1871-1895 ledger of Hall of Orrville Lodge No. 490 (Patreon)

Back in 2015 I bought this book from an antique store that went out of business last year. It is the handwritten 1871-1895 ledger of Hall of Orrville Lodge No. 490. It was just a sort of curious impulse buy on a whim, and after flipping through the first few pages of pretty dry meeting notes - that were difficult to read - I put it aside.

It turned up again while I was reorganizing everything this month. I decided to give it a closer look, and at first again thought it was just filled with boring meeting notes. However, when I flipped to the back of it I discovered additional writing I had not found three years ago.

It appears that in 1910 it came into the possession of a woman going by the name Nora Erhart, who started writing in it while living on what she called West Bass Island.

Skimming through her entries I believe that there's some pertinent information to be found in her writing. She wrote with ink that is horribly faded and flaking, so I will be transcribing these and sharing her journey intermittently, while trying to preserve this as best I can.

I hope it is an interesting ride.