Guide to the Cordelia H. Smith Diaries,
1835-1843.

Collection Number: 6067

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
S.L.
Date completed:
June 1979
EAD encoding:
Andrea Hektor, Aug. 2004

© 2003 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Cordelia H. Smith diaries, 1835-1843.
Collection Number:
6067
Creator:
Cordelia H., Smith 1815-1856.
Quantity:
1 reel microfilm.
Forms of Material:
Microfilm.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Diaries kept by a young woman while whe tried to earn her living by teaching school in Schuyler County, N.Y. and after she returned to live with her family include comments on daily activities, marriages, deaths and illnesses of friends, church attendance and revivals and opinions on current events.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Cordelia H. Smith was a spinster from Trumansburg, Schuyler County, New York. In 1835 and 1836 she tried teaching school but found it not to her liking. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses. See the accessions folder for the Smith family genealogy and a history of the church.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

These two diaries (1835, 1836-43) contain irregular accounts of Cordelia's daily activities and spiritual condition, of the marriages, deaths and illnesses of family members and friends, and of church attendance.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Smith, Cordelia H.,1815-1856.

Subjects:
Women's diaries.
Revivals--New York (State)--Schuyler County.

Places:
Schuyler County (N.Y.)--Religious life and customs.
Schuyler County (N.Y.)--Social life and customs.

Form and Genre Terms:
Diaries.
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
Cordelia H. Smith diaries, #6067. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
CONTAINER LIST

Description
Container
Vol. 1, 1835
6 p. transcript. Includes Cordelia's opinion of revivals and Catholicism, accounts of church activities, school teaching, and daily activities.
Vol. 2, 1836-1843
75 p. transcript. Entries document spiritual soul-searching, the deaths and marriages of friends and relatives, and daily activities. Revivals are reported on Dec. 1837 (pp. 28- 29) and Jan. 1838 in Peach Orchard (p. 35), March 1839 (pp. 37-38), Aug. 1839 (p. 4l) and Jan. 1843 (pp. 71-72). In Feb. 1839 Cordelia records her opinion of close (sic) communion and in Sept. 1840 of Missions (p. 52). She also records attending lectures on temperance and phrenology, and comments on books she has read.