1858 HANDWRITTEN ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL AND DIARY OF A WELL KNOWN PHILLIPSBURG NEW JERSEY MAN WHO WILL SOON BE A SERGEANT IN THE CIVIL WAR

On offer is an interesting pre Civil War handwritten relic of New Jersey Americana being the original 1858 manuscript journal and diary of Elias D. Smith of Phillipsburg, New Jersey who would go on to serve as a Quarter Master Sergeant in the 14th New Jersey Volunteers during the Civil War. In a sporadic manner, many days he wrote a full page about what he did and how he felt and about the people, places and events of the day. He would also expound on some point of politics or a moment in history and its affect on America or the State. Historians and researchers concerned with the politics of religion, American sentiment about their old Colonial masters, the British and commerce and trade, the social scene, the arts, and the era in general will find a wealth of opinion and observation by Mr. Smith who begins with a flourish: "Sacred To The Memory of By-gone Days" he writes, then dating the commencement at 1858. This is a large 10½ x 8¼ inch page-a-day journal and while Elias is sporadic in entries - he writes almost daily from January 3rd (the first page has been excised) through March 15th but none until September 22nd and then off and on until the 1st of December - he writes densely filling most pages entirely. Here's a snippet: "Mrs. Harris and Phebe on Tract Society business & I do wonder how she ever made up her mind to come out in such a rain as she did to come here. While she and Mother and Mat were busy with their tracts Phebe, Martha Hill, Walter and I played Monkey cards and Masqueraders and such like. We also had some singing - tip-top of course - and so we fooled around the evening. I say fooled because it certainly seemed a waste of time and yet I could think of nothing else to entertain the company." The cover is coming loose but the interior is otherwise VG. ; Manuscript; 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall; WARREN COUNTY, P'BURG, PHILLIPSBURG, NEW JERSEY, POLITICS OF RELIGION, GENEALOGY, PRE CIVIL WAR, 14TH NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS, ABOLITIONIST, ANTI SLAVERY, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, AMERICANA, Archive, Lot, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito, Papel,