Skip to content

OPEN TODAY: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Tickets

Manuscripts

George Forby diary

Image not available



You might also be interested in

  • Image not available

    George Stein diary

    Manuscripts

    George Stein kept this diary while on several fishing and camping trips in Washington State from 1934 to 1936. Besides diary entries about his fishing trips, Stein also includes lists of equipment needed for fishing, fly fishing, and camping, as well as details about fish flies and rods, and auto repairs he performs on his car. Also included is a "Camp Food Check List" by Stein.

    mssHM 84020

  • Image not available

    George S. Mathews diary

    Manuscripts

    The diary, which covers two journeys taken by George S. Mathews, was written from notes he took along the way. The first journey is Mathews' trek from Waverly, Iowa, to Portland, Oregon, via the Oregon Trail in 1865, and the second is a voyage from Oregon to New York City via Panama in 1866. There is little personal detail in the overland portion of the diary; Mathews took note of facts such as weather conditions, number of people in the wagon train, campsites, mileage, and locations passed such as Fort Laramie and Fort Dalles. He also mentions several Indian tribes, such as the Winnebago, the Brule, and the Nez Perce, and their contact with the pioneers and the military (he briefly mentions the Battle of Horse Creek, June 1865). The voyage portion of the diary gives great detail regarding the conditions on the voyage and Mathews' experiences in San Francisco and Panama. After the voyage section, are more notes and mileage lists regarding Mathews' overland journey to Oregon. Also included is a cabinet card photograph of George S. Mathews

    mssHM 63161-63162

  • Image not available

    Elias S. Ketcham diary

    Manuscripts

    Diary kept by Elias S. Ketcham of Rondout (Kingston), New York and covers the first half of 1851. Most entries are summaries of his daily activities such as work, church meetings and visits with friends in and around Rondout. Ketcham was a very religious man and the majority of his diary is about what he needs to do to become a better Christian. There is some discussion regarding his decision to leave New York and join his brothers in California. In his last entry, June 12, Ketcham writes about the preparations he has made for his trip, and his feelings of uncertainty regarding leaving his friends and family to head West to search for gold. There are several entries dated 1861, 1862 and 1868 regarding Ketcham's boarding situation

    mssHM 59423

  • Diary of George Laub [microform]: 1874-1877

    Diary of George Laub [microform]: 1874-1877

    Manuscripts

    Microfilm of the third volume of George W. Laub's diary, identified as Journal of St. George and covering the years 1874-1877. The inside of the front cover is inscribed "journal prefaced & bound in this city [Salt Lake City] 1858" and notes that the volume belonged to George W. Laub of Logan, Utah, in 1916. The first page of the diary includes an incomplete entry on the Civil War. The second page picks up on January 1, 1874, when Laub was living in St. George. He writes throughout of working at a cart house, doing agricultural labor, hauling lumber, selling livestock, working on the Santa Clara ditch, visiting Pine Valley and Diamond Valley, camping along the Santa Clara River, and working on the St. George Temple. Laub often attended the Tabernacle, where he listened the George A. Smith and Brigham Young, who spoke of the necessity of building a temple, as well as discussing the inscription for a monument stone to Joseph Smith to be placed at the Kirtland Temple (January 11, 1874). Laub also writes of interaction with Navajos in Pine Valley and with what he describes as "Lamonites of the Sebech Nation" (March 1875), and worries about the state of affairs in the United States, writing that he continually reads in the newspapers of "fires, murders, shipwrecks, and treachery of all kinds," as well as violence between former slaves and the "white population" in the South (1875). The diary ends in August 1877. Included at the end of the volume is some family information.

    MSS MFilm 00084

  • Diary of George Laub, volume one [microform]: c.1845-1857

    Diary of George Laub, volume one [microform]: c.1845-1857

    Manuscripts

    Microfilm of George Laub's diary covering approximately 1845-1857, and identified as Volume 1. The volume is a mixture of autobiography and diary entries, many of which appear to have been copied from an earlier source. The first entry is dated January 1, 1845, but entries before about 1855 are not always in chronological order. The early portion of the volume consists of an autobiography recounting Laub's difficult childhood following the death of his father, his arrival in Nauvoo in 1843, the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo, Laub's adoption by John D. Lee, and his marriage to Mary Jane Meginness(who converted to Mormonism before their wedding); a combination of diary entries and autobiographical notes cover his moves between Illinois and Iowa from 1846-1847, persecution and mob violence faced by the Mormons in Illinois, his life in Missouri from 1848-1852, and his overland travels to Utah in 1852. The diary entries from 1855 focus on Laub's laboring on mills and his church activities in and around Salt Lake City through 1857. The volume also contains lists of births and deaths, as well as extensive theological notes, addresses, and prophecies copied from Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Heber Kimball, and Brigham Young.

    MSS MFilm 00091

  • Image not available

    Mary Haskin Parker Richards diary

    Manuscripts

    Typescript of a diary kept by Mary Haskin Parker Richards while her husband Samuel Richards was on his mission to Great Britain from 1846-1848. The diary begins on July 22, 1846 (the first four pages are missing), while Mary was traveling with Samuel's parents in a covered wagon through Iowa. Despite the hardships of travel and living much of the time in tents, Mary writes of enjoying her sewing, cooking, and caring for ill family members. She writes of attending a council between the Twelve and "the Natives," which included "10 Indians [and] two Chiefs" in December 1846. In February 1847 Mary ventured across the frozen Missouri River and stayed in an Indian village. She recounts seeing Mormons and Indians living side-by-side although not always peacefully. She happily recounts moving into a house in April 1847 for the first time since leaving Nauvoo in May 1846. "I rejoiced to think that after...living in a tent, and wandering from house to house to keep from perishing with the Cold, [and] suffering...every inconvenience...I had once more a place I could call my home," she wrote on April 29. Much of the diary is taken up with notes on Mary's domestic activities and her attendance of lectures and apparently fiery sermons by Mormon leaders. The final entry was made on May 14, 1848. There is a gap in the diary from August to November 1846.

    mssHM 27970