A most interesting diary has come to light. Found by historian Nancy Roan, it was created by Norristown resident Mary Markley Boyer from 1839-1845. Diaries and journals, called “primary source documents,” are the gold standard in historical research. They are usually to be trusted above all other sources. There are few local primary source documents with an early date such as this one.
Mary Markley (3/19/1802-2 /27/1858), daughter of John and Elie Markley, married John Boyer in 1841. Mary Markley’s father, John Markley, was Sheriff of Montgomery County and her grandfather operated a tannery in Norristown.
Mary Markley was a descendent of immigrant Jacob Markley. Most people in this area with a Markley heritage are descendents of Jacob Markley. Born in Germany in 1701, he came to this country and married (first) Barbara Dotterer in 1722. He bought and settled on several hundred acres in Skippack. From this union there are today many thousands of descendents.
The house that Mary Markley and her husband occupied in Norristown was her father’s; in fact, she met John Boyer when he was a border in her house. We don’t know John Boyer’s occupation, but he was doubtless a professional as he wrote with a polished, educated hand.
Mary Boyer’s diary pages are interleaved into The Lady’s Annual Register, a publication which included monthly almanac pages. Pasted opposite the almanac page for each month is her diary for that month. It is primarily a record of their gardening, housekeeping, and other items thought worthy to record.
Mary and John Boyer were relatively well to do. Her family had lived for at least three generations in Norristown, the county seat. By her accounts, her house was large; she had live-in servants; entertained guests at tea; paid seamstresses to make dresses (for which she uses the English word “frock”); and she shopped in Philadelphia on occasion-not your typical Pennsylvania Dutchman (Pennsylvania German). However, the diary shows that she and her husband continued to live, in many respects, as Pennsylvania Dutch farmers did for generations: they maintained a large and varied garden and preserved produce and fruit, butchered, pickled and smoked meats in the chimney, made sour kraut, burned fat oil lamps for illumination, and in general continued the customs of Pennsylvania Dutch husbandry despite living the town life of a comfortable social class.
Town building lots in the 19th century tended to be spacious. Often 50 to 75 feet wide along the street, they extended sometimes hundreds of feet deep. The usual layout was to build the house as close to the street as possible. Somewhere in the back was a privy and then a path to a fenced garden. Behind the garden and farthest from the house and along the ally was often a livestock shed housing a few pigs and chickens. During the winter months pigs were butchered in the back yard. The gardens often included medicinal herbs, berry bushes, grape vines, hop vines as well as peach and cherry trees.
Some selected months from the diary of 1844:
January 1844: “1st of this month a delightful day/2nd of the month I received 20 dollars from my dear husband to get my teeth done up. He is very kind indeed/ 3rd of the month I commenced getting milk from Mr. Koplin/16th took our beef in the garret it being all nicely smoked in our chimney/25th took our pork out of the pickle today and hung it in the chimney except our hams and them we took to Boltons to smoke/ 30th of the month I paid my milk bill at Mr. Koplin 1$/ 31 I got my livers in pickle which I gave 25 cent a piece.
Every month she mentions her milk bill. Fluid milk was not much drunk, but milk was used in cooking and poured on many dishes at the table. Meats to be smoked were soaked in a pickling solution for some weeks prior to smoking. Beef liver was smoked and sliced thin much like dried beef of today.
March 1844: 7th of this month Jacob and I trimmed our vines and bushes within the garden. Pd. him 87 cents/11th of this month May and I dug the cabbage bed and done up the asparagus/ 14th got my teeth in pd. 20$/ Pd. Mr. Retter-for a pair of leather shoes 1$25 cts/ 11th was my dear husbands birthday. May he live to see many birthdays & enjoy good health & be happy & good/ 19th Bolton brought home our hams, pd. Him 36 cents for smoking 6 pieces/ 26th of the month paid my milk bill to Mr. Koplin 1$/ 28th cleaned the current and raspberry bushes out.
April 1844: 4th of this month commenced digging the garden/6th of this month pd. Cauffman 1$53cts. For 1 day and 3 quarters charging 87 ct. a day/9th whitewashed our fences all round the garden and yard/ 12th finished the fences today/ 14th pd Cauffman for 2&half days work 2$18 cts.-nearly all the garden made/ 18th cleaned our cellar today, looks very nice. In John Boyer’s handwriting the following-April 26 1844 Sassafras in full bloom/ May 1st 1844 The Dogwood Trees & the May Apple (Podophyllum Pettatun) in full bloom).
July 1844: 3rd of this month put up 16 lbs of currents for pies/4th made 4 pints of jelly/5th of this month pulled up our onions/ 6th of this month paid my milk bill 1$51 cts/ 7th planted our first row of celery in the garden/ (month incomplete)
September 1844 (incomplete): 12th I pickled my onions/ Tuesday Sept. 10 took down our hops.
To be continued next weekThe Historian is produced by the New Hanover Historical Society. Call Robert Wood at 610-326-4165 with comments.