Sat Sept 4th Made Sponge cake & gingerbread
and about ten Started to go to Mothers
Dined there and after dinner went to
Raynham after Mrs Stevens. Stopt at
her brothers awhile and called at the door
at Aunt John Gilmores & Aunt Othniels
found Widow Henry Gilmore there. Came
back to tea at Alsons. Stopt at Sam Wilbers
and got some cooking apples
After some early morning baking, Evelina traveled south to Raynham, stopping along the way to have midday dinner at the family farm with her mother, Hannah Lothrop Gilmore. It was “a fair day + little cooler,”* so a pleasant day to be out for a carriage ride. Evelina rode on to the home of her friend, Mrs. Stevens, whose company she had enjoyed previously over the course of this diary, and picked her up to return to Easton for a visit.
Before driving north, Evelina and her friend visited more relatives. They went to see Mrs. Steven’s brother, then stopped off to see a few Gilmore relatives, all widows. Aunt John Gilmore and Aunt Othniel (Sally Buffington Gilmore) were the elderly, long-time widows of Evelina’s father Joshua’s brothers, while young Mrs. Henry Gilmore (Adaline Bramen Gilmore) had lost her husband unexpectedly only a few months earlier. Members of this Gilmore clan were descendants of James and Thankful Gilmore who had settled in the area in the 1700’s.
The day not through, the ladies rode back to the farm and had tea with Alson and his family. A last stop was made for cooking apples. It was the start of apple harvest.
*Oliver Ames, Journal, Stonehill College Archives, Arnold Tofias Collection
evelinaames 