Nelson W. Winton diary, 1843-1847

Summary

Creator:

Winton, Nelson W., 1829-1896

Abstract:

Nelson W. Winton kept this diary between 1843 and 1847, at the ages of 14 to 17, while living with his aunt and uncle (a physician) in Havana, Chemung County, New York. Winton wrote about his attendance at district and select schools at Havana, taught by Rufus Burr and James H. Gage, and at the Owego Academy. He attended Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian religious meetings, as well as temperance gatherings. Winton wrote regularly about helping with labor, such as killing and butchering cows and pigs, and chopping wood. He documented leisure activities, such as sleighing, skating, sledding, attending picnics and concerts, spending time in nature with his friends, interacting with young women, and other activities. On multiple occasions, he traveled to Geneva, Oswego, Syracuse, Binghamton, and other areas in New York State. Winton regularly recorded information about events that took place on holidays, including George Washington's Birthday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. At the end of the diary (pages 106-108, 118-157), Nelson Winton copied his compositions and speeches on subjects such as a dream, Greek and Roman history, pin making, the deleterious effect of reading novels, slavery, and other topics.

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Cheney J. Schopieray

Background

Scope and Content:

Nelson W. Winton kept this diary between 1843 and 1847, at the ages of 14 to 17, while living with his aunt and uncle (a physician) in Havana, Chemung County, New York. Winton wrote about his attendance at district and select schools at Havana, taught by Rufus Burr and James H. Gage, and at the Owego Academy. He attended Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian religious meetings, as well as temperance gatherings. Winton wrote regularly about helping with labor, such as killing and butchering cows and pigs, and chopping wood. He documented leisure activities, such as sleighing, skating, sledding, attending picnics and concerts, spending time in nature with his friends, interacting with young women, and other activities. On multiple occasions, he traveled to Geneva, Oswego, Syracuse, Binghamton, and other areas in New York State. Winton regularly recorded information about events that took place on holidays, including George Washington's Birthday, July 4th (Independence Day), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.

At the end of the diary (pages 106-108, 118-157), Nelson Winton copied his compositions and speeches on subjects such as a dream, Greek and Roman history, pin making, the deleterious effect of reading novels, slavery, and other topics.

A selection of entries include:

• 1843 November 20: Gathered a group of boys together to whip his cousin Henry on his birthday.
• 1843 November 28: Attendance at the Youth's Washington Temperance Society.
• 1843 December 2: Went to see Tom Thumb (paid 6 pence to see him).
• 1844 March 10: Heard Samuel Parker (1779-1866) preach on his missionary work in the West.
• 1844 July 8: Did not attend the circus as he "does not approve of them."
• 1844 August 22: Attended a caravan at Jefferson; description of the animals he saw (elephants, tigers, panthers, wolves, monkeys, leopards, camels, etc. etc.).
• 1844 August 30: Fire at Mr. Down's Woolen Factory.
• 1844 September 6-23: Traveled by boat and railroad to Syracuse and Oswego, and returned to Havana (description of Oswego, Oswego River, and Fort Oswego).
• 1844 October 2-3: Chemung County Agricultural Fair.
• 1844 October 18: Mass meeting of Jefferson Whigs.
• 1844 December 12: "Gov [William C.] Bouck appointed to day Thanksgiving"; description of the day.
• 1845 January 24: Temperance Exhibition at the "Brick House"; presentation of George Lovell and his decline into drinking, gambling, murder, and prison.
• 1845 March 4: Village boys organized a "Franklin Association" for speaking and debating. Winton is a member.
• 1845 March 15: Tapping trees for maple sap/sugar.
• 1845 March 27: Edward Hazen visited the school to instruct on grammar.
• 1845 April 10: District School House sold at public auction; trustees and voters allocated $2,500 to build a new schoolhouse and playground.
• 1845 July 17-21: Travel to Owego and Binghamton.
• 1846 May 12: Attended a concert comprised of a mixed race cast, with one Native American woman; visited Mr. Holden who let them use his telescope.
• 1846 May 19: Opening of new schoolhouse, with speeches.
• 1846 June 3: Co-edited a newspaper devoted to Literature, Science and the Fine Arts, titled "The Pioneer."
• 1846 June 17: Lengthy description of examinations, orations, and acting.
• 1846 August 24ff.: Lengthy description of travel by steamboat to Geneva, New York, by railroad and packet to Oswego, then Syracuse. The packet was delayed because the crew got into a physical fight with the crew of another packet. Entertained on the packet by a black singer.
• 1846 December 24: Examinations, orations, and acting.
• 1847 February 1: Attendance at Emily Walker's party, comments on the women present.
• 1847 March 18, 25: Debating and topics of debate.
• 1847 July 3-4: Travel to Geneva, New York, to celebrate Independence Day.
• 1847 August 3: Elaborate picnic event, marching in procession from the "Temple of Science" to a glen, with a brass band, exhibition of paintings of sacred history, and lectures.
• 1847 August 29: Fourth time shaving; cut himself, preventing him from attending meeting.
• 1843-1845 (Pages 106-108, 118-157): Compositions and speeches for the school, the Owego Academy, the Owego Young Men's Lyceum, and the Havana Juvenile Washington Temperance Society.
• 1846 September 18 (Pages 141-142): Nelson Winton's reflections on his future prospects as a clerk and on his apprehensions about leaving the home of his uncle, aunt, and cousins.

Biographical / Historical:

Nelson Warren Winton was born on September 23, 1829, in Camillus, New York. By the 1840s, Nelson lived with his aunt and uncle, Lucy Pratt Goodrich (1811-1904) and Dr. Nelson Winton (ca. 1801-1864), and with his cousins Henry, Mary, and Helen (see page 141 and 161 of this diary). The family lived in Catharine, Schuyler County, and Havana, Chemung County, New York, and their extended family lived in Geneva, Syracuse, Albany, and other areas of New York State. Nelson W. Winton attended the Owego Academy as a teenager.

Winton moved west in 1852, settling first at Hayward, Alameda County, California, and then at Virginia City, Nevada, where he became mayor. He moved to Santa Barbara, married, had one daughter, Grace Gertrude Winton (1858-1945), and worked as a farmer. He became a widower and on February 12, 1867, he remarried to Isabella G. Huggins, who was also from Catharine, New York, and widow of Morrison Huggins. In the late 1880s or early 1890s, they moved to Oakland, California, where Nelson continued his real estate and insurance business and owned an orange grove near Thermalito, California. Nelson W. Winton at died at Oakland on September 21, 1896, at age 66, and is buried at the Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward, California.

Acquisition Information:

2021. M-7294 .

Arrangement:

The collection is a single bound volume.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Bibliography

California, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1850-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Case, Lafayette Wallace. The Goodrich Family in America... Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1889: 81.

Census of the United States, 1850: Catharine, Chemung, New York; Roll: 486; Page: 67a (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Census of the United States, 1870: Township 2, Santa Barbara, California; Roll: M593_87; Page: 482A. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Cleaver, Mary Louise Catlin. The History of the Town of Catherine, Schuyler County, N.Y. Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle Pub. Co., 1945: 674.

Nelson W. Winton, "Find-A-Grave", database, Find A Grave (www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 June 2021) Nelson W. Winton (1829-1896) - Find A Grave Memorial# 98641185.

"N. W. Winton is Dead," Oakland Tribune. Oakland, Calif. (September 23, 1896): 5.

"Pioneer Called," The San Francisco Call. San Francisco, Calif. (September 23, 1896): 11.

Subjects

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Subjects:

Debates and debating--United States--History--19th century.
Education--New York (State)--Havana.
Education--New York (State)--Owego.
Holidays--United States.
Leisure--United States--History--19th century.
Orphans--New York (State)--Havana.
Religious gatherings--New York (State)
School buildings--New York (State)--Havana.
Students--New York (State)
Teenagers--New York (State)--Havana.
Temperance.

Formats:

Diaries.
Essays.
Speeches (compositions)

Names:

Owego Academy.

Places:

Havana (N.Y.)--Social life and customs.
Oswego (N.Y.)--Description and travel.
Owego (N.Y.)--Social life and customs.