Miss Tory Middagh's diary, age 26, 1887, Dundas County is one of many 19th century diaries available through the University of Guelph’s Rural Diary Archive
Have you ever wondered what it was like to farm in the 19th century? Now you can read diaries from those living and working in rural Ontario in the 1800’s from the comfort of your own home. Hundreds of diaries can be viewed through the University of Guelph’s Rural Diary Archive website.
History professor Catharine Wilson, who spearheaded the project, recounts her experience reading the diaries. “It feels like you’re inside their kitchen with them,” she says. While many of the diaries speak of mundane chores, Wilson says there are always surprises and lots of human drama.
William Sunters’ detailed, hand-written, daily entries in 1857 tell of events on his farm in Wellington County and trips to Guelph. He debates with the school teacher about virtue and vice. And he shares his love of horses and recipes for cough medicine.
John Ferguson’s diaries for 1869 and 1870 bristle with the strivings of a young man trying to be his best. His high school education is cut short when his father falls ill and he has to take charge of the farm in Peel County. For the next fifteen years he writes of agricultural improvements, taking his prize-winning horses to the fair and his activities as a school trustee, devout Methodist and temperance advocate. John shares more details, observations and opinions than most diarists.
You’ll note the change in handwriting as Garrison Shadd oversees his sons taking extended turns writing the diary. Garrison is the son of Abraham Doras Shadd, the famed abolitionist and “conductor” of the Underground Railway, and brother of Mary Ann Shadd, the first black woman in North America to publish a newspaper. Garrison oversees his sons taking extended turns writing the diary. They are fully engaged in farming and the community life of North Buxton near Chatham, Ontario.
There are several ways the online site can be used. ‘Meet the diarists’ showcases over 130 diarists. It gives the name of the diarist, township, occupation, religion, birth date etc. and location. People can search this table to find diarists who lived in their county.
The ‘Search’section contains the full text of eleven transcribed/typed diaries which visitors can peruse. These diaries are searchable and accessible to those who use Assistive Technology readers. For example, you could search on the term “quilting” to look for those who mention making quilts in their diaries.
Wilson is hoping that people with an interest in history will help her transcribe the remaining diaries through the website. The ‘Transcribe’ section contains the full text of several handwritten diaries which visitors can help transcribe by turning the handwritten words into typed script. Visitors can see the original handwritten pages and transcribe them online adding to what others have done and in the process make these diaries readable, searchable and accessible too.
This would be a great project for both young and old to work on together, says Wilson. Older people may not have the computer skills but younger people who don’t learn cursive writing in school often have trouble reading the handwritten journals. Together they could make a good team, she says.
Wilson’s interest in old diaries began when her mother gave her the diary of her great, great grandmother, Lucy Middagh of Dundas County, 1884-87. Wilson wrote an article about the diary which found its way into the genealogical society circles. Eventually some of her distant relatives contacted her to say they had other diaries written by the same woman. Now Wilson is collaborating on transcribing the diaries with two distant cousins from Seattle and Australia whom she has never met.
The project has been made possible by funding from the Francis and Ruth Redelmeier, Professorship in Rural History.
You’ll find the Rural Diary Archive at https://ruraldiaries.lib.uoguelph.ca/
- Helen Lammers-Helps