If Only I Had Rachel's Diary

I have so many questions for my Second Great Grandmother Rachel Jane (Simmons) McGrath about her family. I have often dreamed of finding a diary written by her. I'm sure many of my questions would be answered. If I found a diary written in her own handwriting, I would be so overcome with emotion I'm not sure what I would do. But I would start reading it immediately! I wouldn't be able to put that diary down until I'd read every single page.

She would surely write about the death of her father, Lebius Simmons, when she was about 11 years old. If not written on the date of his death that was somewhere between 1851 & 1854, there would likely be something written about it in later years. She surely remembered that day for the rest of her life. I'm sure there were times when he was especially on her mind, like when her children were born. And when she buried two of them. If she had a diary, I feel that her father's death would certainly be mentioned somewhere in it.

Like their father, I don't know the death date or location of Rachel's younger sister Louisa, who died by the age of 14. I would hope that Rachel would remember her younger sister at some point later in life and write about her. Another sister, Mary Rosilla, died in her twenty's, possibly in childbirth. I would hope to learn about all of these deaths that surely had a lasting effect on Rachel. If she had a diary, she would most likely have written something about these events.

A diary would have made a nice personal wedding gift. It would be fabulous to read about her wedding day! She married John McGrath when she was 17. The year was 1858, but the location and exact date still elude me after 28 years of searching. If she had a diary, that's something that would very likely be mentioned, maybe more than once. It would be so interesting to read about the ways they celebrated their anniversaries. Her youngest sister, Ruth, married in 1868 in the same county where Rachel was living at the time. I'm sure she would have had something to say about Ruth's wedding. Also, anything about her little brother William could be mentioned in her diary. I know nothing about his adult life.  If she had written a diary, the joyous occasions would certainly be something she wrote about.

Rachel's mother, Ruth, remarried when Rachel was 13. I would hope that Rachel would write in her diary about her relationship with her step-father and four half-siblings. She was married by the time the second of those four half-siblings came along. Mother Ruth died with the birth of the last one.  I'd love to read that the two families saw each other often before her mother's death in 1863. 

It would be so nice if Rachel would mention the cemeteries where all of her loved ones were buried, and someday I would be glad to visit them. And if there were no markers I would love to be able to place some. 

To read about my Great Grandpa as a young boy would be so much fun. To read Rachel's point of view about the fire, or the wolf pups or run-away horses incidents I found in old newspapers would be fantastic. To read about the places they lived in Illinois and Nebraska and what Rachel loved about each one would be wonderful. To learn what life was like for Rachel, and how she dealt with her losses and her final months of suffering, and what made her happy...

Oh, if only I had Rachel's diary.