Journaling for a New Year

January 1, 1856: “Sunrise -8 degrees . . . Sundown 14 degrees. A Happy New Year! 2150 miles from my former home.” This is how Isaac Goodnow, a resident of Kansas Territory described New Year’s Day in his diary.

I wanted to start the new year off with the first in a regular Wednesday blog. After a busy autumn traveling in Kansas on book tour, I have settled down for a bit and wanted to share some diary entries from some Kansas “friends.”

John Henry Deering, a favorite from my Kansas research, had a very busy New Year’s Day in 1858. He wrote that he got up at sunrise, had corn cake bread and sorghum for breakfast, then walked to the store and finished writing diary entries for the year. That was just in the morning! Later he helped guard the polls for Election Day. Ready to celebrate, he then walked two miles to attend a dance, getting there early to “get the hang of the school house.” Dancing went on until dawn, with dinner served at midnight.

You can read more about New Year’s celebrations and other holidays in Hope Amid Hardship.

How wonderful that we have these records of pioneer life. Your day may not have been as busy as John Deering’s, but it IS a great day to start a journal. Or, if you already journal, add some illustrations or color to your stories.