When I began this project in 2017 I had no idea it would take me this long to complete. Health issues and the death of my mother sidelined me for a few years, but when the pandemic began it was the perfect opportunity to pick it back up and finish—and once I did, I just couldn’t put it down.
I have always loved family history, and have been intrigued by how someone else’s past ends up creating our own present. A family member, who knew I would cherish and protect it, passed down this diary from 1898 (and a couple others that I will also enter to this site as time allows) to me, and as I began to read it I knew, had to be shared with the world. This hand-made book, bound by Richard himself, and the physical penmanship he entered in it are cherished very much.
Local and global history, historic places that still exist, friendships with famous people—Nettie and Bertha Seuss, the not-yet married mother of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss, born in 1904) and her sister—and a close friendship with President Calvin Coolidge (not mentioned in this diary, but written about in local newspaper articles.)
My great-grandfather, Richard Bruno Eisold was born on March 28, 1865, in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. He came to the U.S. in the early 1890’s and lived in Springfield, MA. On November 25, 1897, he married Ludlow’s Martha Amelia Hiersche, born in East Longmeadow, MA on June 17, 1879. They started their life together in Northampton, MA where they remained until 1907. They had seven children, six boys—my grandfather, Richard H. Eisold, the oldest—and one girl. The first several entries were penned by Martha herself, some of which nearly copy Richard’s entries word for word. We’ll never know why this is, but as a young woman of 18 when they married, I can almost imagine her doing it to tease her new husband.
Richard tried desperately to make ends meet. In the early-married years, he was an author, newspaper peddler, bookbinder, and waiter. He chronicles his daily life, sometimes mundanely writing about the weather and what he had to eat, while other days writing about the harshness of the Spanish/American War, and trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.
Because of his immigrant status, his command of the English language was not always perfect. In order to remain true to his diary, all spelling and grammar is as was originally written. Richard and Martha were “of their time,” and on occasion wrote things that are inconsistent with my beliefs, and would not write myself. But I feel it is important to include for reasons of historical accuracy.
Thank you to Wilma Hoffman, of German Script Translations, who was able to translate Richard’s German words to English.
A special thank you to my significant other, Trace Meek for building and hosting this site for me, and for encouraging me every day.