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This diary records the sermon notes and spiritual reflections of an unnamed member of Boston's Brattle Street church between March 1772 and April 1775.

This diary records the sermon notes and spiritual reflections of an unnamed member of Boston's Brattle Street church between March 1772 and April 1775.

The diarist wrote each "Sabbath evening" as well as on occasions when s/he attended special Fast-day services or religious lectures. Entries also appear in the middle of a week when someone the diarist knew died suddenly. Other entries of note include those in which the writer was unable to attend worship because of "bruises I received by a fall from a Sley" [16 Jan. 1774] and because of a smallpox outbreak [26 March 1775].

A typical Sabbath entry opens with thanks to God for the favor to attend "his House," gives an account of who preached and from what text for both the morning and afternoon services, and offers a short reflection on or explanation of the sermon. The writer also examined his/her spiritual state and beseeched God for mercy and for his/her heart to be bent to God's will. Additionally, many entries feature anywhere from a few lines to the complete set of stanzas for hymns from English writers like Isaac Watts and the Wesley brothers.

The diarist mentioned hearing sermons from approximately twenty ministers over this three-year span, including Dr. Samuel Cooper, Dr. Charles Chauncy, Dr. Andrew Eliot, Mr. Joseph Howe, Mr. John Hunt, and Dr. Mather Byles, all of whom were ministers at some of the city's largest churches.

The Hampton collection consists of a journal written by Eli Hampton, an Orthodox Quaker minister from Chester County, Pennsylvania. The journal records religious subjects and the spiritual concerns of the minister.

The Hampton journals are an excellent record of the spiritual concerns of a Quaker minister in the near aftermath of the great period of Quaker schisms. The entries are fairly regular, though not daily, and vary in length from brief notes ("attended meeting") to very long passages, nearly all on religious subjects. The attribution of the journal is based on the appearance on the front cover of the name Eli Hampton written in the hand of the author, and the presence within of a copy of a letter signed by Eli Hampton.

The periodic rise and fall in Hampton's mood and the insecurities he had in his ability to receive the Light are among the most interesting aspects of the journal. He often writes that he feels weighed down by the burden of spiritual duties and concerns, and by doubts about his own worth. Typical of many entries is the one for February 16th, 1848: "I felt destitute and forsaken by all both spiritually and temporally and at times ready to give out all hopes of overcoming these frailties of human nature."

Even when his spirits were raised, as after speaking at meeting, Hampton felt the weight of great emotions. "[A]t meting to day in a goodly frame of mind wherein I think I was blest with the presence of the devine master with this language in my mind; can it bee possible that the lord has chosen mee as an instrument to awaken others to a sence of their one duty in obidience to the law and testimony of devine light on their one understanding; for I know that I have nothing to bost of but my one infermaties which are great and many..." (1848 June 1). The burden of not speaking when having received the Light was also crushing to Hampton. Following a funeral, during which he felt compelled to speak, but held back, Hampton wrote: "I had to suffer like unto a little child that had just been corrected by its earthly parent and that through such severity that its hart was almost ready to burst with grief..." (1849 March 13).

The political and moral issues of the day occasionally figure in Hampton's diary. While not evincing any uncommonly strong zeal, Hampton was apparently an opponent of slavery and the use of "spiritous liquors." His reservations are clear, though: "the query arose in my mind what good has [the Antislavery] committee done I can see none in reallety" (1848 July 27). A particularly interesting incident occurred on August 13th, 1848, when Hampton and other members of the meeting attempted to attend the "colored meeting," but were barred from doing so by the congregation. He writes "not all their congrigation being preasant at that time [they] ware not willing to admit us in their meeting hous." Hampton and Friends slept under a nearby shed and "delivered our testimony amongst them I trust to good satisfaction."

Since Hampton's religious concerns permeate nearly every entry, the spiritual content of this diary has been only selectively indexed, with the longer or more thoroughly expressed entries noted.

The collection concerns Lydia Haskell's spiritual life and involvement with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Maine between 1820 and 1857. Her papers consist of 27 journals, 12 bound packets of letters, memoranda, additional correspondence, a hymnal, and loose documents. Her papers record her evolving sense of salvation, call to ministry, and conflicts with ministers over her work and her views on the Eucharist.

The collection concerns Lydia Haskell's spiritual life and involvement with the Methodist Episcopal Church in Maine between 1820 and 1857. Her papers consist of 27 journals, 12 bound packets of letters, memoranda, additional correspondence, a hymnal, and loose documents. Her papers record her evolving sense of salvation, call to ministry, and conflicts with ministers over her work and her views on the Eucharist.

• The death of her daughter Sarah in October 1844
• Missionary efforts in China and the work of the Missionary Society (1846-1847)
• Ministers in the area who preach universalism (1847)
• Efforts to receive the Eucharist weekly during her chronic illness (1849-1857, especially 1855)
• Class meetings of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Series I: Correspondence, 1837-1856, n.d.

The bulk of this series is comprised of correspondence between Haskell and one of her most cherished pastors, Rev. Hezekiah C. Tilton, and his wife. In these letters, Haskell openly shared her afflictions and joys, communicated information about the local church and common acquaintances, discussed her views on church practices, particularly that of the Eucharist, and sent copies of her "exercises," with requests for correction. Tilton responded in kind, with a similar mix of family and church news and spiritual reflection. He shared his opinions about her son Willabe's educational prospects with particular detail.

The series also contains 12 pamphlets that Haskell made of her correspondence and bound together in the same format as her journals. Some of these pamphlets contain chronologically-arranged letters addressed to a series of recipients, while others contain a series of entries addressed to a single individual or a single, lengthy testimony directed to a local church congregation. In most of these pieces, Haskell provided an account of her personal spiritual condition and exhorted her correspondents to do the same.

Finally, Haskell's correspondence includes letters she exchanged with various members of the Methodist clergy and with her allies in local churches during the debate over her weekly practice of receiving Communion.

Series II: Memoranda, 1844-1853, n.d.

• 2 copies (one incomplete) of Hezekiah C. Tilton's memorial on the death of her daughter Sarah, dated December 1844
• 2 packets that record when, from whom, and with whom she received Communion between 1849 and 1853
• 3 relatively similar packets of scriptural passages, dated April 1837 to 1850 (and in one copy to 1852), upon which Haskell meditated as part of a daily spiritual exercise - she directed one of these booklets, with an explanation of her practice, to Hezekiah C. Tilton in June 1850
• 2 poems, one signed "N. A. Soule," and the other made up of extracts from several religious poems and hymns
• A packet on the care of pastors (see longer version in letter to members of the M. E. Church in Millbridge and Steuben, June 1849)
• A resolution by parents to pray for their children on Tuesdays and to meet together for support and prayer, signed by 12 individuals, including Lydia Haskell and acquaintances of hers from the Harrington area

Series III: Journals, 1820-1857

Lydia Haskell's 27 religious journals, spanning from 1820 to 1857, offer extensive personal reflection on her spiritual life from the time she was a late adolescent to her final years as an invalid. The entries tend to address her sense of spiritual well-being and trials, her concern over the welfare of unbelievers, her relationships with various ministers, or her religious practices of prayer, memorizing scripture, and attending church meetings. During the years of her public ministry, the entries also include details about her work.

She reflected at intervals on her unique position in the Methodist Church as a "poor unworthy female" working publicly for salvation and on her anxiety about being perceived as a nuisance to local ministers.

• A summary of a sermon in which different Protestant groups are characterized as the various companies of a divine army [6 October 1837]
• Her temptation in a dream to leave the Methodist Church for a community with a greater "willingness to recognize females as fellow laborers in the vineyard of the Lord," namely the Society of Friends [4 March 1845]
• Her anxiety over the presidential election of 1856 and whether "the oppressors will continue to hold the reins of government" [5 November 1856]

Haskell quoted scriptural passages or portions of hymns, usually without explicitly citing them. She also transcribed a long portion of Washington Irving's short story "Rural Funerals" on the subject of "sorrow for the dead," shortly after the death of her cousin Lucy [Journal, 1824].

Over the years, Haskell apparently revisited some of her earlier entries, such as those from the early 1830s, which are followed by "Remarks," mostly dated July 1846, in which she reflected back on her earlier state of mind.

Series IV: Books

The collection includes an 1849 Methodist hymnbook: Hedding, Elijah. Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. New-York: Carlton & Porter, Array.

Eliza "Phebe" Whitford kept her diary between January 1 and December 31, 1862, recording her itinerant life away from home with various relatives in Cattaraugus County, New York, and reflecting on her psychological and religious inner life. She recorded her diary entries in the regular blank pages of a small (3.25 x 2.5") printed volume, "Daily Texts, with Verses of Hymns: Adapted for General Use" (N.Y.: American Tract Society, n.d.). Phebe Whitford was a Seventh Day Baptist and attended regular services and meetings. She ruminated on her faith and on her anxious and nervous state, noting that when disappointed she was apt to distrust God. She remarked on hearing Elder [Julius M.?] Todd (passim) and Silas Burdick (March 22) preach, friends going off to fight in the Civil War (June 30), attendance at a Gerrit Smith meeting (July 20), the arrival of a "real smart" fugitive slave in town (August 8), and the presence of an African American man named West at their meeting (August 10). She also attended singing school and practiced on the melodeon.

Eliza "Phebe" Whitford kept her diary between January 1 and December 31, 1862, recording her itinerant life away from home with various relatives in Cattaraugus County, New York, and reflecting on her psychological and religious inner life. She recorded her diary entries in the regular blank pages of a small (3.25 x 2.5") printed volume, "Daily Texts, with Verses of Hymns: Adapted for General Use" (N.Y.: American Tract Society, n.d.).

Phebe Whitford was a Seventh Day Baptist and attended regular services and meetings. She ruminated on her faith and on her anxious and nervous state, noting that when disappointed she was apt to distrust God. She remarked on hearing Elder [Julis M.?] Todd (passim) and Silas Burdick (March 22) preach, friends going off to fight in the Civil War (June 30), attendance at a Gerrit Smith meeting (July 20), the arrival of a "real smart" fugitive slave in town (August 8), and the presence of an African American man named West at their meeting (August 10). She also attended singing school and practiced on the melodeon.

This 242-page diary documents the daily life of Sophia "Sofa" Miller, of Albion, Michigan, from 1875 to 1876. A devout Baptist, Miller recorded her attendance at various church services and meetings, her personal religious thoughts, and copies of hymns. She also chronicled the weather, household chores, and social activities.

This 242-page diary documents the daily life of Sophia "Sofa" Miller, of Albion, Michigan, from 1875 to 1876. She frequently recorded weather observations, details about her sewing work, and social calls received and made. As a devout Baptist, much of her social life centered on attending church services, prayer meetings, and choir practices. Miller was a teacher for Sabbath School, secretary of the Albion Baptist Women's Missionary Circle, and Vice Grand for the local Rebekah's lodge. Miller's relatives were also members of the Good Templar Society for temperance.

Miller copied several letters into the diary, including two to The Herald and Torchlight (a Baptist newspaper published in Kalamazoo). She also copied a number of hymns, including "Take My Life and Let It Be" and "I am Trusting, Wholly Trusting." Major events noted include house remodeling, visiting boarders, and Miller's niece, Altha, coming to live in her house while attending Albion College. Several entries concern rumored affairs, including one involving Miller's husband. The last page of the diary shows a recipe for chocolate cake.