Manuscript Diary of Evan J. Crane, an Ohio Farmer & Merchant, 1856.

Adamsville, Ohio, Manuscript Diary for 1856 comprising entries by Evan J Crane as recorded in publisher Sheldon, Lamport & Blakeman's Daily Pocket Diary For 1856: For The Use Of Private Families And Persons Of Business. 24mo (6" x 4"), 122 unnumbered pages of entries in ink followed by 2 pages of "memoranda," 13 pages of "cash accounts," & 4 pages of brief sporadic account entries thereafter. Original limp black roan with fold-over flap

Binding rubbed, partially split & torn along the fold, entries often light without compromising legibility, otherwise Very Good

Evan Crane (1827 - 1894) taught school in the winters & farmed in the summers. In 1857, with wife Cassandra (nee Geyer), he moved to Sonora near Zanesville & operated a general merchandise business. As noted in Perrin's History of Morrow County and Ohio, Crane took a prominent part "in the slavery and temperance reforms … and his influence has always been on the side of right, the question with him being the way of duty, and when it is decided he unswervingly walks therein."

An unusually diligent diarist, his journal comprises daily entries for the entirety of 1856 providing collectively a unique record of life on the farm:

Wednesday, March 5"Mr James W Crane & I went to the school house & put up a black board & put runners on the sled in the forenoon & Cassa & I went to Sonora in the afternoon & I settled with Enos Jennings & paid (?) him $1695"