My mother and father named me after my Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Rose Anderson. She was my mother’s Grandmother. She died before I was born. So, I did not get to meet her. My mother told me she was a very kind woman. My hair is light brown and curly like my mother’s. My eyes are green like my father’s. They are very tall, so that makes me tall, too. When my chores are done I love to go outside, write in my journal, and listen to the wildlife animals.

My family is a wonderful family. My father’s name is Andrew . He is very strong man. My mother’s name is Anne. She is the best cook in the house. My brothers’ names are James and Scott. They are a big help to my father. They help him with the wood, crops, and feeding the animals. My sisters’ names are Molly and Amy. Molly helps Mother with Amy because she is only 2 years old. She is a good help. So, when Mother needs to cook or take care of Father, Molly helps.

Our home was built by my father and our neighbor, Mr. Smith. It is a log cabin. Our house is not that big. It only has two rooms, a kitchen and my mother and father’s room. My brothers and sisters sleep up in a little space in the attic. It is not comfortable, but I sleep there anyway, because I do not have any other place to sleep.

My mother makes our clothing. Mother makes a dress for school and for the house. When I am at home I wear the dress Mother made me, so I do not get my school dress dirty. When my dresses are too small, I pass them down to Molly. When her dresses get too small, she passes them down to Amy. My father and brothers wear a white shirt and black pants. My father wears a hat. James and Scott only wear a hat on Sunday when we go to church or for a special occasion.

My father herds the cattle. He works with our neighbor, Mr. Smith. They are both very good workers. When he comes home from his job he cuts wood for Mother to put in the fire so she can cook supper. Then, when he gets done eating supper he lays down and takes a nap. When he wakes up in the morning he is ready to do his jobs.

My mother is an excellent cook. She helps cook the Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes, she cooks food for Father to take it to the market to sell. After it gets sold, the market owner brings us ten cents. It depends on how much Mother makes. Every pound is worth five cents.

Our chores are simple chores. The girls in the family normally stay in the house to cook and take care of our littler siblings. We, also make candles. The boys in the family usually work outside and work with the farm animals. They cut the wood for the fireplace so mother has fire to cook. The firewood helps keep the house warm in the winter. The boys, also harvest the crops. We started learning to help Mother and Father when we were about five years old.

We had toys to play with each other. We did not play with them much, though. My sisters and I have a doll that Mother gave us. She played with it when she was our age. My brothers play tag most of the time. The other times they are helping father with their chores. Sometimes, we all play tag. When we have more players it is interesting. Playing with our toys, or playing games is really fun. If we had several people we would play Duck, Duck, Goose.

We would eat toast in the morning for breakfast. For lunch we would have some cornbread that Mother made. The meat that we would eat is from an animal that Father would have shot. For dinner we had left over meat from lunch, some corn from the garden, and some milk from the cow.

When I misbehaved my father would take me outside and spank me. I did not like being spanked. I did not get spanked very much because I was good most of the time. I did not disrespect my elders. My brothers got spanked the most because they disrespected their elders.

The school that Molly, Amy, James, Scott, and I go to is very small. It has only one room. When you are young your teacher will teach you how to read and write. I was taught how to read and write when I was five years old. Amy, my little sister, does not know how to read or write because she is only two years old. She still has three more years to learn. We go to school every day of the week, but we do not go to school on the weekends. I met many friends when I first started school. We learned from a hornbook.

When people were sick they stayed in the house and their mother or wife would take good care of them. They would use bugs to cure them, such as leeches. They would put a leech on a cut, then it would suck out the poison. My family did not get sick often, but when we got sick it would be really bad. I have only been sick five times. Amy has not been sick. My parents are very happy that we are a healthy family.

When my family goes to church on Sunday we put on our nicest clothes. My brothers wear a hat like my father. My father’s hat is big and my brothers’ hats are small. My sisters and Mother wear bonnets. Mother puts her hair up in a bun and then she braids our hair. We try to look our best when we go to church because we like to show respect.

Our colony has laws. There are not very many laws, but if you gambled you would have to go to the church for a week. The law says that you pray to the Lord and say that you will not do it again. If you did it again, you would have to go back to the church and pray for another week. If you miss a day, you would have to make it up by working or praying another week.