On offer is a fascinating diary of an intelligent, musical upper class woman dating from the immediate years before the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States. The diary was written by Abigail (Abbie) Brown Shaw Cole (1823-1906). Written primarily in 1859 and 1860, when she was aged 36-40, Abbie does make one entry in 1869. Abbie was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Oliver and Sarah (Jenckes) Shaw. Her father was a musician and composer who composed hymns and songs including ?Taunton?, "Bristol?, "Arrayed in Clouds of Golden Light," and "The Missionary Angel." In 1846, Abbie marrie... View More...
On offer is an archive of nine logbooks and associated ephemera kept by a Boston police officer patrolling in the downtown core during the Great Depression. The police officer who kept these log books is Albert Edward Ellis (1897-1986) , a patrol officer with the Boston Police Department. Prior to entering the force, Ellis served in the US Army during World War I. He married Irene A. Kelley and they lived in Roslindale, MA with their two children, Jeanne and Albert. Ellis became a Mason in 1925. He kept these logs while working in downtown Boston for the Boston Police Department in his 30s. Hi... View More...
On offer is a fascinating daily diary kept by a lawyer who would go on to be elected to Florida?s House of Representatives and be appointed to the bench. The diary is large, measuring 12 inches by 7.5 inches. There are 365 pages plus memoranda and the volume is approximately 90% complete. The diary is in fair condition. The spine is slightly damaged and many pages are stained (see photos). However, the handwriting is quite legible. Of special interest are the newspaper clippings and articles included which reference momentous events of the day. The author of the diary is the Honorable Andrew J... View More...
A wonderful, hand written diary written in 1895 by a very social woman in Brattleboro, Vermont. It would appear that the writer, unfortunately unnamed in the diary, was either the wife of a Church Minister or the Church's Goodwill Ambassador, as she spent nearly every day visiting and calling on Church members, sometimes 8 or 10 in a single day. She names dozens and dozens of Brattleboro residents that she visited in her Diary, often she brought baked goods or hand made articles of clothing to people. She also wrote much about the local Y.M.C.A., the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and oth... View More...
On offer is a most unique collection of eleven diaries as well as family photographs, mementos and records of Arthur H. A. Robinson, a noted Canadian Mining Engineer, during the heyday of the great mining discoveries in northern Ontario. The diaries allow the reader to follow the Robinson family for 75 years, beginning with an 1850s-60s diary kept by Arthur H. A. Robinson?s father before Arthur was born, moving on to 27 years of diaries kept by Arthur himself from age 13 to 40. Finally, the collection concludes with two diaries written by Arthur?s son, from age 14 through his time at Queen?s U... View More...
On offer is an exceptional and complete composition book written by Ms. Bertha Anna King. Ms. King?s family were among the early settlers of the state of Oregon, and she is descended from Nahum Amos King. Nahum A. King was a War of 1812 veteran, who was a survivor of the ?Lost Wagon Train? on the Oregon Trail. Kings Valley, Oregon is named for him as he is known to be the first white settler in the region. Our author, Bertha Anna King, was born in Oregon in February of 1889. She passed away in January, 1987, weeks shy of her 99th birthday. She never married. During her life, she graduated from... View More...
On offer is an enchanting diary written in 1921 by a young woman named Edna M. (Parkins) Berg of Roscoe, Pennsylvania. Edna married Carl Berg on October 13, 1920. So, at the time of writing this diary she and Carl were still newlyweds and very much in love. Uniquely, this diary is written by both Edna and Carl. Carl would sometimes jot a little love note to Edna in her diary and on days Edna wasn't feeling well he recorded their daily activities. Very full, approximately 95% filled with entries judging by their activities I'd have to guess they were in their early twenties. Edna recorded her b... View More...
On offer is a fascinating, hand-made diary that was written in 1882 in rural New Hampshire by a middle-aged woman from a well-known New Hampshire family, who marries a prominent New Hampshire Colonel, businessman and politician. Substantial internal context clues clearly indicate that this journal was written by Cassandra Swasey Stevens (1818-1901). Cassandra was the descendant of two important early New Hampshire families. On her father?s side, Cassandra was a descendent of Ebenezer Swasey, and on her mother?s side she was a descendant of Daniel Ladd. In 1846, Cassandra became the second wife... View More...
Archive lot of two sensational World War II diaries. As you open the cover of diary ONE, a small black book, it is signed "Ed V. Davis Y2C U.S.S BEATTY" (DD640) and at the bottom is has in print 50171 "Manufactured by U.S. Government Printing Office". The book starts out in October 16, 1942 and ends Tuesday, November 10, 1942. This diary was written as if he was talking to his mom. His job was in the bridge of the Beatty. He tells of many other ships and what days they joined the convoy. He talks of the secrecy of their destination of which he didn't know. He talks about pay, s... View More...
On offer is a diary that explores the struggles of an artist and Italian immigrant to the United States. Our diarist is coping with an emotionally abusive relationship, cultural differences with his first-generation American children, and abject poverty at the onset of the second World War and the end of the Great Depression. The author of this diary is Edward Rocco (E. R. ) Montagna. Edward was born in Roccacasale, Italy in 1881 and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1900, at 19. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1910 and was discharged in 1913. Two years later, in 1915... View More...
On offer are two volumes of poetry and prose written by a talented young American writer. These two books are soft-cover, lined notebooks. They are in excellent condition. Included with them are a number of loose-leaf pages and a black and white photograph of an unidentified woman. The author of this collection is Elinor Presson Richardson. She lived in Essex, MA. She was born in 1905 and passed away at the young age of 24. Following secondary school, he attended Tufts University and was a member of Sigma Kappa sorority. The book of poetry opens with an entry dated October, 1919, written when ... View More...
On offer is the simple diary of Eva Mae (Bender) Eaton (1887-1969). Eva was born in upstate New York to parents Wilson and Clara (Rowe) Bender. She married Ransford Chas Eaton (1878-1939) in 1908. Between 1913 and 1918, Eva and Ransford had three children, Francis, Eugene and Howard. In 1927, they had baby Lois, who died at age 17 after a long illness. Eva kept this diary five years after Lois died, and 10 years after she was widowed. Eva writes most every day of 1949. She writes only the facts of what occurred each day, betraying absolutely no emotion, even when writing on the 5th anniversary... View More...
On offer is a superb pocket notebook kept by an American soldier in occupied Germany in the months immediately following World War One (WW1). The author of this notebook is Ezra Skow. Little is known of Skow's early life. He was born in 1892 and enlisted in the U. S. Army in about September, 1918 at the age of 25 or 26. Burial records in Benton PA indicate that he was attached to the 156th Infantry Regiment. However, there was no 156th Infantry in the United States Order of Battle in WWI. In his notebook, Skow records that he served in the 56th Infantry. This accords with the record of service... View More...
On offer is an simple yet interesting diary written by a woman in eastern Massachusetts in 1929.The author of the diary is Gladys Smith White. Our research has found little biographical information about her. She lived on Chase Street in Newton, Massachusetts and was married to Allan S. White. Allan passed away in 1925 and Gladys passed away in 1954. There is a note in a Newton newspaper from 1921 indicating that Allan had been admitted to hospital, so it is reasonable to assume that he was ill for a long period of time before his eventual death. Gladys kept this diary four years after the dea... View More...
On offer is the 1913 coming-of-age diary of Gordon Westover Doolittle (1891-1972) of Toronto. Gordon was the son of prominent Canadian, Dr. Perry Ernest Doolittle (1861-1933) , a surgeon whose true love was transportation. Dr. Doolittle was well-known as the ?King of Canadian Roads? and the ?Father of the Trans-Canada Highway?. While our diarist did not achieve his father?s level of notoriety, his diary exposes a deeply sensitive, flawed and glaringly intelligent young man. Through his words the reader is transported back to early 20th Century Toronto in all its pre-war glory. [BIO NOTES on Go... View More...
On offer is an excellent, intensely detailed World War I diary kept by a bright, well-written young man named Harold Edmund (sometimes Edwin) Drake (1897-1987) , who would become a well-respected dentist in his home state of Ohio following his time in the service. Military records show that Drake was trained for service at Camp Crane. He was in the Camp Crane Unit #17 August Automatic Replacement Unit (Medical). Camp Crane was a World War I United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) training camp, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its mission was to train ambulance drivers to evacuate casu... View More...
On offer three diaries all belonging to Hattie Baker of Holland, New York. This first diary represents the year 1887 when Hattie turns 21 and I she was very faithful when writing in her diariy. Once you start reading this personal memoir her amazing life story unfolds which only makes the reader want to know more about Hattie. Intertwined between the pages of her diary you'll find subtle hints, little pieces to the puzzle that give our young woman a sense of mystery to her life. For example, on October 8th, 1887 she writes, "This day will never be forgotten, H & I".Or at one point in t... View More...
On offer is a detailed record of Baltimore native Henry Clayton Eliason?s (1892-1983) service in the U. S. Navy during WWI. Eliason was the youngest of four children born to William and Mary in Baltimore, Maryland. Following his service in WWI, Eliason returned to Baltimore where he married Katherine Ridgely Mercer in 1920. They had one child, Mary, in 1926. Eliason lived and worked in Baltimore for his entire life, running the Eliason family automotive business and later working as a marine engineer. During World War I (WWI) , Eliason served in the US Naval Reserve Force (USNRF). He was shipp... View More...
On offer is the excellent 1912 diary of Isadore Sheldon Tucker (1894-1959) of Nehawka, Nebraska. Isadore was the only child of Emma Banning and businessman Frank Pollard Sheldon. She was the niece of Republican Nebraska Governor George L. Sheldon, who governed from 1907-1909. Isadore was 18 when she kept this diary. See BIO NOTES on Isadore Sheldon Tucker at the end of the listing. This diary follows Isadore through the second half of her senior high school year at St. Mary?s School near Knoxville, Illinois, and the first half of her freshman year at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Her ... View More...
On offer is a remarkable artifact from the great days of sail and maritime enterprise in 19th century America. The first page of the manuscript bears the name "OHIO" and "American Line". The author notes that this manuscript includes ?Foreign List of Corespondents [sic]?and List of Vessels Arriving at Woodbury NJ, 1866, 7, 8, 9, 70?and Diary for 1867, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74,75". There is a name on the cover page - J. Standley Twells. The manuscript contains a wide variety of information and suggests that Twells may have been a shipping agent, responsible for procuring supplies or cargo for various... View More...
