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ULYSSES GRANT STOWELL : 1935 + 1936 ORIGINAL PAIR OF HANDWRITTEN DIARIES BY A SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON STATE FARMER AND ENTREPRENEUR

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is a unique pair of diaries written in the depression years by a man living in remote southeastern Washington State. The diaries measure 6 inches by 4 inches, are leather covered with all pages intact. Each diary contains 384 pages. The first (1935) is about 76% complete while the second (1936) is about 48% complete. The handwriting is legible. The writer is Ulysses Grant Stowell, a farmer who also carried on a small-time insurance and lending business. US Census records show that he was born in Galva IL in 1864 and died in Asolin in 1939, age 75. These diaries were written when he was 71 and 72. Life was not easy for Stowell. The Great Depression was raging and things at home were anything but smooth or calm. The area around Asolin, while a productive farming area, lacked many modern (for the day) facilities. It was not completely electrified until the late 1940's. His days generally consisted of an unremitting list of chores to be done: "Got up at 5:30 AM dam pump on the bum had to go to Lewsiton to get the switch fixed and still it won't work works all right if I throw it in untill it throws off and won't come back unless I make contact for it" [Apr 3, 1935]. "Varnished the rockers again and gave the couch a one coat fixed ground for potatoes and got the potatoes up to cut and plant. Hazel and I got 100 lbs of seed potatoes and each payed 1/2 and when i went after mine i got about 25 lbs they came and got my cultivator without asking that is the way they do more brass than a monkey" [Apr 11, 1935], "Picked berries and went to town got 7 crates" [July 10, 1935]. "Worked all day on the road Lovie helped my muscles and shins hurt me very bad" [Apr 3, 1936]. "I worked all forenoon on the road. Went to Lewsistown after 3 PM and got back at 7 PM Got the oil burner $7.31 also got a new pair of overalls the first pair I have bought in 3 and a half years ..." [Apr 7, 1936]. He is quite frank in his descriptions of some incidents of his home life. Life on that front doesn't seem any easier (the Hazel referred to is thought to be his daughter): "Went to town in afternoon Hazel and all had dinner up to our house. I am tired of feeding that bunch" [Jan 26, 1935]. "Lovie was so mad she didn't get my dinner ... She told me she would kill me and then kill herself cursed me and my family and called us all of the names she could think of" [Jan 15, 1935]. "Glen came up and he and Lovie got into an argument for about 1 hour. Then Hazel came and got to cursing with Lovie and I finely got mad and told her and Glen to get out and they wouldn't do it so I went to put them out. We finely got as far as the kitchen. I got hold of the butcher knife and they went out". [Dec 22, 1935]. Christmas Day, 1935 was quite a low point for him - his wife Lovie was sick, Hazel and all brought gifts which Lovie promptly sent back, the turkey was in the icebox, uncooked: "... no Xmas Dinner. I never put in such a day in my life Hazel and Glen have ruined my home". [Dec 25, 1935]. These two diaries give a historian or researcher an intimate look into the day-to-day efforts of a man living in a remote area during the Great Depression and his daily travails.. Illustr.: /. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good +

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