The William Adair meteorological diary features observations of temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation of Lewes, Delaware between 1776-1788. At the front of the volume, Adair writes, "The same instrument from which the book was taken, is at No. 94. South Third street Philadelphia." Researchers seeking Adair's other recordings—and other weather-related data from this period—may consult the Meteorology Collection (Mss.551.5.M56).
 

William Bartram's meteorological diary spans 1/1/1790-9/13/1791 and includes daily observations of temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation. Occasionally, Bartram records the effects of weather on Philadelphia. For example, in the winter of 1790 he notes that the Schuylkill freezes over in at least two distinct entries (1/23 and 2/7). Researchers investigating Philadelphia weather conditions in the early national period may find this volume useful.
 

The Thomas Coates Collection contains one small, pocket-size journal with entries spanning the final two decades the seventeenth century (1682-1699). Coates, an early Quaker settler in Philadelphia, arrived in 1683 and established himself as a tailor and merchant by the 1690s. His journal, maintained in the margins of a British Merlin almanac dated 1683, mostly contains personal accounts and transactions, beginning as early as 1/22/1682. Most of his accounts date from the 1690s—curiously, many of his entries from 1695 are crossed out—and they include purchases of household items such as fabric, flax, butter, and nails (spelled "nayls"). Coates names many contemporaneous Philadelphians in the accounts. His journal also recounts a return to England in late-1683, and subsequent voyage back to America, via an unspecified location in Virginia. Notably, there are several memoranda scattered throughout the entries, including one memorializing the death of his mother (1678) and another commemorating his birthday (1659). Coates furnishes one of the oldest Philadelphia diaries in the collections at the American Philosophical Society, and, as such, this volume provides rare glimpses into the city's early social, economic, and material life.
 

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 "Journal of a Voyage in the Ship Sampson" tracks the transatlantic crossing of an unknown immigrant from Liverpool to Philadelphia in 1819. The last pages describe the approach to Philadelphia in detail. The journal also touches on some of the emotions the author felt as he disembarked. The last page contains a poem written by the journal's author titled "On Leaving England for America" and a letter written to friends from "this land of liberty."
 

The Fox Family Papers include three quite dissimilar journals spanning generations of the Fox family. The first two volumes are from the late-eighteenth century (1785 and 1790) and both appear to have been maintained by George Fox, a prominent Philadelphia doctor and close friend of William Temple Franklin. The first journal features some entries from 1785, though few are sequential. Fox records both a transatlantic voyage (6/25/1785) and and various trips throughout continental Europe later that fall. This volume might be better described as a commonplace book than a journal, with numerous quotations, historical notes, and data, including at least one note about Buffon, written in French. A second volume, also presumably recorded by George Fox, contains accounts from the year 1790. Finally, a descendent, Sara Fox, furnishes a European travel diary from nearly one-hundred years later. That volume recounts Fox's sightseeing in England, France, Germany and Italy between 1883-1884. These volumes may interest scholars researching the Fox family, transatlantic travel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and women's history.
 

This collection of seven volumes contains the minutes of various treaties the colony of Pennsylvania conducted with indigenous peoples. Notably, the volume with minutes for Indian treaties from 1758-1760 contains a journal into western areas taken in 1759 by George Croghan, agent of Sir William Johnson. This volume may interest scholars researching the Seven Years' War, colonial diplomacy, and Native America.
 

The James Brindley Diaries contain two volumes related to his work on the Susquehanna, Conewago, Chesapeake, and Delaware canals. The first, entitled "Susquehanna and Conewago Canal Diary" (9/2/1794-1/20/1795) features highly detailed entries with significant technical data related to the project. Interspersed throughout, Brindley remarks on technical and logistical problems he encounters. For example, he notes that after the Canal Board fails to provide wages to workers, he has to advance funds to purchase tools. Perhaps most notably, he records the tensions related to Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania in an extended passage excerpted in Selected Quotations. The volume also includes drafts of letters to William Smith and Robert Morris.
 
The second volume, "Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Diary" (1/18-6/10/1803) recounts his early work on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canals, which would not be completed for another twenty-five years on account of funding problems. Brindley registers those issues in his early diary, discussing some of the legal and financial problems facing the project.

An engineer in the early national period, James Brindley worked on a host of canal projects in the United States, including the Potomac Canal in Maryland and the James River Canal in Virginia. His diaries, available in two volumes, document his work on the Susquehanna and Conewago Canal in 1794-1795 and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 1803. The Conewago Canal, financed by Robert Morris and completed in 1797, improved access to Philadelphia markets. While the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was debated as early as the 1760s, it was not funded until 1802 (and continued funding challenges would delay its completion for another 25 years). Brindley served as the lead engineer for both projects, and his journal provides valuable insights into early-nineteenth century canals and engineering, the Whiskey Rebellion, and U.S. government funding problems in the early national period.
 
The James Brindley Diaries contain two volumes related to his work on the Susquehanna, Conewago, Chesapeake, and Delaware canals. The first, entitled "Susquehanna and Conewago Canal Diary" (9/2/1794-1/20/1795) features highly detailed entries with significant technical data related to the project. Interspersed throughout, Brindley remarks on technical and logistical problems he encounters. For example, he notes that after the Canal Board fails to provide wages to workers, he has to advance funds to purchase tools. Perhaps most notably, he records the tensions related to Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania in an extended passage excerpted in Selected Quotations. The volume also includes drafts of letters to William Smith and Robert Morris.
 
The second volume, "Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Diary" (1/18-6/10/1803) recounts his early work on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canals, which would not be completed for another twenty-five years on account of funding problems. Brindley registers those issues in his early diary, discussing some of the legal and financial problems facing the project.

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).
 

The Gratz Family Papers include at least two bound volumes and six travel diary fragments of Jewish women in the antebellum period (1807-1846). The first, dated 1807, recounts a trip taken by Rebecca Gratz from Louisville to Nashville in the early national period (6/3-12/8/1807). The second bound volume can be definitively attributed to Sarah G. Moses, although the handwriting in the other fragments bears some resemblance. Recorded between 8/9-11/2/1832, Moses' bound volume recounts Philadelphia local affairs, weather, her recreational activities (e.g. reading, sewing, and embroidery), education, and religious practices (Moses makes numerous mentions of going to "Synagogue"). Notably, she frets the cholera epidemic in an early entry, excerpted in Selected Quotations (8/9/1832). Two diary fragments recount travels from New York City upstate (7/27-8/6/1842) as well as a trip between Savannah and Richmond (commenced 4/30/1846). The remaining fragments were clearly recorded in the antebellum period, but are difficult to date: There's a fragment recounting a trip between Saint Louis and Lexington, another (possibly related) fragment that details a journey from Lexington through the Alleghenies and finally to Baltimore, and two distinct midwestern tours that take the diarist from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River and from Detroit to Cleveland. Notably, the latter journey must have been recorded sometime between the mid-1830s and mid-1840s, as it references an animated conversation with a Locofoco on a stagecoach (also excerpted in Selected Quotations). These fragments ought to interest scholars researching women's history, Jewish studies, and appalachia and the American South during the antebellum period.
 

Hiltzheimer provides a detailed and textured account of the young republic through scrupulous attention to the Constitutional Convention, election and reelection of George Washington, the Whiskey Rebellion, the Wyoming Valley incident, and the ascension of John Adams. Thanks to his career in Philadelphia politics (elected as a representative of the city in the Assembly in 1786), he furnishes first-hand accounts of George Washington, the funerals of Benjamin Franklin and David Rittenhouse, and numerous entries devoted to Pennsylvania luminaries including John and Clement Biddle, Joseph Morris, Levi Hollingsworth, Henry Drinker, and Timothy Matlack.
 
Hiltzheimer's journal also records family and personal details, including plague of locusts in 1766 and 1783, a great fire in 1794, and the death of his wife (3/11/1790) and loss of both his son and daughter to Yellow Fever (11/28/1793 and 12/29/1794 respectively). Indeed, his account of the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia is particularly exhaustive, with daily records of burials between 9/19-12/31/1793, as well as further accounts during the 1797 crisis, during which he ultimately contracted the disease that led to his death in September 1798.

The Jacob Hiltzheimer Diary spans 28 volumes and offers insight into the social life and customs of Philadelphia between the late colonial period to the early republic (1765-1798). Hiltzheimer describes a wide range of events, such as sleigh riding to ice skating to attending a large celebration of King George's Birthday on the banks of the Schuylkill with over 380 Philadelphians (before Independence). During the imperial crisis, Hiltzheimer's observations provide an interesting perspective on the events happening within the city, including the repeal of the Stamp Act, French troop movements, Cornwallis's surrender, and ensuing mob violence against suspected loyalists (e.g. 10/24/1781).
 
Hiltzheimer provides a detailed and textured account of the young republic through scrupulous attention to the Constitutional Convention, election and reelection of George Washington, the Whiskey Rebellion, the Wyoming Valley incident, and the ascension of John Adams. Thanks to his career in Philadelphia politics (elected as a representative of the city in the Assembly in 1786), he furnishes first-hand accounts of George Washington, the funerals of Benjamin Franklin and David Rittenhouse, and numerous entries devoted to Pennsylvania luminaries including John and Clement Biddle, Joseph Morris, Levi Hollingsworth, Henry Drinker, and Timothy Matlack.
 
Hiltzheimer's journal also records family and personal details, including plague of locusts in 1766 and 1783, a great fire in 1794, and the death of his wife (3/11/1790) and loss of both his son and daughter to Yellow Fever (11/28/1793 and 12/29/1794 respectively). Indeed, his account of the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia is particularly exhaustive, with daily records of burials between 9/19-12/31/1793, as well as further accounts during the 1797 crisis, during which he ultimately contracted the disease that led to his death in September 1798.

As secretary to John Anstey, Loyalists' Claims Commissioner, Robert Woodruff offers a detailed record of the U.S. in the early national period from the unique vantage of an English loyalist. His journal (1785-1788) documents his trip through the Northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and Southeastern states (as far south as Georgia). In his travels, Woodruff references many colonial leaders, including George Washington (10/27/1986), Samuel Vaughan (11/2/1786), and Benjamin Franklin (11/4/1786). Notably, Woodruff dines in house where "Lord Cornwallis in December 1776 held a council of war whether he should cross the Delaware to attack General Washington" (10/30/1786), witnesses Franklin's reelection as President of the Pennsylvania state house (11/4/1786), and mentions the American Philosophical Society (5/8/1787).
 

The Eastwick papers include at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and various notebooks maintained by multiple families between 1773-1903. This extended note will offer an overview of their contents in sequential order.
 
The collection contains at least four eighteenth-century journals. The earliest volume, "Aitkens General American Register (with notes)," serves primarily as an account book from 1773. Notably, an April entry includes a note pertaining to Philadelphia evacuations during the American Revolution: "On June 1778, Just one week after the evacuations of the city of Philadelphia by the British Army, Mr. Rittenhouse…Dr. Smith and Mr. Owen Biddle were buried in [making] observations there." Jesse Lukens's "Notes of Surveys" spans much of 1774 (5/10/-9/10/1774), and includes some Indian names and various accounts at the end of the volume. Longitudes and latitudes are interspersed throughout. While dated 1778, "Garden Book by Wister, Daniel and Sarah" features entries spanning 1771-1776. Daniel Wister uses the notebooks as a garden book, recording bulbs and flowers planted, whereas Sally (Sarah) Wister uses it as a travel journal related to a trip to North Wales. "Poor Will's Almanack (with notes) includes entries from 1777-1778 pertaining to weather accounts, and the surveying business of a John Luhms.
 
The next two diaries recount two trips taken by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. in 1812 and 1815. The first "Diary of a trip to Pittsburgh by Wister, Charles," documents his trip to Pittsburgh in the spring of 1812 (5/27-7/19/1812). It notes various stops between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. "Diary of a trip to Niagara Falls" records a trip in the summer of 1815 (7/24-8/25/1815). Notably, Wister discusses contact with both Oneida and Seneca settlements, both of which are excerpted in Selected Quotations (8/9/1815, 8/13/1815).
 
William Wynne Wister's "Weather Account Book" (1818-1821) records the weather, winds, and temperatures of an unspecified location.
 
The next two volumes are more closely resemble field notebooks than diaries. The first, entitled "Bees: June 16, 1824" recounts Charles Jones Wister's (presumably Sr.) purchase of a swarm of bees. Maintained until 8/29/1828, Wister documents breaking open the hive, extracting honey, and installing a plate of glass through which he can watch production, writing, "to my great surprise and joy I found the bees busily employ'd in mending the combs sealing up the broken parts & fastening them to the sides of the tree." He continues purchasing hives (accumulating 10 in total) upon which he conducts various experiments. The next "Diary" (1841) serves as a journal of Wister's work in daguerreotyping. A sample entry reads: "Succeeded in taking the first Daguerreotype picture at 3 P.M. in 12 minutes on the 27th of the 7 Mo. 1840 after two attempts."
 
Charles Jones Wister, Jr. maintained five volumes between 1842-1856. The first diary documents his personal affairs in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and includes several letters from the fall of 1842. The next journal records personal affairs in and around Germantown in April 1848. The following two volumes were maintained in 1854. The first "Recipes & Directions," dated August 1854, is less a diary than a collection of notes related to handiwork, including tools and recipes for glue and cement. The next volume serves as a travel journal of Virginia and Maryland. While entries begin in October 1854, come continue as late as October 1869. Wister also maintained a diary pertaining to a trip to New York and Niagara Falls taken in the summer of 1856 (7/1-8/23/1856).
 
While not a diary, per se, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Notes" includes some dated entries spanning 1864-1865. Those entries might be called miscellany, with illustrations of Germantown woods, notes on the sport of cricket, and observations on current affairs. Notably, Wister records at least one piece of news from to the American Civil War: "The news of Gen'l Lee's surrender, the great achievement all felt would be the virtual end of the Rebellion, and to which all hopes have been bent with the upmost [nervousness] since the fall of Richmond, on the Sunday previous, reached Phila. about 9 ½ o'clock this even'g…" (4/9/1865). A second volume from 1865, entitled "Diary of Trip," recounts a trip to Newport, including meteorological observations (10/10/1865-9/1867).
 
"Diary & Farm Notes" is one of the more unusual records in the collection. Co-authored by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. and Jr., this volume spans much of the nineteenth century (1806-1878). Although much of it is devoted to farm chores—slaughtering hogs, blacking boots, filling the ice house, and smoking meat—there is at least one account concerning General La Fayette's visit to Germantown, excerpted in Selected Quotations (7/20/1825). There's also an note on locusts swarms, which appear to have been a recurring problem for the farmhands: "Locusts appeared this warm sultry morning for the first time. Rose bushes are covered with them and ground ruined in many places, probably their first appearance was delayed by the unusual backwardness of the season, there having been but little to remind one of the summer until now. It will be seen by reference to mem. In this book that both in the years 1817 & 1834 they made their appearance on the 23rd of May" (6/6/1868).
 
The last two volumes tax the definition of a diary, but include useful material nevertheless. The first, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Record of New Year Eves," serves as a kind of commonplace book traversing 50 years of his life (1852-1903). It includes excerpts, poetry, and quotes at the front of the volume, and various newspaper clippings throughout. Finally, Lowry Wister's undated "Medical Recipes" functions as recipe book, with prescriptions for various maladies, preventative and curative, including "sore eyes," "preventing a miscarriage," and "hooping cough."

The Eastwick collection features at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and notebooks maintained by various members of the Wister family between 1773-1903. While the majority of the volumes which were maintained by Charles Wister, Sr. or his son Charles Wister, Jr., the collection also includes contributions from Jesse and John Lukens, Daniel and Sarah Wister, William Wynne Wister, and Lowry Wister. The scope of the collection and multitude of diarists is matched by the diversity of the journals. The Eastwick collection includes personal diaries, travel journals, recipe books, commonplace books, memoranda books, account books, field notebooks, and volumes that defy simple definition. Researchers will discover early accounts of Bristol, Pennsylvania (1783), Pittsburgh (1812), and Niagara Falls (1815), records of gardening, beekeeping, farm work, and daguerreotyping, and accounts of both the evacuation of the Philadelphia in 1778, the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox in 1865, and a visit by General La Fayette to Germantown in 1825. Suffice it to say, these volumes will serve a range of different scholars, including those researching the American Revolution and Civil War, Native America, women's history, the history of photography (daguerreotyping in particular), and nineteenth-century travel, surveyorship, agriculture, husbandry, and beekeeping.
 
The Eastwick papers include at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and various notebooks maintained by multiple families between 1773-1903. This extended note will offer an overview of their contents in sequential order.
 
The collection contains at least four eighteenth-century journals. The earliest volume, "Aitkens General American Register (with notes)," serves primarily as an account book from 1773. Notably, an April entry includes a note pertaining to Philadelphia evacuations during the American Revolution: "On June 1778, Just one week after the evacuations of the city of Philadelphia by the British Army, Mr. Rittenhouse…Dr. Smith and Mr. Owen Biddle were buried in [making] observations there." Jesse Lukens's "Notes of Surveys" spans much of 1774 (5/10/-9/10/1774), and includes some Indian names and various accounts at the end of the volume. Longitudes and latitudes are interspersed throughout. While dated 1778, "Garden Book by Wister, Daniel and Sarah" features entries spanning 1771-1776. Daniel Wister uses the notebooks as a garden book, recording bulbs and flowers planted, whereas Sally (Sarah) Wister uses it as a travel journal related to a trip to North Wales. "Poor Will's Almanack (with notes) includes entries from 1777-1778 pertaining to weather accounts, and the surveying business of a John Luhms.
 
The next two diaries recount two trips taken by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. in 1812 and 1815. The first "Diary of a trip to Pittsburgh by Wister, Charles," documents his trip to Pittsburgh in the spring of 1812 (5/27-7/19/1812). It notes various stops between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. "Diary of a trip to Niagara Falls" records a trip in the summer of 1815 (7/24-8/25/1815). Notably, Wister discusses contact with both Oneida and Seneca settlements, both of which are excerpted in Selected Quotations (8/9/1815, 8/13/1815).
 
William Wynne Wister's "Weather Account Book" (1818-1821) records the weather, winds, and temperatures of an unspecified location.
 
The next two volumes are more closely resemble field notebooks than diaries. The first, entitled "Bees: June 16, 1824" recounts Charles Jones Wister's (presumably Sr.) purchase of a swarm of bees. Maintained until 8/29/1828, Wister documents breaking open the hive, extracting honey, and installing a plate of glass through which he can watch production, writing, "to my great surprise and joy I found the bees busily employ'd in mending the combs sealing up the broken parts & fastening them to the sides of the tree." He continues purchasing hives (accumulating 10 in total) upon which he conducts various experiments. The next "Diary" (1841) serves as a journal of Wister's work in daguerreotyping. A sample entry reads: "Succeeded in taking the first Daguerreotype picture at 3 P.M. in 12 minutes on the 27th of the 7 Mo. 1840 after two attempts."
 
Charles Jones Wister, Jr. maintained five volumes between 1842-1856. The first diary documents his personal affairs in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and includes several letters from the fall of 1842. The next journal records personal affairs in and around Germantown in April 1848. The following two volumes were maintained in 1854. The first "Recipes & Directions," dated August 1854, is less a diary than a collection of notes related to handiwork, including tools and recipes for glue and cement. The next volume serves as a travel journal of Virginia and Maryland. While entries begin in October 1854, come continue as late as October 1869. Wister also maintained a diary pertaining to a trip to New York and Niagara Falls taken in the summer of 1856 (7/1-8/23/1856).
 
While not a diary, per se, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Notes" includes some dated entries spanning 1864-1865. Those entries might be called miscellany, with illustrations of Germantown woods, notes on the sport of cricket, and observations on current affairs. Notably, Wister records at least one piece of news from to the American Civil War: "The news of Gen'l Lee's surrender, the great achievement all felt would be the virtual end of the Rebellion, and to which all hopes have been bent with the upmost [nervousness] since the fall of Richmond, on the Sunday previous, reached Phila. about 9 ½ o'clock this even'g…" (4/9/1865). A second volume from 1865, entitled "Diary of Trip," recounts a trip to Newport, including meteorological observations (10/10/1865-9/1867).
 
"Diary & Farm Notes" is one of the more unusual records in the collection. Co-authored by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. and Jr., this volume spans much of the nineteenth century (1806-1878). Although much of it is devoted to farm chores—slaughtering hogs, blacking boots, filling the ice house, and smoking meat—there is at least one account concerning General La Fayette's visit to Germantown, excerpted in Selected Quotations (7/20/1825). There's also an note on locusts swarms, which appear to have been a recurring problem for the farmhands: "Locusts appeared this warm sultry morning for the first time. Rose bushes are covered with them and ground ruined in many places, probably their first appearance was delayed by the unusual backwardness of the season, there having been but little to remind one of the summer until now. It will be seen by reference to mem. In this book that both in the years 1817 & 1834 they made their appearance on the 23rd of May" (6/6/1868).
 
The last two volumes tax the definition of a diary, but include useful material nevertheless. The first, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Record of New Year Eves," serves as a kind of commonplace book traversing 50 years of his life (1852-1903). It includes excerpts, poetry, and quotes at the front of the volume, and various newspaper clippings throughout. Finally, Lowry Wister's undated "Medical Recipes" functions as recipe book, with prescriptions for various maladies, preventative and curative, including "sore eyes," "preventing a miscarriage," and "hooping cough."