Lennie Goes to Sunday School with the Girls

Charles Leonard Davis is seventeen years old in 1898. The following are entries in his small pocket diary. The words in bold black are Lennie's. I'm blogging Lennie's diary day by day (or week by week). I'm a bit behind but I'll catch up later this week. Meanwhile...read more about the Wakefield Cornet Band.

Sunday, June 19, 1898
Got my picture taken.
Went to Presbyterien. S.S. girls & boys together.
(Boys and girls together! I hope they behaved themselves!)

Monday, June 20, 1898
Ollie and ma took me out to Fritz to plow corn.
(Ollie is Lennie's older sister. Married. Lennie is undoubtedly using horses to plow corn.)

Tuesday, June 21, 1898
Hot in afternoon.
Rained in forenoon.
Plowed corn.
Tired as the D_ _ _ _.
(That's right...this Presbyterian boy refrains from spelling out "devil". His mama is raising him right.)

Wednesday, June 22, 1898
Worked a half a day walked to town watched soldiers drill.

Thursday, June 23, 1898
A hot and windy day.
Soldiers got word they were agoing to leave.

Friday, June 24, 1898
Soldiers left on 7:30. (the morning train)
Big crowd, sad, town seems lonely.
Stormed hard.
IOGT. (Lennie attends another meeting of the IOGT lodge group.)

Saturday, June 25, 1898
Nice day.
Went in country with Charlie.
Band played in street.

Speaking of the band...remember when I mentioned Lennie playing in the Wakefield Cornet Band? (read here). Lennie is not in this photo but his brother-in-law Carl Schulz is. He's the guy just to the left of center with the blonde mustache. I do not know the date of this first photo but you can see there are men and teen boys in this photo.

We recently visited the small museum at the old train depot in Wakefield and I found another photo of the band. This second photo was taken in 1904 when Lennie would have been 23 years old. He is not in this photo either. As you can see the band members are school age. Perhaps there were two cornet bands...one for adults, one for teens.

This 1904 photo included the following names:
Ray Larson, ? Woodward, Guy Diltz, Carls Anderson, Ernest Longe, Carl Diltz, Ed Burnamn, Willie Hide, Bryon Busby, Walter Carlson, Tip Hiyl, Ed Larson, Howard Shumway
Earl Leonard, Vilas Hiyl, Lloyd Busby, Harry Johnson, ? Ebersole, ? Shumway, Clarence Johnson, Maarvin Leamer, D. L. Leamer, Walter Howard, D.C. Leamer. (The band director was the depot agent but I don't know which name is his.)