Bennett Luther Dean
Personal Journals, 1902-1921
Detroit, Michigan
Transcribed by Troy Schmidt, 1996
Bennett's life before the Journals
Bennett Luther Dean was born at Wayne, Wayne Co., Michigan March 28, 1868. He was the sixth son born to William Day Dean (1828-1914) and Lydia Joy Dean (1837-1921). His early life was spent growing up at Nankin Mills and then in Northville, Michigan. While in Northville he leaned the trade of tinsmithing but then he began working for the U.S. Postal Service in April of 1895 in Detroit and was married to Anna Louise Clarkson [oldest child of Northville residents Eugene Charles Clarkson (1844-1919) and Eveline Manning Nash (1854-1946)] five months later.
Content
The diaries begin in 1902, the year their first child was born, after Bennett and Anna had been married for almost seven years. And they give an almost daily account of their life for nearly the next 20 years.
Family events: the birth of their six children, cousins, nephews & nieces. Death of parents, Aunts, Uncle, etc. Daily visits of various family members.
Local and world events: The first automobile they see, the first auto they ride in and the increase in autos until they become commonplace. The first time they see and aeroplane . The sinking of the Titanic, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, World War I are among some of the events that either affect their lives directly or are things they read and talk about.
Weather: Since Bennett was a mail carrier he was outside almost everyday and it is not surprising that he was interested in tomorrows weather as well as describing how the weather affected his day.
About the Journals:
I know of 17 books in which Bennett kept a diary. Most of these diaries are inexpensive leather bound books with lined pages measuring either 6 by 3.5 inches or 6.5 by 4 inches. Most are in fair condition with only the leather beginning to flake off of the bindings and the pages beginning to darken. Some have pages with edges that are so brittle they are beginning to break if touched. A few have broken bindings and are beginning to lose pages.
There is one for each year from 1902 to 1916, one for 1918, and a final book that has part of 1920 and part of 1921. I do not know if he kept a book for 1917 and 1919, I suspect that he may have and they have subsequently been lost or destroyed. Perhaps someone in the family still has them packed away somewhere. I am not entirely sure if 1902 was the first year he kept a journal, he says he was given that book on Jan. 29 and spent his noon hour copying (Jan. 1 - Jan. 28) from another book. Was that other book the end of a 1901 journal? He frequently started January at the end of the journal he had been using until he bought a new one and then copied January into the new book. The 1902 journal makes no mention to his starting to keep a diary, why or what gave him the idea or what his intentions were, perhaps there are older journals now lost in which he discusses this.
Style, punctuation and spelling
Aside from access and threat of damaging these books the greatest limiting factor in reading them is Bennett's handwriting and habits. He tends to write rather small, occasionally very small and his handwriting is not great to start with.
He generally omits periods and fails to capitalize beginning of sentences making it difficult to read. He just inserts comma after comma or nothing at all. When he does use periods they are almost indistinguishable from his comas. I've tried to keep his sentences as he wrote them. To make reading easier, I have Capitalized first words in sentences.
He frequently transposes letters such as "b"s and "p"s, "d"s for "t"s, I have corrected these errors.
Bennett almost always splits compound words such as "to day", "some where", and "some body" I have run some of these words together such as "today".
I've inserted "°" marks on temperatures, he used them only on a few occasions.
Words and definitions which may have changed
Call: Although at times in the diary years they do have a telephone, most of that time they do not. If someone calls on a phone he will write that someone telephoned or he telephoned someone. When he mentions that someone called or they called on someone he is referring to a visit. If the visitee is not at home the visitor will leave a calling card.
"Car" does not refer to an automobile, which become more and more prevalent through the diaries. A car in Bennett's day was a Motorcar, or a trolley car. His brother George is a Motorman -- a motorcar driver.
Coke-Fuel for the coal burning furnace.
G.A.R. - Grand Army of the Republic; a Union Civil War veterans organization which had its final encampment in 1949. Although he does not write much about it, Bennett's Uncle Asa Joy is the head of a GAR post. Asa was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg where he lost a leg.
Subs - He generally means substitute mail carriers, or rarely-Real estate subdivisions.
"Wheel" Bennett often rides a bicycle which he refers to as his "wheel". He often uses "wheel" as a verb, as in "I wheeled downtown." The bike he has in the beginning of the diaries is a 1896 Victor. Most likely a "Victor male pneumatic safety bicycle" made by the Overman Wheel Company of Massachusetts.
Photographs
I have included some pictures to help bring the words to life. When possible I have placed them on the day they are mentioned in the diary. If the exact date is unknown I have placed them where I think they fit in best. Here are the photos I have included so far:
February & March 2009
I am in the process of adding more photos.
If you click on a photo it will take you to a larger, higher resolution copy if I have one available.
1903-Group Portrait, Howard, mother Anna Clarkson Dean, grandmother Eveline Nash Clarkson, g-grandfather James Nash
1905-2 Baby pictures of Bennett
1905-Bennett in his carriage with American Flag taken in the house
1905-5 penny pictures of Howard
1905-2 penny pictures of Anna
1907-Bennett and Howard in their room
1907-Laurence, Bennett, Howard, their mother Anna, grandmother Eveline on the front porch at 210 Avery Ave.
1909-Laurence, Bennett & Howard on a go-cart their father made
1909 - 2 postcards of the street car between Northville and Plymouth
1911-Bennett Luther Dean in his new suit shortly before Louise's christening
1911-Group portrait of the four kids in their best clothes
1917-Group portrait of the five kids
1920-Edna's cottage at Silver Lake
1920-June & Louise w/cousins Esther & Virginia Dean at Silver Lake.