Wednesday, Oct 27, 1880 This has been an unhappy day, but I have been at work in my studio and thus escaped much of its unhappiness. The annual question of the vegetables in the cellar came up. I thought it had been put to rest by building a place for them in the barn last year for which I was at some considerable expense but to my surprise they were put in the cellar yesterday and this morning the whole house smelled horribly. We talked about it at the breakfast table and Pa got out of patience and today has had them all carried back to the barn but feels angry, then to add to the trouble he compelled us to abandon the parlor and made a fire in the sitting room. The weather is still very mild but he persists in disregarding all the rest of us. I furnished that room, got a Franklin and had a tiled hearth laid so that we could use it later but Pa does not respect the wishes of the family as he should and we must submit or have unpleasant feeling. That has been one of his mistakes all through life. I missed dear Gertrude so in all this miserable affair. As I looked over toward the cemetery in the twilight the tears would fall as I thought of her sleeping there unconscious of my sorrow. Such things shocked her always and she could not understand why people would persist in making themselves and others so unhappy. I dont want to be in antagonism with my father who is an old man and whom we will not have with us long. I would like to do anything in the world I could for his happiness and do make many sacrifices for him as he does for us but he is too strenuous in carrying out his ideas in opposition to all the rest of the family. Such things leave cruel scars and they poison our lives. I wrote a long letter to Gussie. This evening occurs the memorial meeting to Gifford at the Century. I wrote Beard I could not be present. I dread such occasions. They add to my sadness and so I did not go down.
< Previous Entry | Next Entry >Have you ever wanted to see a handful of folders in a collection at the Archives of American Art, but you couldn't find the time to come to our DC reading room? Then the Archives of American Art’s Digitization on Demand service is for YOU!
Original material can be consulted by appointment in our Washington, D.C. Headquarters.
Copies of unrestricted microfilm materials can be obtained through one of our affiliated research centers.
Research and reference services provides help finding, accessing, and using the collections at the Archives of American Art.
