111 Years Ago Today

This past week was another busy one in the Bullis Room.   Staff and volunteers covered books,  researched various topics, transcribed documents,  did some shelf reading, and - in honor of Women's History Month - presented a program on Notable Women in the Bullis Collection.   (If you missed this stellar presentation, there will be another program offered the last of this month -- more info to follow.)

And ... while looking through some documents connected to Charlie and Nettie Bullis, we focused on some of Charlie's diaries. Here are the entries that 15-year-old Charlie Bullis wrote the first week of April, 111 years ago.  We found them interesting and informative ... and a bit nostalgic at times.   The  entries also brought a number of questions to mind, including:

1) Did sibling rivalry cause 13-year-old Nettie to plant 51 tomato seeds on April 2, one more than her brother did the day before?    

2)  Has our local weather pattern changed much from 1906, going from fair on April 5 to 2 inches of snow on April 6? 

3) Did the Bullis hens stop laying eggs halfway through the week? Or did Charlie neglect gathering and/or recording the results?   

Anyway ... we hope you enjoy reading these diary entries as much as we did.

SUNDAY APRIL 1 1906

                                                            Eggs  12

Dryer & Kemp were here              

I planted 50 tomato seeds

The weather is pleasant

warm and sunshiny

there is only a little snow

left in drifts

MONDAY APRIL 2 1906

                                                            Eggs  5

The weather was pleasant                     

warm & sunshiny

papa had business to the village

nettie planted 51 tomato seeds

TUESDAY APRIL 3 1906

                                                            Eggs  8

Papa went to mill                                  

The weather was pleasant

warm and sunshiny

John Myers came and

promised to go to work

tommorrow.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 4 1906

                                                            Eggs  12 

It rained hard in the                              

afternoon  It was cloudy

and the wind blew most

all day  papa drew 3 loads

of manure then went to

rochester  John did not

show up till night

Thursday APRIL 5, 1906

                                                           

We killed & sold 6 roosters

papa & John drew manure

It rained this evening

the weather was fair but

cloudy all day

Friday APRIL 6, 1906

It snowed last night

and this morning so that

the ground was covered

2 inches thick but the sun

came out and melted it

all  John drew manure

Saturday April 7 1906

John and papa drew manure Mama went

to aunt genies on the 4.23

it was cloudy all day  and it

sprinkled some about three
and hailed a little snow

THE ROBIN

Today is sandwiched in between yesterday's Earth Day and tomorrow's Arbor Day. We celebrate these two occasions by sharing with you Charlie Bullis's poem "written and read Arbor Day, May 4, 1906," when he was 14 years old.

THE ROBIN, by C. R. Bullis

In the bright days of early spring
A robin from the south took wing
Thrilled by memories of the past
He flew to the north straight and fast
Through the pale ethereal blue
Unto his native land he flew
Through the bright day and starlit night
He proceeded in his long flight.
At last all wearied from his flight
As the first rays of the sun's light
Appeared over the eastern hill
At home on a pine he sat still.
For a few weeks he flew about
In every tree and bush and out
And in the balmy evening air
His song resounded clear and fair
And floated up to the pale moon
And died away very much to soon.
His singing soon brought him a mate
And they sang together in state
On a swaying evergreen bough
Never chriping his song enow
Until warmer the day did grow
Melting away the lingering snow
And birds became more numerous
The robins grew less humorous
They worked two or three bright days
And constructed a little maze
Of dry grass interlocked and round
With fine feathers all lined and downed
They constructed their little nest
On a brace high above their pest
The cat that goes prowling around
And catches young birds near the ground
Soon two little blue eggs were laid
In the warm nest all in the shade
In due time the blue eggs were hatched
The robins taking turns to scratch
And sit and search for grubs and slugs
And juicy angle worms and bugs
It was a busy time indeed
With two small gaping mouths to feed
But the robins tended them well
And their forms began to swell
When the sweet hay was being mown
I looked and the young birds had flown.