Mary Emma Jocelyn diary, 1851-1852.

ReadAboutContentsHelp


  • UPenn Ms. Codex 1770
  • Born in New Haven, Connecticut to antebellum abolistionist, clergyman, and engraver Simeon Smith Jocelyn (1799-1879) and Harriet Starr (d. 1877). The Jocelyn family moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1844 where Simeon Smith Jocelyn was installed as the pastor of the First Congregational Church. Mary Emma was the fifth of eight children born to the Jocelyns. Her siblings are Harriette Luceannah (1823-), Simeon Starr (1825-), Albert Higley (1827-), Caroline Eliza (1830-1868), Nathaniel (1835-1852), Cornelius Buell (1838-1864), and Frederick Henry (1841-).
  • This volume contains the diary of Mary Emma Jocelyn spanning ten months from November 1851 to September 1852. The first entry in the diary was recorded on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1851. At the top of the page is written "Journal continued." Jocelyn made daily entries in her diary and recorded her life with her family and friends while living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. A brief note on the weather begins each entry. Jocelyn described her daily activities including sewing, reading, seeing family and friends, and distributing tracts. She attended church on Sundays chiefly at her father's church, the First Congregational Church, and singing class with her sisters Carrie (Caroline) and Harriet. She was often visiting or receiving friends including Mary Reeve and Hannah Hudson among others. Jocelyn attended lectures and events at the Lyceum in Brooklyn. She also visited her sister in Brooklyn and mentions ferrying over. The Jocelyn family and the Hudson family appeared to be close friends and the Jocelyn siblings spent much time with brothers George and Henry and their sister Hannah. Jocelyn wrote often of Henry Hudson and worried about his crisis of faith. Major events in the family are described throughout the ten-month period, including the joyous wedding of her sister Harriet to Douglas Murphy on June 30, 1852 and the death of her brother Nathaniel (Natty) in August 1852. Thirty pages in the diary were dedicated to Natty's illness and death. This lengthy entry is dated September 27, 1852 and describes the family's anguish and grief over Natty's passing. Other notable entries include her father Simeon's travels, her lengthy description of a dream, helping a young Irish immigrant, her interest in an essay by Edgar Allen Poe, and the celebration of the founding of Williamsburg in January 1852. The diary is in chronological order from November 27, 1851 through April 1, 1852. After April 1 the diary is arranged as follows: July 8 to August 8, 1852; 23 pages dated September 27, 1852; April 29 to June 8, 1852; April 3 to April 28, 1852; June 9 to July 5, 1852. Bound in at the end are seven pages continuing the September 27th entry. Laid in the volume is a printed flier for an exhibition and sale at Montague Hall, Brooklyn for "articles offered for sale at the Anti Slavery Fair" November 30, 1851 with notes on the verso by Mary Emma Jocelyn.
    Page TitleUser NotesActions
    p. 1No notesBlank Page
    p. 2No notesBlank Page
    p. 3No notesIndex
    p. 4No notesReview
    p. 5No notesIndex
    p. 6No notesBlank Page
    p. 7No notesCompleted
    p. 8No notesBlank Page
    p. 9No notesCompleted
    p. 10No notesReview
    p. 11No notesReview
    p. 12No notesTranscribe
    p. 13No notesTranscribe
    p. 14No notesTranscribe
    p. 15No notesTranscribe
    p. 16No notesTranscribe
    p. 17No notesTranscribe
    p. 18No notesTranscribe
    p. 19No notesTranscribe
    p. 20No notesTranscribe
    p. 21No notesTranscribe
    p. 22No notesBlank Page
    p. 23No notesTranscribe
    p. 24No notesTranscribe
    p. 25No notesTranscribe
    p. 26No notesReview
    p. 27No notesReview
    p. 28No notesReview
    p. 29No notesReview
    p. 30No notesReview
    p. 31No notesReview
    p. 32No notesTranscribe
    p. 33No notesReview
    p. 34No notesCompleted
    p. 35No notesIndex
    p. 36No notesIndex
    p. 37No notesIndex
    p. 38No notesReview
    p. 39No notesReview
    p. 40No notesIndex
    p. 41No notesReview
    p. 42No notesReview
    p. 43No notesReview
    p. 44No notesReview
    p. 45No notesReview
    p. 46No notesReview
    p. 47No notesIndex
    p. 48No notesTranscribe
    p. 49No notesIndex
    p. 501 noteIndex
    p. 51No notesIndex
    p. 52No notesIndex
    p. 53No notesIndex
    p. 54No notesIndex
    p. 55No notesIndex
    p. 56No notesIndex
    p. 57No notesTranscribe
    p. 58No notesIndex
    p. 59No notesIndex
    p. 60No notesIndex
    p. 61No notesIndex
    p. 62No notesReview
    p. 63No notesIndex
    p. 64No notesIndex
    p. 65No notesReview
    p. 66No notesIndex
    p. 67No notesIndex
    p. 68No notesIndex
    p. 69No notesIndex
    p. 70No notesIndex
    p. 71No notesReview
    p. 72No notesIndex
    p. 73No notesReview
    p. 74No notesReview
    p. 75No notesReview
    p. 76No notesReview
    p. 77No notesReview
    p. 78No notesReview
    p. 79No notesReview
    p. 80No notesTranscribe
    p. 81No notesTranscribe
    p. 82No notesTranscribe
    p. 83No notesTranscribe
    p. 84No notesIndex
    p. 85No notesIndex
    p. 86No notesIndex
    p. 87No notesBlank Page
    p. 88No notesIndex
    p. 89No notesIndex
    p. 90No notesIndex
    p. 91No notesIndex
    p. 92No notesIndex
    p. 93No notesIndex
    p. 94No notesIndex
    p. 95No notesIndex
    p. 96No notesIndex
    p. 97No notesIndex
    p. 98No notesIndex
    p. 99No notesIndex
    p. 100No notesIndex
    p. 101No notesIndex
    p. 102No notesIndex
    p. 103No notesIndex
    p. 104No notesIndex
    p. 105No notesIndex
    p. 106No notesIndex
    p. 107No notesIndex
    p. 108No notesIndex
    p. 109No notesIndex
    p. 110No notesIndex
    p. 111No notesIndex
    p. 112No notesIndex
    p. 113No notesReview
    p. 114No notesReview
    p. 115No notesReview
    p. 116No notesReview
    p. 117No notesReview
    p. 118No notesCompleted
    p. 119No notesReview
    p. 120No notesReview
    p. 121No notesReview
    p. 122No notesReview
    p. 123No notesCompleted
    p. 124No notesCompleted
    p. 125No notesReview
    p. 126No notesIndex
    p. 127No notesIndex
    p. 128No notesReview
    p. 129No notesCompleted
    p. 130No notesCompleted
    p. 131No notesTranscribe
    p. 132No notesIndex
    p. 133No notesIndex
    p. 134No notesBlank Page
    p. 135No notesBlank Page
    p. 136No notesCompleted
    p. 137No notesIndex
    p. 138No notesReview
    p. 139No notesIndex
    p. 140No notesReview
    p. 141No notesReview
    p. 142No notesTranscribe
    p. 143No notesReview
    p. 144No notesReview
    p. 145No notesReview
    p. 146No notesReview
    p. 147No notesReview
    p. 148No notesReview
    p. 149No notesReview
    p. 150No notesReview
    p. 151No notesReview
    p. 152No notesReview
    p. 153No notesReview
    p. 154No notesReview
    p. 155No notesReview
    p. 156No notesReview
    p. 157No notesReview
    p. 158No notesReview
    p. 159No notesReview
    p. 160No notesReview
    p. 161No notesReview
    p. 162No notesReview
    p. 163No notesReview
    p. 164No notesReview
    p. 165No notesReview
    p. 166No notesReview
    p. 167No notesReview
    p. 168No notesReview
    p. 169No notesReview
    p. 170No notesBlank Page
    p. 171No notesReview
    p. 172No notesReview
    p. 173No notesReview
    p. 174No notesReview
    p. 175No notesReview
    p. 176No notesCompleted
    p. 177No notesIndex
    p. 178No notesBlank Page
    p. 179No notesBlank Page
    p. 180No notesBlank Page
    p. 181No notesIndex
    p. 182No notesBlank Page