Lester Alvin Milne Diaries - Introduction

Lester was born on February 6, 1895 to Alexander Christopher Milne and  Anne Lowe Shepherd in Downers Grove, Illinois, the 13^th of 13 children. All 13 children were born in the home shown in the photo below. Lester's father died when he was 2 and the family moved to a farm near Knox, Indiana where Anne had friends. She died in 1912, leaving only Jim, Anna, Lester, and her orphaned grandson John (or R.J.) still living at home. They all went to Hammond, Indiana to live with older siblings who had settled there. On September 9, 1915, Lester married Eva Kesler. Her parents were Peter B. Kesler and Mary E. Fish Kesler. Eva was also the youngest in her family (5?). Eva was born on December 12, 1896. Her family lived near Lester's near Knox. Before they were married, Lester would climb the windmill on his mother's farm to get a view of Eva at her home.

Lester and Eva had 2 children, Wayne, who was born on March 15, 1917, and Donna, who was born on March 15, 1923. Wayne married Nancy Harbert in 1940 and they had 6 children: David, Diane, James, Mary, Laura & Amy. Donna married Farrell Isenagle in 1944 and they had 4 children: Carol, Linda, Janis & Tom.

The three diary "books" transcribed here were found at the home of Wayne Milne after he died in 2013. The diaries contain the years 1915, a few entries in 1916, all of 1943-1947, half of 1958, all of 1959-1968, and a few entries in 1969. The diaries provide a glimpse into Lester's & Eva's daily lives and the history of the times. I've included photos taken on entry dates or at least representative of Lester's entries. I've typed the entries mostly as they appear, adding my comments in brackets and/or italics [comments].

I welcome corrections, additions and/or photos that anyone may have to add to this transcription. My email is smsell@frontier.com.

Mary (Milne) Sell, Lester's granddaughter