Diary of Algernon Hilton, December 1849

5 - Hyram got back on the 28th ult.*  Had engaged no work.  He went again this morning.  I expect him back this evening or tomorrow.  Mr. Thompson, one of Mr. Alan's hands commenced the perjeri** walls yesterday morning.  We finished fitting in sash on the first.  This week we are idle entirely.  Mr. Johnson commenced fixing up the saw mill this morning.  This forenoon Holt and Master Peter bargained for next year.  He, Mr. Holt, gets $700.00 for his services.

10 - Hyram got back on the 6th.  Had engaged no work.  We did nothing last week worth speaking of.  Yesterday & today so far has been cold & rainy.  The brick layers are idle, today.  They got the foundation of the perjeri** all laid last week.  Mr. Hickman has said nothing to us about any more work as yet, altho I have no doubt he wishes us to do more.

12 - It has been so cold this week so far, that the brick layers have done nothing yet.  Yesterday & today Mr. Holt is getting out girders for perjeri**.  He will finish getting them out today.  Hyram has had a sore throat very bad for 3 or 4 days back, but it is better today.  It is freezing cold & raining now.  Bad weather.  There is no telling when we will get done here.


* - My mother's glossary indicated this meant "in the past month".  Indeed, I found that it is from the Latin "ultimo" and means "in or of the month preceding the current one".

** -  According to my mother's glossary, this word was written as spelled phonetically, but neither she nor I could find the correct spelling or meaning.

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This is where the 1849 diary ends, but there is a bookkeeping section of expenses from January 1847 through February 1850.  My mother noted that the next three pages were torn from the journal following the February 1850 expense listing.  Then there are a few written pages of songs.  There must have been more torn pages, because after that is an income and expense record already in progress for 1844.  I have no idea why an 1844 expense report would follow entries from 1847 to 1850, but that is the order in which my mother transcribed the journal.  I will record this section of the income and expense report, as it mentions many names and places and may be of some interest to some:

Algernon Hilton's Income and Expense Report from June 1844 through January 1846

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