Mary Dean Ray journal, 1838-1846
Content Description
Set of four bound manuscript journals, totaling 646 pages, of Mary Dean Ray, daughter of John Dean b 1792 and Lucinda Morrison Dean b 1795, granddaughter of James Dean b 1748. Mary Dean kept a diary to describe her daily life, before and after her marriage to Charles Milton Ray in 1841, in Westmoreland, Oneida County. In the diaries she recounts her courtship, social visits, household activities, church sermons, the weather, the sickness and death of relatives, and her trip in 1845 down the Erie Canal with her husband to Illinois. The journals are described in the McDonough County Historical Society Newsletter vol. 24, no. 2, spring 2005, with a partial transcript.
Acquisition Type
Gift
Provenance
Donated by Robert Payne and his wife (great granddaughter of Mary Dean)
Restrictions Apply
No
Dates
- Creation: 1838 - 1846
Inventory
Four volumes, 7”x8": volume 1 has no covers, consists of 4 unequal quires stitched together, with very faintly lined paper; the other three volumes are bound books with marbled covers, evidently purchased blank; 2 and 3 have lined paper, but 4 seems to be unlined. Volume 1: Tuesday, January 1, 1839, to Thursday, August 20, 1840, pp 1-120; Volume 2: Friday, August 21, 1840, to Sunday, September 18, 1842, pp 121-260; Volume 3: Monday, September 19, 1842, to Thursday, February 20, 1845, pp. 261-334 and then 235-363 and then 264-300 [so should be 261-500]; Volume 4: Friday, February 21, 1845, to Tuesday, August 11, 1846, pp. 301-446 [correct numeration would be 501-646]
Subject
- Dean, James, 1748-1823 (Associated name, Person)
