A prominent lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, James Wilson also kept a brief journal that records his work, travels, and some other surprising data. Recorded in a "Aitken's General American Register" dated 1773, this journal includes entries dated 1774, and 1782-1786. Entries appear in two different hands, and record receipts, expenses, and activities, the last probably not Wilson's. The second hand of the almanac has been dated to a later period, believed to be from 1782-1786, and it records in graphic detail the sexual exploits of its author.
 

The John Pershouse papers contain two volumes of genealogical data from the late-eighteenth century, two letter books thought to belong to his nephew (Henry Pershouse), and one travel journal. The journal is noteworthy because it furnishes accounts of transatlantic travel in the early national period. While the first entry notes Pershouse's departure from Liverpool to Boston on a 56-day voyage (2/1/1800), regular entries begin around 1826 and continue to late-1838. As a Philadelphia merchant, Pershouse regularly records distances, accounts, and sights in Europe and the United States. Notably, he travels on a ship under the command of a Captain Matlack (presumably Timothy Matlack), travels extensively in the U.S. Southeast and Midwest, and notes the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in 1830—all excerpted in Selected Quotations. Researchers interested in U.S. domestic and transatlantic travel during the antebellum period ought to find this volume particularly useful.