June 14, 1864

June 14, 1864

Dear Diary,

I have some good news and some bad news.

First I will tell you the bad news.

Do you remember when I told you that all the newspaper packages we had, got stolen…well I did and I also told you that I had one more sheet that had a couple of small stories on it.

Well…..I finished those small stories and now I have nothing left to tell you.

And since I have no news to tell you…that means I won’t be writing in you anymore.

I mean…I will try to, but there won’t be any point.

I’m really sorry Diary.

But on the plus side…I finished writing my history book.

And now I can show mama and maybe even get it published.

Boy if papa was still here, he would have been so proud of me.

Well anyways…

I guess this is goodbye Diary.

At least for now…

I'll miss you :(

Love,

Samantha Jones

August 22,1863

August 22, 1863

Dear Diary,

I’m back and I am ready to tell you about different battles and treaties.

So today’s stories will have a lot of different stories in them, but they are all about different battles and treaty’s that took place. They are called The Battle of Queenston Heights, The Battle of Put-in-Bay, The Battle of Chateauguay, and The Battle of Lundy’s Lane.

First I will tell you about The Battle of Queenston Heights.

So the battle started on October 13, 1812 at 4 o’clock in the morning. It was Sir Isaac Brock that realized there was an invasion happening at Queenston Heights. So he quickly gathered the small force he had, and led them up hill. When they arrived at Queenston Heights, a musket ball hit Isaac and he was killed. Thankfully, reinforcements came by the afternoon and started the second phase of the battle. (The only difference was; Sir Isaac Brock was replaced by a general named Roger Sheaffe). They also had help from the Haudenosaunee people. Fortunately, Roger and the Haudenosaunee people were powerful enough to get the Americans to withdraw from the battle.

The next story would be about the Battle of Put-in-Bay but it is kind of pointless. So I will tell you the story of The Battle of Chateauguay instead.

So the Battle of Chateauguay took place on October 25, 1813. The Americans wanted to invade Montreal and cut off the supply line between Montreal and Kingston. But unfortunately for the Americans, they had poor leadership and communications. (This one time; the American troops were coming back through the forests, and one of the Americans thought they were invaders, and shot them. Can you believe that Diary!?! One of their own men shot them. I don't know about that guy but if I did that to my own team, I would have a HUGE regret for the rest of my life.

Well, anyways......

To make the long story short, the American were quite idiotic.

They always overestimated the amount of British troops. They always thought that they were outnumbered by the British. (Did you know that they retreated 8 times because they thought they were outnumbered, when they really weren't?) That’s pretty pathetic don't you think?

Well that concludes that story. Let's move on to the next one about The Battle of Lundy's Lane.

So The Battle of Lundy’s Lane is a pretty easy battle to understand. Basically, the Americans were fighting the British in the dark. Both sides fired at their own men and as usual, the Americans withdrew from the fight. While the Americans built their defence at Lake Erie, the British prepared for a second battle; which did not happen. But of course, both sides thought they won because nobody formally lost.

And that’s basically the story of the

Uhhh ohhhh.

I’m really sorry Diary but I just heard mama’s foot steps and I think she is coming towards my room. So I really have to go.

Boy…if mama sees me writing this late, it WILL surely be my last Diary entry.

SO I REALLY HAVE TO GO!!!!!

Love,

Samantha Jones

May 15, 1826

May 15, 1826

Dear Diary,

Today I’m going to really tell you about Isaac Brock and Tecumseh.

First I will tell you about Tecumseh.

Tecumseh was born in 1768, and he was a member of the Shawnee nation, and he and his brother Tenskwatawa built an alliance of First Nations. The brothers were very inspirational and they encouraged the First Nations to protect their land. Tecumseh then allied with Britain against the United States in the war of 1812 and Britain promised to support Tecumseh in his claim to the Western Territory. Then when Tecumseh met Isaac Brock, they became great friends and planned the invasion of Detroit together. On October 5, 1813 Major General Henry Proctor was in charge of British and Canadian forces. Proctor and Tecumseh’s forces were both fighting against the American troops. Unfortunately, Proctor’s supplies went short and he had to retreat the fight, leaving Tecumseh’s and the First Nations to fight alone. They ended up being outnumbered and Tecumseh was shot and killed. Proctor’s decision to retreat got him suspended for six months. And since no one was there to fight the battle the First Nations believed that the British would lose the war. To make a long story short, Tecumseh and his allies helped the British win several battles in the war of 1812. (Tecumseh’s death caused the alliance with the British to end. It also ended most of the First Nations’ resistance to American settlement in the West.)

I know I said I was going to tell you the story of Isaac Brock…but…I don’t really feel like it. Personally, I don’t find him that interesting.

So I guess that’s it for a little while Diary.

I will have to look through a lot of newspapers to find some good stories. Hopefully I will get better ones than the Isaac Brock ones.

Love,

Samantha Jones

May 10, 1826

May 10, 1826

Dear Diary,

I am feeling a bit better about not having a news stand, but I don’t have the confidence I used to. I wish they still had the news stand…just the news stand is ok with me. I don’t need a store…I just need something. Now that I barely have anything to do, I have to go out and help mama in the fields even more often. And we barely get any breaks. And the worst part about not having a news stand is that mama and I don’t have anything in common. Mama was such a quiet person and when papa died, it became worse. The news stand was the only thing that helped me get her to open up. And now that it’s gone, our talking days are over. Can you believe that some day’s mama and I actually don’t talk? Most days are in complete silence, even when we work in the fields.

So I have decided that I will ask mama if I can go talk to Joe about this whole situation and see what he can do about it. But until then…I will just have to use the stories from the newspapers mama and I carried home.

So I will start with the story I didn’t end. You know…the one about Isaac Brock and the Defence of Canada.

So Isaac Brock was a Major General and he was the Administrator of Upper Canada, and he wanted to join the fight against Napoleon. And yeah…then a bunch of things happened and yeah. That’s basically it; that story about him doesn’t really amuse me.

Anyways…I will tell you another story.

But I will tell you tomorrow because mama says break time is over and that I have to go work again.

Tomorrow I will tell you a better story on Isaac Brock and a new story about Tecumseh.

Bye for now Diary.

Love,

Samantha Jones

September 20, 1825

September 20, 1825

Dear Diary,

Today was ONE of the worst days in my life! So today was the grand opening of the news store, and there was a great crowd. I just about squeezed my way to the front, so I could watch as they cut that beautiful red velvet ribbon. They said that once the ribbon was cut, the doors would be open and that everyone was free to go inside. So as I watched in excitement, as the pair of scissors slowly touched the ribbon; an old looking man rode in with his horse. He was holding a letter, and as he rode in, the scissors jumped right of the ribbon. When I saw the look on Joe’s face (Joe owns all the news stands/ stores), I knew something wasn’t right. Then Joe turned to the crowd and read the letter; he said that someone has just shut down his business. And that everyone should return to their homes immediately. I was devastated, and as everyone fled the scene, I quickly ran to the old news stand (that was lying in the middle of the road as a remembrance) and grabbed as many piles of news papers I could find. Then mama saw me and she grabbed as many she could as well. It took us twice as long to get home because we were lugging those heavy news papers. But mama never complained one bit, and as soon as we got home, she sent me to bed and I haven’t fallen asleep yet. I thought I would write in you tomorrow and tell you…but…I just couldn’t get my mind of not having a news stand anymore. So I will tell you what the article on the first page was about.

So the article was about this guy named Isaac Brock, and his Defence of Canada. Actually, I’m not in the mood to tell you right now. I think I will just go to bed and maybe I will tell you tomorrow. (But only if I feel any better)

Boy, I hope mama isn’t in a bad mood tomorrow; she was having so much fun reporting stories with me. We were just starting to have some fun together; you know…we were actually making a bond. And now all my hopes of doing something for papa that actually meant a lot to both of us, is all gone. Why does something bad always have to happen to my family?!!

Love,

Extremely Angry Samantha Jones

September 19, 1825

September 19, 1825

Dear Diary,

Mama took me to the news stand yesterday and guess what?!...mama’s going to take me again tomorrow. But…tomorrow I’m not going to the news stand…I’m going…to….the…news…STORE!!! Yeah, that’s right. Tomorrows the grand opening of the news store. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since I heard of the news stand. Plus, mama said that since I’ve been so helpful around the house and out in the fields, she’s going to let me pick out anything in the store that I would like to have. ANYTHING!!! I just can’t wait till tomorrow. But until then…I’ll just tell you the stories I got yesterday.

So I got this really cool story, but it has some little stories in it. But I will try to make it short Diary.

So my story is called Primary Causes of the War of 1812; here’s my story.

Even though the American Revolution ended in 1783, the issues between Britain and the United States had with each other, never ended.

Now I will tell you all the small stories. They’re called the Impressment, Blockade, and the First Nations Alliances. First I will tell you about the Impressment. (And I will basically sum up the stories because they are quite long, and I have to go to bed soon).  

Have I told you about Napoleon before? Well if I haven’t, he’s a really successful Military leader in France, and his plan was to take over all of Europe.

So anyways…

The British didn’t want Napoleon to cross into England and take over that as well, so the British tried to get a strong army to guard their shores. But since the American Merchant Navy was giving better pay, most of the British’s army went to serve the Merchant Navy instead. (all the people that left the British army were called deserters). Since the British didn’t have a lot of people, they started stopping American ships at sea trying to find their deserters. Sometimes it impressed the American’s and most of the time it made the United States extremely mad.

The other story is about Blockade but it’s not that important so I will just skip it; plus it isn’t very interesting, so it won’t make a difference anyways.

My next story is about the First Nations Alliances.

When the American Revolution ended, the First Nations People kept a large territory for themselves. (They didn’t want the Americans to expand and take their land, so they made their own territory just for them). The Americans were quite mad at the British because they thought that the British were the ones that encouraged the First Nations People to be violent towards them. And then the paper said something about this guy named Tecumseh, but I don’t really know what he did. (Plus, I can’t even remember the story).

Well, that’s all for now Diary, but I will have plenty to tell you tomorrow when they open the news store.

Love,

Samantha Jones

August 2, 1824

August 2, 1824

Dear Diary,

I haven’t really gotten a lot of news. Well I still have a lot that I wrote down when mama took me to the news stand but…all the ones I have left are the ones mama recorded for me. And to be honest…they are so boring. I mean she wrote down stories about timber wood and discovering the foundations of your community. I mean…did she honestly think I would be interested in those stories? Well to make matters worse, mama never got the chance to read my stories or see how I develop them. So today, she decided to watch me write them in you Diary. And I couldn’t say that I thought her news stories were boring right in front of her. So I wrote the stories in my notebook, that way it would seem like I was writing in you. And since mama never saw me write my stories before, she didn’t know the difference between you and my notebook. It was kind of funny seeing her being tricked so easily…but…I felt really bad about lying to her. So to make myself feel a little bit better about what I did, I will write her stories in you as well.

The first one I will tell you is about timber.

In British North America, the timber industries were higher than ever because England needed timber for many different reasons. (They needed it for paper, for building ships and houses, shoes, eating utensils, furniture, wagons, and jewelry).

*I personally think it would be kind of cool to walk around wearing jewelry made out of wood.

Anyways…I should get back to the story.

So where was I…oh yeah…lumber.

So meanwhile, the lumber industry’s workers were living in isolated camps near the St. Lawrence River, the Saint John River, and the Ottawa River. They were cutting down trees and turning the logs into squares so that they would be easier to pack on ships.

And yeah…that’s pretty much it. I don’t think there was anything else mama wrote down about timber and lumber. (Thank goodness)

Now I will tell you the other story about…about…something to do with our community. (I forget what it’s called).

Here’s the story…well…it’s not really a story. It’s just a bunch of questions mama wanted me to answer because she thought my answers might be interesting. But I’m not going to tell you my answers; I will just tell you some of the questions and my favourite answer I told mama. So the questions were basically asking you what you daydream about and why you want to remember things in the past. So my favourite answer I said was answering the question that asked, “Why do you want to remember people or events from the past?”

And I replied with “sometimes I wish I didn’t remember things from the past; like papa’s death and how it happened, and even how we had to move houses. But I do like some memories, especially the ones that happened only because of the bad times we had as a family. If we didn’t move, I wouldn’t have started to write in you Diary, and I wouldn’t have known about the news stand, then I wouldn’t know how good of a writer I was, and how I was going to write a book. So even though we all have some bad memories…I would just like to state that I would still love to remember them, than try not to at all. After all memories have a part in making us who we are.”

And that’s what I told mama. I think it answered the question but she was staring at me the whole time I was speaking, so whatever came out of my mouth was put on paper.

And that’s all I have for now Diary.

Love,

Samantha Jones