When Joseph begins his diary he is 18 and living in his step-father’s household, John B Carpenter, as his own father, McFarland Wooley, had died and his mother remarried.  For the next 37 years, with a few interruptions, he records farm work, religious and social activities in much longer entries than most diarists.  Enjoy his description of weddings, the circus and other special events. Peruse his financial accounts. Engage his life as a young bachelor, then as a married man with children.