Special Collections & Archives
Manuscript Group 231
Lucy Jane (Wagy) Ramsey, 1873-1959
Diaries,
1895-1959
2.5 cubic feet
The diaries and other material were donated to the University of Idaho Library by Mrs. Ramsey's granddaughter, Barbara Sendt, between May 1986 and June 1990. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in August 1990. OCR 2/02
A Brief Biography Of Lucy Jane (Wagy) Ramsey, 1873-1959
Lucy Jane Wagy was born March 26, 1873 in Redfield, Bourbon County, Kansas. She was the daughter of Abraham and Mary Elizabeth (Fahs) Wagy. She married John Wesley Ramsey in Kansas on July 1, 1894. In May 1896 they moved to Dillon, Montana, and in August 1899 they came to Idaho, staying a short time near Moscow, then going north to the Sandpoint area where John farmed. They raised four children; another child, a daughter, died at the age of one year. John Ramsey died February 10, 1946, Lucy on February 17, 1959 at the home of her daughter Helen Storms of Ellensburg, Washington, where she-had made her home for the last five years.
Introduction
Lucy Jane Wagy began keeping a daily diary on January 1, 1894. This record group contains all but the first volume (January 1, 1894 to May 3, 1895) which was given to her sister Debora (Mrs. Lee) Sedgwick of Fort Barton, Montana and was never recovered by the Ramsey family. The diaries, hand written in a variety of spiral and bound notebooks, detail the everyday life of a farm wife, from her time as a young mother through the death of her husband, and her own old age. It is clear she kept the diaries only for herself, as in the next to the last entry she writes, "I know no one will ever read this in my diary..." With the 75 diaries are eleven financial account books detailing income and expenses for the family from 1925 to 1959.
Also included are four items of correspondence, two from Lucy to her daughter Trudy, one to her from her sister Debora, and one to Barbara Sendt, daughter of Helen Storms, concerning Wagy family genealogy. There are also 15 photographs of Lucy and her children, a granddaughter and great grandchild.
Lucy Jane (Wagy) Ramsey
Inventory
Box Folder Description
I. Diaries, 1895-1959
1 1 May 4, 1895 to May 25, 1896 2 May 26, 1896 to January 23, 1897 3 January 24, 1897 to August 11, 1897 4 August 12, 1897 to February 28, 1898 5 March 1, 1898 to May 31, 1889 6 June 1, 1898 to December 31, 1899 7 January 1, 1900 to December 31, 1900 8 January 1, 1901 to May 31, 1902 9 June 1, 1902 to June-14, 1903 10 June 15, 1903 to October 31, 1903 11 November 1, 1903 to December 17, 1904 12 December 18, 1904 to September 27, 1906 13 September 28, 1906 to November 27, 1907 14 November 28, 1907 to April 28, 1918 15 April 29, 1918 to September 25, 1918 16 September 26, 1918 to November 30, 1919 17 December 1, 1919 to June 18, 1922 18 June 19, 1922 to April 20, 1923 19 April 21, 1923 to March 31, 1924 20 April 1, 1924 to April 17, 1925 21 April 18, 1925 to February 20, 1926 22 Account Book, January 1925 to March 1926 23 February 21, 1926 to July 31, 1927 2 24 August 1, 1927 to December 31, 1927 25 Account Book, April 1927 to June 1929 26 January 1, 1928 to February 19, 1929 27 February 20, 1929 to March 9, 1930 28 March 10, 1930 to October 25, 1930 29 October 26, 1930 to July 9, 1931 30 July 10, 1931 to March 17, 1932 31 March 18, 1932 to November 18, 1932 32 November 19, 1932 to August 26, 1933 33 August 27, 1933 to April 4, 1934 34 April 5, 1934 to October 31, 1934 35 November 1, 1934 to May 31, 1935 36 June 1, 1935 to December 24, 1935 37 December 25, 1935 to July 26, 1936 38 July 27, 1936 to April 12, 1937 39 April 13, 1937 to December 12, 1937 40 December 13, 1937 to September 5, 1938 41 September 6, 1938 to November 24, 1939 42 November 25, 1939 to July 25, 1940 43 July 26, 1940 to January 10, 1941 44 Account Book, 1940 45 January 1, 1941 to December 31, 1941 46 Account Book, 1941 47 January 1, 1942 to August 25, 1942 48 Account Book, 1942 49 Account Book, 1942 50 August 26, 1942 to December 31, 1943 51 Account Book, 1943 52 January 1, 1944 to September 24, 1944 53 September 25, 1944 to February 16, 1945 54 February 17, 1945 to June 30, 1945 55 July 1, 1945 to October 12, 1945 56 Account Book, 1945 57 Account Book, June 1945 to September 1947 58 October 13, 1945 to April 6, 1947 59 April 7, 1947 to September 16, 1947 60 September 17, 1947 to July 25, 1948 61 Account Book, 1947 to 1951 62 July 26, 1948 to November 30, 1948 63 December 1, 1948 to April 30, 1949 64 May 1, 1949 to August 21, 1949 65 August 22, 1949 to December 25, 1949 66 December 26, 1949 to May 13, 1950 67 May 14, 1950 to September 21, 1950 68 September 22, 1950 to June 18, 1951 69 June 19, 1951 to October 31, 1951 70 November 1, 1951 to June 12, 1952 3 71 June 13, 1952 to September 27, 1952 72 September 28, 1952 to April 14, 1953 73 April 15, 1953 to October 18, 1953 74 October 19, 1953 to January 31, 1954 75 February 1, 1954 to July 23, 1954 76 July 24, 1954 to January 18, 1955 77 January 19, 1955 to September 28, 1955 78 September 29, 1955 to August 8, 1956 79 August 9, 1956 to October 15, 1956 80 October 16, 1956 to December 21, 1956 81 December 22, 1956 to October 15, 1957 82 October 16, 1957 to March 31, 1958 83 April 1, 1958 to May 10, 1958 84 May 11, 1958 to December 31, 1958 85 January 1, 1959 to January 31, 1959 86 Account Book, 1952 to 1959II. Other Items, 1895 to 1988
87 Correspondence, 1947-1988 4 88 Photographs, ca.1895 to 1965 16
February 2002 / mg231.htm
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