Page 14 - June 26, 1838 - Thunder and Lightning

14 June the ttwenty sixth 1838

Tue 26 the sun rose clear with the exception

of a few flying clouds about eight or

nin .O. clock it began to cloud up and

had the appearance of rain at noon it

disappeard some thundring betwene two

and three .O. clock we had a very fine

rain and continued so ttill five .O.

clock then the sun shoen out dimly

till nearly sun dawn then it disappear

it raind through the night I plowed

Wed 27 the sun shoen out but cloudy in the west

and has the appearance of more rain the

sun shoen out dimley at three .O. clock

in the evening it began to sprinkle a

little the sun disappeard the wind bean

to blow quite hard from the south west it

raind agter night very hard I allso

plowed in the corn we finished 18 acres

Thu 28 cloudy and has the appearance of rain

it raind a fine shower at six .O. clock

morning it broke away the sun shoen out

in a few minuets and continued soe

through out the day quite warm wind

south in the it thundred in the south

I I Plowed in the corn field all day

Fri 29 it is cloudy this morning though the

sun shoen out dimly till three .O. clock

then it disappeard at four it raind

tremendisly hard was intermission the

space of thirty minuets it commenced to

rain again most terable hard lwith

heavy flashes of thundring and lightning

it quit at five .O. clock terable sight of

watter on the ground at this time it

broke away the sun shoen out till it

went down to night it raind quite had

I plowed corn till the rain commenced

Sat 30 the sun shoen out a few minuets then

it disappeard I plowed in the agardon

Page 13 - June 21, 1838 - Drawing Rails

June the Twentieth first 1838 13

Thu 21 it is clear this morning with the exception

of a little fog the sun rose clear and quite

pleasent it clouded up and had the appear

of rain but broke away and at sun

down it was clear and quite pleasent

some distent thundring I was all draw

rails to post in the yard with no more

Fri 22 the sun rose clear and quite pleasent

it has the appearance of a fine day

the wind is calm very much soe some

time in and through the day it cloude

up and had the appearance of rain

I made and set in post an rails all day

Sat 23 at day light it commenced thundrin

very hard and about six .O. clock it

commenced raining very hard and in

a few minuets it broke away and is

clear and quite pleasent in a few

minuets it began to cloud up and had

the appearance of rain about ten .O.

clock it raind in the south a very

heavy thundring and flashes of lightni

I went to Harveys Streaches and

at night went to meeting at Mr.

Mc creays I had some notion of going

Sun 24 it was some cloudy this morning at

nine .O. clock I went back to lovepeas

a fine day the wind blows cool and

pleasent I went back to Harveys

and got my dinner and then back

to four .O. clock meeting after meeting

I came back as far as William pier

ces and nd staid all night my expalcto

tionts dident turn up as I expected

they would but never mind that

Mon 25 we had a little Sprinke of rain this

morning wind west it broke away

the sun shoen out quite warm and

I plowed in the corn for the first time

Page 12 - June 16, 1838 - No Phety Girls

12 June the Sixteenth 1838

Sat 16 it is cloudy this morning at nine .O.

clock it commenced raining lightly noe

thundring theer is a two days meeting

at the meeting hous a haff mile west of

us I made rails till ten .O. clock at four

.O. clock I went to meeting it broke

away at twelve .O. clock the sun shoen

out quite warm and set clear I had

some notion of going home with som of

the phety girls but I dident goe noe

Sun 17 it is clear this morning some diew quit

pleasent meeting continued to day

it continued to keep very pleasent

all day the hous was fool as it

could hold I went to meeting yes

Mon 18 early in the morning it came up a

dreaful hard shower terable thundri

and lightning it quit at six .O. clock

it looks broken at this time there is

a considrable of water of the ground

about two .O. clock it looked like rain

and we got a little of it at dark it looke

rain but withdrew from it thank

S. G. was hear I went to mill

Tue 19 the sun rose clear a quite aheavy diew

and some foggy it continued to keep

clear till four .O. clock and at six .O.

clock it commenced raining I put

in these post an rails around the yor

Wed 20 this morning is clear and warm fin

growing weather about two .O. clock

it comemenced clouding at heavy thu

ndring and some lightnig at four

.O. clock it commenced raining quite

in a little time it quite the sun

shoen out but has the appearance

of more rain in about an hour come

another rain quite hard I was

hoing corne in the garden to day

Page 11 - June 11, 1838 - Making Rails

June the eleventh 1838 11

Mon 11 it has the appearance of rain at eight .O.

clock it broke away the sun shoen out

quite warm till two .O. clock then it

disappeard and in a few moments it

came up a shower of rain with heavy

thundrind and lightning at four it broke

away the sun shoen out quite warm

I made rails for Jacobe Klippinger at 62

Tue 12 the sun shoen out quite warm some

few flying clouds it has the appearance

of more fine weather the sun continued

shoen out till three .O. clock it disappear

heavy thundring and lightnings at

six .O. clock the sun shoen out and in a

few moments came another shower

the sun shoen out again I made rails

for Jacob Kleppinger H R L

Wed 13 quite foggy this morning and cooler than

it has been for some time past at seven

.O. clock the sun shoen out quite warm

till six in the evening then the sun

disappeard at dark it commenced rain

with heavy thundring and lightning

flash after flash I made rails for

Jacob Kleppinger for 62 per hu

Thu 14 it was a thundring this morning and

had the appearance of more rain but

broke away the sun shoen out quite

warm till noon then it disappear

and in a few moments it commen

raining with heavy thundring and

lightning it raind severl times throe

the day I made rails till noon for J K

Fri 15 it was cloudy this morning at six .O. clock

the sun shoen out quite pleasent the groun

is very wet the corn is from four to

six inches high the sun shoen out till

nearly night I made rails for J K

Page 10 - June 5, 1838 - Purchase Journal

10 June the fifth D 1838

appearance of more rain abot five .O.

clock it clouded up the sun quit shoen out

till about half past six .O. clock the sun

shoen out clear and set clear the last

day of Mr. Munsons school quit at 5

.O. clock I was a grubing all Day twse

Wed 6 it was quite clear this morning it is some

cooler than we have had for some time

past some frost not much wind a moving

about five .O. clock the sun disappeared

got quite cloud and had the appearance

of rain I groubed all day long quite har

Thu 7 clear and quite pleasent some wind south

east about eight .O. clock came up some

few flying clouds and still continues to

till night at dark the stars shoen out some

the moon changed at eleven .O. clock 29

minuets in the evening I groubed all day

Fri 8 clear with the exception of a few flying

clouds some thundring north west tollerable

warm wind south in the evening it cloude

up and had the appearance of rain I groubed

Sat 9 it was a sprinkling alittle this morning

then it cleard up and the sun shoen out

quite pleasent at six .O. clock it clouded up

again and had the appearance of more

rain quite warm till about four .O. clock in

the eveinig I want to Lafayette I got

this Journald book and four news papers

Jun 10 at daylight it was thundring quite hard

at seven .O. clock it commenced raining

quite hard with heavy thundring and

lightning it continued to rain till about

nine .O. clock then it broke away the sun

shoen out quite warm about three .O.

clock it clouded up again and at four it

commenced raining again with heavy

thundring storms the sun shoen out again

Page 9 - June 1, 1838 - Logansport Hanging

June the first 1838

Fri 1 in the morning was quite foggy about two

hours by sun it broke away the sun

shoen out quite warm and pleasent at

eight .O. clock I started up to Logans

port to see a man hung I landed abougthe

nine .O. clock about thwelve .O. clock he

was brought out of gail dead he had

hung him self the night before he was

to be hung there I got sight of him it

was supposed there was three thoussand

people there I saw a skuaw have one of the

hansomest little one that ever was I heard

a great meny white folks say that they

would be very glad if there littles ones was

as hansom as it I saw John Smith there

I staid at a young girls hous noe more

Sat 2 it was clear and warm I went tto the

river to fish and from that I plaid

round I staid with the same girl yes

I Received a letter from Wm Lucas

Sun 3 it was quite clear and warm at ten I

.O. clock I went up to Henry Kleppin

gers to singing school there was 25

girls and the best quallity to some of

the boys got the sack I staid with

Henry Kleppinger all night soe noe

Mon 4 it was some cloudy this morning it raind

a little early in the morning but soon

broke away and the sun shoen out clear

and warm I landed home at three .O.

clock the wind raised some about four in

the evening I got badly hurt by a fall

Tue 5 the sun rose clear about six .O. clock it

clouded up and had the appearance of rain

quite warm light wind in the south the

sun shoen out dreekley and shoen out dimly

by turns some cooler than we have had

for some five or six days past the wind

blew tollerable hard it thas the

Page 8 - May 28, 1838 - Finish Planting

8 May the 28 1838 H L Page 8

Mon 28 it was cloudy and clear by turns all day the

sun shoen out some few times till about five

.O. clock then the sun shoen out quite warm

and pleasent the wind was calm and still

it moderated some about ten .O. clock I

planted corn till four .O. clock and then I

went down to Mr. Simeses school hous to

hear Mr. Wily the Elder preach Mr.

John Smith was out hear from Ohio

Tue 29 it is clear this morning some frost the sun

rose clear and pleasent it has the

appearance of more finer weather than

we have had for some five or six

weeks past and gone I plowed all day

Wed 30 it is clear and cloudy by turns this

morning about seven .O. clock it broke

away and the sun shoen out tollerable

pleasent the wind south east about 12

.O. clock it was in the south about two it got

in the south west and came up a cloud and

had the appearance of rain I am aplowi

for oats about twelve .O. clock we finishe

planting corn at six .O. clock it came up

aheavy cloud and had the appearance of

rain it raind in the ninght quite har

Thu 31 it was some cloudy this morning about

six .O. clock it broke away the sun shoen

clear and warm at suven .O. clock I

started up to Henry Kleppingers to

see the folks it was a very fine day and

very warm we landed up there half past

four in the evning it got some cloudy in

about twelve .O. clock and rain about one

.O. clock alittle shower then it cleared up

and then the sun shoen out quite

warm and pleasent I staid at Mr.

Hineses the first night after I start

when I can raad my title clear to man

sion in the skies I will bid fare

well to evy fear and bid fare well

Page 7 - May 22, 1838 - Family Planting

May the 22 1838 Page 7

Tue 22 it is quite cool this morning it is clear the

sun shown out bright the wind in the North

it was quite cool till ten .O. clock and then

it moderated some little I am a plowing

and the rest are a planting corn it is some

Wed 23 it is some cloudy this morning it is quite cold

for the season the wind lin the North the

sun shoen out dimly at four .O. clock in

the evning it got quite smoky and in a

few moments it commenced a light fall of

rain and the sun shoen out some two or three

times dimly at dark it mist again the

wind North I plowed all day and the

rest of the famley planted corn all day

Thu 24 it is quite cold for the season it thas the

appearance of rain the wind in the Nor

about twelve .O. clock it broke away the sun

shoen out dimly till night it got some

warmmer I plowed and the rest planted

Fri 25 it is quite cold wind West it is cloudy the

sun shoen out some two or three time some

frost this morning the wind blows hard

in the North the weather turnd some wrm

about twelve .O. clock I plowed all day s

Sat 26 it was cloudy this morning about ten .O.

clock it broke away the sun shoen out quite

warm the wind changes around and blows

hard about four .O. clock it came up a quite

heavy shower of rain with some hail with

it it thundred very hard with heavy

flashes of lightning I plowed till noon

then I went to planting corn H L

Sun 27 it is cloudy this morning wind North it

blows very hard quite cold for the season

no sun shoen out to day at all about two

.O. clock it commenced raining again quit

cool raind by turns throug the afternoon

I was at meeting at the school house

Page 6 - May 16, 1838 - Planting Corn

May the 16 . 1838 Page 6

rain ahead with heavy thundring and

lightning the creeks are very high it

contiued raining some all night and was

at it in the morning the ground is very

wet at this time I have been furrowing

out ground for to plant corn so no more

Thu 17 this morning the sun shoen out dimley

six .O. clock the clouds looked broken a little

it drizzled a little about twelve .O. clock it

broke away and betwene two and three .O.

clock the sun shoen out and about four it

clouded up again and was quite cold and after

night it raind I was plowing till noon then

I planted corn for the first time ne

Fri 18 it is cloudy this morning and raind a little

about six .O. clock it broke away the sun

shoen out but it is very cool for the season

it is cold enough to snow about ten .O.

clock it turned some warmer at twelve O.

clock I am a plowing to day the ground is se

Sat 19 it is clear and very pleasent there is a little

frost this morning it has the appearance of more

fine weather I plowed all day oh dear mee

Sun 20 the sun rose clear this morning it is warm

and quite pleasent the wind west at this

time it is quite warm the wind is got roun

in the East I was about home all day

I wrote a letter to William Lucas to Day

Mon 21 it is a little cloudy this morning the wind

in the East at this time the sun rose

dimly it is quite warm at this time about

eight .O. clock it clouded up again and about

twelve .O. clock it began to rain lightly and

it continued to rain lightly till three .O. clock

then it broke away and the sun shoen out

dimly till seven .O. clock then it shoen out

clear I plowed and the rest planted I

am quite trimbley in my hands now sse

Page 5 - May 10, 1838 - Hard Plowing

May the tenth 1838 Page 5

Thu 10 the sun rose clear quite cool about ten

.O. clock it got some pleasenter than it

has been for some eight or ten days past

with the exception of a few flying clouds

passing over us at this time it contineud

to be warmer I plowed all day long 1838

Fri 11 there was a heavy frost this morning

it awas quite cold in the night it froze

very hard the sun has all appearance of

a fine day the sun rose clear and warm

the wind South West at this time

I fowled plowing all day hard times

Sat 12 it is clear this morning has evry appear

ance of a fine day there is a little frost this

morning the wind is quite still and calm

at this time I follwed plowing till 12.O.

Sun 13 it has evry appearance of more rain at this

time at ten .O. clock it broke away the sun

shoen out quite warm and pleasent the

wind East this morning laid around

Mon 14 it is some cloudy this morning and has the

appearance of rain the sun shoen out quite

and pleasant I plowed to day noe more

Tue 15 this morning was some cloudy but it

broke away again and is clear and is

tollerable warm and pleasent I harried in

flax till about ten .O. clock then I furrowed

out for corn hard times for monney now

Wed 16 it is cloudy this morning about eight in

the morning it came up a heavy shower of

rain and in a little time it broke away

and the sun shoen out quite warm about

ttwelve .O. clock it clouded up again and

about three .O. clock there was a very

heavy rain some eight or ten miles north

and about four it commenced raining

very hard hear and still continues to

Page 4 - May 4, 1838 - Squire Roberds

May the fourth 1838 Page 4

Fri 4 it haint so cold as it has been it has evry

appearance of more rain there is a big cloud

hanging over us at preasant there was som

few rainy showers to day it is very cool

the sun shoen out some two or three time

it raind in the night quite hard an

Sat 5 it is cold enough to snow this morning

wind West it raind severl times in

and through the day at night it broke

away the moon shoen out quite bright

I went to John Graves and Soloman bests

trial tride before squire Roberds 1838

Sun 6 it is a raining this morning again it broke

awa about half past seven .O. clock the sun

shoen out very pleasant wind West at

this time it clouded up at night and had

the appearance of more rain the six

I went to meeting to hear Mr giffette

Mon 7 it has the appearance of more rain the wind

West the sun shoen out about nine .O.clock

in the morning it clouded up again and got

quite windy and cold at three .O. clock it

commenced snowing quite hard it got some

some warmer in the evning I plowed

Tue 8 it has the appearance of a pleasant day

the wind dont blow soe hard as usul the

weather perhaps will moderate it was clear

and cool all day and in the evning it got

some pleasenter than it was for severl days

past I likewise followed plowing all day 1838

Wed 9 it is clear and very pleasant at this time

the sun shoen out quite warm the wind is

calm this morning there was a heavy frost this

morning it got very cold in the evning

it was cold enough to snow but dident

I Plowed all day hard enough amens

When I can read my title clear to mansion

in the skyes I will Bid farewell to

Page 3 - April 25, 1838 - Expedient Journal

April the. 25. 1838 Page 3

Wed 25 it has once more cleard of again the wind

in the west this morning it clouded up and

wind in the night quite cold for the time

Thu 26 it is a rainning this mornning and still contines

to blow and storm the wind blows hard at

night it broke away and was clear wind West

Fri 27 it was partly clear this morning about seven

.O.clock it clouded up again and at nine .O.

clock it commenced raining again and very heavy

thundring and windy storms about ten .O.

clock it broke away and got clear and the

wind bload very hard it is tollerable warm

Sat 28 this norning is very and pleasant the

wind blowes from the West at this

Sun 29 it is tollerable windy this morning it is

clear I think it expedient to keep a

Journall of the changes of the weather

Mon 30 it is clear and pleasant this morning

the wind in the South at this time

May the first 1838

Tue 1 this morning is quite cold and windy

it is cloudy and has the appearance of

more rain it commenced raining about

eight .O.clock and it broke away about

half past eleven .O.clock Wind South.

Wed 2 its a raining this morning again it is

fogy its tollerable warm at this tim

it has every appearance of raining a hedd

it broke away about four .O. clock in

the evening the sun shoen out clear and

warm tollerable pleasant about five .O.

clock it clouded up again and had the

appearance of rain but dident rain

Thu 3 this morning has the appearance of rain

it is windy the wind north west

tollerable cool all day sun 1838 2

Page 2 - More Doodles, Other Hands

44 + 14 + 53 = 1.11

16 x 2 = 32 + 28 = 60 x 8 = 480

28 + 28

12 x 5 = 60 + 7 = 67 - 4 = 63

17 + XX

I paid John Shigley

$25 00 and on the day

of the october Election

16 60 Making in all $42,10

J W Ieland

postoffice rjch Ieland

Janes vill Brimen County Iowa

I Alexander Sony

ABCDEFGHIJ

Even green Postoffice

Dibjke County Ioway

Yo Nonnon Janes

28 - 4 = 24

Prassers postoffice enecott

Sim Co Iowa

12 by 16

10 by 12

14 by 14

Page 1 - 1839 - Harmon Lucas, Tippicanoe

Harmon Lucas his book

this being on the 9 of November

1839 in the Stait of Indiana and

in Tippicanoe Township Tippicanoe

County in my 21 year from the

12 of July 1839 I have got a

reasonable portion of health at this

time and am very thankful of

itin glory be to the highest amen

for ever When I have been there

ten thousand thousand year 1839

The price of this Book is one

dollars and Twenty five cts bought

at Mr. MC Cormicks Store

in the town of Laffayette in the

year of our Lord- 1838 Harmon

Harmon R Lucas

William Henry Harrison

65 x 5 = 325 + 25 = 350

Harmon R Lucas

Harmon R Lucas Harmon

Wm Birch 19 1/2 . . . 58 1/2

I got 2 hogs and is to make 150 rails

I all so got one on the 50 cts that be owd

me 1844 Wm Burch Jun

Harmon R Lucas

10000 - 1805 = 8195 - 5400 = 2795 + 27 + 14 = 2836

27 + 14 = 41

8 x 22 = 160 +

3965 - 2836 = 1129 - 41 = 1088

Journal of Harmon Lucas - Cover

The Journal of Harmon Lucas

The journal of Harmon Lucas measures some 170 millimeters wide by 395 millimeters in length and 17 millimeters thick. The pages are divided by vertical lines at intervals of, counting from the left, 29, 129 and 146 millimeters. There is a margin of 19 millimeters at the top of each page, followed by horizontal lines at regular intervals of 9 millimeters to the bottom of the page, for a total of 44 lines. The folios are folded in half to form quires of twenty pages and sewn together with cord. It is covered, front and back, in thick cardboard. There are 105 leaves surviving, in part or whole, for a total of 210 pages.

I first saw Harmon's journal in the weeks after my grandmother, Zula Lucas Harris, died in 1966. I can only guess how she came into possession of the book. I can safely assume she got it from her father, William Lucas. Before that all is conjecture. Zula died at the age of seventy and was born in Kokomo, Indiana. Zula had one older brother, Chester, and their mother was Rebecca Ridgeway Lucas, who came to Indiana from Tennessee. So they came from the right part of the country, but William could not have been a descendant of Harmon. Harmon had only two girl children, Mary and Jane, neither of whom carried on the Lucas name to any more children. Harmon was born on July 12, 1819, in Ohio, he died on February 26, 1846, in Tippicanoe County, and his widow, Maria, died in Jones County, Iowa 48 years later to the day. Harmon's parents were Benjamin Lucas and Mary Rogers, and he had several siblings. My best guess would be that the book came through Harmon's brother, Curtis, who in turn may have been William's father. I have not investigated my family history all that well. Anyone who wants to do the research for me is welcome. I know that the family, William, Rebecca, Chester, and Zula Lucas, moved to Riverside in Southern California around 1900, and were joined by some cousins who became railroad men and firefighters in Bakersfield, California. Many members of the Lucas family still reside near Lafayette, Indiana. Other descendents have dispersed around the globe, and I have brought Harmon's book from Southern California, through Nevada, to Oregon.

Harmon did not seem very concerned about spelling, punctuation was almost unknown, and he used capitals erratically. He often employed shorthand grammar, and he ended sentences abruptly at the edge of the paper. At the time that he bought and wrote in the book, he seems to have been motivated first by an effort to record the weather. Other observations crept in with time. Then he turned to recording his financial transactions, and working up ideas about the Methodist church. Later still the book became a child's playtoy and scratch pad, with scribbles and ripped pages. Some pages have been torn out entirely! Harmon probably had no idea he was leaving a record for posterity. Given that this is not a photo reproduction, I have still tried to preserve the general format and his idiosyncratic spelling.

The inside of the front cover has been used at various times, by various hands, in ink and pencil, to practice penmanship, to calculate sums, and to take notes. For the sake of completeness, the doodlings recorded there, from top to bottom, and left to right, somewhat resemble the following:

___________________________________________________

2035

900 + 900 + 500 + 500 + 700 + 500 = 4000 + 250 + 400 = 5050

300 + 2.800

John Graves wood act 15

Marshfield Postoffice by Thomas Green

125 + 60 = 185

Franklin Poseland

Franklin Joselanel

Mary Mary