Journal, 1870-1878, 1909-1926

Journal begins in short-hand which he abandons in May, 1870. Despondent at age 18 about his future, longs to be at a good college, not on the farm. At the end of second month 1871, he moved to the family's farm in Virginia. The rest of the family joined him soon after. Matilda was teaching, Frank and Henry working in the printing business, their father running the farm, and Will was fretting about being socially awkward. He resumes study of shorthand in the summer and becomes interested in spiritualism, channeling Benjamin Ferris. First section of the journal ends August 1878, with William working on the farm.

Thirty years later, he resumed his journal. He was living in 301 West Street, Wilmington, with his sister Matilda. It was the home of his grandfather who he admired greatly. His father died in the house the previous year, and it was owned by his aunt Martha who let him land Matilda live there. In April 1909, he leased a plot at Arden where he kept a garden and tent. He writes that he has become a socialist and follows astrology in his unconventional search for truth. Because of his political views and deafness, he had difficult in holding a job, and his only income was from his vegetable plot. His uncle Edward, "the erring brother," in declining health, moved into the house with Matilda and Aunt Martha ("Patty")." January 1911, he was planning to leave the Ferris home on West Street; he had purchased a tent from Upton Sinclair. He comments that Martha had the best business sense of her family and that she has tried to provide for her needy family members. [Apparently she had a store on Market St., in Wilmington.]

Martha died on 6/6/1912, with Matilda as her executor. and her dependent family members, Matilda, Edward, and William, had to leave the house. A fervent Socialist, he made his home at Arden as on 9/17/1911, determined to live alone and do what he wished. He describes his life at Arden in 1913 and 1914. Matilda had moved to W. 7th St. in Wilmington. William predicts that socialism will succeed after the war. Notes that he had become a vegetarian in 1895 and aimed to eat only because necessary, not for pleasure. Last entry is Sept. 6, 1926. While he is doesn't regret that he lived his life on his own terms, moving often, he acknowledges that because he lived a selfish life, no one owes him care in his old age. He suffers from poverty, with Matilda his only close relative.