This collection is a single pre-printed 1860 daily diary kept by Austin E. Lyon of Dundee and Tecumseh, Michigan, largely documenting his April-May 1863 travel from Southeast Michigan to California, via Detroit, Windsor, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Northville, Poughkeepsie, New York City, the steamer North Star, and across Panama (17 pages). The account ends around the time his ship reached Cape St. Lucas, May 24, 1863. Lyon tended to describe the various landscapes he viewed during his travels, focusing particularly on Northville, New York, where he visited family. He also wrote about seasickness, playing games with fellow travelers, and attendance at church. On April 28, 1863, he wrote about the arrival of the 7th and 8th Infantry in New York City to great fanfare.
Twelve pages at the opening and closing of the volume are filled with accounts, notes, and lists, dating from 1862 to 1866. Among them are documentation of financial transactions in Dundee, Michigan, 1862; an accounting of miles traveled from Panama to San Francisco in May 1863; and notes about his work for Goodfellow and for the Manhattan Company in Austin, Nevada, 1865-1866.
The pencil that Austin Lyon used to write his diary is still tucked into a holder in the diary.
Austin Edward Lyon was born to parents Edward and Hannah Bruce Lyon in Dundee, Michigan, October 24, 1837. In mid-April 1863, Lyon left Southeast Michigan for California via Detroit, Windsor, Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Amsterdam, Northville, Poughkeepsie, New York City, the steamer North Star, Panama, and San Francisco. By 1865, he moved to Austin, Nevada, where he worked for Goodfellow and then for the Manhattan Silver Mining Company. Austin E. Lyon died at the age of 28, on May 29, 1866, killed by "falling into a shaft" at Austin, Nevada. He is buried at Manzanita Cemetery in Lincoln, California.
