1852
July 19th Monday Hannah & Mary both washed again
to day and I was fussing about house all
the forenoon How is it that I do not accom
plish more? I try but somehow I get but
very little done. I have commenced trimming
the sleeves to my borage dress. It is going
to be something of a job to finish my dress
yet Uncle Ephraim called to see about Mrs Ames again
After a string of warm days, this start to a new week “was fair rather cool.”* While the servants did the laundry, Evelina was “fussing about house.” She also fussed at herself for not getting things done. “I try” she writes in frustration, feeling that she failed to meet her own standards. Her response to this perception was typical: she picked up her sewing needle and went to work.
Who was this Uncle Ephraim who called? There were at least two men in the Bridgewater area at this time named Ephraim Ames, and none named Ephraim Gilmore or Ephraim Lothrop. It appears that a distant Ames relative may have been the man who kept calling “to see about Mrs Ames again.” The Mrs. Ames in question was most likely the visiting Almira Ames, widow of cousin George Ames. Had she sparked a romantic interest in this eager caller?
*Oliver Ames, Journal, Stonehill College Archives, Arnold Tofias Collection
evelinaames 