One of the things I got from my parents on a recent trip to visit is a couple of boxes. They contained diaries written in the 1930s and 40s. It was started on January 1, 1932 by my (Michelle’s) great-grandfather, Amos Kellogg.

Amos Barnes Kellogg was born on November 15, 1890. I wrote about him in this post. My dad had told me about these boxes, but I hadn’t see them before. They looked like oversized file boxes, 6 by 8 by 4 inches. They were full of sheets of thin paper, typed on both sides. It looked like they were some sort of notebook filler paper.

The diary was written by Amos for many years. From what I have read so far, much of it is well written, talking about the daily events of the family’s life. It talks of work, visits with friends, card games and the like.

Amos opens with New Years Day and the many visitors that stopped by to say hello. It ends the day with them smelling smoke and discovering a small fire in the wall next to their fireplace! My great-grandparents had a busy social life and there are many stories of parties. There is information about local, national and world events.

I did look for the December 7, 1941 entry. By that point my great-grandfather was in failing health, but he continued to write regularly. He writes: “He (George) and Hazel came up for dinner and said that the radio had announced the news that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor naval station in the Hawaiian Islands early this morning and also Honolulu and some American gunboats, sinking three and later had declared war on the United States and Great Brittain (sic).” George and Hazel are my grandparents.

George takes over

Amos Kellogg died on December 24, 1941. George, his son, wrote some handwritten notes about the events that took place in 1942, 1943 and 1944. On October 13, 1944, George started writing his own diary, kept the same way. He continued until August 26, 1945.

I plan to spend more time reading this as I know Amos and George talked about a number of family members in their writings. It’s another way to add to my family’s stories.