Christian M. Myers (1841-1917)
Christian Myers was born in Plumsteadville to Samuel and Susanna Myers. He was educated in public school and inherited the mechanical genius of his father. He married Eliza Beidler Stover in 1863 and soon after took over her father Samuel’s Flour Mill in Pipersville, today known as the Stover Myers Mill.
Christian wrote daily in a diary. His notes do not focus on the strange and unusual moments of his life, but rather on his day-to-day activities, giving the reader a chance to walk a step in Christian's shoes. The weather was of highest import as it impacted when seeds were planted and harvests reaped. Through his brief notes we see how different chores were in 1905 from that of today: picking berries, husking, corn, butchering hogs, or making sauerkraut and cider. We also see the innovations of the day from the installation of the new trolley line to the plating of telephone poles.
January 20, 1905
"Isaac Renshimer and a whole possee of neighbors began to fill our ice house at the dam. Ice 6 in. thick...We had 7 men in the ice house to pack the ice. 16 men in all made only 6 1/2 hours of time."
January 21, 1905
"Isaac Renshimer plowed more than enough ice lose to fill the house by 9:30... Sam Walter cut ice loose as fast as they needed it. They worked from 8 am to 4 pm til when the house was full to 2 ft of square 60 cakes to a layer."
February 21, 1905
"Finest kind of Election Day. Norman and I went to the Election in fore noon."
March 8, 1905
"We had 6 weeks sleighing without intermission."
April 15, 1905
"Mrs. took 11:45 Trolley for Doylestown. Back by 3 o'clock."
May 15, 1905 and June 26, 1905
"I helped German tenant to splice all the wires and ordered him to straighten up the posts and stretch and fasten all the wires along the turnpike."
"We tore the old fence away entirely and planted 20 posts and put 4 wires on about half of it. My Tenant Mr. Crock helped about 7 hours faithful work. He and I planted 1/2 the posts and put 4 wires on that far."
July 6, 1905
"Eleanor and Roberta went with Traugers' folks for raspberries in afternoon. They got 7 quarts. They made them up in syrup and vinegar-8 Bottles.
July 10, 1905
"Delaware and Atlantic Telegraph and Telephone line man here to see at what figure I would allow to plant 16 poles and maintain the line. I told him I would take a dollar a pole. He said he would report it to the Company."
August 16, 1905
"Very heavy rain most of the night. Creek within 2 inches of the Mill floor. Normans were up all night. "
September 29, 1905
"Phares drilled Norman's wheat by 1 o'clock with Windegraves disk drill. 5 bushels wheat and 5 cut____?, 12 quarts Timothy seed. It was cut out fine in consideration of the enormous red weeds as high as a man which Phares dragged down with my heavy short linked chain."
October 14, 1905
"Made sour krout last night. A two gallon and a 1 gallon pot. Ira stomped it."
October 25, 1905
"Phares got a 100 gallons cider made from 16 sacks apples. One bottle nearly full and the 4 gallon demyjon for Horaces."
November 24, 1905
"I drove to Hellpot farm and met I.H. Renshimer there. Thye are done husking 1043 shock. 880 cubic feet sound corn and likely 1/2 ton nubbins. I brought 3 sacks nubbins home, 180 pounds."
December 18, 1905
"Normans killed 6 hogs. 1 white one for us, 1 white and 2 blacks for themselves, and two black ones for Wolf. Norman, Jonas Gruver, Milt Gehr and Phares. They did it in 3 1/2 or four hours in fore noon. Mother helped take all fat and entrails."
Happy New Year one and all! Looking forward to providing an exciting 2024 season of Historic Programming through the Decades.