Ten-year-old Solomon dutifully records in his diary the family’s farm work which often had to take precedence over attending school.  An only child, he participates in Methodist camp meetings and helps with making molasses and apple butter.  When older, he helps with butchering and custom threshing amidst their largely Pennsylvania Dutch community.  In 1884, the family moves to Michigan where Solomon marries and has eight children.  After his death in 1919, his son Stanley continues the diary to1924.