Aida A. Austin lived in New York City with or near her Eldred-Austin relatives during the winter months. In the summer, Aida and her New York City cousins travelled 95 miles to the village of Eldred, New York, and stayed with Aida’s parents, Henry and Mary Ann Eldred Austin.
“A bad beginning makes a good ending?” questioned Aida Austin at the beginning of her 1881 Diary, the year she turned 20.
Aida wrote about the weather and daily life—plumbers fixing piepes, dentist and doctor visits, going to Central Park, skating, sailing, shopping, getting the mail, holidays, daily visits with relatives, President Garfield’s assassination, raking hay, and times with friends in Eldred (the Village) where she grew up.
Included at the end of the Diary are photos of Aida’s parents, brothers, and some of her Eldred-Austin relatives mentioned in her diary.
