Summary of Ebenezer SPARHAWK’s diary Year 1813

Summary of Ebenezer SPARHAWK’s diary

Year 1813

Summarized by Dorothy Mitchell McClure

Note: On the diaries. Ebenezer Sparhawk Jr. (28 May 1764 to 31 Oct 1836) of Rochester VT (here’s how he works into the family tree) kept a diary for 30 years. How Dorothy Mitchell McClure came into possession of the diaries is unknown, other than Ebenezer being gggrandfather of her husband, Albert, but they were quite delicate so she made a summary of them. The diaries were kept in a safe deposit box and I was never privileged to view them but received a copy of the summary. The style of her summarizing changes several times as it progresses, and shortly moves to being primarily direct abbreviated quotes. The transcriptions I’ve made of the summaries aren’t religiously exact as the style of summarizing was confusing at points where it was difficult to distinguish between direct quotes and what were her notations, but the transcriptions are close.

Though summaries, there are numerous accounts of transactions of various types with neighbors and others, accounts of illnesses and deaths, trading and selling of goods, mentions of town meetings, who was preaching, record of his surveying work for the towns and individuals, mixed in with notes on weather (and whether it was exceptional) and general and unusual chores.

Go to year index of the diaries.

January 1 – Being Friday – Weather for several Days something clear. Word at drawing Timber for Rails and some fire wood.

January 12 – “W. something clear went & worked with my Brother Henry drawing logs to his Mill that lay in his lot not far from the mill”

January 13 – “W. a little cloudy most of the Day my Brother Henry went with me & helped me about getting building Timber on Nathan AUSTIN’s Jmm(?) Land & drawing it out as far as John LARDs House – some time in the night my Brother H was taken with extreme pain in his left side”

January 14 – “W. clear I went & drawed Timber not knowing of my Brother till evening when I went to see him & found him in a very dangerous situation”

According to the Sparhawk genealogy Ebenezer and Azubah’s son Joseph, born August 9, 1811, died in 1813. There are no more entries in the diary for this year of 1813.

Transcribed by JMK 2003