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This collection is made up of two diaries (223 pages total) by Emma Catherine Brown, a young Pennsylvania Quaker woman, from 1889 to 1892 and 1895 to 1896. She documented weather and daily life in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and Cecil County, Maryland. She described Quaker services, social gatherings, and visits of family and friends. Of particular note are references to temperance meetings and women's suffrage groups.

The first diary chronicles the years 1889 to 1892. The entries primarily concern local weather conditions, household chores, and social calls made and received by friends and numerous family members living in the area. She made brief mentions of other social news, including illnesses, dental procedures, visiting peddlers, and funerals. The diary contains a short death notice of Sarah E. Brown (d. June 29, 1891). The volume also documents Emma Brown's attendance at Religious Society of Friends meetings and First Day School. She also briefly mentioned a possible lease of chrome to the Tyson Mining Company. At the conclusion of 1892, Brown and her "Mamma" rented out their house in Oxford, Pennsylvania, and moved to Kennett Square to keep house for her Uncle Edward. Brown used the Quaker method of naming days (First Day, Second Day, etc.) throughout.

Emma Brown began her second diary, 1895-1896, with a promise for less discussion of the weather. She moved back to Oxford with her mother in 1895 and continued recording the comings and goings of Brown, her friends, and relations. The diary documents social events including parties, drives, sociables, entertainments, overnight stays, and picnics, including a detailed entry of a trip to Brandywine and viewing Revolutionary War sites. Brown regularly attended Quaker meetings as well as the occasional service of other denominations. She was a member of temperance organizations including the Keeley League and the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Brown traveled by train semi-frequently and attended lectures and meetings regarding women's suffrage and the debate over using a gold or silver standard. Caleb Darlington Cope, Brown's future husband, was a frequent household guest. Brown served as Secretary and Substitute Teacher of the First Day School in Kennett Square and "Secretary Protem [sic]" in Oxford. Brown and her mother rented a new house in Oxford in January 1896. Other entries contain mentions of two fires in town, a Republican meeting, and Election Day festivities.