52 Ancestors – WEEK 7 – Letters & Diaries
By Cynthia Keefer Patton
We kept
a family daily diary when my husband Shephard Patton, Sr. and I owned a farm
and were building our life and family together. We called our place “Shady Oaks.”
We started recording the diaries in 1983 and they were something I purchased called
“Our Old-Fashioned Country Diary”. It had a place for us to write about our
expectations, record family events. I used it almost like a family bible. We
also recorded the weather, the passing of friends and neighbors, hurricanes,
crop losses, and the addition of cattle to our herd. We wrote in these for over
25 years and only stopped when my husband was battling terminal cancer.
For many years I kept these in two banker’s boxes and
carried them from house to house when I moved after relocating to the Kansas
City area. Recently I decided I should try and transcribe them. I wanted to
turn them into something I could easily share with others, while not losing the
intent and integrity of the original diaries.
As I transcribed I added footnotes, introducing each new
character and providing background to the daily entries. I found photos or illustrations
when I could. This was a labor of love. Only one diary took me several weeks to
complete.
I hope to find the time each year to continue transcribing other diaries until the set is complete and then I can donate the file to the Gulfport Historical Society and some other repositories where people named in our diaries resided.
Here is a sample of my transcription of the first few pages of the first diary:
Shady Oaks Diaries 1985-2001
The Life & Times of
Cynthia Keefer and Shephard Hamner
Patton
Hwy 53, Lyman, Mississippi
January 1st, 1985 – Little party at Mom’s[1] house, shrimp, cheese dip, Rum punch, Champagne. Kevin, Deedee, Denise, Scott, Mom, Dad, Shep & I were all there. We ate black-eyed peas, smoked turkey, pork roast, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, and plum pudding on New Year’s Day.
To start this New Year
Shep and I have decided to keep this book as a record of our life here on Shady
Oaks – Recording livestock births, deaths, purchases, etc. and keeping track of
progress made in fixing up the farm, planting gardens, etc.
Saturday, January 5th – Cows eating on winter Rye. All seem content & happy.
Monday, January 7th – Black cow (Floppy’s mother) had strange cord hanging under tail. Appears she lost a calf.
[1]
Mom is Dolores J. Mahanna Keefer, who was living at 910 Sunset Circle in
Dalton, Georgia at the time
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