Freegift Wells page 3
29 Oct Bottomed a chair and stuffed it with fine shavings.
31.0ct Getting material for tubs and tanks for new washhouse. Hunted out a
wagonload of plank and boards to take to Albany to have planed.
In evening met in deaconesses' room "with the head women' to consult about
the washhouse conveniences.
1 Nov Went to Albany to find wide plank for boiling tubs and to get brass screws
and hinges for covers.
25 Nov "Puttied 96 panes of glass, then got Jim and his wagon and went up beyond
the blackberry hill to a pile of turnips in the woods covered up with
straw; they were brought from the river where they were raised. I filled
4 barrels with them and brought them home and put them in the cellar.
After tliis I cleaned out my shop stovepipe and drum which was considerably
filled with soot.
22 Dec "Went to the mill this a.m. and buzzed out 100 pins and some tops and bottoms
for my boys boxes and, feeling quite poorly, having a hard headache, I did
but little more through the day. Near supper time I started for the house
and was taken with a heavy chill and had about as much as I could do to
reach the physician's kitchen. I there wanned myself by the stove till I
got over it but it was not thought prudent to go to the house so they made
a fire in one of the sickrooms and I stayed all night." (ty-y^ ^^-)

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1860
10 Jan "Made me a new leather apron and altered my old one for Thomas.
20 Jan Chouring all day and new applications (to have repairs done) are made faster than I am
able to adjust the old ones.
21 Jan Went to the mill and moved some planed plank and divided some whitewood coffin boards
between us and the 2d Order.
3 Feb "Thomas stayed away from school to help me saw staves. .." 45 of them, 4 ft. long, for
a tub or cistern to hold 300 gai. or more.
4 Apr "In afternoon went to mill and sawed out 8 table legs 3" square at top and 1 3/4" at
bottom, near 3 ft. long and cornered them all ready for the lathe, in 12 minutes. "
7 Apr Wade pinboards for John Curtis at brick house in Niskayuna and set 27 pins In them.
Thomas's mother came to see him and he gave her a dovetailed box with a slide cover
which he made.
10 Apr Have been setting glass for Niskayuna "white house."
18 Apr Thomas has been to the river farm today helping the boys set outbnions and 1 have been
writing--wrote 15 pages quarto.
3 May "Ihave been cleaning the currant and raspberry bushes from 4 sq. rods of ground which
Br. Austin gave me for melons adjoining the hen yard and we burned up all the brush."
4 May Moved all the meeting room sashes andfc lindsinto our room and had themcleaned and
put them in again.
23 May "inbfternoon holed out my melon patch, had 33 hills. Put near a pint ofcry ashes in the
bottom of the hill, wellscatteredjabout, then a small shovel of scrapings from the sheep
yard and by thisjrime I ^o-rverytired. We dressed 300 poggies this morning."
24 May "Put a sprinkling of soot on top of the sheep yard scrapings and thenplanted my melon
seeds, then covered them with dirt and put on a little more soot. Planted 4 hills of
citrons, 26 of watermelons, and then 4 hills of Christianas. "
4 June This morning found nearly all our melons were destroyed under ground by some grub or
insect. We therefore dug all the hills open and manured them with hops and planted
them over again and then gave every hill a good sprinkling with flour of suifur.
8 June "Went up to the mill and hunted up a piece of pine to make a block to press the crowns
of bonnets on and began to work it, but it is a badjob, yet as it Is forEldress Sally and
Sister Naomi itmust be done."