03.04.2020 – Begin the time-consuming task of proofing each of Arba’s articles. I have to  comparing the original copy of the newspaper against the OCR transcription – this is done TWICE through all of the articles. The OCR process is imperfect with 120 year old newspaper type so there are a LOT of errors.

After a couple of weeks, I am finally am able to string together all 55 of the articles. When it’s pieced together as a continuous manuscript this was, Arba wrote more than 40,000 words. I find it also offers an entirely different perspective and flows like his original manuscript must have done. Arba wrote his entire manuscript over a period from December, 1901 until February, 1902 and then the Walker County Messenger serialized it across 55 different article for more than one year.