| Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Previous | Next |
The original manuscript, from which the Journal is printed, covers forty pages of linen laid paper in size six inches wide by seven and a half inches long. It is bound in heavy marbled paper, now much worn with age, and except for the first page, which in parts is faded and time-stained, the writing is well preserved. Considering that one and a quarter centuries have elapsed since the entries were made, the little book is in very good condition. The handwriting, as may be seen by the photographic reproductions, is legible and characteristic. The Journal is now for the first time printed in its entirety.
The errors made in spelling and composition may be overlooked in a girl of Sally's age; they were failings common to the time and only add to the quaintness of the Journal. On the whole it must be admitted that it is a remarkable production for a girl of sixteen.
The manuscript is now in possession of our author's nephew, Mr. Charles J. Wister, of Germantown, to whom I am under obligations for many courtesies; he has not only given me access to the Journal and other treasured family papers and relies, but has in every way possible furthered my undertaking. He has examined the proofs of the work and approved its publication.
I also desire to express my thanks to the many other persons who have assisted me in various ways; especially would I mention John W. Jordan, Ph.D., and the other officials of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Maryland Historical Society and its courteous Librarian, Mr. George W. McCreary; the Episcopal Library of Baltimore; Mr. Hugh A. Morrison, Jr., of the Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.; Mr. Thomas E. Nimmo, of the State Library, Richmond, Virginia; the New York Historical Society and its Librarian, Mr. Robert H. Kelby; Mr. Albert C. Bates, Librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford; Mr. Bunford Samuels, of the Ridgway Branch of the Philadelphia Library Company; Miss Cordelia Jackson, of Georgetown, D. C.; Mr. Gustavus Truman Brown and Mrs. Vernon Dorsey, of Washington, D. C.; Mr. Kirk Brown, and Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddert Bowie, of Baltimore; Mr. Emerson Collins, of Williamsport, Pa.; the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond; and Mr. Nathan F. Carter, Librarian of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.
My thanks are also due to Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, Mr. Henry Pemberton, Mr. William Brooke Rawle, Mr. Francis Rawle, Hon. Boles Penrose, Miss Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, Mr. Samuel Troth, Mrs. John T. Lewis, and Mr. Thomas D. Bolger, of Philadelphia; to Mr. Albanus C. Logan, Miss Maria Dickinson Logan, Mr. James Emlen, and Miss Sarah M. Whitesides, of Germantown; to Mrs. William Truman Stoddert, of Winchester, Virginia; to Mr. William H. Richardson, of Jersey City, N. J.; to Mr. W. Gordon Smythe, of West Conshohocken, Pa.; to Mr. Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, Pa.; to Mrs. Priscilla Walker Streets, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; to Mr. Walter J. Mitchell, of La Plata, Charles County, Md.; to Mr. F. Potts Green, of Bellefonte, Pa.; to Miss Susan Miles, of Milesburg, Pa.; and to Mr. and Mrs. J. Albert Caldwell, the present occupants of the Foulke Mansion at Penllyn, Pa.
I have indicated my principal sources of information in the footnotes, but I am especially indebted for considerable data to Howard M. Jenkins's excellent work, "Historical Collections of Gwynedd," and to Francis B. Heitman's "Historical Register of the Revolution."
ALBERT COOK MYERS.
Philadelphia, December 12, 1902.
