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Antique manuscript pocket diary, inscribed "Stebbins Book" on the cover, with dense handwritten daily entries spanning 1914 through 1918 (with an additional dated section from May 1916). Content centers on rural life in central New York, near Fabius, NY (Syracuse area), documenting daily weather, farm chores, chicken-raising, visits with named neighbors and family, and deaths in the community.
Notable entries include the deaths of Mrs. Farnum (Oct. 28, 1914) and Pearl Farnum (Jan. 28, 1918), and a historically significant dated entry noting "a company of troops left Syracuse for the war in Mexico" — referencing the 1916 Mexican Border Mobilization (Pancho Villa Expedition). Numerous named individuals appear throughout (Pearl, Flora, Erwin, Sullivan, Bordan, Mrs. Conway, and others), offering strong genealogical research value for those tracing central New York families.
Small cloth-and-paper bound diary, handwritten in pencil and ink throughout. Condition: covers show heavy wear, soiling, and edge fraying consistent with age and daily use; pages are intact and legible throughout, with some soiling and creasing. Please see photos for full condition details.
A rich piece of early 20th-century Americana for genealogy researchers, collectors of manuscript diaries, or those interested in rural New York/WWI-era home front history.
