Edwin L. Buttrick journal, 1843-1844
138 pages
The Edwin L. Buttrick journal details a young eastern itinerant schoolteacher's encounter with rural Kentucky in the 1840s.
Edwin L. Buttrick, nicknamed Ned, left his home in Clinton, New York, on October 7, 1842, to work in Kentucky as an itinerant schoolteacher. He accepted his first position at Maysville, but in October, 1843, moved to Helena to teach at the Richland Academy. His sister Harriette joined him in Helena as a teacher. In his journal, Buttrick discusses his daily activities along with observations on the local language, customs, and scenery. As noted in the following index, Buttrick often expresses opinions on the residents of Kentucky and their way of living. He also singles out women, Jewish people, and African Americans in prejudiced commentary and uses racial slurs.
Buttrick kept his diary daily from September 10 through December 23, 1843, when there is an eight day gap. After January 4, 1844, the journal was kept only sporadically. Buttrick was generally careful in keeping his journal, but there are two page 30s, the lower half of p. 36-7 is ripped out, and pages 124-125 have been removed. The sporadic nature of Buttrick's entries at this period makes it difficult to determine whether there was any loss of text when the page was removed.
Buttrick included an elaborate, hand drawn "title page" with his journal, declaring: Random Sketches of a Sojourn in the State of Kentucky by the author of the "unknow[n] admirer of his own genius" &c. &c. Vol. II. Tenth American Edition. Revised & corrected (New York: E. L. Buttrick; London: Peter Knockimstiff, 1843)