Aug 17th Tuesday Starched my clothes and about
eleven Oclock was setting the table to iron
when Mother & Alsons wife came and
I put them by. Have ironed them this after
noon in the dining room with Mrs Stevens
Henrietta Augusta & Abby sitting around
Mrs Ames & Witherell called
The Ameses had made a decision to send Oakes Angier to Vermont for a rest, and Evelina was to accompany him on the trip. Also accompanying them would be Sarah Lothrop Ames and her two teenaged children, Fred and Helen, as well as the visiting Almira Ames.
Gathered around Evelina in the afternoon were many of her usual companions: her sister-in-law Henrietta Williams Gilmore, her nephew’s wife, Augusta Pool Gilmore, her niece Abigail Williams Torrey, her guest Mrs. Stevens, and her nearest sisters-in-law, Sarah Witherell and Sarah Ames. The looming expedition must have been the topic of conversation among the women as they sat and watched Evelina iron her clothes on the dining room table. (No ironing boards yet!) The conversation might have roamed from concern for Oakes Angier to curiosity about the travel arrangements.
That the travel ahead of Evelina was serious is indisputable; it involved the well-being of her eldest son. Yet there had to be an element of adventure in the plans. They’d be traveling across Vermont, visiting places that Evelina may never have seen. They’d be seeing relatives and friends, too, which may be the element that enticed Sarah Lothrop Ames and her two children to join the expedition.
