SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 1861.
It threatened rain all day but none fell. Holly has been rather sick today, sore throat, cold, &c. Julia D[itt]o. Neither went to church. Uncle C R and the rest of us all went to Doct. Smiths in the morning. Bro & myself went over to the Island to hear Mason Noble in the afternoon. Bro thinks of starting home tomorrow, must try and keep him a little longer. He seems very near to me as a Brother. We have concluded not to send Juliet back to Elmira this term. Holly has considerable fever tonight and we feel somewhat anxious about him. I sleep with him tonight.
The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of Congress.