"I Was Some What Disappointed": Expectations of Love in Rural Michigan, 1862-1869

Abstract

Sallie A. Haner, a young Michigan farm girl, began her diary on 1 January 1862 with the observation: At home. New-Years day. One week ago to day since N went away on Christmas, that is for Cold water.1 These few sentences are typical of Haner's entries from 1862 to 1869. The entry was the first of many that alluded to Sallie's absent love, Nelson Johnson, whom she often referred to by his nickname Tip.2 Although individual entries are short and lack detail, the addition of subsequent entries builds a complex profile of the author and the rural world she inhabited. Haner's diaries reveal a true