Guide to the John R. Wright diaries ARC Mss 103

Title: John R. Wright diaries

Identifier/Call Number: ARC Mss 103

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections

Physical Description: 0.42 Linear Feet (1 document box)

Creator: Wright, John R., 1830-1915

Date (inclusive): 1850 - 1869

Abstract: This collection of 8 diaries shows the daily life of 19th century farmer and Spiritualist, John R. Wright, in the 1850s and 60s.

Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library

Container: 1

Adapted from the dealer's description:

This collection contains 8 manuscript diaries handwritten by John R. Wright (circa 1830-1880) a farmer and laborer in Westfield, Chatauqua County, New York. Westfield is in the section of western New York State popularly known as the "Burnt Over District." It is also a dozen miles from Lily Dale, the birthplace of the modern Spiritualist movement. These diaries indicate that the Wrights might have been one of the many families caught up in the religious fervor sweeping the area. The diaries notes attendance on several occasions at Spiritualist meetings. Our diarist, John R. Wright, and his father James, were two of about twenty-five people from Westfield that signed a petition in 1854 for the Spiritualist Newspaper, asking Congress to appoint a "Scientific Commission to investigate certain physical and mental phenomena of questionable origin and mysterious import that have of late occurred in this country and in Europe." While the diaries for the most part deal with the everyday mundanities of rural life, beginning in Wright's school days into his work as a farmer, there is the backdrop of the spiritualist movement like a thread through the entries. The first diary, from 1850, is your typical lined notebook, but the 1854, 1855, 1859, 1860, 1866, 1867, and 1869 diaries are laid out like calendar diaries, with each day filled in with a short entry about his day instead of appointments, etc.

Some notable entries include:

• February 22, 1850: "Wrote letter to Chip, studyed a little went to Universalist meeting..."
• Wednesday June 14, 1854: "Planted potatoes all day Pa [droped] for me in the PM then he went off to Spiritual meeting"
• February 17, 1867: "Went up to J Dibbles + over to Portage Road meeting in the evening with Jim". Jim Dibble and this Portage Road meeting are mentioned throughout the 60s diaries, including several successive entries before and after February 17, 1867.

The collection is open for research.

Library purchase, 2022.

The American Spiritualist movement was at its height during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and believed that a person's spirit or spiritual awareness persists after they die. They also believed those spirits to be further evolved than humans, so frequently attempted to contact the dead. These "spirit guides" offered Spiritualists moral clarity and insight into the machinations of God. Many practitioners were also proponents of contemporary social and political causes including the abolition of slavery and women's right to vote.

[Identification of Item], John R. Wright diaries, ARC Mss 103. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.