Diary, 1852-1854.

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Diary, 1852-1854.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207114799

This diary, 10 January 1852 to 31 December 1854, was kept while Bennett resided in Gloucester and, subsequently, in Boston. He began the diary when he was fifteen years old and made only occasional entries for the years 1852 and 1853. They included references to the games which he and his friends played, steamer rides to neighboring islands, visits with relatives, picnics, parties, church services, and his father's departure for Calcutta on board the "Montpelier." Bennett also attended several lyceum lectures and rendered a brief opinion of each speaker, e.g., Theodore Parker (1810-1860), Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), and Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). During 1854, Bennett provided daily accounts of his activities and related news of various sailings. He worked for a dry goods merchant in Gloucester but maintained an active social life, including visits with friends, sleigh rides, attendance at balls, lectures, book auctions, temperance meetings, town meetings, and circuses. There are references to books that he read, town and state elections, the activities of the Know-Nothing Party, and celebrations of July 4th and Election Day. Bennett commented on the Anthony Burns (1834-1862) fugitive slave case in May, 1854. He was a collector of "pictorials" and spent some time on that hobby. On August 28, 1854, Francis Bennett, Jr., moved to Boston to begin work as a clerk in the thriving dry goods store of Charles Fox Hovey (1807-1859). He became active in the YMCA and attended lyceum lectures, concerts, and parades in that city.

1 v. (125 p.) ; octavo.

American Antiquarian Society

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SNAC Resource ID: 7000244

American Antiquarian Society

Related Entities

There are 7 Entities related to this resource.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63k44cq (person)

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803, Boston, Massachusetts– April 27, 1882, Concord, Massachusetts), American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.Epithet: American essayist British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000621.0x000365 ...

Burns, Anthony, 1834-1862

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q0603z (person)

Anthony Burns (31 May 1834 – 17 July 1862) was a fugitive slave whose recapturing, extradition, and court case led to wide-scale public outcries of injustice, and ultimately, increased opposition to slavery by Northerners. Burns was born a slave in Stafford County, Virginia. As a young man, he became a Baptist and a "slave preacher" at the Falmouth Union Church in Falmouth, Virginia. In 1853, he escaped from slavery and reached Boston, where he started working. The following year, he was c...

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 ...

Charles F. Hovey & Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vb3qwh (corporateBody)

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. ...

Boston Young Men's Christian Association

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d55mb3 (corporateBody)

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Greater Boston was the first YMCA chapter in North America. It was founded in 1851 by Captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan (1800-1859), an American seaman and missionary. Influenced by the London YMCA, Captain Sullivan saw the association as an opportunity to provide a "home away from home" for young sailors on shore leave. The Boston chapter promoted evangelical Christianity, the cultivation of Christian sympathy, and the improvement of the spiritual...

Bennett, Francis William

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66j2d1c (person)

Francis Bennett, Jr. (1837- ) was the son of Francis and Martha Proctor Bennett of Gloucester, Mass. His father was a seaman. Francis Bennett, Jr., worked for a period of time for Charles Fox Hovey and Company, dry goods merchants on Summer Street in Boston, Mass. From the description of Diary, 1852-1854. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 207114799 ...