About

This blog is mainly taken from my Great Grandfather's diary. In 2012 we are in the year 1915, after completing 1916 in 2010 and 1927 in 2011. 1915 is the year that my Great Uncle Norman was born. 1927 is the year that my Great Uncle Roger, was born. 1916 was the year that my grandmother, Annah Lee was born.

My Great-Grandfather's name was Bonnie Elmore and he worked as a clerk or secretary for the old Norfolk & Western Railroad, based in Roanoke, VA. Mary is his wife. Norman is their first born son. The Raines are Mary's parents. Skin is Bonnie's brother along with Jake.

Bonnie's work associates and friends are also mentioned quite a bit. Bonnie does a great job of blending everyday life in 1915 with the mention of some world and USA history as well. I do know from a quick glance ahead that 1915 is going to be quite different as Bonnie did not write quite as much.

After Bonnie's diary entry, I will occasionally make comments, maybe tell a little about life in 2012, possibly some current events, and some musing about the Christian faith.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Suicide by Acid

On Friday, December 1, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cold, Windy. Arose at 7:45. Made a fire. Paid some bills. Got my checque cashed. Mary got a ham from Sam Thompson today. Deposited $5.00 in the bank today. Talked to Wooldridge (sp?), Walter Obenchain committed suicide by drinking Carbolic Acid. Paid some bills. Mrs R and Mrs. Leslie and Lavonia Drewry came down today. I shaved after supper. Capt. Rowan came to the office. Wow. The most shocking thing in today's entry is that a friend or acquaintance of Grand-daddy's actually committed suicide by drinking Carbolic acid. How terrible. It makes me think that terrible things happened in 1916 just like they do today. The only difference is that in today's world information travels so much more quickly and there is just SO MUCH information that we hear about a lot more than we used too. Bonnie mentions paying bills twice today, maybe he had a lot of bills, but he did still have $5 to put in the bank. I wonder if Sam Thompson was Sam the butcher? As Grand-daddy records making a fire every morning it reminds me that home heating is a leading cause of fires especially during the months of December, January and February. If you heat with a wood stove or a fire place please be careful. If you use a space heater of any kind be sure and keep combustibles at least 3 feet from the heat! There is a song and a dance that goes along with 3 feet from the heat, but I will spare you the torture.
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