Manuscript diary of Marietta Chase, of Lansing, Tompkins County, New York.
[Diaries] Chase, Mariette. Manuscript Diary. 1885-1886.
12mo.; 408 manuscript pages, bound in brown cloth, pocket diary flap binding, binding somewhat worn, written in ink, in a legible hand, one page per day, entries dated 1 Jan 1885 to 15 May 1886 (she uses the memorandum and cash accounts sections to continue the diary into 1886 (1 Jan-15 May).
The diary shows the day to day activities of Marietta Chase. She turns twenty-five years old on March 15th, 1885 and is still single, although she has a man in mind, George Strong, who she eventually marries in 1887. Marietta helps her father around the farm. There is not that much mention of other siblings, although she had some, so perhaps they were married and out of the house. Her father appears to be a bit overbearing; several times Marietta recounts her father scolding her for minor things. Marietta is big on sewing, constantly making things, in particular quilts and things for her mother.
Marietta “Bella” Chase was born on 15 March 1860 at Homer, Courtland County, New York. She was the daughter of farmer David Wesley Chase (1827-1905) and his wife Phebe Ann Howe (1823- 1901), he of Cortland County, his wife a native of Tompkins County, New York.
Marietta’s parents married on 10 December 1846. Phebe Ann Howe, Marietta’s mother, was the daughter of Martin Howe (1789-1865) and Zillah Buck (1788-1862). Martin’s father Timothy Howe (1754-1829) had come to Cayuga County, New York from Middlesex County, Massachusetts, after the Revolutionary War, which he had served in and received a pension. He moved to Tompkins County about 1805. Marietta’s father’s family came from Connecticut and Vermont.
Marietta’s father David Wesley Chase, besides running a farm, also ran an auction business out of his house, rearranging furniture when he would have a “vendeu.” These actions are mentioned in the diary. A couple of years after writing this diary, Marietta married on 10 November 1887 George Hewitt Strong (1863-1949), a farmer, originally of Genoa, Cayuga County, New York. George Strong is mentioned in the diary. The couple had at least two children: Delight Ann Strong and Jerome Wesley Strong. Marietta Chase Strong died on 29 January 1938 at Lansing, Tompkins County, New York.
(#4657233)
Print Inquire
