June 2, 1734
Dear Diary,
Oh marry! Where shall I start? Well I suppose it would be fine to share a few words about myself. My name is Olive Jane Miller of the Georgia colony. I am writing this diary to show my heart and soul about the colony. There are wonderful pleasures and gruesome hardships here. It would pleasure me dearly if thee read the rest of my diary. There is so much I would love thee to know about the Miller family!
My family and I first chose to settle in the Georgia colony because we wanted a better life. The British king put us on a ship to start a colony here. The purpose of the Georgia colony was to stop Spanish Florida from moving north and North Carolina from moving south. (1, Colonial Georgia) I live in Josephstown (2, The Georgia Colony) in a quaint, little farmhouse. Father, or Abner Miller, has 500 acres of land. Every man that belonged to the church had 500 acres of land if he was a farmer. (3, T. G. C.) He spends his days farming and raising the cattle. Me and my three siblings, Seth, age 14, Eli, age 5, and Phoebe, age 8 all help out on the farm. I am the second oldest, at age 11. Father depends on me to set the best example. He says I am most mature.
Before I go on, it might be wise to tell you about my appearance and my personality. I am a person of many secrets and feelings. I am kind and caring and love a good adventure. Seth says I am too young to have a real adventure, but Mother believes you are never too young to venture out into the open. I have golden hair with speckles of auburn in it, and my eyes are a pale, light blue. I have fair skin except for my freckled cheeks and lips are scarlet red. My biggest secret is also my favorite one. I love to sing! I believe singing expresses your true feelings about someone or something in such beautiful ways. Another secret is that I detest the clothes that I must wear. I wear what every other girl in my town wears, dresses with stays. (4, 18th Century Clothing) Stays are another word for a corset. I don’t like to wear them. I can’t move around very well and they are quite uncomfortable. But if all girls wear them, so must I!
My family and I first came to the colony in 1730, when James Oglethorpe established it. (5, History Alive) Fortunately, Father was able to start a farm here in Josephstown when I was 8 years old. Farming is very popular here because of the rich soil. (6, T. G. C.) There are good growing seasons in the spring and a bountiful harvest in the fall. (7, HA) Life was good here until Mother got smallpox. Mother’s name was Lydia. She never got better and now God has taken her from us. We still love her very much. I am so very sad and miss Mother. On top of that we are all so worried about how to afford a proper burial.
I mustn't write much longer. Father might give me the rod if he catches me up writing whilst on my bedding. My candle is almost melted as well. But before I lay down on my pillobere, I must tell you about my house. Perchance you don’t live in a home like such, so you must know ours are called Farmhouses. The roof is high so the heat raises up and is released to keep the house cooler. It can be so hot in Josephstown! The kitchen is away from the main house, so the heat from cooking does not go into other parts of the house. We don’t yet live on a plantation, but our house is not cramped. We don’t have much furniture; it is too expensive for a simple farming family like ours. I even have to share my bedding with Phoebe! It is so hard to fall asleep when all she wants to do is converse about poppets and knickers. Such childish stuff! Well, it seems I shall need to get much rest before I am awoken by the cockerel, beckoning a new day to come.
Fare thee ,
Olive Jane
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