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George Gilbert kept this volume from 1848 to 1862, writing diary entries and other documentation relating to his work as an itinerant teacher, primarily in Pennsylvania and Maryland. He also recorded various financial transactions, including matters relating to agricultural labor in Massachusetts.

George Gilbert kept this volume from 1848 to 1862, writing diary entries and other documentation relating to his work as an itinerant teacher, primarily in Pennsylvania and Maryland. He also recorded various financial transactions, including matters relating to agricultural labor in Massachusetts.

Diary entries are scattered throughout the volume in a non-chronological fashion, spanning April 1852 to November 1854, reflecting George Gilbert's studies and work as an itinerant teacher in Easthampton, Massachusetts; Tyburn, Pennsylvania; Richboro, Pennsylvania; and Perrymansville, Maryland. He frequently commented on the weather and agriculture of the region, the people in the communities, the quality of the students who attended his schools, and his uncertainty about where he would teach next. He often compared the locales to Massachusetts, where he lived previously, and wrote disparagingly of the students. On June 30, 1853, Gilbert recounted a portion of his teaching history to that point and commented on notable students, primarily those who struggled with learning or who had physical disabilities. He noted one student who was deaf.

Gilbert's diary entries also reveal glimpses into his social life. He recorded events like news of Louis Kossuth visiting North Hampton (April 24, 1852); Jenny Lind performing a concert (May 6, 1852); attending a re-enactment of a Revolutionary War battle (December 25, 1852); boarding at a tavern (August 28, 1853); attending a spirit rapping (September 19, 1853); and frequenting churches. At least two references appear to be related to the woman he would go on to marry, Jane Phelps. Gilbert also wrote sparingly on race and ethnicity, including mentions of an Irish student, passing an African American church (October 23, 1853), and Christmas celebrations where he noted distributing candy to African American children (December 25, 1853).

Early in the volume, George Gilbert listed out the names of students he taught in various places, including Oakham, Palmer, Perrinton, West Greece, Tyburn, Richboro, and Perrymansville. On several occasions, he also recorded the students' ages, which ranged from three to 22.

Gilbert used the volume for various other purposes. An ink impression of a leaf appears near the front of the volume. Notes about financial transactions, such as boarding, wages, and expenses are also included throughout. Later accounts indicate Gilbert may have turned to agricultural work in West Brookfield by 1856. Gilbert copied a warranty deed from 1853 regarding the sale of land in West Brookfield between Bostwick Gilbert and Avery Keep. Two illustrations were drawn into the volume, one of which represents the workings of a water wheel.

This collection contains 2 letters and 5 documents concerning the operation of a paper mill on Wissahickon Creek near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1844 and 1845. These include an indenture for the property, financial records and receipts, and correspondence regarding the mill's output and potential technical improvements.

This collection contains 2 letters and 5 documents concerning the operation of a paper mill on Wissahickon Creek near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1844 and 1845. These include an indenture for the property, financial records and receipts, and correspondence regarding the mill's output and potential technical improvements.

Among the financial records are a handwritten receipt between George Weiss and the Bank of Germantown for equipment (March 25, 1844) and the report of a committee assigned to sell equipment left over from the grist mill that once occupied the property (March 25, 1844). Two items relate to a contract between H. H. Bottom & Company and William Sherer concerning improvements to be made to the facility: the original agreement between the parties includes a list of materials to be furnished by the company (February 17, 1844), and a later document relates the findings of a group assigned to arbitrate a disagreement over the refitting of the mill (January 6, 1845). The remaining 3 items concern Charles Magarge and the paper mill's ownership and operation. These are a brief letter Magarge wrote to Samuel Harvey, the Bank of Germantown's president, in which he reported the mill's production figures between November 1844 and February 1845 (March 8, 1845); the indenture in which the Bank of Germantown agreed to lease the mill and surrounding property to Magarge and to Edwin R. Cope of the Philadelphia Paper Manufacturers and Dealers (July 22, 1845); and an undated letter from John H. Caulking to Charles Magarge regarding the dimensions of a water wheel to power the mill's engines, based on Caulking's recent observations of a mill at Trenton, New Jersey.