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Samuel Preston Journal

The Preston journal is a single volume of 42 leaves, containing 80 pages of manuscript. It includes two separate travel narratives, authored by individuals acting as debt-collecting agents for the Philadelphia merchant and landowner John Field. The first and more substantial of the narratives is titled "Minutes of a Journey to the Westward for John Field" (1r); it was written by Samuel Preston during a 19-day trip on horseback through Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, 11 February to 1 March 1788. Preston's journey took him from Philadelphia west to Lancaster, Middletown, Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Chambersburg in Pennsylvania; across "Mason and Dixon's Line" to Hagerstown and Williamsport in Maryland; over the Potomac to Martinsburg and Winchester in Virginia; and back to Philadelphia via Frederick, York, and Lancaster. Preston's journal runs to some 7500 words, with entries for each day of the trip. The narrative recounts his immediate business—i.e., seeking to resolve debts held by Field, ideally by collecting money from the debtors—but it also contains extended and engaging descriptions of the land, settlements, and commerce of the regions visited. Some of these settlements "beyond Susquehanna" were at this time adjacent to the backcountry, "and commanded the general run of the frontier Trade" (23r). The volume also contains a second, abbreviated journal by an anonymous writer, also a debt-collection agent for Field; this contains entries from 24 to 28 June 1788, and sees its author as far as Carlisle. Accompanying the volume is a certificate validating Preston's appointment to the judiciary of the Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas (1790).

Preston was, by all contemporaneous accounts, a voluble character, and his narrative is informed by opinion, digression, and not a little humor. The anonymous writer who took over his journal felt barely up to the task: "Influenced, in some measure (I confess myself) by the Example of that truly and literally great and exalted Genius S. Preston whose journal is contained on the preceding Pages and who has lately gone before me on the same Road and on a similar Occasion. I now begin an account of my Transactions on the present Journey—tho' without expecting to find Matter for so many learned and so many witty Observations as are contained in the preceding Work. . . ." (30v). For his own part, Preston concludes his narrative with the observation that he completed his trip ". . .in 19 days and spent in the whole Journey 9=4=6 considering the inclemency of the Season. . .few People would have went through the same fatigue in much less time and if this Journal is not wrote in a plain hand it was wrote altogether on my knee and not as difficult to read as many things I did." (28v).

Metadata

Creator
Preston, Samuel, 1756-1834
Date
1788
Material Type
Mixed Materials
Genre/Physical Characteristic
Journals (accounts)
Dimensions
1 volume and 1 flat storage folder
Language
English
Identifier
/repositories/3/resources/1493
Campus Location
Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection
Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user

Subject
United States -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
Pennsylvania -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
Maryland -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
Virginia -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
United States -- History -- Sources
Link to Finding Aid
https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/repositories/3/resources/1493
This digital collection may not include all items or all of the information available about the source collection. See the finding aid for more information.
Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries at rarebook@nd.edu.

Dataset not complete. — This content may be only partially digitized.

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