Charles H. Felker diary, 1933-1934

Title:

Charles H. Felker diary, 1933-1934

Creator:

Felker, Charles H., 1912-1948

Creator Role:

Author

Accession / Call Number:

2016.018

Object ID:

2016.018

Date:

1933-1934

Type of Material:

textual record

Physical Description:

1 volume

Language:

English

Scope and Content:

The November 21, 1933 to December 17, 1934 diary kept by Charles H. Felker covers a difficult and frustrating year in the young man's life, as he struggled to settle the intertwined estates of his lumber-merchant father (Henry W. Felker, 1861-1931) and attorney/politician uncle (Samuel D. Felker, 1859-1932) while living with his widowed mother (Grace Berry Felker, 1876-1941) in Rochester, New Hampshire. \n \n He recounts his almost daily visits to an unidentified office, where two administrators working to wind up the complex affairs of the estates, Edward L. Blake (1899-1970) and Charles L. Wentworth (1873-1949) are, in his opinion, inefficient and unproductive. There are consultations with bankers and other attorneys, accounts of auctioning and otherwise selling land in New Hampshire and Maine, checking woodlots, collecting rents on properties owned by the estate, and managing his mother's affairs. He also records household chores he tends to, books read, church attendance, his health and appendectomy (with post-operative complications), learning to dive, visits with classmates at a Dartmouth graduation in 1933 and in Boston, and opinions on and involvement with international, national, and local politics. This includes notes on a textile strike and local elections.\n \n The diary offers a glimpse into day-to-day upper middle-class life in a small city as the depression of 1930-1940 deepens. There are itemized expenses for household items and a used car, wages paid to household and office workers, and prices realized for the sale of dwellings and land. \n \n There are occasional marginal marks (the gender symbol for male, occasionally followed by a numeral). Other than the above-mentioned visits to Hanover and Boston, he does not describe social life outside his extended family. A transcription of this diary is available. See the finding aid for biographical information.

Subjects:

Accountants, Diaries, Estates (Law), Lawyers, Lumber trade, Medical care, Physicians, Politicians, Politics and government, Real property

Locations:

Rochester, NH
Gonic, NH

People:

Blake, Edward L., 1899-1970, Felker, Charles H., 1912-1948, Felker, Grace Berry, 1876-1941, Felker, Henry W., 1861-1931, Felker, Samuel Demeritt, 1859-1932, Wentworth, Charles L., 1873-1949

Terms of Use:

For permission to reproduce or publish this item, please contact the New Hampshire Historical Society. Users are responsible for following all copyright and intellectual property laws.

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society purchase.

Restrictions:

Available for research.

Level Description:

Item

Finding Aid Link:

RS63966_Felker_Charles_H._Diary_2016.018.pdf