Newberry Library - Diaries Morton, Ill., 1830-1886

Diaries Morton, Ill., 1830-1886

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Open book John Montgomery Roberts diary, 1848-1858

Title Diaries Morton, Ill., 1830-1886

Creator Roberts, John Montgomery, 1807-1886

Date 1830-1886

Place Illinois, Illinois--Morton, Illinois--Tazewell County, Louisiana--New Orleans, United States

Language English

Subjects Farm life, Frontier and pioneer life, Land settlement, Lithography, Pioneers

Description Forms part of the Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection (Newberry Library)
Formerly known as Ayer MS 768a.
For more information, consult the Special Collections Info. File.

Summary The diaries of John M. Roberts primarily focus on his family's daily farm life in Tazewell County. The Roberts's family left their New York home in the summer of 1831 and travelled to Illinois by horse and wagon settling in Pleasant Grove Prairie. The diaries contain much information on the following topics: routine farm activities, farming expenses and proberty valuations, illnesses and medicinal cures, family births and deaths, local events, and weather conditions. Prior to settlement in Illinois, Roberts was engaged as an apprentice to a lithographic firm in New York City. In the first two volumes he describes the technical aspects of making lithographic plates as well as an earlier trip he made in 1830 to St. Louis and Illinois returning home via New Orleans. The collection of diaries also includes his first wife's (Mary W. Burhans) account of their trip to Morton in 1831 and his second wife's (Ann Waters) account of a trip to New England she made in 1859. A few volumes contain miscellaneous sketches of Robert's home and towns he visited in Illinois.

Biographical/Historical Note Born and raised in eastern New York state, John M. Roberts (1807-1886) emigrated with his family and young wife to Tazewell County, Ill. in the summer of 1831. One of the first settlers in Morton Township, Roberts acquired 360 acres of land and remained engaged in farming for more than fifty years. He also held several offices in the township including town clerk, 1860-1879.

Extent 7 items (7 v.) : ill. ; 20 x 9 cm or smaller.

Format Diaries, Sketches, Travel literature

User-Contributed Transcription 18481858

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Edward E. Ayer Collection, Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number Ayer MS 3157

BibID 132872

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

Rights Information No Copyright - United States

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 1021px × 2306px 6.77 MB

File Created 06/14/2023

Filename 991328728805867_Ayer_MS_3157_fol_005_00001.tif

Unique Identifier NL11ZG0I

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