, Arthur, and myself went down to Lillies and had pop-corn and candy.

Fri. 18 Mamma’s fiftieth birthday. She had some company here in the evening.

April, 1898

Sun. 10 Easter. Lovely Day. Went down to Lillies and hunted Easter Eggs. Ransom., Papa and Mamma and Arthur and myself went to the lake in the afternoon. Guss. Zoe, and myself went up and saw the flowers at the Catholic Church in the evening and then I came home and Mamma, Arthur, and myself went to the Congregational Church to their Easter exercises. Arthur spoke a piece with a whole lot of boys.

Tues. 12 Anna Klein and Nate Howe were married at the Catholic Church. Sadie Speers had the diptheria and so school was excused till one week from Monday.

Thurs. 14 Arthur and I drove Lehandler, Ransom’s old horse to Chelsea and it took us one hour and one half. Rome and two of his friends from Ann Arbor stayed at the lake all night.

Fri. 15 Mamma went to Corunna. I drove down to Chelsea and right back again.

Sat. 16 Arthur and I drove to Chelsea. Papa told us school would begin next Tuesday as Sadie Speers was better.

Sun 17. Went to Sunday School in the morning. Mamie and Alton were up in the afternoon. Went to Christian Endeavor and church with Miss McCloskie and Effa. Ransom’s twenty-fifth birthday.

Mon. 18 Arthur, Harlan, and myself drove to the lake and stayed all day.