Tidbits from the journalJennie Ann MarshallBorn: December 24, 1899 Died: November 17, 1940 Married Harry Whitacre King: July 15, 1925, at Harvard Hill, Ill. Jennie's journal begins with the entry: "Ma 1 Went to school" and ends with a date of Feb 26, but no entry for that page. There are nine empty pages following that last entry. In the journal entries, Jennie mentions going to church on May 7, 14, 21, and August 6th These all fell on Sundays in 1916 and but not again until 1922. Jennie was really fond of musical performances and her journal is full of playbills, announcements for musical performances, and the like, which have not be included on the webpage. To whatever extend possible, I have left Jennie's spelling and punctuation as she wrote her entries. (Which is not to say that these transcriptions are anything more than an attempt to decipher her handwriting. Corrections welcome.) The following entries are those I thought told us something about Jennie during her 2nd and 3rd years in High School. Remember that her mother, Ann, died in January of 1915, and Jennie, as his only surviving daughter, was her father's youngest and favorite at this point, having lost his older daughter, Eliza, to typhoid in 1907 at the age of 21. Anyone willing to transcribe more pages is welcome to send them to me for inclusion below.
May 1 went to school and stay all night at Maurine's. Went to social at M.E. Church. Done English after We went to bed and had a nice little confidence. Maurine snores. May 2 unable to get up until 8:00. Emily comes to school with a new dress. Ethel Parker, "I don't know what his kiss means" Why Ethel!! [1] Chorus practice met Mrs. Roberts and like her very much. May 6 Club met at Rudolph Phil's. I had a Dutch Wedding and we played outdoors. [2] May 18 Stayed with Mrs. Evans and went to the movies. "Daughter of the Sea" [3] June 2 ... Party at Dorothy King's. July 5 Day after the night before July 7 Drove on hayfork July 8 Drove on hayfork July 9 Went to Franklin Grove with Whipple had two blowouts and a leaky valve. [4] July 26 Ladies Aid but didn't go. Mary Van Dusen, Ruth Swanson, Marie Sjemsland(sp?) and Harris Sibley were here. Went to ice cream social uptown and to the movies "The Scarlet Road". July 29 Went to town. Moves "Saved by a Song" and "From Beauty to Billions". Elizabeth came to stay. Aug 6 went to church The following are entries for a trip Jennie made to the east cost the summer of 1917. They are the only true "diary" entries in the journal. As such, they have been transribed in their entirety, as have the entries that end the journal.. Aug 7 worked hard all day and started for New York at night Aug 8 traveled all day left Chicago 11:45 p.m. Arrived at Buffalo about 3:00 PM. arrived Niagara Falls about 4:00 PM. got rooms at Mrs. Highlands 366 1st Street changed clothes and to supper at Coffey's then to the falls oh, how wonderful! it would be useless to try to describe anything so beautiful. we are going to bed now Aug 9 got up about 9:00 (central time) breakfasted at Coffey's. went on car to Canada and saw beautiful Falls. to top of building and registered. went under the falls and got wet got off at whirlpools but nothing doing in those cars. return to United States on Gorge Belt Road. had ice cream and cake for dinner. went to Shredded Wheat Biscuit factory. sat in park and Papa slept. went down to the falls and out on the beach and climbed over rocks and put my hand in the river. climbed 26 flights of stairs. had supper. bought some Souvenirs of the falls come home and are going to retire Aug 10 started for Uncle Joe's in Morn. at Buffalo a nice looking young man got on. Of course, I didn't flirt because mein vater war da! Otto and Uncle Joe, Catherine, and Ziona [5], met me at depot we saw and saw scenery. Drove around Cornell University. went to Hartford and just put on a bungalow apron when Mr. Weddle and Mr. Young came. I changed into my voile [6] and descended to parlor. told Mr. Weddle about Niagara and gave him Mrs. Hyland. he said he intended to visit the place. he pronounced my conversation fascinating. Aug 11 Mr. Weddle came over and and we sang. he helped me yell "Sucker Land" my birthplace, his is Buckeye. Mr. Young has pretty hair but he is not so nice as Mr. Weddle. Aug 12 Mr. Weddle discerned my eyes were blue and I that his were gray when we were singing. a mere accident not intentional. Aug 13 saturday. we went to Port Office and the clerk tried to flirt. I bought postage stamps and wrote to RJ. Aug 14 went to church. The boys sang behinds [sic] us girls and so me lead the singing at dinner. Mr. Young out ate my pie he said to call him Ditty and I take the privilege. he called me "Jennie Sunshine" He spoke at the meeting very earnestly. He spoke and gave fine example in Epworth League. [7] Aug 15 we went to the top of Dep's hill and had a fine view. Aug 16. Went to Ithaca and on the lake in the motorboat. we ate we ate dinner on Shore and then Otto and I met went in wadding. We saw an aeroplane so we raced back and went over and saw it closely. Mr. and Mrs. Weddle came over with Mr. Weddle and Ditty. I was very demure Mr. Weddle said he would not call again so I invited him to come and see us and he accepted if he ever came west. Ditty held my hand and when he said goodbye he said he might come out and work in this country. I doubt. Aug 17 tomorrow we leave here. How can I part with my twin! [8] We went to Syracuse in auto and had a pile of blowouts. Mr. Weddle and Ditty did come and they wanted (the old folks) to go to bed but I wouldn't. I renewed my invitation. Aut 18 Started for New York. Aug 19 Met Mr. Moore. Went home with him. At breakfast I met their son Mr. James K Moore Jr. Mr. Moore went with us around the city sightseeing. Mr. Moore Jr. took us out at night. We retired when Mr. Moore returned from the club. Aug 20 we took the Washington Irving up the Hudson to Newburg. We found the Misses Bonds and got a cordial welcome. After resting we had supper and then took the car for the park. the lake was beautiful by the moonlight. We saw the free movies and then went to the dance pavilion. Aug 21 Went to St George's Church in morning and Washington's headquarters. in the afternoon we went to the home of my great-grandfather Westlake. I saw the hard-earned fireplace and all the old house where mother's father was born. at night we went to Gardentown Church. Aug 22 We started for Washington D.C. We had to run to catch the train as I bought some clothing. We arrived at Washington about 10 o'clock and took rooms at the golden eagle. Aug 23 We went to the capital first and then took a train for Mount Vernon. The view of General Washington's old home on the Potomac River was grand. the old Garden was fine. after returning we went to the White House. then we bought some souvenirs and returned to the hotel. We took the train home. Aug 24 Home sweet home. arrived dirty. Aug 25 Rudolph came to see me. Aug 27 we went to town with RJ he he said "farewell" and I cried. not because I liked him but because I was mad because I hadn't said it Thursday night. Discontinued [sic] Went to Uncle George's for Thanksgiving Sat[urday] before Xmas we ate dinner at Grandpa Marshall. Christmas Day I saw Mary Pickford in "Little Pepina". [9] (Next page half empty at the top) Feb 16, 1917. I was sick so didn't go to school. Feb 17 everybody cross as bears and short as an inch. Meryl woke up and found himself a man! I don't know what to do. I wish my old pal mar hier.[sic - in German?] later: Marie came up to supper we had oysters. I sized my waist. Maurine called up twice today. It is reported that scarlet fever is in town. No school for a week. We just went next mousing, killed two. Feb 26. (no entry)
Footnotes
[1] A newspaper snippet found in Jennie's diary reads: "Word has been received in Sycamore of the announement of Miss Ethel Paaske or Hebron, formerly of this city, to Mr. Hale Mershaw of Chicago, formerly of Rockford. Mr. Mershow is a successful automobile salesman." [2] A Dutch wedding is the name of a game that is described (1936) as follows: The game ... begins in this wise: A girl sits down on the floor and chooses a male partner to sit beside her. Then he chooses another girl ... and so on until all the players are seated on the floor so as to form a circle. Then the first girl holds a dime between her lips, and passes it to her partner who must receive it with his lips. ... Then he passes it on to the next girl, and so forth. If the coin is dropped it must be returned to the original player, and started on its course anew. [3] Daughter of the Sea (Spanish: La hija del mar) is a 1917 Spanish silent film directed by Adriá Gual. It was based on a play by Angel Guimerá. [4] The Whipple's were a Sycamore family. Seven of them are in the Charter Grove Cemetery. [5] Ziona was Jennie's cousin on the Westlake side and her life long best friend. Otto was Ziona's brother, Uncle Joe their father. See the "Dorothy Ann King Photo Book" for photos. [6] Traditionally voile is a sheer soft fabric, usually made from cotton but it may be blended with linen or wool. The name comes from the French meaning veil. Often it has a higher thread count that gives it a soft hand and sheen that mimics silk. [7] Founded in 1889, the Epworth League is a Methodist young adult association for people aged 18 to 35.
[8]Ziona
[9]
Poor Little Peppina- 1916
Epilogue
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Pages from the journalWritten between 1916 and 1917
These pages below are presented in ordered pairs.
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Bruce Jones
sugagaki@gmail.com