Jesse James Bench kept a short and humble diary between 1900 and 1908.  He gave us a primary account of Missouri farm life, traveling out West on a bachelor trip, and going to Texas in a covered wagon.  His descendants love him for connecting with us through time and giving us some insight into his life and family.

How the diary has been shared has changed with the technology.  First it was transcribed and typed out for relatives in the early 1980s, then it was put on a compact disc in 2000.  A portion of it made it to Facebook, and now here it is as a blog.  It would be fun to know what Jesse would have thought of his writing being published for anyone in the world to read.