Call Number:

MC.975.01.091

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.04 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

John S. Whitall diary (HC.MC.975.01.091), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1785

Creator:

Whitall, John Siddons

Form:

travel literature and Diaries

Abstract:

Whitall kept this diary for his sister, to whom he addresses the majority of his entries. Entries include quotes from scripture, Quaker sermons, and poetry, as well as descriptions of his voyage from New York to France by sea. During his time in France, entries describe Whitall's travels to Nantes and Bordeaux, as well as visits with Friends in France.

John Siddons Whitall (1757-1843) was born to Quaker parents on May 31, 1757, in Woodbury, New Jersey, the son of James and Anna Whitall. In 1783, he married Sarah Mickle and the couple had ten children: Elizabeth Estaugh Whitall (1789), Ann Cooper Whitall (1791), Caroline Whitall (1793), Israel Franklin Whitall (1795), Hannah Mickle Whitall (1797-1848), James Whitall (1799), John Mickle Whitall (1800), Sarah Whitall (1803), Caroline Whitall (1806), and Elizabeth Whitall (1806). John Whitall died on December 19, 1843 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of 86.

This collection is comprised of the single handwritten diary of John S. Whitall's diary of his voyage from New York to France in 1785. Whitall kept the diary for his sister, to whom he addresses the majority of his entries. Entries include quotes from scripture, Quaker sermons, and poetry, as well as descriptions of the voyage by sea, notably the ship's celebration of Saint Louis. During his time in France, entries describe Whitall's travels to Nantes and Bordeaux, as well as visits with Friends in France. Throughout his diary, Whitall repeatedly describes how he is routinely mistaken for an Irish priest, an Englishman, a Dutchman, and even a ship Captain.