memorandum book

Not long before he died, a member of the Donner Party wrote a moving poem in his memorandum book that, by rights, belongs in the collection — except, alas, I just discovered it last Tuesday.

He took out his memorandum book and solemnly wrote: “Don’t forget to have six boys and six girls.”

In fact, the 116-year-old newspaper archive survived when another historical record - a memorandum book last seen in a desk drawer at the Bank of Hopkinsville - was lost.

When he died, his son found among his papers a memorandum book titled “Record of Diet and Discipline for 1839 and 1840.”

It seemed that when the telephone was not ringing for him, he was calling someone else, consulting the jotted numbers in his ever-ready memorandum book.