Old Diaries online

All Things Maine wrote about several old Aroostook County diaries being posted online. The diaries offer an interesting glimpse into Maine life 100+ years ago.

In Diary of an 1892 Farmer's Wife, blogger Herrick Kimball discovers his great, great grandmother. He writes:

As I read the 1892 diary, I began to learn about this ancestor who I
previously knew absolutely nothing about. I discovered that, within
the constraints of only a few words each day, Josephine could not
elaborate. Nevertheless, as the chronicle of days and months and
years pass, a life story develops. Because of the lack of details,
the story is something of a puzzle. It can only be assembled by
understanding the historical setting (more about this later), the
cultural context, picking up little clues in the entries, reading
"between the lines," and employing some imagination.

Years ago, I lived in Aroostook County, in Presque Isle and then in Bridgewater, so I am quite familiar with the towns mentioned in these diaries. In many ways, Aroostook County has hardly changed from those times.