IMH 74:4 344

"Chronicles of Upper Burnet" (1)

Thursday, November 18th.

Thermometer indicated 5° below zero this morning, the snow was six inches deep, the sky clear, and
remained so during the day but though it got considerably warmer before night there was not much thaw.
Father started to town to mill in the hack about ten o'clock and got home about three. He brought a letter
from Grandmother who appears to be in fair health, reasonably contented, and says she has determined to
stay where she is this winter and come next spring prepared to end her days with us. She inclosed a
photograph but did not reveal the original. We finally about agreed that it was taken from a daguerreotype
of Mother which she sat for when she was 17 or 18 years of age but where discovered we knew not, nor
how. John Kivett76 was here awhile in the afternoon. He brought some canned fruit with him to put in our
cellar. It was in rather a damaged state from last nights freeze. Chopping wood, choring around and helping
Mother wash were the main occupations here at the house.

Teaching Notes: Five below zero and six inches of snow! This is the earliest recorded day of a below zero
day in Indiana weather history. The winter of 1880-81 was a terrible winter throughout the entire United States.

Often a small basement is referred to as a "fruit cellar."

Here is a link to a page about daguerreotypes from the American Memory page