In this episode, Alexander is going to sea! Fifteen years following the "Fenwick Escapade" his boyhood wish is becoming a reality. His medical training and time at school has finished. You will hear about his last days in training, the wonderful send off he was given, and his beautifully written thoughts regarding Nurse McGee. He transitions to life aboard a ship as the only medical authority on board and the immense responsibility he felt. All activities at sea are new to him so he writes about most of it giving us a great idea of what a voyage in 1888 would be like. He fills the pages with descriptions of patients, crew members, passengers, and shipboard duties. All written wonderfully by this young man of 26.

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In this episode, Alexander is writing down the current events in his life as a student at the University of Glasgow. He has a rich social life with many entries describing events at a country estate named Geilsland. He writes of his friendships with men but it is the women in his life that consume many pages of his diary. He has some strong opinions regarding women and as a young man, he is pondering, reasoning, and refining his thoughts. It is wonderful writing especially from a man not yet twenty years old. One of our favorite entries you will hear is an amazing train of thought where Alexander considers his own future and reasons out his place in the world.

Music in this episode courtesy of: Pixabay 

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Alexander Watson Dunlop began writing his diary in 1881. He was studying to become a physician at the University of Glasgow but before writing the current events of his life, he recalls a story of adventure from his boyhood that he entitled "The Fenwick Escapade". (Imagine two Scottish eleven year old boys as the cast of the movie "Stand By Me" and you will get a glimpse into this story)
His writing is introspective, descriptive, and very well done, making it interesting reading. We have enjoyed this diary from its initial pages and hope you will too.

Music in this episode: "The Sea is Calling" by Musictown. Courtesy of Pixabay.

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This episode originates with a diary written in by three individuals and because they did, Sally was able to discover a wonderful story--The House of Seven Gables.
This house in West Plains, Missouri, has a long history of occupants and use, including the birth of 167 babies! One family left most of the furniture, and over 600 books to the next occupants of the home and among the books, was this diary. 
The current occupants bought the dilapidated, nearly condemned, structure and lovingly restored it to beauty and function. 
We ask this question: Would you ever write in someone else's diary? Fortunately for us, these people did and we can now enjoy this story.

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This episode is from the oldest diary in Sally's collection. You will hear the story of a gifted, influential woman, Margaret Middleton, who behind the scenes, was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery in England. The diary was written by her husband Charles Middleton, who used his influence and friendships for the anti slavery cause but sadly lost his dear wife, the love of his life, in 1792. He grieves for her and writes of his loss and emotions and his prayers to God to "shorten my sorrow". He was a man of great faith as was his wife. Together with other men and women of faith, they formed a group known as "The Testonites". Their main concern was the abolishment of slavery. With amazing grace and many years of effort, they were victorious.

Music heard in this episode credited to: PIXABAY.   

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Two classic pin-up calendar pages with a hand written message on them are what Sally started with for this story. In this episode, we discuss a bit of pin-up art history and then get into the writing on the pages. Five sailors on the U.S.S. Mission Bay signed this "last will" and we'll tell you what we found out about these men. As most WW II Veterans have passed away, and Memorial Day was just weeks ago, we felt this was a form of remembrance --with a bit of a twist.

Music in this episode:  Cattle Call - Eddy Arnold.  From: Internet Archive.

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In this episode we read and discuss the letters between Charles and Dorothy as they start their life together in 1920 -1921. He has recently been divorced in the very public "Girl In Every Town" divorce case  and Dorothy,  21 years his junior, is challenged early on by his absence and her new domestic situation.  100 letters were written between them in the course of a year. In this collection, 5 of the letters were unopened. More than half are on hotel stationary so we can track his whereabouts as he is travelling for business.  You will hear the story of their relationship as they navigate rumors, family matters, questionable judgement, and loneliness while apart from each other. We also discuss a Hollywood scandal and some fantastic performances at a state fair, and we open one of the letters-- sealed since 1921.

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An antique tin containing 100 letters along with a 1919 newspaper article was the starting point for this episode. The article  titled "Girl In Every Town" described a divorce case in which 17 letters from various women the husband allegedly had relationships with, were introduced as evidence.  As Sally dug deeper, and as usually is the case, the story was so much more! We take you back to the 1840's, Nashville, Tennessee, to discover how it all began.

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In 1903, Mary Louise Edgar traveled from her home in Wisconsin to visit Scotland. She wrote very detailed and descriptive entries in over 200 pages of her diary. In this episode we share some of Sally's research methods to take you through the process of discovery for this diary given to her while in Oregon. The diary was written by an unknown author (no name in the diary), and has a tragic connection to a young man who went on to become one of America's most well known architects. 

Bagpipe music heard in this episode from: www.freesoundslibrary.com

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Union soldier Gillis J. McBane is captured and taken prisoner during the brutally fought battle at Stones River in Tennessee.

We will take you to the battlefield and follow his ordeal as he is moved to the notorious Castle Thunder confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia.

Forced marches, sleepless nights, starvation, rail car trips in livestock cars, cold weather with little clothing, and all of which occurs before reaching the hell hole of Castle Thunder.

Gillis maintained a diary and wrote it all down and showed remarkable resilience throughout his captivity.

We would like to thank William Griffing and Dan Masters for their historical knowledge and help with this episode. A special thank you to Scott R Mckinley for his wonderful narration as the voice of Gillis McBane. 

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Please go to: https://diarydiscoveries.com to see episode photos and read our blog. Thank You.