William Massie: "Weather Memorandum Book", 1858-1860

Containers:

Box 2

Scope and content:

Bound volume, 117 pages, approximately 14x20 cm, with penciled annotation that it was William Massie's book for Pharsalia, Nelson Co., and a notation on the inside cover that it later belonged to Florence Massie Mortone, Lynchburg, Va. The volume contains manuscript daily logs for weather, including temperatures, from 1858 January 1 through 1860 December 31. There are some references to enslaved people but it is generally not very detailed in that regard. Some days include comments on activities on the plantation, such as crop harvesting, hog slaughter, or the travels of different family members, and sometimes other topics on Massie's mind, similar to a diary entry. For example: "O if the political horizon was as clear as the Heavenly, how happy we might all be, but in the latter, the potential gloom over hangs us. O Heavenly Father watch over us, direct us right, and preserve us from infuriated fanaticism North, and fire eating South" (1860 Dec. 29).

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