presented to our mother for a prize. It is
thus inscribed on the front page, "Miss Elizabeth Beals at a public
examination of the Female Boarding School in East Bloomfield, October
15, 1825, was judged to excel the school in Reading. In testimony of
which she receives this Premium from her affectionate instructress, S.
Adams."

I cannot imagine Grandmother sending us away to boarding school, but I
suppose she had so many children then, she could spare one or two as
well as not. She says they sent Aunt Ann to Miss Willard's school at
Troy. I received a birthday letter from Mrs. Beaumont to-day. She wants
to know how everything goes at the Seminary and if Anna still occupies
the front seat in the school room most of the time. She says she
supposes she is quite a sedate young lady now but she hopes there is a
whole lot of the old Anna left. I think there is.

_December._--Hon. William H. Lamport went down to Virginia to see his
son and found that he had just died in the hospital from measles and
pneumonia. Their only son, only eighteen years old!

1863

_January._--Grandmother went to Aunt Mary Carr's to tea to-night, very
much to our surprise, for she seldom goes anywhere. Anna said she was
going to keep house exactly as Grandmother did, so after supper she took
a little hot water in a basin on a tray and got the tea-towels and
washed the silver and best china but she let the ivory handles on the
knives and forks get wet, so I presume they will all turn black.
Grandmother never lets her little nice things go out into the kitchen,
so probably that is the reason that everything is forty years old and
yet as good as new. She let us have the Young Ladies' Aid Society here
to supper because I am President. She came into the parlor and looked at
our basket of work, which the elder ladies cut out for us to make for
the soldiers. She had the supper table set the whole length of the
dining room and let us preside at the table. Anna made the girls laugh
so, they could hardly eat, although they said everything was splendid.
They said they never ate better biscuit, preserves, or fruit cake and
the coffee was delicious. After it was over, the "dear little lady" said
she hoped we had a good time. After the girls were gone Grandmother
wanted to look over the garments and see how much we had accomplished
and if we had made them well. Mary Field made a pair of drawers with No.
90 thread. She said she wanted them to look fine an