Tag Archives: Philadelphia

Independence Seaport Museum: Steam Sloop Wyoming logbook and journal (2)

1851-1900, Contributing Libraries, Independence Seaport Museum, ,
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Click image to view the logbook in a page-turning viewer.
Click image to view the logbook in a page-turning viewer.

Log book and journal kept by William W. Dwier, acting carpenter, aboard the Steam Sloop Wyoming during the United States Civil War. The ship was sent to the Pacific to search for the CSS Alabama. The first part of this volume contains a log and documents the date, the days steaming, latitude, longitude, distance run, and remarks for most days from 1861 to 1864. On page 48, Dwier continues his journal (from volume 1) with the first entry describing the battle of Shimonoseki on July 16, 1863. The next entry is for September 17, 1863 and runs until July 23, 1864 when the voyage ended in Philadelphia. As in Dwier’s journal contained in Volume 1, these journal entries describe the weather and sailing conditions, port cities, and passing ships as the ship and crew traveled from Japan to Malaysia to South Africa to Saint Helena to Saint Thomas to Philadelphia.

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Emilie Davis Diary, 2 (1864)

1851-1900, Contributing Libraries, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, , ,
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Click image to view Volume 2 of the Emilie Davis Diary in a page-turning viewer.
Click image to view Volume 2 of the Emilie Davis Diary in a page-turning viewer.

The second of three diaries by Emilie Davis, a young African-American woman who lived in Philadelphia during the Civil War. The three diaries, 1863-1865, contain memories of her day-to-day life with mention of some wartime events, including the fall of Vicksburg and draft riots in New York City during 1863. Davis was likely in her late teens or early twenties when she began writing her diary in 1863. Although a great deal of information is recorded, typical diary entries are not very detailed. Daily entries provide a glimpse of the life of a young woman in Philadelphia, including her visits with family and friends and her experiences attending weddings, funerals, lectures, school, and church fairs. Most of the news Davis recorded in her diary focuses on the Civil War. National events, such as National Fast Day (April 1863), the 1863 New York draft riots, and the 1864 presidential election, are mentioned. In July 1863, she observed that people in the Harrisburg area were fleeing that part of the state and moving towards Philadelphia as a result of the Battle of Gettysburg. Emancipation was also recorded in Emilie’s diary , as was the fall of Vicksburg and President Lincoln’s assassination.

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Emilie Davis Diary, 1 (1863)

1851-1900, Contributing Libraries, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, , ,
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Click image to view Volume 1 of the Emilie Davis Diary in a page-turning viewer.
Click image to view Volume 1 of the Emilie Davis Diary in a page-turning viewer.

The first of three diaries by Emilie Davis, a young African-American woman who lived in Philadelphia during the Civil War. The three diaries, 1863-1865, contain memories of her day-to-day life with mention of some wartime events, including the fall of Vicksburg and draft riots in New York City during 1863. Davis was likely in her late teens or early twenties when she began writing her diary in 1863. Although a great deal of information is recorded, typical diary entries are not very detailed. Daily entries provide a glimpse of the life of a young woman in Philadelphia, including her visits with family and friends and her experiences attending weddings, funerals, lectures, school, and church fairs. Most of the news Davis recorded in her diary focuses on the Civil War. National events, such as National Fast Day (April 1863), the 1863 New York draft riots, and the 1864 presidential election, are mentioned. In July 1863, she observed that people in the Harrisburg area were fleeing that part of the state and moving towards Philadelphia as a result of the Battle of Gettysburg. Emancipation was also recorded in Emilie’s diary , as was the fall of Vicksburg and President Lincoln’s assassination.

Continue reading Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Emilie Davis Diary, 1 (1863) →