A Farm Journal ~ from the 16th to the 28th February 1869 ...

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby. 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

3 - 16 Fine A.Cox & Wm & I ferret[tin]g here to dine

 

4 - 17 Wet lead[in]g manure

 

5 - 18 Thunder rain showery - fin[ished] lead[in]g man[ure] S.H.

 

6 - 19 Fine day Truck of Grains in spread[in]g man[ur]e etc

 

7 - 20 Fine

 

1 - 21 Frosty

 

2 - 22 Beautiful day 

 

 3 - 23 Ditto stack in & chopped at Cales last stack

 

4 - 24 Wet aft[ernoo]n plough[in]g Watricle etc - stop[pe]d sending milk

 

5 - 25 Stormy began to make 2 cheeses p[e]r day 18 cows E.B.* sends his milk still

 

6 - 26 Very fine but cold & windy Co[u]s[in] Eliza SA & I & all went to Ashford to dine & tea**

 

7 - 27 Very stormy snow & hail at times - plough[in]g etc

 

1 - 28 Very stormy indeed Snow 6 in[ches] deep & drifted

 

 

* I assume 'E.B. refers to JBB's brother Ebenezer Bowman.

 

** It is likely that this meant a visit to my great great great grandparents Heny and Mary Bowman [the elderly couple in the photograph above] who lived at The Elms, Ashford in the Water.

  

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 15th February 1869 ...

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby. 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 A Farm Journal continues :~

2nd Mo[nth] - 2 - 1 B[akewe]ll market slender Milk slow beef & mutton scarce

3 - 2 snow[e]d morn[in]g - stack in & thrash[e]d Cales

4 - 3 Wet morn[in]g - to Matlock M[onthly] M[eeting] Amos & Edith Griffith from America there also Edw[ar]d Brewer very nice meeting - bro[ther] W[illia]m & I with Peter Bromley [Bramley ?] by rail to Whatstandwell & then on to Wingfield to look at hogs 2 dead scour but are better then by rail to Nott[ingha]m to Sam's lodged & in morn[in]g on to Mansfield looked beasts at Davys & Millns all doing well as can expect

6 - 5 Most beautiful day home all well

7 - 6 Fine day finish[e]d plough[in]g ley - began lead[in]g manure out S.H.

1 - 7  Fine

3 - 9 Fine morn[in]g stormy aft[ernoo]n fetch[e]d 500 Strike Grains from Wharf

    

2 - 8  Showery day lead[in]g manure took B.Brayshaw to B[akewe]ll

 [The entries for the 8th and 9th February 1869 are transposed in the farm journal]

4 - 10 Showery lead manure etc

5 - 11 lead manure etc

6 - 12 Thrash[e]d Stormy snow on gr[oun]d

7 - 13 Fine Snow gone Co[u]s[in] A Cox & W[illia]m & I ferret[tin]g in dale

1 - 14 Fine but windy

2 - 15 Fine & mild B[akewe]ll market bo[ugh]t cow from Jon[atha]n Blore £17 in calf - 1 of a man £14 - calved 2 calves B Bower £33 - 1 of G. Furniss £18 10/- 

Out of interest I fed the names Amos and Edith Griffith [see the 3rd February entry above] into Google. According to the Find a Grave website Edith Price Griffith was born on the 9th May 1801 and died in February 1873. Amos Griffith on the 13th October 1794 and died in 1871. Could this be the same couple ?

The website goes on to reveal that "Amos & Edith ... were the parents of Elizabeth P Griffith Milhous. Elizabeth was the mother of Franklin Milhous. Franklin was the father of Hannah M. Nixon. Hannah was the mother of Pres. Richard Milhous Nixon.

This makes Amos the great-great-grandfather of President Richard Nixon." 

I realise that it could be another Amos and Edith Griffith but the couple referred to in the Find a Grave site were buried in Shortcreek Cemetery ... and the website goes on to reveal that this " ... cemetery was established by the Short Creek Monthly Meeting Quakers ..."

Was it therefore the great great grandparents of President Richard Nixon who travelled from the United States to Matlock all those years ago ? 

There are photos of Amos and Edith Griffith on the Find a Grave site here.