Call Number:

MC.975.01.084

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.04 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Elizabeth Webb diary (HC.MC.975.01.084), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1697-1699 (inclusive)

Creator:

Webb, Elizabeth

Form:

travel literature and Diaries

Abstract:

Diary of Elizabeth Webb's religious visit to the American Colonies. Diary entries describe Webb's voyage from England to Virginia, and her travels to Quaker meetings as far south as North Carolina and as far north as New Hampshire. Entries include references to places visited, especially meetings in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, as well as religious reflection and details about the difficulty of overland travel.

Elizabeth Webb (1663-1726) was born in 1663, in Wiltshire, England, and was originally baptized in the Church of England. She was convinced (converted to Quakerism) as a young woman and became an involved member of the Society of Friends in England. Webb married Richard Webb of Gloucester in 1689, and had at least nine children. Among those who survived were Joseph Webb, Mary Webb, Daniel Webb, and William Webb. Webb went on her first religious visit to the colonies in North America from 1697 to 1699, accompanied by her husband and another female minister, Mary Rogers. The family moved to Philadelphia in 1700. Webb's husband later bought a farm in Chester County. In 1710, Webb made another religious visit, this time to England.

This collection is composed of the single, typed copy of the transcript of Elizabeth Webb's diary, "A Short Account of my Viage into America with Mary Rogers my Companion" with an introduction by Frederick B. Tolles and John Beverly Riggs. The transcript and introduction are dated 1959.

The introduction provides some background about Elizabeth Webb's early life and her travels as a Quaker minister. The transcribed diary entries describe Webb's voyage from England to Virginia, and her travels to Quaker meetings as far south as North Carolina and as far north as New Hampshire. Entries include references to places visited, especially meetings in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, as well as religious reflection and details about the difficulty of overland travel.