Diaries

The Diaries collection provides access to more than thirty fully transcribed and searchable diaries from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. The collection includes diaries documenting student life at UVM in different eras, the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, the civil war, life in Italy in the early 1860’s, courtship and marriage, social life, religious life, employment opportunities for women, travel, life at a summer cottage, and more.

Showing 11 - 20 of 32 Records

Mary Susan Davis Kelley Diary, 1883-1893
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    • Creator: Kelley, Mary Susan Davis, 1866-1917.
    • Date Created: 1883-1893
    • Description: Mary Susan Davis was born on January 10, 1866 to Benjamin Webster and Susan Adelaide (Young) Davis in Fairlee, Vt. Davis grew up in a large household consisting of her parents, her three siblings (John, James, and Rosalene), and her uncle, David Young, who suffered from epilepsy and erratic behavior due to a traumatic brain injury. After she graduated from secondary school in 1884, Davis helped her mother at home and with taking care of the boarders who occasionally resided in their home; she also taught in local schools and occasionally performed housework and childcare for hire in other households in the community. Prior to her first marriage, Davis moved to Orange, Massachusetts, where she was eventually employed by shoe manufacturer Jay B. Reynolds as a skiver. Davis was married three times over the course of her life: her first marriage was to Fred Mason on October 25, 1888, her second to Fred Sheldon Pickett in 1897 (following her divorce from Mason in January of that year), and her third to Harry Kelley on April 16, 1906. Davis suffered from chronic health issues, especially heart and reproductive ailments, throughout her life and had at least one miscarriage as a result. Davis died in Fairlee on March 30, 1917. Topics in this diary include women’s health and other subjects relating to health and medicine; the experiences of working women circa 1890, turn-of-the-century courtship and marriages, and the local social and cultural history of Fairlee, Vermont.
    • Parent Collections: Diaries


    Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, April 8 - June 14, 1863
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      • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
      • Date Created: 1863
      • Description: The Marshes explore Piobesi Castle and its gardens in this diary. George Perkins Marsh commutes from the castle to Turin to attend to diplomatic business and meets for a second time with King Victor Emmanuel. Caroline Crane Marsh continues to receive updates on the latest battles in the American Civil War, as well as the rising tensions between England and the U.S., France’s interference in Mexican affairs, and the “doings” of Richard M. Blatchford and J.C. Hooker in Rome. Topics in this diary include funerary practices in Italy, Catholicism and religious celebrations in Italy, the everyday experiences of the Italian peasantry, Italian marital norms, the behavior and treatment of women in Italy versus the United States, Italian medical practices, Italian agriculture, relations between the elites of Naples and those of Savoy, Turin court life and etiquette, and life as an expatriate in Italy.
      • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


      Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, November 1 - December 31, 1863
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        • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
        • Date Created: 1863
        • Description: The Marshes and their friends speculate on the likelihood of a “European” war breaking out in the spring, following the death of the King of Denmark and years of tense relations between France, Italy, and their neighbors. After months of tense negotiations with their Torinese landlady, the Countess Ghirardi, the Marshes finally move back into the Casa d’Angennes. Once there, Caroline Crane Marsh begins hosting dance lessons for her niece Carrie and others her age in the neighborhood, befriending the Countess Gigliuicci (Clara Novello) at the first lesson. George Perkins Marsh attends another royal hunting trip to Racconigi and begins attending public lectures in Turin. Topics in this diary including renting and occupying real estate in Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, medical care in Italy, charity work in Italy, Italian funerary practices, English politics and diplomacy, reading habits in the nineteenth century, nineteenth-century attitudes towards Jews, Wallachia (Romania), Catholicism, etiquette, the Suez Canal, and the Taiping Rebellion.
        • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


        Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, May 6, 1864 - September 22, 1864
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          • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
          • Date Created: 1864
          • Description: Negotiations between Italy and France regarding the “Roman Question” and the placement of Italy’s capital spark violent protests in the streets of Turin. The Marshes go on several trips in this diary, visiting nearby landmarks as well as hiking into the Alps. Between trips, the Marshes gather the latest news on the American Civil War, including the details of the Battle of the Wilderness, and receive visits from the Estcourts and American diplomat David H. Wheeler, among others. Topics in this diary include the September Convention, Italian art and patronage, tourism in Italy, Italian funerary practices, relations between the Italian social classes, King Victor Emmanuel and the royal family of Savoy, the treatment of women in Italy, the Italian silk industry, George Perkins Marsh’s diplomatic duties, Greek War of Independence, differences in behavior and manners between Americans and Europeans, and the death of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This diary covers several topics relating to religion, as well, including Catholic royal marriages, convents and religious orders, conversion, and French Protestants.
          • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


          Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, December 23, 1864 - February 21, 1865
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            • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
            • Date Created: 1864-1865
            • Description: This six-page diary records the Marshes’ final days in Turin and their move to Florence in 1865. Topics in this diary include King Victor Emmanuel, Italian art and music, and tourism in Italy.
            • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


            Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, October 1 - December 31, 1861
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              • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
              • Date Created: 1861
              • Description: Political unrest across Europe, the Trent Affair, and accusations of French interference in Italian politics serve as the backdrop for the events in this diary. The Marshes continue to meet Italian elites and politicians, including the Duchess of Genoa, the Marchesa Doria, and Carlo Poerio, and befriend various diplomats and expatriates in Turin, including the Pulszkys, the Benedettis, and Mrs. Stanley. The Marshes travel to Florence to attend the National Exposition, and George Perkins Marsh takes part in two royal hunting excursions at Racconigi and Stupinigi. Topics in this diary include Rome, the Pope, and Catholicism; Victor Emmanuel, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Italian nationalism, the treatment of Garibaldian soldiers by the Italian government, rural industry and the everyday lives of Italian peasants, the behavior and manners of Italians, especially Italian women; relations between the Italian social classes, the American Civil War, especially slavery and foreign enlistment; the Suez Canal, and spiritualism.
              • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


              Mary Farnham Diary, 1862-1863
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                • Creator: Farnham, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, 1828-1913.
                • Date Created: 1862-1863
                • Description: Mary Elizabeth (Johnson) Farnham, the daughter of Ezekiel and Nancy (Rodgers) Johnson, was born in Bath, NH, on January 19, 1828. She came to Bradford with her parents at a young age and was educated at Bradford Academy and the Newbury Seminary. On December 25, 1849, she married Roswell Farnham (1827-1903) in St. Albans, Vt. They returned to Bradford to teach in the Bradford Academy, Farnham as the teacher of painting and French, and her husband as principal of the academy. The couple joined the Bradford Congregational Church in 1854 and participated in a number of its activities: both Farnhams taught in the church’s Sunday school, and Mary Farnham held a chair on its music committee and was active in its missionary efforts. Farnham spent several months during the winter of 1862-63 in Union camps near Fairfax Court House and Wolf Run Shoals, VA, with her husband, who had been appointed Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of the 12th Vermont Volunteer Regiment. Farnham returned to Vermont in April 1863 and her husband was discharged later that year, after which he entered into a career in politics. When Roswell Farnham was elected governor of Vermont in 1880, Mary Farnham became the state’s first lady and played an active role in gubernatorial social events. Farnham was involved in a number of civic organizations in her town, including Bradford’s Relief Corps. She helped found the Ladies’ Public Library and was its librarian for many years. Her interest in literature led her to enroll in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Course, from which she graduated in 1884. She went on to earn one hundred and forty seals on her diploma and was recognized for this achievement at the 1906 Chautauqua Assembly in Chautauqua, NY. Three of Farnham’s four children lived to adulthood: Charles Cyrus Farnham (1864–1937), Florence Mary Osgood (1866–1958), and William M. Farnham (1869–1927). Her first child, Roswell Phelps Farnham Jr., died in infancy in 1861. Mary Farnham died on June 13, 1913, having suffered a stroke two weeks prior. Topics in Farnham’s diary include living conditions in Union camps and towns near the front lines, the roles and expectations of women during the American Civil War, Washington D.C. in the 1860s, mid-century modes of travel, and health and medicine during the Civil War.
                • Parent Collections: Diaries


                Long Pond: A History and a Diary - Westmore, VT, 1886-1903
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                  • Date Created: 1886-1903
                  • Description: The Long Pond Westmore diary, which spans the years 1889 to 1903, contains a partial history of a summer camp on Long Pond in Westmore, Vt., as well as inventories of the camp’s supplies and accounts of property maintenance and recreational activities undertaken by its caretakers. Topics in this diary include local flora and fauna and outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking and fishing.
                  • Parent Collections: Diaries


                  Mandana White Goodenough Diary, 1844-1846, 1860-1861
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                    • Creator: Goodenough, Mandana White, 1826-1924.
                    • Date Created: 1844-1846\, 1860-1861
                    • Description: Mandana White was born on January 15, 1826 in Calais, Vt. to Jesse and Lovisa (Tucker) White. Between 1844 and 1845, she taught school in Marshfield and attended the Lebanon Liberal Institute in Lebanon, NH. She married Eli Goodenough in Calais on April 20, 1845, and the couple had four children that lived to adulthood: Myron Alonzo, Flora Gertrude (m. Whipple), Edward Tucker, and Charles Davis. The Goodenoughs lived and worked on a large farm in Hardwick. After her husband’s death in 1860, Goodenough sold the family farm and purchased a smaller one in Walden, where she raised her four children. By 1870, she and her daughter, Flora, had moved to Barre, where Goodenough’s parents then resided; Goodenough lived with them for a time before moving into the house next door. Goodenough made three trips to Oregon in the latter part of her life to visit her son Charles and daughter, Flora, who both lived in the state after 1873. She also moved several times in later life, beginning with her return to Walden by 1900. Around 1910, she moved to Plainfield, where she worked for a time for the Red Cross. In 1920, she moved to Hardwick to be closer to her sons, Myron and Edward. At the time of Goodenough’s death on April 21, 1924, she was living with her widowed daughter, Flora, in Hardwick. Topics in this diary include employment opportunities for women in the 1840s, courtship and marriage, illness and death, and religious beliefs and practices in mid-nineteenth-century Vermont.
                    • Parent Collections: Diaries


                    Chester Way Diary, 1918
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                      • Creator: Way, Chester Murray, 1897-1973.
                      • Date Created: 1918
                      • Description: Chester Murray Way was born on November 12, 1897 to Harry Abel and Helen (Phelps) Way. He attended Burlington High School and later enrolled at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1922 with a degree in economics. During his time at UVM, Way was a member of the Alpha Lambda chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Burlington chapter of the YMCA, and the editorial board for The Vermont Cynic. He also took part in UVM’s Student Army Training Corps, completing part of his service during the 1918 influenza pandemic. After college, Way ran a farm and became involved in several Vermont businesses, including the Green Mountain Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in Montpelier, the Fli-Rite School of Aviation in Swanton, and his father’s business, the Porter Screen Company, in Burlington. In 1944, Way purchased an inn in Middlebury, Vt. and renamed it the Waybury Inn; the inn was later used as a location for exterior shots for the television show Newhart. Way and his wife, Marjorie Holbrook Scott (m. 1928) were living in Middlebury at the time of Way’s death on October 4, 1973. Topics in Way’s diaries include the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, fraternities at the University of Vermont, Kake Walk, World War One and UVM’s SATC program, Vermont farm life, and male friendships and relationships in the early twentieth century.
                      • Parent Collections: Diaries