The two manage a letter-writing courtship while Nora spends a year in teacher training at Oneonta Normal and Samuel us sent away on a rather challenging adventure of his own. Despite many obstacles at home, school, the doctor’s office, and the White Crikk “Biddie Bunch,” the two navigate their relationship and Samuel promises Nora they will build a good name for themselves in the face of a looming enemy.
The diaries uncover a family murder and describe local farmers working together during planting and harvest time. Nora’s house is wired for electricity while Samuel’s farmhouse installs a phone line. Samuel buys one of the first cars ever made while Nora’s mother gives her arm a rest and buys her first washing machine. Nora describes hearing jazz for the first time, and the town loses many of their sons to World War I, and their children to scarlet fever, and consumption.
What exactly can Nora and Sammie expect as they start their life together? Can he deliver on his promise to build a good name for themselves? November 2023 marks what would have been their 100th Wedding Anniversary.
