Ruth Campbell Smith 1925-27 Diaries

My grandmother, Ruth Campbell Smith (1892 - 1972) kept a diary for many years. I am posting her entries from 1925 - 1927 in this blog. Her family included sons Dale (1916 - 2004), Dick (1918 - 1971), Albert (1920 - 1979), and Ned (1923 - 1976), and later daughters Marjorie (1925 - 2010) and Eleanor (1929 - 2011). Her husband was Gilbert (1889 - 1937) and they lived in Indianapolis. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of what it was like to be a housewife and mother in the 1920's.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Thursday, September 16, 1926

Thursday, September 16, 1926
Fog then fair

Ned got sick in the night, had convulsions. I was so scared alone with him, I called Gilbert who was having asthma upstairs but he didn’t hear me. I couldn’t leave Ned for a minute. He was cold with pain and I was afraid he would pass out. I never saw convulsions before and never want to again. The plums he ate caused it I think. He throwed up some which seemed to be pure plum and I found so many seeds on the floor when I swept. I was so busy yesterday I didn’t notice how many he did get. He seemed better in the evening and talked a little. Gilbert had asthma and stayed home till noon.

(Today if a child woke up with convulsions, we would call 911 and go right to a hospital. Not in 1926!)

2 comments:

Anonymous9:19 PM, September 15, 2007
What a scary night for Grandma.
Kathy, the older sister
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Annie in Austin2:16 PM, September 16, 2007
Poor Ruth!

There's a little cyanide inside plum pits... maybe Ned cracked the shell on some of the pits while eating the plums and got enough to set off this attack.

Annie
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