Wealthy Hossafous Harp
In keeping with the goal of connecting ancestors with searching descendants I’m working with Debbie Harp and Diane Alter Porfidio to host The Diary of Wealthy Ann Hossafous Harp. These dedicated women have lovingly and painstakingly transcribed and detailed names from the diary of their great grandmother Wealthy Hossafous Harp. You can read through the diary online here or you can download the PDF version. Check out the Diary’s Facebook page for more updates and photos. This will be a wealth of information for anyone researching early 1920’s Ohio.
A message from Debbie & Diane:
In late July, 2011, I stumbled upon a tablet stored in a Ziploc bag inside of a box of old photos handed down from my grandmother, Hazel Bever Harp. Although yellowed and crumbling at the bottom, the ruled tablet contained about 150 handwritten pages in pencil. I began reading and judging by the dates, it was a journal and I did not have to read very far to see that it was written by my great grandmother, Wealthy Ann Hossafous Harp, in 1922. A journal of a trip she made to visit her relatives and friends in Ohio. What a find! I immediately emailed Cousin Diane to share my joy with her.
We transcribed the journal, which we found that Wealthy called her diary, to make reading easier. Since we were overwhelmed by how many people she referenced during her trip, either saw or talked about, we started a list of names and researched each one. What began as an entertaining read, became a labor of love for us. There are nearly 500 people referenced in the diary, and more than half have been footnoted, but we would like to have more.
If you can identify any of the people who are not footnoted, denoted with [?], then please contact us. We are also looking for pictures of any of the people Wealthy referenced. In either case, or if you just have comments, you can email us at wealthydiary@yahoo.com.
Diane and I hope you enjoy this diary as much as we did. It was a true joy to read and get to know our ancestors and very sad when we came to the last page (126 of the tablet) and she had not made it home to Ponca City. If only she had one more sheet of paper, but she had used a good 25 sheets on recipes and menus still to be transcribed and added at a later date. Keep in touch if you are interested in our work-in-progress.
Warm regards,
Debbie Harp
Diane Alter Porfidio
Unclaimed Ancestors 
You mentioned my great grandfather Martis Levi Miles which I have been doing research on for years. I hit a roadblock on him several years ago. I can trace him from age 18-forward but have not been able to find his parents. If you can tell me anything about him from the diary I would be most thankful.
Hi Christine – thank you for your question. I will let Diane and Debbie so they can get back to you. For a quicker response, please use their direct email, wealthydiary@yahoo.com. So glad you’ve found a good resource in this diary.
Jodi
Howdy. I’m one of the great granddaughters of Charlie Hoerner and a Granddaughter of Jerold (one ‘r’) Hoerner. Thank you for publishing this. :)
Tania, so glad you’ve found us!
Pingback: Dear Diary...Don’t Divulge Those Secrets Too Fast! | Family History Daily