Diaries, 1841-1908.

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Diaries, 1841-1908.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191259349

This collection consists of sixty-six diaries, 1841 to 1908, kept by Susan Elizabeth Parsons Brown Forbes. They contain daily entries, brief at first but longer as the years progress, concerning her social and occupational activities, e.g., mill-work, teaching, running a boarding house after her marriage; visits paid and received; attendance at lectures, concerts, and socials; shopping and sightseeing trips (e.g., Washington, D.C. and California); household chores, and problems with servants. The end of each volume contains extensive financial accounts as well as lists of letters sent and received. Much information is provided concerning the renovations performed at "Fatherland Farms"; her work with church and charitable organizations, such as the "Home for the Friendless" in Springfield; her activities with the D.A.R.; family illnesses and medical treatments; and her own unhappiness occasioned by marital discord during the mid-1880s. There are occasional references to national and world political events, such as during the Civil War. The diaries also contain entries pertaining to Susan Forbes' complete assumption of her husband's financial affairs, especially investments, following his retirement in 1895 due to poor health. Due to her own failing health, the diaries for 1907 and 1908 were kept for her by various companions, e.g., Mrs. M. E. Guthrie ( - ). The earliest volumes were frequently interleaved in almanacs. The 1884 diary contains a letter written in that year by Gertrude Forbes to her adoptive parents.

3 boxes (66 volumes)

Gadsden Public Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6957496

Gadsden Public Library

Related Entities

There are 18 Entities related to this resource.

Home for the Friendless.

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Guthrie, M. E., Mrs.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bp1kkv (person)

Leavitt, Dorcas Gertrude Hitchcock Forbes, b. 1871.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h14jqc (person)

Forbes, Alexander Barclay, 1836-1903.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66t24c9 (person)

New England Home for Little Wanderers

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Forbes, Susan E. P. Brown, 1824-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sn1s29 (person)

Susan Elizabeth Parsons Brown Forbes (1824-1910) was born on a farm in Epsom, N.H., the daughter of William Brown (1797-1887) and Lucretia Billings Gray Brown (1785-1875). In 1843, she worked in the Middlesex Woolen Mills in Lowell, Mass., and in 1845, commenced teaching in various school systems, including a Jewish School in Boston, Mass. It was while she was boarding in Boston in 1857 that she met Alexander Barclay Forbes (1836-1903), a Scottish immigrant and, later, founder of Forbes and Wall...

Middlesex Woolen Mills.

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Wallace, Andrew Brabner, b. 1842.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6903mc4 (person)

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz44c1 (person)

Abraham Lincoln (born February 12, 1809, Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky-died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.) was the sixteenth President of the United States from 1861 until his death by assassination. He was the son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Thomas Lincoln, and Nancy Hanks. In 1816, Lincoln moved to Pigeon Creek, Indiana, where he worked on his family's farm. Following his mother's death two years later, he continued working on farms until moving with his father to New Sa...

Leavitt, Charles William.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f77w88 (person)

Olivet Church (Springfield, Mass.)

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Mann, Horace, 1796-1859

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sf2xnw (person)

Horace Mann was an educator and a statesman who greatly advanced the cause of universal, free, non-sectarian public schools. Mann also advocated temperance, abolition, hospitals for the mentally ill, and women's rights. From the description of Horace Mann Letter, 1858. (University of the Pacific). WorldCat record id: 213372958 Horace Mann, "Father of our Public Schools," was born in Franklin, Massachusetts on May 4, 1796. His family was poor and his father di...

Parker, Theodore, 1810-1860.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w95f3m (person)

Unitarian minister and reformer. From the description of Letter, 1850 Nov. 5, Boston, to Charles Mason. (Boston Athenaeum). WorldCat record id: 170925855 Rev. Theodore Parker (1810-1860), Unitarian minister, social reformer, and publicist, was born in Lexington, Mass., a grandson of Captain John Parker (1729-1775) of Revolutionary fame. Parker graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1836, became minister of West Roxbury, and proceeded to develop his theological and social ...

Remick's Department Store.

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Forbes & Wallace (Springfield, Mass.)

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Brown, William, 1796-1887

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Centennial Exhibition 1876 Philadelphia, Pa.

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The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 marked the 100th anniversary of American freedom. The celebration took place in Philadelphia from May 10 to November 10 and attracted over eight million visitors. The exhibition spread across 450 acres of ground in Fairmont Park and consisted of over 200 buildings. Planning for the event began in 1870, and in 1871, Congress established the United States Centennial Commission to plan and run the exhibition. The following year saw the incorporation of the Centenni...

Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66h4g1m (person)

Wendell Phillips (born November 29, 1811, Boston, Massachusetts – died February 2, 1884, Boston, Massachusetts), orator and reformer, was one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement in Boston, Massachusetts, wrote frequently for William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator, and eventually became president of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He contributed much to the cause through inflammatory speeches favoring the division of the Union and opposing the acquisition of Texas and the war with Mexico. ...