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1 [189] DIARY OF FRANCIS TAYLOR, 1792, 1792, January, 1, [SUNDAY]Warm rain last night- Some rain & very cloudy all day- G.C.Taylor went to Mr.T.Bell's. T.Barbour jr returned from Fredericksburg and in evening brought my father's watch w'ch walker had repaired- My father repaid T.Barbour 9/- the sum he paid Walker- James Bell came home with G.C.Taylor. 2, Warm, Cloudy & foggy with a little rain. After breakfast Jas Bell & G.C.Taylor went away, they called at J.Taylor's & went from thence to Mr.T.Bells- G.C.T. ret'd in evening & went to J.Taylor's. 3, Continues warm and cloudy. Had the Pork hung up to make Bacon. 4, G.C.Taylor went to shoemakers. I sent my boot pr Syl & had it mended for 7 1/2 d. G.C.Taylor paid me off what he owed. I walked in evening to Capt Burnley's paid 5/- to Mrs Burnley for making 2 Flannel vests. Mrs Lee and Miss Milly Bell were there. 5, Cloudy morning- J.Taylor, C.Taylor & I went to Smith's Store at Adam's Mill- they were before me- Smith was not there- J.T. & C.T. each bought a little sugar. I did not buy anything. About noon it snowed and sleet & rain, the snow covered th earth. J.Taylor jr was here but John & Harry Pendleton came to his father's & he returned there- 6, My father, G.C.Taylor & I went to Reu.Taylor's. J.Pendleton & wife, T.Barbour & do, Harry Pendleton- Miss Polly Moore, Polly Barbour, Sally Throckmorton, Rd.Barbour(Culpeper), Jas Barbour, Sh'f., Geo.Shepherd, J.Taylor jr, William and *Robert Moore and C.Taylor dined there. Very fine day, clear and mild. [*Robert Moore, son of Maj'r William Moore and nephew of Mrs Erasmus Taylor] [WKA] 7, We went to C.Taylor's, the company that dined at Reu Taylor's yesterday, except G.Shepherd & Wm Moore, were at his house to day, also J.Taylor & his daughter Nancy. Began to snow about 7 o'clock this morning & snowed fast till about 10, when it changed to a mist, which continued all day- Jas Barbour & Robert Moore came home with us. 8, [SUNDAY] Cloudy all night and a light mist- there is a crust of ice on the snow, which is only about 1 inch deep- Cloudy & near the same kind of weather. J.Barbour & Rob't Moore went away after breakfast. G.C.Taylor set out for "Castle Hill" [the Home of Dr.Thomas Walker-PFT] after 12 o'clock. He went by James Taylor's. 9, Very cold, somewhat cloudy- James Taylor's son Henry died last night, or before day this morning. Clear evening and very cold- 10, Froze hard last night- the ice on the ground is nearly as it was yesterday- Clear morning, turned cloudy about noon. Abner Watson came here with Absalom Smith's waggon and wanted to take a Load of Wheat, but my father would not load it. After he was gone Abs'm Smith came and agreed to carry the Wheat at 6d & he found- to which my father consented and he went after the Waggon w'ch returned and loaded with 40 Bushels- Found him 100 lb Fodder, 4 Bus Corn, about 8 lb. Bacon & bread, he is not to have so much meat & bread another time The wheat sent to Proudfit for Lamson & Co. Sent a bag- and my father wrote to Blairs for 3 Bus Salt & some iron. 11, Cleared in the night- very cold morning- James Taylor came over; paid me 6/- & let him have bottle wine. C.Taylor sent for some Salts- I sent them but had nothing to weigh them, suppose about 3 lbs. Changed to hazy at Sunset. 12, Began about day with a brisk North wind to snow, and continued constant till about 10 o'clock at night, the snow was ten or 12 inches deep but unequal. 13, Clear morning and still, but changed before noon to very windy, which difted the snow a great deal- Afternoon clouds with the wind, some snow towards the mountains but believe none fell here. Cleared at night. 14, Clear and tolerable good day- Js Taylor rode here and said he intends to have his son buried tomorrow, asked my father to let him have a Jug of brandy- he returned and sent for the Brandy- G.Taylor and Capt Burnley had been out shooting and came here and dined. From the TAYLOR DIARY, #1907-z in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill. FOR REFERENCE ONLY: PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED. WARNING: MOST MANUCRIPTS ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT.