MSS 0097. Diaries, Journals, & Ships' Logs

This book of poetry and song was compiled by an unknown author in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1848. Pages 69 to 165 of the volume comprise a two-part epic poem entitled "Evanore: A Tale of the Brandywine."

A typed transcript of letters written and journal kept by Reverend Joseph Witherspoon Cook during part of his time as a missionary to Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, 1868-1869. The letters describe his journey from Philadelphia to Cheyenne, the process of setting up a mission in the settlement, the inhabitants of Cheyenne, and the living conditions in the area.

The first portion of this volume contains the meeting minutes of the National Eclectic Assurance Society of the United States, Finance Committee, from 1868-1873, while the latter portion contains notes kept by medical student John C. McCoy.

This early- to mid-nineteenth-century manuscript book records recipes for food, medicinal cures, and household tips. It belonged to Sarah K. Fotterall who may have lived in the Mid-Atlantic region, possibly Philadelphia.

The journal of Dr. Isaac S. French contains original poems, essays, and entries describing his daily activities as a medical student at Dartmouth, New Hampshire, and physician from 1854 to 1861. French also described his relationships with several women and the early years of his marriage.

This journal was created by Mary Garrigues, who described her experiences at Quaker Meetings in the Mid Atlantic, her travels to those Meetings, and her preaching against slavery. She also copied a portion of a 1759 manuscript by English Quaker Christopher Wilson.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resident W. O. George’s nineteenth century manuscript volume comprises approximately fifty pages of handwritten medicinal recipes. These recipes employ chemical (rather than herbal) means for their cures.

This nineteenth-century German-American manuscript recipe book is written in both languages and contains a variety of food recipes, particularly desserts, as well as several laid-in items like clippings and additional handwritten recipes.

These four volumes contain three handwritten variations of the travel narrative of nineteenth-century American sailor George Arthur Gray recorded on his roundtrip voyage from Boston to China between March 1863 and May 1866. The original diary entries were expanded into a full narrative, which Gray apparently hoped to publish. The narrative focuses on Chinese social customs, the Chinese coast, and the details of a sailor's life.

Charles Green of Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, created these notebooks of mathematical rules and exercises around 1840-1841 to aid his study of practical geometry.

This typed transcript of a journal chronicles Platteville, Wisconsin, resident John Grindell's 1850 overland journey west during the California Gold Rush.

Journal kept by Henry A. Harding aboard the ship Otago documenting voyages from Port Blakely, Washington Territory, to Noumea, New Caledonia, with stops at Newcastle, Australia, and Honolulu, Hawaii, between April 18th, 1879 and December 11, 1882.

Margaret Hazlitt's "Recollections" of her father Reverend William Hazlitt (1737-1820), and her brothers essayist and critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) and artist John Hazlitt (1767-1837) cover the period 1737 to approximately 1812. The diary is of interest for its account of the origins and history of the Hazlitt family and its detailed description of the visit of the Reverend William Hazlitt and his family to North America from 1783 to 1787.

This diary was kept by Harriet Hemperley of Columbia, Pennsylvania, between May 1868 and May 1869. Hemperley recorded her work as a seamstress, social visits, and attendance at various church services and religious meetings.

Logbook kept by Frederick A. Hodge aboard the HMS ships Minotaur, Achilles, and Swiftsure documenting regular military voyages between February 14, 1881, and November 20, 1885, in a variety of places, including Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Callao, Peru; the Galapagos Islands; the Sandwich Islands; Portsmouth, England; and Plymouth, England.

This volume is a farm diary kept by Chauncey P. Holcomb of New Castle County, Delaware, between 1843 and 1850. Holcomb recorded information related to his crops and livestock, as well as references to the weather, his health, and his involvement in agricultural reform.

Ship's log kept by the whaler Charles Howell on the ship Marcus documenting three whaling voyages out of Sag Harbor, New York, between August 24, 1830, and March 12, 1833.

John C. Giles's journal contains a detailed account of his daily activities on a grand tour of Europe taken with his wife and daughter from June 3 to November 24, 1868. Giles described landmarks, churches, museums, plays, concerts, weather, hotels, transportation, shopping, dining, correspondence, people met, and social activities.

This manuscript volume, titled “Index to Remarkable Passages,” comprises recipes for medical conditions, household problems, and agricultural concerns, and was made by an unknown creator in approximately 1803-1804.

Official United States Navy deck log of the United States Steam Sloop Richmond describing the journey of the Mediterranean Squadron from Norfolk, Virginia, to patrol on the Mediterranean from September 27, 1860, to June 28, 1861.

This travel diary documents the mid-nineteenth-century European excursion of American William A. Ingram. Along with several other young male friends, he visited Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Austria.

This travel journal documents two trips to London, England, taken by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resident Mary Olmstead Ives in the 1890s. Mary, who accompanied her husband Frederic Eugene Ives and son Herbert, described the journey by steamship to England, as well as events, social engagements, landmarks, tours, and local customs.

The journal of Craigie P. Jenks documents his daily life as a farmhand near Boston, Massachusetts, in 1851. Jenks described both his work and his opinions of current social and political events.