Saturday, September 3rd, 1864

To day the boys are still at work on the mill forebay floor. John & I took the little wagon and drove up to the King house and tore down the little smoke house and brought the lumber home to fix the floor of the forebay. Capt. Stubblefield and Mr. Reagan came up from Hall's bluff and went fishing in the mill pond but with rather poor success. Billy Stewart's wagon came out from Crockett and by it I received from him 43½ lbs. of Sugar. Fannie missed her fever. Weather clear & hot. Ther: 93°.

Friday, July 1st, 1864

To day the boys went out hunting cows & calves, and succeeded in driving up three. Nellie [Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire] & Mrs. Leaverton drove down to Mother's [Mahala Sharp Hall nee Roberts] in my buggy. Jimmy [James Wrigley Hall] is still quite sick. The water being so low in the pond that the mill done no grinding. Weather clear & hot. Ther: 90°.

Saturday, June 11th, 1864

To day the boys done little or nothing comparatively speaking in consequence of the rain. It rained hard all day. The water in the pond rose so very high that I had to raise all my mill gates in order to let it escape after having ground 2 bushels of wheat and 13½ bushels of corn. Weather was a little cool. Ther: standing at 76°.

Monday, May 2nd, 1864

To day the boys are at work in the lower field. Billy Stewart and Billy Wingfield came out from Crockett. I went fishing with them. we had good success. I caught the largest trout that has ever been caught out of the mill pond. Hicks ground 10 bushels of corn. Nellie* [Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire] & Pet [Florence Mahala Hall] rode down to Mother's [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] and spent the night. Weather clear and pleasant.

*This Nellie is a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog. Mahala is a 3rd great-grandma, and is Nellie's mother-in-law. Mahala is also the mother-in-law as well as the step-mother of JMH.

Monday, April 11th, 1864

To day the boys are at work planting the lower field anew, the last frost having entirely destroyed the growing corn, thus losing the labor heretofore bestowed in planting as well as the seed corn planted. Hicks assisted me at the mill. we ground 5 bushels of wheat. In the evening a hole broke in the levee and carried away about one third of the same, in consequence of which I lost my entire head of water. Weather changeable & rather cool.

Tuesday, January 12th, 1864

To day the boys are at work cutting up and salting down the pork killed yesterday. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] rode out to hunt hogs and succeeded in finding 3 which belonged to Father [Joshua James Hall] and which were carried down there to be cleaned. Sam is to get one half for his trouble in hunting and killing them. Mother [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] called in as she returned from a visit to see Mrs. Bird. I ground 21½ bushels of corn. Weather clear and cool but moderating fast, the ice is disappearing rapidly and growing beautifully less.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog. Mahala is his mother.

Saturday, January 9th, 1864

To day the boys are still at work covering in the stables. John is at work hauling wood. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] rode out hog hunting but without any success. I ground 21 bushels of corn. Mother [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] sent up one hog which weighed 201 pounds. Weather changeable and bitter cold. The mill pond still frozen over one inch thick.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog. Mahala is his mother.

Friday, January 8th, 1864

To day the boys are still at work covering in the stables. John is at work hauling wood and it keeps one hand busy to run the fires during the present cold spell. Mother [Mahala* Sharp Hall nee Roberts] came up and spent the day. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] & I ground 10 bushels of wheat. Weather clear and bitter cold. The mill pond still being frozen over.

*This Mahala is a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog. Sam is her son, and is a 2nd great-grandpa to Keeper.

Thursday, January 7th, 1864

To day the boys are still at work covering in the stables. John is at work chopping wood in the new ground. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] & I ground 10 bushels of wheat & 3½ bushels of corn. Weather clear and bitter cold, the mill pond still frozen over.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Wednesday, January 6th, 1864

To day the boys are at work covering in the stables. John is at work hauling wood. I ground 23 bushels of corn and 2 bushels of wheat. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] rode out hog hunting but without any success. Weather changeable and bitter cold, the mill pond still being frozen over one inch thick.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Tuesday, January 5th, 1864

To day the boys are at work on the stables, covering them in. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] rode down to Hall's bluff after some lead. I ground 8 bushels of wheat & 2½ bushels of corn. Weather changeable & bitter cold, the mill pond still being frozen over, and ice plenty. Mr. Hughes stopped with me for the night & from whom I purchased some sewing thread &c.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Monday, January 4th, 1864

To day the boys are still at work chopping wood in the new ground. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] rode out hog hunting but without success. I ground 13 bushels of wheat. Weather cloudy and bitter cold with a light sprinkle of hail & snow. The mill pond is still frozen over one inch thick.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Saturday, January 2nd, 1864

To day the boys are at work chopping wood in the new ground. Sam* [Samuel Houston Sharp] ground 3 bushels of wheat and I ground 7 bushels of corn. Weather cloudy and bitter cold. The mill pond is still frozen over 1 inch thick.

*This Sam is a 2nd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Friday, October 16th, 1863

To day the boys are at work putting up the fence around the new ground in the mill field. John still hauling rails and made two loads. Nellie [Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire] & the little Major [James Hall Sharp] are still sick. My son James [James Wrigley Hall] had a chill & fever. In consequence of the low water in the pond the mill done no grinding. weather clear & rather hot for the season of the year.

Friday, October 9th, 1863

To day the boys finished pulling and hauling corn, having made two loads. I killed two fine ducks. Sam [Samuel Houston Sharp] & Nellie [Mary Alexandrien Sharp nee Lemaire] came home. Mother [Mahala Sharp Hall nee Roberts] came up with them and spent the day. In the evening Mother & the little woman [Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] rode up to see Mrs. Bird. In consequence of the low water the mill done no grinding. Weather clear and pleasant.

Thursday, October 8th, 1863

To day the boys are still at work pulling and hauling corn. they made two loads. In consequence of the low stage of water in pond the mill done no grinding. My son James [James Wrigley Hall] has attained the first anniversary of his birth day. in consequence of having been afflicted with so much sickness he is not so well grown or as forward as Fawn [Florence Mahala Hall] was at his age. I am thankful however that he is as well as he is. Father [Joshua James Hall] sent us a quarter of beef. Sam [Samuel Houston Sharp] & I went out hunting. Sam killed 3 turkeys and I killed a brant. Sam rode down to Mothers [Mahala Sharp Hall nee Roberts] and remained there all night. weather changeable and pleasant.

Tuesday, September 29th, 1863

To day the little woman [Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] is preparing her garden to plant eschalots, turnips &c. The boys done nothing in consequence of the rain in fact it rained throughout the entire day & was a little cool. The mill pond was slightly filled when I ground 7 bushels of wheat and 4 bushels of corn.

Friday, September 25th, 1863

To day the boys are at work pulling and hauling corn. they only made one load. Sam [Samuel Houston Sharp] & I finished the floor, lining and door to one of the corn cribs. In consequence of the low water in the pond the mill done no grinding. Mr.John Kyle delivered for me at McElroy's gin 5455 lbs of seed cotton and for which I paid him $337.¹⁵ in full consideration for the same. weather clear & hot.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 1863

To day the boys commenced putting up the body or walls of the corn crib. Billy Stewart came out from Crockett and stopped with me at the house. Billy and Sam [Samuel Houston Sharp] went fishing with tolerable success. In consequence of the low water the mill done no grinding. weather clear & rather hot.

Friday, September 18th, 1863

To day the boys are still at work hauling logs to build the corn crib. Mr. Dailey delivered 1276 lbs of lint cotton. The little woman [Margaret Hall Stewart nee Sharp] is still at work on my clothing to take to the Army. In consequence of the low stage of the water in the pond the mill could do no grinding. weather cloudy with a strong North wind blowing making it very cold for the season.