The Avery Diaries - 1870s The Ox Man
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The transcriptions are a "work in progress" as the original hand-written words can be hard to discern, and many pages need editing.
At the link below are file folders with the original scans and my transcriptions ("typed".)
; - Google Drive Diaries:
To scroll through the original scans there is a Google trick... Select all the scans. Then Right click and select "Open". Then select "Preview"
List of the JDA Diaries in the F. Deane Avery Files
| 1 | 1867-1869 |
| 2 | 1871 |
| 3 | 1872-3 Cash Journal |
| 4 | 1873 |
| 5 | 1874 |
| 6 | 1875 |
| 7 | 1876 |
| 8 | 1877 |
| 9 | 1878 |
| 10 | 1879 |
| 11 | 1881 |
| 12 | 1882 |
| 13 | 1883 |
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I hope to find volunteers who would improve the transcriptions so they can be made available to the public on line and as a printed document.
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Avery was born in 1848 in nearby Charlemont, and moved to Buckland ca 1872 when he acquired a farm on Avery Road near Buckland Center. There he lived for 28 years with his wife Emma , becoming a successful business man selling logs, livestock and other farm products. In 1900 he sold his hill farm and bought the Stratton farm on Route 112, which is now the farm of Benjamin Hay (2026). By 1900 he was already putting on his big oxen shows, so to move closer to the railroad at Shelburne Falls made sense.
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| Jim Avery at perhaps 50? |
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| A Younger Jim Avery- is this a 25 year old man? |
The 1895 map below shows the 2 Jim Avery farm locations, a few years before Jim moved to Rt 112,
FN_BUC_1895_web.jpg)
One Pig $6,.00 and another the next day. The right colunn has him paying Homer $3.50 and Fred Bement $41.05.
FN_BUC_1895_web.jpg)
Jim Avery Timeline
Lived 1848-1922
Born in East Charlemont just north of the Deerfield River
School in Easthampton in 1867 (Diary 1867 scan 5)
Bought "Hill Farm" In Buckland at age of 24 (1872)
Married Emma Packard in 1873
Lived 1848-1922
Born in East Charlemont just north of the Deerfield River
School in Easthampton in 1867 (Diary 1867 scan 5)
Bought "Hill Farm" In Buckland at age of 24 (1872)
Married Emma Packard in 1873
Son Francis Deane Avery born 1876 (Oct 24)
1895 started Exhibiting the Oxen ? (PVMA Avery Family Papers Archives list
1895 started Exhibiting the Oxen ? (PVMA Avery Family Papers Archives list
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Dave Allen June 1026
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Provenance
I have owned these diaries since 1994 when I acquired the F Deane Avery Engineering records. At the time I had a land surveying business and most of the records were surveying maps. I paid little attention to these diaries, but I did scan them to protect the information. I transcribed two of them a few years ago but it took too much time so I stopped. Recently I discovered that computers can transcribe handwriting directly from scans, so I have done that. This allows one to easily read the diaries which are otherwise hard to study. The original text is in pencil and the handwriting is challenging, but the transcriptions (which are incomplete) were good enough for me to do a public presentation on the diaries at the Buckland Historical Society June 26th.
Summary
The diaries are very thorough -recording what he did almost every week, and who he was working with. He is a very hard working farmer harvesting logs, and producing tobacco, apples, maple sugar and livestock like cattle ,sheep pigs . He also reports in the weather for most days. Reading about the weather 150 years ago sounds boring, but this sort of info is useful for climate scientists who use it to reconstruct weather patterns for a time when we had no official weather stations. When I get the transcriptions completed I will offer them to NOAA.
Of special note are his Cash Accounts - lists of income and expenses by the day.
Dave Allen June 1026
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Provenance
I have owned these diaries since 1994 when I acquired the F Deane Avery Engineering records. At the time I had a land surveying business and most of the records were surveying maps. I paid little attention to these diaries, but I did scan them to protect the information. I transcribed two of them a few years ago but it took too much time so I stopped. Recently I discovered that computers can transcribe handwriting directly from scans, so I have done that. This allows one to easily read the diaries which are otherwise hard to study. The original text is in pencil and the handwriting is challenging, but the transcriptions (which are incomplete) were good enough for me to do a public presentation on the diaries at the Buckland Historical Society June 26th.
Summary
The diaries are very thorough -recording what he did almost every week, and who he was working with. He is a very hard working farmer harvesting logs, and producing tobacco, apples, maple sugar and livestock like cattle ,sheep pigs . He also reports in the weather for most days. Reading about the weather 150 years ago sounds boring, but this sort of info is useful for climate scientists who use it to reconstruct weather patterns for a time when we had no official weather stations. When I get the transcriptions completed I will offer them to NOAA.
Of special note are his Cash Accounts - lists of income and expenses by the day.
One Pig $6,.00 and another the next day. The right colunn has him paying Homer $3.50 and Fred Bement $41.05.
The oldest diary is more of a notebook than a diary. It has what appear to be random entries over 3 years.
Below is the the beautifully written first page.
School
Jim is living with his parents in East Charlemont in 1869. The Easthampton entries above result from his time at the Williston School in Easthampton. Note "fare down $2.15" on Dec 3 . Is this his first day at school? Seems a bit late by todays standards. He also gets a kerosene lamp for $0.60 and a quart of oil for 9 cents. No electricity for lights in 1869.
Oxen
He is working oxen almost every week for all the years of these diaries. In 1871 (age 23) he "....worked for Henry Booth with team drawing logs." .. He seems to have had several ox teams. In 1875 "...went to Whtingham today to buy a pair of oxen." There are numerous such purchases, and also sales of oxen, A trip to Whitingham was a long one - about 24 miles. He might have ridden a horse to Whtingham, but he would have driven the oxen back on foot. A full day back to Buckland considering that oxen move at about 2mph.
He was a regular competitor at country fairs in the period covered by the diaries, before he became regionally famous for his huge oxen. My last diary is 1883. His "big oxen" time began the 1890s.
In Seotember 1876 he went to two "cattle shows (my transcription below) and one first prize at each.
In Seotember 1876 he went to two "cattle shows (my transcription below) and one first prize at each.
Note that his trip to the Greenfield Cattle show (Now the Franklin County Fair) included an overnight stay at "GP Carpenters". I don't know where Carpenter was, but probably more than 1/2 way. It was 15 miles to Greenfield from Buckland, - 8 hours on foot, and he may have started in the afternoon and stopped at in the evening. Imagine being GP Carpenter seeing Jim Avery and his oxen and a dust cloud comin down the road. And Avery asking if he could spend the night. There were no telephones...
After winning in Greenfield he went home and the next day Picked apples,
Sheep
Avery was a skilled shearer of sheep as revealed by his diaries. He sheered sheep for 9 people (including himself) in mid-January 1876. On June 19th "sheared 40 sheep for Whitman Leach in eight hours".
Sugaring
In April 1876 Avery records "Have made about 450 lbs of sugar" . This would be maple sugar, made by boiling maple tree sap. I assume he is bottling the sugar, perhaps in glass jars, and selling it in Shelburne Falls. He does not record packaging maple syrup. It is interesting that he does not mention sap buckets for gathering sap. He uses the word "tub" . On March 28, 1876 he writes "Have set about 225 tubs today." These would be wooden tubs with small metal loops for hanging on spouts. Business must have been good as in 1897 be buys 183 tubs for $13.27.
After winning in Greenfield he went home and the next day Picked apples,
Sheep
Avery was a skilled shearer of sheep as revealed by his diaries. He sheered sheep for 9 people (including himself) in mid-January 1876. On June 19th "sheared 40 sheep for Whitman Leach in eight hours".
Sugaring
In April 1876 Avery records "Have made about 450 lbs of sugar" . This would be maple sugar, made by boiling maple tree sap. I assume he is bottling the sugar, perhaps in glass jars, and selling it in Shelburne Falls. He does not record packaging maple syrup. It is interesting that he does not mention sap buckets for gathering sap. He uses the word "tub" . On March 28, 1876 he writes "Have set about 225 tubs today." These would be wooden tubs with small metal loops for hanging on spouts. Business must have been good as in 1897 be buys 183 tubs for $13.27.
Peeling Bark
On several days in June 1876 Avery is peelng hemlock bark for sale in Shelburne Falls. Saturday June 24 "peeled bark yesterday and today".. June 29: "Finished peeling bark today". Hemlock bark has large amounts of tannin which was used to prepare and preserve leather. I am not sure where it went after Avery sold it.
Snippets
May 1871 "started at about 2 pm and caught 67 trout"
":Fred and I have been laying stone wall in the Forbes lot"
On several days in June 1876 Avery is peelng hemlock bark for sale in Shelburne Falls. Saturday June 24 "peeled bark yesterday and today".. June 29: "Finished peeling bark today". Hemlock bark has large amounts of tannin which was used to prepare and preserve leather. I am not sure where it went after Avery sold it.
Snippets
May 1871 "started at about 2 pm and caught 67 trout"
":Fred and I have been laying stone wall in the Forbes lot"
Aug 2, 1876 "16 pigs hatched tis morning"
1875 " Someone went down cellar and helped themsleves to cider" while he and Enma were at church. Then , a week later, the same thing except this time it was brandy.
His child Dean, born in 1876, is only called "baby" in the diary for his first two years. "Emma and baby went to fathers"...
1875 " Someone went down cellar and helped themsleves to cider" while he and Enma were at church. Then , a week later, the same thing except this time it was brandy.
His child Dean, born in 1876, is only called "baby" in the diary for his first two years. "Emma and baby went to fathers"...
Purchases
Magic Oil
Magic Oil
Paris Green
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