“The Haven” Record Book

The handwritten ledger is titled on the cover “‘The Haven’ 1901, June 22 ’01,” and handwritten on the recto “The Haven Record Book, Waveland, Mississippi 1901, June 22, 01. July 2, 05”. Handwritten entries begin on page 3 with June 22, 1901. It appears that someone scribbled over this page with pencil, the entries are legible. The final entry is dated May 9, 1910.

Entries appear to be made by different people. They document the daily activities at “The Haven”, the summer home of R.E. Craig of Yazoo City. The type of fish that they caught, who came to visit, the weather, if the hens were laying, puppies being born, as well as major events in the area are noted. Some of those are a hurricane in August 1901, Yazoo City burned in late May 1904, President Roosevelt spoke in New Orleans on October 26, 1905, a hurricane in September 1906 hit Mobile and Pensacola, and a category IV hurricane on September 20, 1909, was noted with “Storm!!” On December 2, 1909, a simple entry “Telephone in” indicates the amenity of having a telephone in a vacation home at a time when so few homes had telephones.

There are descriptive newspaper clippings glued into the ledger that indicate that The Haven was for sale and was sold to John McCloskey of New Orleans. The final entry dated May 9, 1910, states “We leave the Haven for good – after 20 years!!” signed Mary E. Craig.

Other inserts, including an 1855 needlepoint, Confederate money, and newspaper clippings, have been removed from the ledger and placed separate.