The Diaries of James Armistead Otey Author:James Otey Hoge, Jr. During much of the long life he spent on his Blacksburg, Virginia farm, Uncle Jim (James Armistead Otey) kept a running account of each day's events. His diaries begin in 1889, when he was 26, and run through 1926, when he was 64. The diaries that have survived provide a treasure trove of information about the Oteys' daily life -- about their... more » family, friends, neighbors, and those who worked for them, and about everything involved in running a large Virginia farm roughly 100 years ago.« less