Manuscripts

John Neff diary

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Description: In this day-to-day diary of Neff's trip he talks in detail about the weather, landscape, cattle and horses being stolen, problems with Indians, hunting along the way, members of his group getting sick, and fights amongst members of his group. The diary only covers the trip from Ohio to Salt Lake City (1854, April 11 - August 9). It includes a forward by John L. Ford and map showing the route Neff took from Ohio to California.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1854.
Call number: mssHM 75111
Creator: Neff, John(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Mildred N. Beery, December 22, 1977.

John R. Robinson diary

Manuscripts

This diary, which is a bound typed transcript, was kept by John R. Robinson while traveling from New York City to Batopilas, Chihuahua, Mexico in 1861; it also includes his return trip through California and across the Midwest to his home in Ohio. Robinson was going to Mexico for Belden & Stearns, a corporation in New York who was interested in buying several mines in Batopilas. While on the journey he passed through several cities including Austin, TX; Cusihuiríachic, El Fuerte, Mazatlán, and San Blas, Mexico; San Francisco and Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Omaha, NE. The diary gives a day-by-day account of his trip. Robinson details the people, scenery and hardships he and his group encountered on their trek. He also gives details regarding the process of surveying and purchasing mines, including the costs involved. The last twenty-eight pages of the diary were written on a journey from Mexico to New York City in 1873, while Robinson was returning to the United States with a load of silver.

mssHM 62476

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Albert H. Prescott diaries

Manuscripts

Two diaries kept by Albert Prescott from 1869-1870. The 1869 diary covers Prescott's dissatisfaction with working in Hamilton, and his opening entry notes "I'm sick & tired of my job [at the S.F. Restaurant] it's too hard work" (he quit the next day and worked a series of odd jobs). The 1870 diary records Prescott's trip to San Francisco and subsequent departure, accompanied by a man named McCord, for Lima on board the French bark Glaneur, which was loaded with railroad ties. Prescott gives a detailed account of the voyage ("it being my first voyage at sea I had but a faint idea of the Ocean," he noted), including descriptions of a fistfight between two crewmen, the sighting of a whale, his distress at the monotony of ship life ("it is rather hard not being able to talk French when among Frenchmen"), and his first glimpse of the Andes Mountains. After disembarking in Peru on August 2 Prescott writes of meeting Mr. Heath, an "American from Ohio in charge of the Railroad being constructed at this place," witnessing bull fights, and his impressions of native Peruvians. Prescott and McCord stayed in San Jose and also traveled to Pacasmayo, Trujillo, and the Guanape Islands. Also included with the diaries is a cardboard sheet with penciled genealogical information on the Prescott family.

mssHM 75051-75053

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Western travel diary

Manuscripts

Travel diary by an unknown author documenting a train trip across the United States from Massachusetts to Yellowstone National Park and ending in Cleveland, Ohio. The diary is accompanied by a complete transcript.

mssHM 83423

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John S. Southworth diary of Colorado River trip

Manuscripts

The first volume (HM 74297) is Southworth's diary that he kept while on the river trip. The diary begins in Green River, Wyoming on June 20th and ends near Boulder City, Nevada on August 22. Southworth talks about the trip: the conditions along the river; the weather; the scenery passed; the people, ranches and animals along the route; and injuries among the group. There are also two newspaper clippings in the diary. The photograph album (HM 74298) contains over 400 black and white photographs taken on the river trip. There are several photographs of Monument Valley and two photographs of Native Americans. The photograph album also contains a newspaper clipping about Southworth and the trip.

mssHM 74297-74298

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John Coyle Civil War diary

Manuscripts

A diary kept by John Coyle while serving as an agent of the United States Christian Commission from July to October, 1864. Daily entries give detailed accounts of Coyle's ministry in Alexandria, Virginia, including hospitals, churches, schools, and prisons and his encounters with the patients, physicians, nurses, preachers, congregants, students, and inmates; the accounts of his ministry to soldiers wounded in the battles of the Overland campaign include African-American troops. Coyle met with many African-American preachers, including Leland Warring, a former slave turned preacher, the founder of Alexandria's "contraband school." Waring autographed the front flyleaf of the diary commemorating their meeting. Coyle's descriptions of the city hospitals include accounts of the L'Ouverture Hospital for African-American troops. The entries also describe some sightseeing, including a day trip to Mount Vernon. Reverend Coyle found service in the field less satisfying, as he was mostly engaged in distributing goods and newspapers, with very few opportunities to preach, but he did take the time to visit neighboring communities.

mssHM 83835

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Richard C. Backus travel diary

Manuscripts

The travel diary documents Richard C. Backus' road trip from New York to Los Angeles with typewritten notes and labeled photographs. The diary includes details regarding their trip and the various people and places they visited along the way through Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The typewritten notes include details about miles driven, car trouble and repairs (the group traveled in three vehicles), and road and weather conditions. The diary also includes a hand-drawn map of the group's driving route.

mssHM 84014

John Neff diary

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You might also be interested in

John R. Robinson diary

Albert H. Prescott diaries

Western travel diary

John S. Southworth diary of Colorado River trip

John Coyle Civil War diary

Richard C. Backus travel diary