William H. Bristol's Childhood Diary, 1876

I am attaching a copy of William H. Bristol’s leather-bound diary from 1876 (see link below), along with some photographs. Uncle Will kept this “centennial diary” when he was 17 years old and was living in Naugatuck. I only made copies of the pages in the diary that had entries.

 

Diary:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/159022574/WHB-Diary-1876

 

Some random observations:

a.  He probably received this diary as a Christmas present, as “December 25, 1875” is written inside the front cover.
 

b.  He practices writing his signature in several places using his quill pen.

c.  He uses some colored decals on many of the pages which he apparently purchased for 25 cents on January 10.

d.  The pages with the first four days of the year have unfortunately been ripped out, and some of the following pages appear to have been ripped during that process.

e.  As you would expect for someone his age, he seems to gradually lose interest in keeping notes as the year goes on.

f.  He and his cousin go to "Barnum’s Circus" on May 11.

g.  He does not include an entry on his 18th birthday, July 5.

h.  On September 10, he travels to New York and keeps careful track of his expenses.

i.  During the summer months, he and his brother Frank (FB the first) work for “Platt Bros. and Co.” and “Bristol Bros. and Co.” which may have been a precursor to the Bristol Company (?) which started around 1889.