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This diary chronicles the daily activities of Archibald Rhind, a Scottish immigrant, from March 17, 1834-July 31, 1839. Rhind owned and operated a farm in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, throughout most of the 1830s, and produced goods such as barley, potatoes, syrup, and alcohol.

This diary (approximately 300 pages) chronicles the daily activities of Archibald Rhind, a Scottish immigrant, from March 17, 1834-July 31, 1839.

The first 11 pages are manuscript copies of 4 letters that Archibald Rhind wrote in early September 1833, shortly after his arrival in Warren County, Pennsylvania. Rhind described his journey from Scotland to New York, his route from New York City to Northern Pennsylvania, and his first few weeks in North America. He also shared his impressions of the Erie Canal, American farms and laborers, and American notions of freedom (page 11).

Rhind began his diary (pp. 12-306) as he left Warren, Pennsylvania, for Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. After establishing his farm, he frequently wrote about the weather and the progress of his crops and livestock, which included barley, wheat, potatoes, and sheep. He also remarked on tapping trees and refining the sap, distilling alcohol, and employing laborers, who included at least one Scottish immigrant and one African American. Though he focused on his farm work, Rhind occasionally described his travels, local events, and social activities. On January 29, 1839, for example, he remarked on hostilities between the local Congregationalists and Presbyterians. From February 15, 1837, to April 18, 1838, he recorded the birth, illness, death, and burial of his daughter Margaret.

The volume concludes with 8 pages of financial accounts (pp. 307-314) concerning Archibald Rhind's crops and payments to hired hands.

This journal recounts the experiences of Benneville Hiester, a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, who traveled from Pleasant Township, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, and back to Pennsylvania in the spring of 1853. Hiester recorded the odd jobs he did for local farmers around Pleasant Township and Lancaster, Ohio; his trip westward through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois by railroad and overland roads; his return journey to Pennsylvania, taken primarily by steamboat; and the labor he did for nearby farmers after his return.

The Benneville Hiester diary contains about 50 pages of short daily entries about his travels from Pleasant Township, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, and back to Pennsylvania in 1853.

In January 1853, Hiester lived in Pleasant Township, Ohio, where he chopped wood and performed other tasks for local farmers. In his journal, he mentioned the names of those for whom he worked, as well as his work at a nearby poorhouse and his labor digging graves and building pig sties. On February 19, he visited Joseph Hiester and his son Daniel in Boylston, Ohio, and on March 7, he left Lancaster for Columbus, Ohio, where he boarded a train for Cincinnati with a companion named Jacob. Hiester noted the cost of his ticket and provided brief descriptions of his journey across Ohio and Indiana, including a stop at Vandala, Indiana, to visit acquaintances. On March 20, he and Jacob traveled on the "National Road" to Illinois, and they arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 22nd. Hiester set out for Pennsylvania on the same day, paying $10.50 for a steamboat ticket on the Elephant, which traveled along Ohio River to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which Hiester reached on April 4. From there, he went to Harrisburg and then to his home near Bern, which he reached by foot on April 6. The final entries, which Hiester wrote regularly until May 1 and again from June 14 to June 22, concern the daily weather and his manual labor. The entry for June 21 mentions his work with tobacco.

The collection consists of two volumes relating to the Dunwoody family of Marple Township, Pennsylvania, produced between 1807 and 1829. The first volume is a memoranda and expense book kept primarily by James Dunwoody, between 1807 and 1815. It documents financial transactions for meat and livestock, crops, and farm labor. Records also indicate when female laborers began their employment with the family, likely for domestic service, listing the wages and expenses for three of them. The second volume is a copybook kept by Jane B. Dunwoody in 1829 while attending the Marple Union Seminary, focusing on practicing forms for banking, business, legal, and real estate transactions.

The collection consists of two volumes relating to the Dunwoody family of Marple Township, Pennsylvania, produced between 1807 and 1829. The first volume is a memoranda and expense book kept primarily by James Dunwoody, but with references to his sons John, William, and Joseph, between 1807 and 1815. It documents financial transactions for meat and livestock, crops, and farm labor, with several entries with women or notes about cash being provided to wives. Records also indicate when female laborers began their employment with the family, likely for domestic service, including one under-age girl who took up work with her parents' consent and one African American woman ("Black Hariott"). It lists the wages and expenses of Hannah Griffith, Anna Griffith, and Hanah Sithers, documenting the items they were acquiring while in the employ of the family. A recipe for making pills is present, as well as a page of household expenses. The volume has paper covers with woodcut illustrations of four scenes: "Two Sturdy Bull Dogs," "The Fox and the Goat," "An Ass and His Master," and "A Dog and his Shadow."

The second volume is a copybook kept by Jane B. Dunwoody in 1829 while attending the Marple Union Seminary, focusing on banking, business, legal, and real estate transactions. She studied document forms, such as indentures for apprentices, promissory and judgement notes, property leasing, proxy votes, bonds, bills of sale, mortgages, among others. The volume has illustrated, printed covers. The front cover is labelled "The Pet Lamb" and shows a man holding a lamb in his arms with pasted-on letters "JBD Book," and the back cover is labelled "The Pheasant" and shows a pheasant accompanied by a description of the bird by Goldsmith.

The Perdue family account book and journal contains financial accounts, employment records, and diary entries related to William Folliard Perdue of Wagontown, Pennsylvania. Much of the volume pertains to family news, local travel, and farm work.

The Perdue family account book and journal (152 pages) contains financial accounts, employment records, and diary entries related to William Folliard Perdue of Wagontown, Pennsylvania. The first (unnumbered) page contains a recipe for a rheumatism treatment and instructions for washing clothes. Pages numbered 1-4 contain financial accounts, mostly related to wheat and other crops (1843-1844).

Pages 5-151 contain employment records ("Time Accounts") and irregular diary entries covering the years 1843-1877, the bulk of which are dated from 1845-1876. William F. Perdue maintained records of the number of days or partial days that laborers worked on his farm and wrote diary entries and notes alongside and between these records. He commented on workers, farm work, livestock, and crops such as potatoes, corn, wheat, and oats. Perdue often mentioned visits to or from family members and acquaintances, and sometimes attended religious meetings, political meetings, or other social events. An entry dated January 1, 1848, reports his marriage to Emily Pyle. Page 92 contains list of fruit trees planted in the spring of 1860.

William's daughter Annie signed some entries dated 1861, and the subsequent entries, many of which concern local funerals, visits to or from family members, and other social activities, were written by an author or authors who referred to William F. Perdue as "Papa." Brief letters, a receipt, and recipes are laid into the volume, and newspaper clippings are pasted onto the endpapers.