Here’s the last page that I’ve transcribed ahead of time. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be transcribing directly from Clem Dickson’s diary, “Lest We Forget”. It’s getting pretty fragile so I hope I can work with it without causing any additional wear and tear.
Sunday, February 2, 1913
We did not get up till 830 this morning. Our morning to sleep. We had breakfast in Jenkins. Then the day’s work starts.
By the way, Karen and I went to a fundraiser at First Church in Ludlow this morning called “Ice Cream for Breakfast.” This a “really?” moment: Ice cream for breakfast? REALLY?!?!? The place was MOBBED!!! I think this will catch on….go figure!
And yes, “First Church in Ludlow” was the first church in Ludlow, MA. It was established in 1774 and the first minister was a guy named Pelatiah Chapin. By an outrageous coincidence, Rev Pelatiah turns out to be an early cousin of mine, a few times removed, of course! More on that in another post…it gets sorta interesting!
Dave, your transcription idea sounds like a great project. I’m just breaking into it, mid stream, because I just found the announcement of your blog today on GeneaBloggers.
I’ve done some transcription on family journals, myself, though none so old (so far) as to risk damaging binding. With one set of journals, I actually photocopied the material and worked from the copy, to avoid doing more damage to the original.
Looking forward to reading more!
The photocopy idea is great and one that I’ve used. However, this is a little pocket sized book about 3 1/2 by 4 1/2. Much of the script runs down toward the center and it wouldn’t copy well enough to make a difference!
My next idea is to post selected comments or brief stories from the hundreds of hours of interviews I’ve done with several family members who have since died. I have a presentation that I sometimes give as part of my genealogy class about how to get an interview with a relative… It’s not always that easy!