Peter Legaux maintained two volumes of meteorological records between 1787-1800 in Spring Mill (what is today the Whitemarsh Township just outside of Philadelphia). The first volume features his correspondence with the American Philosophical Society—addressed to the society's then-president, Thomas Jefferson—in which he explains his methods for recording data, excerpted in Selected Quotations (2/25/1801). The second volume contains the data, including records from Philadelphia (c.1740-1770) that are believed to have been conducted by Phineas [or possibly Israel] Pemberton. Notably, when Legaux discusses the "Extraordinary cold for the season of the year" on 6/16/1816, he appears to describe what would later became known as the "year without summer," following the eruption of the volcano Tomboro in 1815. Researchers seeking further Legaux recordings—and other weather-related data from this period—may consult the Meteorology Collection (Mss.551.5.M56).
 

While this volume is valuable for its accounts of William's time in France—including a French newspaper clipping (6/5)—its insights into William's strained familial relations are central to its appeal. William records at least three entries pertaining to his father, Benjamin Franklin: William writes that he "rec'd a letter from my father" (3/17), passes him on a Southampton street later that summer (7/24), and writes that he "Finish[ed] the Purchase of my Father's Estate in N. York & Jersey" (7/26). Researchers might also consider pairing this volume with the Bache diary, which records the Southampton encounters from the perspective of Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache. Shortly after conducting that business, William set sail for Azores (7/28). He mentions a "Violent Hurricane" in a late entry (8/23).

The William Franklin diary documents the first nine months of 1785, during which William lived in France (1/1-9/18). Notably, this volume records William's last correspondence and an encounter with his father, Benjamin Franklin, in Southampton, England. The volume also offers glimpses into William's life in France, with notes pertaining to meetings, correspondence, and dinner plans, including at least one with Thomas Jefferson (7/4). This volume will certainly interest Franklin scholars, though it may also hold appeal to researchers investigating American loyalists abroad and late-eighteenth-century France and England.
 
While this volume is valuable for its accounts of William's time in France—including a French newspaper clipping (6/5)—its insights into William's strained familial relations are central to its appeal. William records at least three entries pertaining to his father, Benjamin Franklin: William writes that he "rec'd a letter from my father" (3/17), passes him on a Southampton street later that summer (7/24), and writes that he "Finish[ed] the Purchase of my Father's Estate in N. York & Jersey" (7/26). Researchers might also consider pairing this volume with the Bache diary, which records the Southampton encounters from the perspective of Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache. Shortly after conducting that business, William set sail for Azores (7/28). He mentions a "Violent Hurricane" in a late entry (8/23).

The journal was printed in APS Proceedings 26 (1889):1. The Kentucky travels can be found in Reuben G. Thwaites' Early Western Travels, 1748-1846.

Michaux maintained travel journals during his excursions throughout North America between 1787-1796. These 10 volumes furnish accounts of Charleston (September 1787), Saint Augustine and the Bahamas (1787-88), the Savannah River (December 1788), and Kentucky shortly after statehood (1794-95). Notably, Michaux records at least one visit to David Rittenhouse and Thomas Jefferson (12/14/1793), and he makes a proposal to the American Philosophical Society to explore unknown regions beyond Missouri and Kentucky, which Jefferson, then Secretary of State, accepts (12/10/1792). French-reading researchers—the volumes are maintained entirely in French—ought to find that these volumes offer insights into Southern and Western exploration during the early national period.
 
The journal was printed in APS Proceedings 26 (1889):1. The Kentucky travels can be found in Reuben G. Thwaites' Early Western Travels, 1748-1846.

Interested researchers would do well to consult the detailed description of Hunter's four volumes available in the Early American History Note. For the purposes of diary researchers, the first volume (1796) warrants attention for its descriptions of indigenous peoples and early settlements. For example, Hunter offers an extended account of St. Louis (9/4/1796). He also describes an Indian woman whose nose was cut off by her husband for infidelity, a passage excerpted in Selected Quotations (9/9/1796). The 1802 journal documents Hunter's trip across Pennsylvania (Berlin, Carlisle, and Shippensburg), visit to a cave in Kentucky, and discussion of salt production at Blue Lick. Finally, the last two journals (1804, 1809) include various travels in the South, including a description of expedition to the Hot Springs of Arkansas (1804-1805) as well as longitudes and latitudes that researchers might use to trace Hunter's journey. Notably, Hunter discovers Mammoth bones, which he compares to those of Charles Wilson Peale, writing, "I cannot for bear mentioning a great natural curiosity I have just seen here [sic] about 2 ½ Tons of Bones of one or two Mammoths twice as large as Peals" (5/27/1804).

George Hunter maintained four journals during expeditions into Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana between 1796-1809. Hunter records his daily affairs, observations of territories, visits to trading centers, and commentary on international rivalries and relations with various indigenous peoples, including the Delaware, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Osage. With rich, narrative accounts of western travel in the early national period—including exploration of Louisiana shortly after the Louisiana Purchase—the Hunter diaries ought to interest scholars researching the American west, Native America, and U.S. empire.
 
Interested researchers would do well to consult the detailed description of Hunter's four volumes available in the Early American History Note. For the purposes of diary researchers, the first volume (1796) warrants attention for its descriptions of indigenous peoples and early settlements. For example, Hunter offers an extended account of St. Louis (9/4/1796). He also describes an Indian woman whose nose was cut off by her husband for infidelity, a passage excerpted in Selected Quotations (9/9/1796). The 1802 journal documents Hunter's trip across Pennsylvania (Berlin, Carlisle, and Shippensburg), visit to a cave in Kentucky, and discussion of salt production at Blue Lick. Finally, the last two journals (1804, 1809) include various travels in the South, including a description of expedition to the Hot Springs of Arkansas (1804-1805) as well as longitudes and latitudes that researchers might use to trace Hunter's journey. Notably, Hunter discovers Mammoth bones, which he compares to those of Charles Wilson Peale, writing, "I cannot for bear mentioning a great natural curiosity I have just seen here [sic] about 2 ½ Tons of Bones of one or two Mammoths twice as large as Peals" (5/27/1804).