Ladies Home Journal

On Friday, January 7, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Rain-Sleet-Snow. Mr. R. F. Boxley came in the office. I bound up agreements with P.G.E.L. & P. Co. for Mr. Schick. Went to post office, nothing could be done towards tracing money. Stayed at home at night and read some in "Ladies Home Journal" Retired at 10:15. cold at night. Snowy night in 2009 too. Not 15 inches like last time, but maybe an inch or two. Sounds like Bonnie finally got those agreements finished up and also, I wonder how much money was lost in the mail? Interesting reading choice for the night. Sounds like Bonnie was a prolific reader, so I am guessing he had run out of other stuff to read, or maybe he saw an article he liked. If you will remember from an earlier post, Bonnie did use Lash brow ink. Tonight here, will be the National College Football Championship game and maybe some Wii fit. Taught fire safety today at North Cross school to about 220 kids. They were a neat bunch and we had a really good time.

Indoor plumbing?

On Thursday, January 6, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Warm-Fair. Ate dinner at Mrs. Raines. Turned water on in closet upstairs for first time? Mr. Schick returned to the office. Made inquiry at post office about lost money. Howard Fisher at office. I shaved at night. Norman sick and vomited freely. As I have mentioned before, Wednesdays are just long days, so this may be short. Are the Elmore just getting indoor plumbing? Would that be the case? I am putting together clues from the end of 1916 with the water cut off problems, and this mention of turning water on for the first time, and maybe even the commode reference a few days ago. Could be. Bonnie is still searching for the lost money from Blaine and Norman is sick. Bonnie also mentioned, Annah Lee, my grandmother, vomiting freely at the end of 1916.

N&W Calendars

On Wednesday, January 5, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cool-Clear. Checked agreements. Wrote to Blaine. Went to post office to inquire about money from Blaine. Walked up home from work with Ed. Gregory. Ate supper at home, came home at 8:30. Capt. Rowan gave me an N & W calendar. This won't be long as it has been a long day. Bonnie had to check those agreements again, whatever they were from yesterday. Blaine is his brother. A little confusing with the 2 homes, but I think Bonnie ate supper with his parents and then went to his and Mary's house. Those N & W calendars have sure been around awhile and they are nice. I also realized today in talking with Sweeney from work, (Sweeney is from SE Roanoke) that the address in front of Bonnie's diary is on Jamison Ave. SE in Roanoke and that is not where I remember Nanny and Grand-daddy living, so there was a move at some point I think. Also, another revelation today about the American theater. I saw some other old pictures of it today and the captions said that it was built in 1928...yet Bonnie talks about it in 1916. With a little help from the History museum of Western Virginia, I discovered that there was an original American theater whose dates match with the diary. There is a picture of it and I will try to post it later or give a link to it at least, but suffice it to say that the original one was not near as grand as the one currently pictured on this blog! We will delve into that later when we have more time and are not nearly so tired!

What's in the commode?

On Tuesday, January 4, 1916 Bonnie wrote: (Before I start today, please be advised that for some reason, I am having a really hard time making out his handwriting for today's entry, so there are a few words that I am unsure of...) Cool-Brisk. Got to office at 8:30 ahead of Capt. and Mr. Raitt. Finished writing Electrification agreements. Mrs. Raines had a sick headache. Mr. Raines went to lodge at night. Wrote for calendars. I shaved at Mrs. Raines. We ate there. Got a haircut at 6 p.m. Mr. Brown spit? in commode. So, the very first thing we have to deal with is this commode reference. First, an alternate definition for commode is a piece of furniture that is like a cabinet with drawers or shelves and I just can't read the handwriting to figure out what was in the commode. It could be spit, it could be pies, it could be put, it could be all sorts of things, but Mr. Brown has something in the commode and yes, I know there could be all sorts of jokes to be added here, but we just aren't going there. You can insert your own. This entry did confirm for me that Capt. Rowan and Mr. Raitt are co-workers and possibly bosses of Bonnie. The other word I had trouble deciphering was what I think is Electrification or Electification. I don't know what kind of agreements those would be, but the electrification seems to me to make more sense for a railroad. Sorry to hear Bonnie's mother-in-law is not feeling well. I wonder what kind of lodge Mr. Raines belonged to? That might be something to look for later. Still cold in 2010 and no sign of any warm up any time soon. Got more done at work today and getting ready to take down Christmas decorations.

Submarine Trouble

On Monday January 3, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Warm-Sultry. Got to work on time. Went by Mr. Raines for tobacco. Talked to Major Taliferro. Mr. Schick went west on #3 today. John Dillard came into the office today. Brought Mr. Schick some birds. Pres. Wilson returns to Washington from Hot Springs, VA on account of submarine trouble. I went up home for supper. gave papa 70 Cents. Came home on car. Again, it is anything but warm and sultry in 2010. (I think in yesterday's post, I was still using 2009...ooops.) It is in the teens at night and winds blowing 20-30 mph making wind chills near zero or below. I know that Taliaferro name is well known in Salem and even in Roanoke, I am guessing it may be some of the same clan. One boss, went out on a train and another came in apparently. Were birds a common gift? Did Mr. Schick collect birds? That just seems odd to me. Again, we have a World War 1 reference. I remember reading that, part of what drew the US into the war was the German submarines harassing American ships. I am guessing that is what Bonnie is referring to here and is what brought President Wilson home from a New Year's vacation early. Today we have pirates off the Somali coast who are capturing ships and crews for ransom and also a continued threat of terrorism on American airlines, this time coming from Yemen. Obama says that his administration is now focused on the terrorist threat. Why weren't we all along? It is much more of a threat to our country than Health care reform. I personally agree with recent statements from former Vice-President Cheney that the current administration does not realize that we are at war with the terrorists. I wonder why Bonnie gave his dad 70 cents? There is the street car ride home again. Good day at church today though the crowd was small due to the extreme cold. Also had a good time at the young adult Sunday School class party tonight. Back to work tomorrow. Fire safety events start to pick up. Roanoke County made it all the way through 2009 with out a fire death! Whew. The cold weather though makes for some scary situations as more people use wood stoves and things like Kerosene heaters. Please remember to keep combustibles 3 feet from the heat!

On Sunday, January 2, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Sunshine-Warm. Went up street after paper. Read at Raines until dinner. Went to Steffey's at 2 p.m. Following were pall-bearers at Mrs. Steffey's funeral: Justice Lawor died; Posey Halcomb; Wm. Moore; B.W. Elmore; Clyde Hash; Virgil Nash; Wm. Hancock. Ate Supper at Mrs. Raines and went home at 9 p.m. Introduced to Edward Burnett by Everett St. Clair. Not everything is the same as in 1916. It sure isn't warm here. It hasn't gotten out of the 20's and strong winds making it feel a lot colder. I wish I had today's paper. We have been out of town and upon our return found our Saturday paper missing, oh well. The Elmores are still dealing with the death of Mrs. Steffey and Bonnie was a pall-bearer. I suppose Justice Lawor was an honorary pall-bearer? I don't understand Grand-daddy's notes here. Other than that not a lot here in this entry. Not a lot going on here either. Got home this afternoon from Greenville, SC and are just trying to enjoy the last remaining time of holiday vacation. Back to church tomorrow, Sunday School party tomorrow night. Mom got home from Staunton too. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Elmores of 2009 as the funeral for Ed Natt was today.

What a way to start a New Year

Just a reminder that as we start the new year of this blog, we are starting back at January 1916. So, if you have been following along toward the end of the year, story lines will not continue as I do not have the diary for 1917. I hope that as we near the end of this year I will have another one for another year or I will be able to write some things about the Clingenpeel or Meyerhoeffer sides of my family, especially the Hessian history. On January 1, 1916 Bonnie wrote: Rainy. Last night, I with Ganderson & Mr. Woolridge sat up at Mrs. Steffey's wake. Ate crackers & smoked & read all night. Came home at 9 o'clock. Took a bath and shaved in afternoon. Aunt Annah, Mrs. R and I went out to Steffey's. Sent out a doz. carnations. So, it appears that 1916 did not start off so great for the Elmores. As best I can tell, a close family friend passed away and Bonnie, Mary and the rest of the family participated heavily in the grieving process. As I have often pointed out, there seem to be such similarities in what happens even though this is 90 some years later. As I write this, the Elmore family in 2010 is grieving the loss of a son-in-law, husband, and father in Ed Natt. Ed was the son-in-law of Roger, who is Bonnie's youngest son. Ed was married to Claire, who is Roger and Leah's daughter. Ed was a great guy, a good friend, and had a very witty personality. The local newspaper ran a story about Ed's death today as he was a prominent lawyer in town. He will be greatly missed. Our sympathies go out to Roger and Leah and Claire as well as our prayers. Roger is I believe a reader of this blog and has helped with some of the contributions as well. Once again, cancer has struck this family. I know 2009 had been a rough year for many people with war and bad economic conditions among other things. Hopefully, 2010 will be much better and also, hopefully we will find some gems in the diary of Bonnie in the early part of 1916. I am already looking forward to the entry of January 10, as that is when my grandmother, Annah Lee was born to Bonnie and Mary. I have some pictures at home of Annah Lee that need to be posted on here too. I will try and do that soon. We are currently in Greenville, SC visiting Beth's family. It has been a good trip and we will come home tomorrow to be ready for Sunday back at Springwood Baptist Church. May you all have a very Happy New Year in 2010.