John Jay Janney was a rare man for his time - a farm boy who was educated. Born in 1812 in the backwoods of Loudoun County, Virginia, near Goose Creek, John was taught by the Quakers. At the age of 90, he realized that, although many records survived on the life of 19th century plantation owners, he was one of the few who could write about the life of ordinary farmers. He meticulously recorded everything he could remembered about furniture, farm tools, food, fashions, customs, ceremonies, schooling, even superstitions. Among other intriguing items, he tells how his mother weaned him, how coffins were made, why girls did not wear drawers, why flax was sown on Good Friday, and why one drunk was buried alive. When Janney moved west to cosmopolitan Columbus, Ohio, he helped found the public library there. He traveled to Washington for two visits with Abraham Lincoln, which he describes in these memoirs. His valuable book, edited and annotated by two of his heirs, is the heritage of all Americans.