A Personal Glimpse Of Life In The Year 1852

Here is a writing from the personal album of Mary Carter before she became Mary Smith. (see my other blog)

This is being copied exactly as written in the album.

To Mary

The ties of earth are linked together
And from the scented grove
Comes back to us the willows breath
The mournful truth to prove

We raise with care affections bower
But oh the grief and pain
When snatched from us the lovely flower
Which neer will bloom again

The joyful scenes of bygone years
With those we loved have fled
They come in dreams but memorys tears
Deeply the dead the dead

To hear the voice we loved so well
We call and list in vain
The sighing wind sends back the knell
They neer will speak again

Elizebeth Snow

Syracuse N York

1852

I notice through out this album many of the writings are about life and death. Marriages, visiting places, visitors, and especially death. While their are many happy moments, the death notices appear. Back in the year 1852 this was a way of recording family histories. There are newspaper clippings about marriages and deaths and seem to be family or friend related.

The above writing seems to be of death. I haven't found out who, if anyone, this writing is about. It could be that the friendship of Mary and Elizebeth and them being apart is the pain they feel.

Here is a clipping pasted in the album that picks up on a more amusing theme.

Some foolish man asked the question a year ago, "What does a woman do!" One woman of Washington kept a statistical account of her various labor performances and has now furnished the answer through the Star of that city. "Number of lunches put up, 1157; meals ordered, 963; desserts made, 172; lamps filled' 328; rooms dusted,, 2259; times dressed children, 780; visits received, 897; visits paid, 167; books read, 88; papers read 553; stories read aloud, 234; games played, 329; church services attended, 125; articles mended, 1286; articles of clothing made, 120; fancy articles made, 56; letters written, 426; hours in music, 20 1/2; hours in Sunday School work, 208; hours in gardenning, 49; sick days, 44; amusements attended, 10. Besides the above I nursed two children through measels, twice cleaned every nook and corner of my house, put up seventy-five jars of pickles and preserves, made seven trips to the dentist's, dyed Easter eggs, polished silver and spent seven days in helping nurse a friend who was ill, besides the thousand and one duties too small to mentioned, yet taking time to be performed"

I don't know the time line on this clipping, but as you can see life was different then. Notice that they used oil lamps back then, so it is before gas or electric lamps. Probably about 1850's or 1860's. Just my guess.