Manuscripts
Diary
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Elizabeth P. Hincks diary
Manuscripts
Mrs. Hincks commenced her diary on June 12, 1868, upon advice of General E. R. S. Canby's wife who told her that she wished she had kept a diary during her travels as an army wife. The first portion of the diary recaps the events since the Hincks' wedding till June of 1868. The remainder covers the family's trip to New York, Boston, Cambridge, Bangor, and Buckport, Me., Col. Hinck's hometown, in the summer and late fall of 1868. Mrs. Hincks recounted her daily life -- reading, sewing, shopping, paying visits, attending theater and lectures in Boston and New York, (including an exhibit of Frederick Church's Niagara). There are also accounts of a Republican meeting and parade in Bangor that featured her husband along with Daniel Sickles and James Harrison Wilson as guests of honor, public appearances and speaking engagement of Edward W. Hincks who was campaigning for Benjamin F. Butler, and the election day of 1868 in Boston. The last portion of the diary, from the late November on, describe the return to Goldsboro, passing the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Petersburg, and the life in camp.
mssHM 69808
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Peter Andrew Clapsaddle diary
Manuscripts
In this diary, Clapsaddle writes daily entries while on his voyage from New York to San Francisco. In it. he talks about life on board the ship, seasickness, his asthma, three passengers dying on board, church services he attended and the meals he ate. He also gives the ship's position and course. He briefly mentions the ship's stops in Panama and Guatemala, the arrival in San Francisco and a job he obtained with the Evening telegram. With the diary is a typed biography of Clapsaddle, outline of his voyage, map of his voyage and typescript of the diary.
mssHM 75101
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Washington F. Davidson diary
Manuscripts
Diary that Davidson kept from June 1840 to the end February 1840, most of which Davidson spent serving onboard the Dale on her maiden voyage to South America. As he sailed from Norfolk to Brazil and around Cape Horn, Davidson meticulously recorded every detail of his duties -- setting sails; logging distance, coordinates, and winds; supervising the crew, etc. The richly detailed diary reveals a young, enthusiastic sailor, endowed with a keen eye, natural curiosity, and a certain literary talent. (His younger sister Virginia Emeline Davidson later became a well known writer.) The diary provides an intimate look at the life of midshipmen ("Middies") and their often complicated relationship with the officers and crew. Davidson described in great detail numerous encounters with British, Danish, French, Peruvian, and American whalers and naval vessels. The latter included the famed frigates Constellation and Constitution. Throughout the voyage, Davidson used every opportunity to go ashore, recording his impressions, paying particular attention to local population, especially the ladies. While in Guayaquil, the Dale was paid a visit by Andres de Santa Cruz y Calahumana, the exiled Marshall of Peru-Bolivian Confederacy. Davidson reported the visit in great detail.
mssHM 69950
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Charles Plummer diaries
Manuscripts
Two diaries kept by Charles Plummer, one while he was traveling from Boston to San Francisco in 1849 and one while he was sailing from Boston to Brazil in 1863-1864. The 1849 diary begins with Plummer's preparations to leave Boston and his joining of the New England and California Trading and Mining Association. He departed from Boston on the ship Lenore in February 1849 and while on board recorded notes on brigs he has seen (including his tracking of the brig Charlotte), a minstrel's concert on board, his stop at the Port of Talcahuana (Chile), and notes on the flying fish and birds he has seen, including the capture of an albatross. He also writes of difficulties with the Association, noting that various members had been tried on board for "deception, falsehood, neglect of duty, intemperance &c." In July the Lenore put down anchor near Benicia and Plummer was chosen to join a "pioneer party to the mines" which traveled up the Sacramento River to the Feather River and set up a "gold washer." The trip was ultimately disappointing, and things did not improve upon the party's return to the Lenore, where on September 10 "a mutiny...result[ed] in the dissolution of our company." In November the Lenore was sold and Plummer stayed for a few months in San Francisco, which was "truly a dark time," as his companion Morris had dysentery and Plummer suffered from a "bad cough [and] two very sore fingers." He wrote that their only opportunity for the winter might be to "go to the mines," which he hoped to avoid at all costs. In December Plummer came down with dysentery and began taking opium pills, and made few further entries in the diary until he gave it up completely on December 18.
mssHM 75054-75055
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Edwin F. Gay pocket diary with daily expenses
Manuscripts
A pocket-size diary listing appointments and daily expenses for 1933; with a London address written on the inside of the front cover.
mssHM 82862
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Mary Richardson travel diaries
Manuscripts
Collection of four diaries kept by Mary Richardson, a cousin of English critic and artist John Ruskin, documenting travel primarily in France and Italy, between 1833 and 1841, with the Ruskin family, including John Ruskin. Richardson often describes the sites they visited, her perceptions, and the daily activities of the family during their tours of Europe. The volumes consist of a diary of travel chiefly in Italy, from May-September 1833 (HM 41910); a diary of travel chiefly in France from June 4-August 25, 1835 (HM 41911); a diary of travel in Rome and Naples from December 22, 1840, to March 11, 1841 (HM 41912); and a diary of travel in Italy from March 14-June 23, 1841 (HM 41913). The collection also contains one additional volume: a diary and appointment book of an unidentified individual, presumably a young man, in London, England, in 1849 (HM 41914).
mssHM 41910-41914