John Henry Sabine (1853 – 1920) of Riverdale, Nova Scotia began writing a daily diary/journal on his 23rd birthday in 1876, and continued to write daily entries until his death in 1920. These diaries are an excellent record of the daily life of the Sabine family, and also include many details of interest about the surrounding communities.
The diaries have been safely stored in the Sabine homestead in Riverdale since they were penned. Our goal is to digitize, transcribe and publish the diaries so they can be enjoyed and studied for generations to come.
About John Sabine
JOHN HENRY SABINE (son of Joseph Sabean and Ruth McNeill) was born on 19 Oct 1853 in Riverdale, Nova Scotia. He died on 15 Jun 1920 in Weymouth, Nova Scotia. He married Roxanna Ring, daughter of Samuel Ring and Mehitable Saxton on 25 Dec 1877 in Barton, Nova Scotia. She was born on 23 Oct 1853 in Barton, Digby, NS. She died on 10 Oct 1954 in Riverdale, Nova Scotia.
John Henry Sabine and Roxanna Ring had the following children:
- Harold Fullerton Sabine (1878 – 1957)
- Leslie Herbert Sabine (1880 – 1953)
- Joseph Willard Sabine (1882 – 1959)
- Leonard Tilley Sabine (1884 – 1949)
- John Bernard Sabine (1886 – 1985)
- Percy Reginald Sabine (1888 – 1965)
- Stella Mildred Sabine (1891 – 1968)
- Ethel Ring Sabine (1894 – 1990)
John was a farmer and postmaster. John was born with his last name spelled Sabean, but sometime during his life he changed the spelling to Sabine.
Published Diaries
We currently have the following volumes of diaries published and ready to download as a PDF or purchase as a printed book:
Note: The PDF file downloads are very large.
Volume One – 1876 & 1877
Download PDF (150 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Two – 1878
Download PDF (106 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Three – 1879
Download PDF (91 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Four – 1880
Download PDF (111 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Five – 1881
Download PDF (108 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Six – 1882
Download PDF (120 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Seven – 1883
Download PDF (104 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Eight – 1884
Download PDF (96 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Nine – 1885
Download PDF (112 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Ten – 1886
Download PDF (94 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Eleven – 1887
Download PDF (85 MB) | Purchase Book
Volume Twelve – 1888
Download PDF (72 MB) | Purchase Book
Sabine Diaries Facebook Group
To learn more about the project, please join the Sabine Diaries Facebook Group. Here you will find hundreds of old photos, documents and discussions about the diaries.
