Vincent DeLong's Diary of 1864

Memoranda (first end page)

(There are four Memoranda pages at the end of the diary in which Vincent tallies expenses and income for 1864. In addition there are four pages at the beginning and end of the book in which he scribbled a few notes in pencil. The notes are smudged and a little difficult to decipher, but a few of them are worth noting here. Finally, the diary has a pocket in the back cover. In the back cover is a motto and a piece of paper belonging to Vincent's daughter-in-law (and my great-grandmother).

I'll add one memoranda page per day. That should give me time to transcribe the scribbled notes and decide how to present them.)

Money Expended for
Fathers Family for 1864

up to Aug 12th/64

Tin Pail ... .300
Flour ... 8.00
Kerosene ... 00.40
Tea ... 1.25
Tea ... 00.50
Sending box ... 2.38
Pig ... 3.50
Express charges on money ... 00.25
paid for hop roots ... 5.00
charge for clothes ... 00.50
Flour ... 8.50

(total) 30.58

(along the side it reads)

contracted by Phy for
Father in 1864

Memoranda (second end page)

July 7th 1864

Money Recieved from
P.E. Delong

.............. 25.00
and for sending the same ... 1.00

Memoranda (third end page)

1864
Money Sent home
January ... 125.00
March ... 50.00
brought home with me June 30 ... 64.00
Oct 6th sent to Phy ... 75.00

Memoranda (fourth end page)

1864
Money recieved from
Goverment county and State

Bounty
County of Oswego ... 300.00
Town of Boylston ... 23.00
State and US sales
inanfirm January ... 140.00 (maybe he means enlistment?)
of the Gov in March ... 63.50
in July ... 64
Oct 6th recieved ... 76.00
recieved pay for 30 day rations ... 7.25

(total) ... 673.75

Doe me at the
end of this year ... 72.00

(total) 745.75

Inside Front Cover

(Written Vertically across the page:)

Vincent Delong, Boylston
Oswego Co New york

Vincent Delong

(and)

Vincent Delong
Co G 24th Ny

Elizabeth Taylor Mcdougall
Cornelius Vincent Delong

(Vincent has also written his name and Company a couple of times horizontally across the page.)

Inside Back Cover, Part 1

(There are three pages inside the back cover on which Vincent has written. The first page appears to be his assessment of the towns he passed through during the year.)

Elmira
Wellsburgh prety
Lamont little
Waverly prety
Barnton Little SC
Glisburow Little SC some prety
Gigy(maybe Tigy?) or some thing else
Owego very nice
Campsville nice durty
Union nice
Binghamton prety

(a couple of other places are listed but are too faint to make out. Then, vertically across the page:)

Boylston Nov 15, 1864 Susenhaner River

(I'm guessing he means Susquehanna River.)

Inside Back Cover, Part 2

Vincent Delong Boylston
Oswego Co N york
Number 515 of Carbine (?)
line

Vincent Delong is my
name should go under
My adress to my
friends is ___ (I can't tell because it is faint and smudged but there might be another word here).
Philando Delong
Sandy Creek
Oswego County
N York

should I go under
___ ___ (two short words are smudged) to my friends
is Mr Philando Delong
Sandy Creek
Oswego Co
N york

(written diagonally in the corner is a sentence but I can only make out some of the last words)

... truth stops and ____
____ Noted as above...

(the third, and final page inside the back cover has Vincent's name and lots of addition.)

Inside the Back Pocket

Love Virtue and truth

Operator's License

Tucked away in Vincent's diary is Clara DeLong's driver's license from the 1930s.  I don't know how or when the license was put in the diary.  Clara is my great-grandmother and the wife of John DeLong, Vincent's second-oldest son.

On that note the transcription of the diary Vincent DeLong kept in 1864 comes to an end.  In a couple of days I will reverse the order of the entries so that it reads in chronological order.  I'll also make it easier to download the entire contents of the diary as one file.