NORTHBOROUGH – Suitors, ice skating, dances, and holidays spent with friends and family. The life of a young woman living in the 1880s has distinct parallels to the lives of young people today. Thanks to the 40 diaries from 1880 to the 1940s of Northborough resident Mary Eunice Mack, we can learn firsthand about Northborough’s thriving social and activity scene and the daily life of a young woman. Here we’ll take a look at Mary’s late teen years, starting with her first entries in 1880.
In addition to attending school, Mary filled her afternoons and evenings with Reform Club, singing school, Unity Club, and temperance meetings and lectures. Through Unity Club, Mary read literature such as “Our Mutual Friend” by Charles Dickens, Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and sections from Dickens’ novel “David Copperfield.” She also frequented social gatherings (“sociables”) at the Unitarian Church.
Over the course of 1880, Mary had three suitors, Ed Greene, Ed Peverly, and Fred Stevens. Mr. Greene was her first suitor. She does not express emotions often, but on August 3, she wrote “Have been blue today and thought much of Mr. Greene and the good times we had together,” apparently after they stopped seeing one another. She referenced spending time with Fred Stevens then in the fall. However, on December 21, she confided in her diary that she saw Fred at the Northborough Lyceum with another girl and writes, “He never can be seen with me again.”
Self-assurance is evident through Mary’s actions; she was the one who invited Mr. Greene to the 1880 Leap Year Dance. As part of the dance, they enjoyed an oyster supper, a recurring dinner throughout her late teenage years, and did not return home until 2:30 a.m. Just a few days later, Mary writes about attending a Temperance Soiree, where she again had an oyster supper and enjoyed music and dancing.
She spent her birthdays much like they are spent today. For her 16th birthday, April 3, 1880, she had friends over and received a bottle of cologne, while for her 19th birthday she wrote that it was a lovely day but she did not receive a single present.
Mary attended many plays, even traveling to the Globe Theatre in Boston once with her father. She references her friend Frank Pope’s play, “The Skelton Witness” (which she describes as “very good”) and “The Silver Spoon,” which was performed by a theater company in Marlborough.
She also enjoyed outdoor recreation. On July 4, 1880, Mary went boating in the evening and then woke up at 2:30 a.m. the following day to hike at Wachusett Mountain. Mary and 18 others left for Wachusett at 4 a.m., arrived home at 8:30 p.m., and then saw fireworks in town. Later in July, Mary went to Northborough’s Ball Hill in the morning and “had a chowder out in the berry field at noon.” She also spent ample time ice skating at Bush’s pond, located on Whitney Street in Northborough.
Mary lived at 1 Mentzer Avenue in Northborough and died at age 78.
