A daily feature from our surrounding historical societies.
George Lukens’ diary illustrates life in Towamencin 200 years ago. George lived all his life (1768-1849) on the Lukens family farm, today, Dock Academy. He was a Quaker, a farmer, an abolitionist, and a schoolmaster. There are no changes to his diary you can see how common English was written during his time.
First day 20th
Very wet Esther Seth & Hannah went to the burial. I staid & took care of creatures. Esther staid they came home. John was at home
[Creatures is George’s way of refereeing to his livestock]
Second day 21st
Very wet, the boys went to thresh. Jesse Godshalk came & went then came with John Benner, they bot brown @ 16$ took her away, then John came and pd for her. I went with the waggon, nearly to Whites met Charles Shoemaker bringing Esther then he returned, & I brot her
[Threshing is the process of removing seeds (grain) from the stalks of oats, wheat and rye. The most common tool used was a flail, an image is seen in this post. The seeds were then taken to a local grist mill to be ground into flour. Brown was one of the Lukens family cows].
(Credit: Brian Hagey/Towamencin History)Third day 22nd
Esther & I went to Preparative meeting, thence to Wm Foulke’s I got no intelligence from Aaron Luken, we came home
[A Preparative Meeting is a business or congregational meeting for a Quaker congregation. Today’s meeting was likely at Gwynedd Friends Meeting, where the Lukens' were members]
Fourth day 23rd
Seth & I went to P Ziebers to see Fretz & Metzs cattle they held them too high. I settled all with Zieber & pd in full we came home. Seth getting ready to go to Jersey. I was at, John Delps out of curiosity, he has but few cattle, they not so high. I bot none
Fifth day 24th
Seth started with highlander & Paoli. John Buchhammer came got meat for 35 Cts & is to come & thresh afternoon, which he done & got vinegar for 6 Cts so is 21 Cts in due
[Highlander a Paoli are two of the Lukens’ family horses]
Sixth day 25th
We cleaned the rye had 6½ Bush, then prepared 1½ Bus Indian corn, afternoon I took it to Fredericks mill got it ground John at picking apples
Seventh day 26th
We got ready, & Esther, Stroud & I started & went on to Absalom Michiners, staid a while with Rachel Luken, thence to the factory left the stocking wool, went on to cousin Am Claytons & staid it cold Seth brot 26 Bush cake meal
[By the factory, he means a large fulling mill where wool is processed]
(Credit: Brian Hagey/Towamencin History)
ABOUT TOWAMENCIN HISTORY:
• Most Towamencin families were farmers. They grew what they needed, and sold the excess locally, or at the Philadelphia market where they bought things they could not make or produce themselves. The Lukens usually went to the Philadelphia Market twice a month by horse and wagon to buy and sell in town.
• Towamencin farm families often practiced skills like carpentry, weaving, blacksmithing, butchering, harness, and shoemaking for additional family income.
• George Lukens, like most Americans during his time, used the pound, US dollars and various foreign coins interchangeably for daily purchases. The currency symbols he often used were: £ = pound. D = pence (when written with the pound or shilling symbols). S = shilling. D, Do or Dols = dollar.
• George never wrote the days of the week or the month of the year in his diary, instead, as Quakers did, he numbered them because their names had pagan origins.
