Jeduthan Baldwin Diary Finding Aid

The Swain Report, Number Three

We recently acquired the Jeduthan Baldwin Diary from the Massachusetts Historical Society. What follows is David Swain's excellent and intriguing report of what he discovered in the diary. David describes the three main sections of the diary and lets us in on some of the juiciest nuggets he discovered.


Reading David's report, I was struck by two things. First, Baldwin’s diary truly captures the era of the Revolution, beginning with the Seven Years War and ending in the midst of ratification. Although many works of history begin or end with 1776, Baldwin's life shows how for many the era of the Revolution was a period of continuity. What Baldwin's diary tells us about this era is something for researchers to answer.


The second observation comes at the end of David's detailed and fascinating report. David mentions a portion of the diary that includes records relating to Shays' Rebellion and notes that while portions of Baldwin's Diary have been published, this part has not. I did a quick search of Google Books and found that few books have cited this manuscript copy. What new insight on Shays' Rebellion might this collection hold?


Patrick Spero

Jeduthan Baldwin Diaries

by David Swain

Biographical Information

Jeduthan Baldwin (1732-1788) was born in Woburn, MA. He lived most of his life in North Brookfield, a small town in a still rural area NW of Worcester. He apparently learned the construction trades and mechanical engineering early in life because he served in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War as an engineer, designing and supervising (and probably doing) the construction of fortifications, buildings, bridges, and the like for American colonial and then US national military efforts. His rank during the French and Indian War was Captain. By late in the Revolutionary War, he had risen to the level of Colonel.

Revere Family Papers Finding Aid

The Swain Report, Number Two

In his second installment, David Swain, the David Library's volunteer researcher, describes a couple of interesting items he discovered in the Revere Family Papers. For those interested in Paul Revere or in the military action in Rhode Island, it might hold a few gems.


Patrick Spero

Paul Revere Family Papers

by David Swain

Biographical information

Paul Revere (1734-1818) lived his entire life in Boston, becoming a wealthy and prominent silversmith. His niche in history has been assured by the endurance of the tradition about the role he played as messenger of the Lexington-Concord patriot victories. The papers discussed here focus more on Revere and his family’s business in metalworking.

The John Rowe Diary Finding Aid

The Swain Report, Number One

David Swain is our volunteer resident researcher. On the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, we will feature some of the items David has found in our archives. In his first entry for the blog, David writes about the recently purchased Diary of John Rowe. Rowe lived in Boston, where he earned a living as a merchant and sometime smuggler like John Hancock. Rowe kept a detailed and meticulous diary from the revolutionary era, which the David Library just purchased on microfilm from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Rowe was active politically and socially in Boston. He was a Freemason, served on numerous town committees, and regularly socialized with people like Samuel Adams and George Washington. As you will see, Rowe's diary can provide a wonderful window into the world of revolutionary Boston.

Patrick Spero


John Rowe Papers (diary)

by David Swain

Biographical information

John Rowe (1715-1787) was born in Exeter, England and came to Massachusetts Bay colony as a boy with his brothers. He settled in Boston and lived there for the rest of his life. He became a prominent merchant whose primary interests in life revolved around his private business activities and related socializing (especially through active membership in Freemasonry starting in 1740).

Introducing the Swain Report Finding Aids

Over the course of July 2010, David Swain, our volunteer researcher, re-edited his finding aid reports and provided the following introduction, which I have ante-dated for new users. We owe David a great debt of gratitude for his tireless work, which promises to make life much easier for future users of our microfilm collection. To see all of the Swain Reports at once, click on the link under "Topics" in the menu sidebar.



Will Tatum

The Swain Reports

The purpose: To highlight new microfilm acquisitions by the David Library of the American Revolution and to provide summary information about each to guide researchers seeking manuscript documents about particular people, events, or topics within the Library’s area of historical interest—the American Revolutionary period from about 1750 to about 1800.

2009-- A Year in Review

Edited by Patrick Spero, Past Historian at the David Library


What's new at the David Library? A lot. Over the course of the past year, the David Library acquired a number of new collections that we hope will be of great interest to our patrons.

Understanding Rev War Pension Applications

Patron's Perspective

Sue Winter and Bill Schleicher, two longtime patrons of the David Library, recently shared some of their insight into searching the Revolutionary War pension records we have here. The Pension Records are one of the richest resources we have - and that is saying a lot since we have over 700 collections and 10,000 reels of microfilm. The Pension Records contain data on every soldier who filed a pension with the federal government. Many include narratives of their time in the war. Previously, Kimberly Hess shared the fascinating story of Elizabeth Poole, which she had found in the records.

Patrick Spero

It pays to cast your nets widely in the Revolutionary War pension files.
Happy is the family historian who finds an ancestor's pension file record. But even if your ancestor never applied for a pension, you may not be completely out of luck. And, if you're fortunate enough to have found a pension file, there may still be more to discover.

Reviewing "The Way of Improvement Leads Home"

Patron's Perspective

Last summer, Maria Fisher came to hear former David Library fellow John Fea talk about his book, The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Fithian Vickers and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America. Maria just finished reading the book and wanted to share her perspective with others.

Patrick Spero

Last summer there was a lecture at the David Library featuring John Fea and his book, "The Way of Improvement Leads Home." It was not as well attended as some of the other lectures maybe because it was held in July. I just wanted to recommend this book for those who may have missed out. It's about Philip Vickers Fithian's life and rural enlightenment in Early America. One gets the sense of how radical and important the changes were in that period of history through the life and mind of an ordinary man. In addition, it's a beautiful story. It comes at a perfect time as many Americans seem to be losing touch with what makes us uniquely American.

Maria Fisher

Have something you want to share, such as a question, research find, or a personal story about the Library? Email Will Tatum at tatum@dlar.org