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This collection contains 20 pre-printed daily diaries by Maria Jennings Barnard née Gibbs of East Wareham and Onset, Massachusetts, for the years 1865, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1873, 1876, 1880, 1881, 1914, and 1924-1932. Maria J. Gibbs' diaries pertain to home life (especially cooking, cleaning, sewing, and other housework). In the 1860s and 1870s, while in her 20s, she remarked on her work at cotton mills and sewing establishments in Plymouth and Middlesex Counties as well as her experiences living at various boarding houses. At the end of 1876, she married Nantucket sailor Benjamin A. Barnard and the diaries of 1880 and 1881 include content on household labor, child rearing, visits to other areas in the state, and loneliness from her husband's absences. Barnard wrote her later diaries, 1914 and 1924-1932, following the death of her husband in 1895, from Onset, Massachusetts, where she wrote about time with her daughter Nellie Barnard Robbins and grandson Lloyd Robbins, trips around Eastern Massachusetts, annual trips to Florida for the winter, cooking, cleaning, and visiting friends. The remainder of the collection is comprised of eight diaries, account books, address books, memoranda books, and wallets pertaining to the family of Maria Barnard's granddaughter Mildred Grace Robbins née Adams of Attleboro, Massachusetts, between 1913 and the 1950s.

This collection contains 20 pre-printed daily diaries by Maria Jennings Barnard née Gibbs of East Wareham and Onset, Massachusetts, for the years 1865, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1873, 1876, 1880, 1881, 1914, and 1924-1932. Maria J. Gibbs' diaries pertain to home life (especially cooking, cleaning, sewing, and other housework). In the 1860s and 1870s, while in her 20s, she remarked on her work at cotton mills and sewing establishments in Plymouth and Middlesex Counties as well as her experiences living at various boarding houses. Her 1872 diary includes a two-month trip to Chicago to visit relatives, with content on the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1871. Maria suffered from regular headaches and frequent nearly debilitating sicknesses. At the end of 1876, she married Nantucket sailor Benjamin A. Barnard and the diaries of 1880 and 1881 include content on household labor, child rearing, visits to other areas in the state, and loneliness from her husband's absences. Bernard wrote her later diaries, 1914 and 1924-1932, following the death of her husband in 1895, from Onset, Massachusetts, where she wrote about time with her daughter Nellie Barnard Robbins and grandson Lloyd Robbins, trips around Eastern Massachusetts, annual trips to Florida for the winter, cooking, cleaning, and visiting friends. When the 1932 diary concluded, Maria was 86 years old. The remainder of the collection is comprised of eight diaries, account books, address books, memoranda books, and wallets pertaining to the family of Maria Barnard's granddaughter Mildred Grace Robbins née Adams of Attleboro, Massachusetts, between 1913 and the 1950s.