Gr. Grandpa Joseph Enos Diary — January 1886

 Gr. Grandpa Joseph Enos Diary — January 1886

Excerpt from My Great-Grandfather’s Diary 📖

I’m sharing excerpts from my Great-Grandfather’s diary. They may not always appear in chronological order, so please bear with me as I work through them.

He lived in Nanoose Bay, on Notch Hill, and his diary gives us a glimpse into our family’s life and history.

My Great-Great-Grandfather came from the Azores to Victoria in 1862. He later married my Songhees Great-Great-Grandmother in 1876, the same year the federal Indian Act was enacted.

The diary belonged to my Great-Grandfather. My Great-Aunt Mary eventually donated it to the Royal BC Museum. I was able to have it scanned into a PDF, and I’ve also been working from the handwritten cursive to create a hand-printed transcription so that we can actually read his words.

It feels pretty special to be able to bring these pages back into the family story, more than a century later.

More excerpts to come. ❤️

Transcription Note

Please note: These transcriptions may contain errors. I am working from handwritten cursive that is more than 140 years old, and some words, names and places are difficult to decipher. Where I’m uncertain, I’ve indicated it with [brackets] or a question mark rather than guessing.

I’m sharing these as a work in progress, and I’ll continue to correct and refine the transcriptions as I learn more.

January 1886

January 1 — Friday

Working at the barn.

January 2 — Saturday

Working around the house.

January 3 — Sunday

Freezing hard. At home.

January 4 — Monday

Working at the barn.

January 5 — Tuesday

Working at the barn.

January 6 — Wednesday

Working at the barn.

January 7 — Thursday

Frosty. Working at the barn.

January 8 — Friday

Working at the Barn.

January 9 — Saturday

Shower. Working at the barn.

January 10 — Sunday

Misty Weather. I went to Wm Jacks.

January 11 — Monday

Working at the barn.

January 12 — Tuesday

Mr. Tomas Indian Agent came settle about the estate of Indian John who died about a month ago.

January 13 — Wednesday

Fogg y weather. Sawing timber for rails.

January 14 — Thursday

About 6 inches of snow fell last night.

January 15 — Friday

Freezing hard.

January 16 — Saturday

Very cold. At home.

January 17 — Sunday

I went to Wm Roberts.

Places, People & Subjects Mentioned

Nanoose Bay · Notch Hill · Wm Jacks · Wm Roberts · Mr. Tomas · Indian Agent · Indian John

Barn · house · timber · rails · snow · estate

More excerpts from Joseph Enos's diary to come. ❤️