I recently obtained a copy of a diary written in 1895 by a 36-37 year old woman who spent most of that year in the areas of Wolcott, Owasco, and Lyons/Phelps NY. The diary offers quite a bit of insight into the life of a woman at that time, as the author included many details of personal events and thoughts. These personal comments were written by the author in code and were interspersed with the less personal accounts of her daily life. I have transcribed this fascinating diary and it can be accessed at the link I will provide below. I have no real idea as to the identity of the author but a couple clues are listed below (there are more on the webpage): 1. Her first name was Effie (known because diary is inscribed as being a Xmas present from Jennie to Effie). 2. She was born on June 27, 1858 (according to entry on 6/27/1895 when she turns 37 years old) and was fairly well educated judging from her spelling which was often excellent (including very complicated words…though others she mangled quite badly). 3. Mother/Brother/Aunts&Uncles lived in Owasco NY 4.Uncle James DePuy turned 78 on December 13, 1895 (born 1817) 5.Lived in Wolcott with Jennie (who gave her the diary), Jennie's husband John, and Bessie (believed to be their daughter) 6. Lived in Phelps/Lyons area with Annie and husband Charlie. These may be Annie Van Etten and her husband Charles L. Harmon, since the descriptions of the death of Wells Hornbeck seem to refer to his wife, Jamina Van Etten, as Aunt Jamina 7. May be related to the Snyder's mentioned throughout the diary (Horace, Isaac, Grace) since she talks about going with Snyder's to a reunion at Bonney Castle The author clearly had a checkered history when it came to past loves. Two men from the past are mentioned very frequently in her private coded entries. These are Byron Burnett and Jasper Blake. Sometimes they are even mentioned together in a single coded entry such as this from November 10, 1895 (by the way, 'Hores' in this entry is likely Horace Snyder who is frequently mentioned in the diary but whose first name she just couldn't seem to spell): "AH WHEN I READ JASPERS LETTERS IT DOES NOT SEEM POSIBLE HE COULD BE FALCE TO ME AS ALL THINGS SEEMES THAT HE IS. BUT SUCH IS MY FATE. HORES CAME GO HERE 7 P.M. MY WHAT IS BYRON THINKING OF THIS NIGHT. I AM SORRY TO THINK I MADE HIM FEEL SAD. DEAR BYRON." On September 26, she notes that: "TODAY IS THE 5 ANNAVERSARY OF JTB MARRAGE WITH ME.", which would appear to indicate that she was married to Jasper. However, she also references a 'Mack or Mackey' and on December 31, 1895 states (miscodings included): " THUS ONO MORE YEAR HAS GON FOR ME. Just 4 years today since I took the NAME OF MC*AY FOR WELL I CAN NOT SAY AND TODAY IM ALL ALONE O SO ALONE BUT IT IS BEST IT IS AS IT IS FOR I HOPE HE IS HAPPY UP ABOVE. Did not go to Aunties today for the first time since I have been over here, but the wind did blow just dreadful. SOME SUCH A DAY AS 4 YEARS AGO AH HOW DIFFERENT THE TIME. O MY." Within this entry, the words in capitals were written in code and unfortunately, she used a symbol never used elsewhere in the entry in spelling the name she took four years prior. As usual, she included at least one sentence that was not written in code within the entry talking about her not visiting her aunt. She also had a romance with a man named George Fulton during September/October of 1895 which is discussed quite poignantly in her entries such as this one from October 3: " GEORGE BROUGHT ME SOME OF THE MOSTE DELICOUS GRAPES I EVER ATE. AH WILL I EVER FORGET HOW HAPPY HE DID LOOK AS HE HELD ME IN HIS LOVEING CLASP AND ONE OF THE DEAREST TIMES HE CUT A LOCK FROM MY HEAD AND I CUT A LOCK FROM HIS HEAD THAT IS VERY PRESIOUS TO ME." Anyways, I'd be very curious as to whether anyone can help me identify more about the author of this diary or any of the people in it. There are hundreds of names in it with some of the main ones being Bennett, Snyder, Burnett, Olmstead, Hornbeck, Campbell, Glympse, McQueen, and many many more. The diary can be accessed through my Transcription webpage at the following link (its listed under the Diary's entry): http://members.aol.com/stlawrencehist/index.HTM For those on AOL the following clickable link may work: <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/stlawrencehist/index.HTM">Index of A. Cady's Online St. Lawrence County Genealogy Data</A> My main area of interest is St. Lawrence County NY, but when I found this diary in code I couldn't resist buying it and figuring out what it contained. Thanks for listening and sorry for being so long in this note. Anne Cady Manassas, VA