Teenager Wesley Turner’s diary shows that his interests at the time were not on his education. Wesley writes about the chores he performs, such as chopping wood or going to the store to buy or exchange goods, visits to friends and neighbours, the weather and its effects on the crops, and his attempts to have his poetry published. His comments on attending Upton School, however, are confined to either, “I went to school today” or “I didn’t go to school today.” His reasons for not going include the school stove not working properly, the weather being too stormy, or working. However, in one entry, he writes that his father thinks him too sick to go to school – but Wesley manages to do work around the farm that day!
Wesley kept his diary in a series of school scribblers. Examine the cover closely. What does it say about the importance of agriculture at the time? How is that reflected in what Wesley considers to be important when you read his diary entries?
