David Shultze, a farmer and surveyor who lived in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, kept a journal of his daily activities. This note reviews his activities in the year 1750 (using the new style calendar in which the New Year starts on January 1). His surveying activities are not mentioned.
January. 4-5: Threshed grain.
[It is a surprise to modern people, especially those who have farm experience,
that threshing occurs in the winter. Harvesting grains took place in the
summer, but threshing was a winter activity. The grain was stored in the
barn. Threshing, by use of a flail, and winnowing took place in the winter.]
January 9: Made a log sled.
[Many farmers did not have a wagon.]
January 11: Winnowed grain.
[Had to wait for a windy day to winnow.]
January 13: Manured the stables.
[I would understand this better if he had said "de-manured" the stables.]
January 15: the first lamb was born.
[Early!]
January 15, 16, 18, 19, 20: Cleared forest.
January 22, 23: Finished threshing wheat and got 87 bushels in all.
[There would be a surplus for sale. How many acres did this take? Three?]
January 24: Butchered a calf.
[Probably consumed as fresh meat, perhaps some traded to a neighbor.]
January 25: Hemp plucked.
[I am not familiar with the processing of hemp.]
January 26: Carried firewood.
[Perhaps he used the log sled.]
January 29: Cut wood.
[No chain saws here, old fashioned crosscut saws and axes.]
January 30: Nailed clapboards on.
[Perhaps he was putting a finishing touch on the house.]
January 31: Butchered the old sow--only 104 pounds of meat.
February 3: Manured the stables.
February 5,6,7: Finished threshing grain.
February 10: Butchered a calf.
February 13: Oats threshed, also on the 19th.
February 24: Manured the stables.
February 27: Cleansed oats.
February 28: Threshed grain.
March 1: Threshed oats.
March 3: Cleansed 16 bushels (oats) for seed.
March 6: Made reals (rails) for fencing.
March 7: Wood carried, etc.
March 8,9: Cut rails of wood.
March 10: Cleaned the stables.
March 13-17: Made rails.
March 20, 22, 23: Kitchen garden fence repaired.
March 24: Plucked hemp.
March 26: Made rails.
March 28, 29: Sowed 100 perches with flaxseed.
March 30,31: Two more quarters of flaxseed sown.
(to be continued)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.