[Manuscript/Ephemera] 4 volumes. 19th Century Manuscript Diaries. (1) Civil War Diary of John P. Gross of Bangor, Michigan, during the closing months of his service in the 3rd Michigan Calvary, Co. C. [The 3rd was garrisioned at San Antonio, Texas, where it scouted the frontier to the Rio Grande.] Gross recounts brief notes of his service - drawing rations and carbines, moving camp to Sutherland Springs, Texas, and an incident on Jan. 3, 1866, in which "our camp was surrounded before day light this morning not by rebs but by the 18th N.Y. Cav.," which arrested a large number of troublemakers. In Feburary, Gross turned in his horse and equipment and boarded a steamer for New Orleans where he passed Forts Jackson (86 guns) and Phillip (44 guns). Mustered out of Feb. 12, he was discharged at Jackson, Michigan on March 15. Very intermittent notes of his civilian life follow. Pocket diary, kept irregularly. 70 pp., pen and pencil. (2) Alice R. Upson of Berlin, Hartford County, Connecticut. Her diary, 1859-1861. Upton records daily events of her life, family news and short trips. On Dec. 2, 1859, she heard Henry Ward Beecher lecture in New Britain on "The Ministry of the Beautiful." Beecher told the audience, "We should cultivate the taste for the beautiful for all have it if they would admit it... Cherish the love of flowers in a child. Encourage him to cultivate flowers and love and admire the beauties of nature... Be good and you will be beautiful." Upton notes the enlistment of her brother Theron in the Union Army (he become an artillery officer in the Conn. Light Artillery). "I hate to see him go", she writes. 1 vol. 20mo in full leather binding. 400 pp. in pen and pencil. (3) John Anson Singer. Diary of this craftsman and carpenter kept in Jackson Township, Monroe County, Penn., in 1861. Singer (1833-1920) made wood products like cabbage cutters, chests, sleds, doors, and a waterwheel as well as boots. He records visits to church, noting whether the sermon was in English or German. Diary faithfully kept throughout the year and accompanied by his original gold-plated pencil (still in working order). 1 vol., 144 pp., in pocket diary with flap. (4) Henry A. Poore of Haverhill, Massachusetts. His diaries for 1883 and 1885, entered daily throughout both years. Poore records school activities, farm work, making shows, village concerts, sledding parties, a strawberry festival, and fireworks and a balloon ascension planned for July 4th. "Woke up this morning at 20 minutes of 5 o'clock nand heard the meeting house bell ringing, decided there must be a fire somewhere, got up and dressed and Walter, Father and I went down. Found that Mr. Bly's house was on fire. After working for over an hour - some thirty men - we extinguished it. It was a pretty narrow chance. It caught around the funnel from the stove," he writes in one entry. 2 vols., quarter leather over marbled boards. 264 pp., total text in ink.

Wear commensurate with age.