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This diary contains the religious and personal reflections of Rebecca Fish Root, of Hartford, Connecticut. Root wrote about personal hardships, her Christian faith, and family news in the early 19th century.

This diary (18 pages) contains religious and personal reflections written by Rebecca Fish Root of Hartford, Connecticut, from May 1804-February 1823. Most of Root's entries pertain to her religious beliefs and faith, particularly during times of personal difficulties such as the deaths of family members or financial insolvency. In several entries, Root discussed death, bereavement, and the role of her faith after the deaths of her father (1804) and her eldest daughter (1820). She also mentioned church services by preachers including "Doct. Strong," "Mr. Hawes" and "Mr. [Lyman] Beecher from Litchfield." Root visited towns such as New Haven, Bethlehem, Norwich, Lyme, and Coventry. In later entries, she remarked on her feelings of social isolation.

Her diary contains references to the Root family's financial difficulties throughout the 1810s and early 1820s; the Roots were forced to move out of the Fish family home to a neighborhood three miles outside of town. Root also mentioned events such as her son's return from eight months of imprisonment in England during the War of 1812 (December 1813) and the deaths of twelve neighborhood children in March 1815.