This collection is made up of six diaries kept between 1862 and 1867 by James W. Hawn, "First Telegrapher," clerk, and manager of the Corn Exchange bank office in the Western Union Telegraph Company building on 145 Broadway in New York City. One of the most frequent subject covered by Hawn was speculation in gold and railroad stocks (Fort Wayne, Rock Bland, Illinois Central, Erie, etc.). He recorded, for example, fluctuations in the markets related to his particular investments.
The Civil War is reflected in the diaries. Most prominent are his passages on the New York Draft Riots in July 1863. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln led to multiple entries respecting the response and public mourning in New York City.
He also documented his leisure and social activities, such as skating, playing baseball, attending baseball games, and spending time at church (including Henry Ward Beecher's church in Brooklyn), theaters, concerts, and operas. His interest in opera was significant and he noted dozens of the performances he attended.
James W. Hawn was born in Ohio in 1836, and spent his younger years in Zanesville. In the 1850s, he lived in Buffalo, New York, but by 1862 settled into work at the Corn Exchange Bank in the Western Union Telegraph Company building in Manhattan. There, he worked as "First Telegrapher," clerk, and manger. On February 11, 1862, Hawn married S. Madeleine Truesdell in Jersey City, New Jersey, and ultimately settled there. After a prolonged illness, James W. Hawn died at his home in Jersey City on May 30, 1869.
