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Elizabeth Musser of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, kept a diary about her daily activities throughout the year 1850. She attended religious meetings, visited and received family members and neighbors, and performed household chores.

Elizabeth Musser of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, kept a 106-page diary about her daily life throughout the year 1850. Musser's brief entries pertain to her social life and home life, and most end with her signature or calligraphic flourishes. She baked, churned butter, sewed frocks and pillowcases, purchased goods, and performed other tasks. On one occasion, she mentioned selling butter that was to be shipped via railroad (November 25). The diary records Musser's occasional trips to Lancaster; her attendance at religious meetings, funerals, burials, and a baptism (April 20); and her regular visits to and from family members and acquaintances. One camp meeting Musser attended was hosted by African Americans (August 17). Many of her acquaintances were members of the Musser family, Lapp family, Houser family, McKillips family, Buckwalter family, Delinger family, Meyers family, or Dunlap family.

Josephine Augustus kept this journal between 1899 and 1904, writing record and diary-like entries of her experiences running a boarding house and farm near Columbus, Ohio.

Josephine Augustus recorded her work repairing and cutting dresses, cutting carpet rags, making clothing, quilting, creating a scrapbook, and washing. She also noted how many persons were present for dinners and work done by her assistants. Augustus also made notes on the weather, illnesses, and the travel and activities of other persons (such as who attended a funeral). On February 25, 1900, "Jose Ruth Mag Katie & Bina Martin" went to M-P church to hear a woman from Japan lecture.

Josephine Augustus produced fewer entries between 1901-1902 and afterward her writing becomes more internally focused and personal, detailing her struggles with difficult nights and grief for her mother. The last entry is dated January 5, 1904; the rest of the notebook is blank save for two brief pages of expenses, possibly written by Augustus.