Diary : 1 January 1857 - 8 February 1868.

            
Janet (Hendry) MacDonald was the eldest child of George Hendry (1764-1830) and Susan Belyea/Bulyea (d.1842), the daughter of Joseph Bulyea, a Loyalist from Courtland Manor, New York. George Hendry was the son of James Hendry (1734-1817), who had emigrated from Elgin, Scotland to New York during the early years of the American Revolution, and had come with the Loyalists to New Brunswick in 1783. Shortly after he arrived, George Hendry moved to a large tract of land in the Parish of Cambridge, Queens County, New Brunswick, and there farmed for the remainder of his life. His daughter, Janet Hendry, married Alexander B. MacDonald (1794-1880) on 9 July 1818, and they lived their entire married life on the portion of the Hendry property which Janet inherited. Here they farmed and raised a family of seven children: Susan Ann, James Hendry, Donald, Alexander B., George, William L., and Malcolm C. MacDonald. Janet MacDonald was well known for her hospitality and religious devotion, and the family was highly regarded in the area.
            

            
The Diary of Janet MacDonald was begun by her son, William L. MacDonald on 1 January 1857. He continued the Diary for only a few months, until 3 April 1867, at which time his mother began to record daily events, and continued to do so until 8 Februrary 1868. The entries, invariably, begin with a description of the weather conditions on a particular day. This is followed by brief notes on farm work, travel, accidents, meetings, births, deaths, burials and other events that touched the extended MacDonld family and their neighbours. The Diary provides the reader with a remarkably detailed glimpse into the personal, agricultural, religious and social life in mid-niniteenth century rural New Brunswick and does so from the perspective of a woman who lived all her life in the one farming community.
            

            The Index to the Janet MacDonald Diary is available on microfilm.  It is shelved in the Loyalist Collection at the following location:  MIC-Loyalist FC LFR .M4J3D5 Index

Electronic version available. See Microforms staff.             

The original Diary is very fragile an is not available for consultation purposes.
THERE ARE TWO COPIES OF THE DIARY IN THE COLLECTION.