In 1889 John selected entries from his diaries of 1835-46 and these are what survive.  He notes the births, deaths and marriages of local people and many farming details.  He grows mostly corn and tobacco and writes of stripping tobacco in the winter months, setting it in June, and slaying, hauling and hanging it in September.  He goes to several logging “bees” and “raisings” as the community clear fields and raise log barns and houses.  In 1840, he signed the teetotaler pledge and gave up alcohol.