Collections

This collection contains the disbound contents of a scrapbook that Massachusetts minister Calvin Durfee kept during the mid-19th century. The scrapbook includes Durfee's journal about a trip through New York and the upper Midwest in 1851, newspaper clippings containing biographical sketches he composed, and manuscript sermons.

This collection contains the disbound contents of a scrapbook that Massachusetts minister Calvin Durfee kept during the mid-19th century. The first item is Durfee's 14-page journal describing his domestic travels from April 22, 1851-June 20, 1851. He embarked from South Dedham, Massachusetts and travelled, often by steamboat, across northern New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The journal records Durfee's daily activities, including delivering sermons and making social calls in numerous cities, and also contains a genealogical record of his sister's family, the Lashiers of Maine, New York (page 10).

The journal is followed by biographical sketches of pastors from Pittsfield and Lanesboro, Massachusetts, clipped from the Berkshire Courier (approximately 14 pages); the clippings include manuscript annotations. Two additional clippings are a history of the pastors of the Presbyterian Church at Whitfield, Massachusetts, and a note regarding the marriage of Durfee's son Charles. The collection also contains 7 sermons that Calvin Durfee delivered by between 1852 and 1876, consisting of 6 manuscripts and one newspaper reproduction. Four of the sermons are between 18 and 30 pages long.

Additional printed material includes a program from Charles S. Durfee's ordination in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on September 8, 1869; a related letter of congratulation; and a printed invitation from the First Presbyterian Church of Newburyport (August 24, 1869). The original scrapbook cover is housed with the collection.

• Thomas Allen
• William Allen
• Thomas Penderson
• Heman Humphrey
• Rufus William Bailey
• John W. Yeomans
• Chester Dewey
• H. N. Brinsmade
• John Todd
• S. A. Allen

• Daniel Collins
• John De Witt
• Noah Sheldon
• Ransome S. Cook
• John Furgerson
• Edward Joab Brace
• Martyn Tupper
• Chauncey Eddy
• Charles Newman

The R. J. Arnold diary (145 pages) chronicles a trip taken by Mrs. Arnold, her husband, her father, and a friend through northern New York to Canada, Michigan, and Illinois in the summer of 1856.

The R. J. Arnold diary (145 pages) chronicles a trip taken by Mrs. Arnold, her husband, her father, and a friend through northern New York to Canada, Michigan, and Illinois in the summer of 1856. The party embarked for their western journey on May 21, and proceeded to Niagara Falls, stopping several times along the way and often visiting with family or friends in the area. The group enjoyed seeing Niagara Falls, which Mrs. Arnold described in detail (pp. 17-22), and spent many of their leisurely days honoring social engagements, when not in transit. Eventually, the vacationing party wound their way through the "Queen's dominions" to Detroit and, later, Chicago, where the diarist registered her surprise after seeing women performing manual labor: "I saw a woman riding a horse, for a man to plow out even. It is quite common to see the lower class of women in the field a hoeing in this country" (p. 50). After moving southward from Chicago, the group began a return trip to the east coast, visiting many of the same locales that colored their earlier travels, and spending time in Buffalo near the home of former president Millard Fillmore. The account of this trip concludes with Arnold's return home, but she resumed her writing during a trip to Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, later in the summer and into the fall. Additionally, the diary contains four recipes (pp. 134-137) and travel-related notes, including several addresses of acquaintances acquired along her journey. The diary paints a clear picture of western travel in the antebellum North.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour through the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour of the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Young's journal, which contains descriptions and anecdotes from his travel, begins with an entry expressing his sadness upon leaving his loved ones (p. 1). He departed Reading for New York City, where he remained for 4 days; there, he witnessed a procession by the Sons of Temperance. Young then traveled to Connecticut and Massachusetts, where he commented on Boston's Chinese residents (p. 8). He continued to Niagara Falls, Detroit, and Chicago. In Detroit, he received copper samples from Morgan Bates, a prospector (p. 31); in Chicago he recorded his disappointment with the city and its construction. While in western Illinois and Iowa, Young visited a smelting furnace and mine (pp. 43-44), a "lead cave" and mine (pp. 48-49), and the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, Illinois (pp. 56-58).

When Young reached St. Louis, Missouri, he boarded a riverboat bound for Louisville, Kentucky, though he and three other travelers opted to walk the final stretch of the trip (pp. 70-71). Young recalled a stagecoach conversation about slavery, though he declined to participate (pp. 74-75). Upon his arrival in Lexington, Kentucky, he met with Henry Clay at his Ashland estate (pp. 87-88). Young spent much of September in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between Cincinnati and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), he met Lewis C. F. Fatio, former captain of the United States revenue cutter Wolcott, who was on his way to contest a charge of disobedience in Washington, D. C. (pp. 101-102). Young began the last leg of his journey on October 10, 1846, heading for Philadelphia and, later, Reading, where he returned on October 12 (p. 108).

Young occasionally encountered dangerous situations, including a narrowly avoided stagecoach accident between Kalamazoo and St. Joseph, Michigan (p. 33), a fire next door to his Chicago hotel (pp. 36-37), and a suspicious stagecoach passenger at Rockford, Illinois (p. 42). He made acquaintance with many fellow travelers, and often joined them for excursions. Young played the accordion, read local newspapers and the works of Friedrich Schiller, occasionally measured the distances he traveled or noted the costs of transportation, and recorded the name of every hotel at which he boarded.