LABOR DAY, 1904

Due to 13-year-old Charlie Bullis's three entries in his diary for September 5, 1904, we know what the Bullis Family was doing on Labor Day 117 years ago:

"Clarence plowed for wheat and papa fixed the roof for sheet iron on the west side of the house. "

"The weather was nice."

"12 skelletins were dug out on emery bealses."

These entries tell us a number of things about the Bullises:

First, they were farmers and no matter what the holiday, they did the chores that needed to be taken care of on the farm.

Second, they maintained the condition of their houses and farm buildings "around the place" with routine upkeep.

Third, they maintained contact with their neighbors, and also appeared to take in stride the discovery of skeletons on the Beals' place.

Last ... Happy Labor Day, 2017!

(Oh -  by the way  -  if any of you have any information you want to share about the Emery Beals family and/or the identity of the skeletons found in 1904, we'd love to hear from you!)

LOOKING BACK

It's Labor Day weekend once again - the end of summer holidays. For those of you who are feeling a bit of regret that another vacation season has passed, we offer you this photo of Fourth Lake in the Adirondacks as a way of easing that loss a bit.

We also suggest that you look back in this blog to these previous postings: October 23, 2008 and January 22, 2009.  These postings list Bullis books about the Adirondack area.

And please remember - there's always another season to enjoy the outdoors ... and the Bullis books. Volunteers are hoping to see you soon.

LABOR DAY(S)

In 1894, the year after Nettie Bullis was born, Labor Day was designated a federal holiday and observed with street parades honoring labor organizations and festivals for workers and their families. From what we know of the Bullis family, we wonder if they would have taken part in these festivities. Perhaps they did. Or, perhaps they stayed home and read some of their books on the subject. Here are a few they had to choose  from.

1) An Introduction to the Study of Organized Labor in America by George Gorham Groat, published in 1920.

2) Rural Letters and Other Records of Thought at Leisure, Written in the Intervals of More Hurried Literary Labor by Nathaniel Parker Willis, published in 1849.

3) Narrative of Sojourner Truth: a bondswoman of olden time, emancipated by the New York Legislature in the early part of the present century. With a history of her labors and correspondence drawn from her "Book of Life" by Sojourner Truth,  published in 1875.

Our choice of reading is the last book listed.   In next week's post we'll share some fascinating things about this book and its remarkable author.

(Just an aside - when we searched the Bullis Books data base for "labor," one of the results was David Copperfield, which of course is another wonderful read...but perhaps not for a "day off.")