Sarah Earle Chase diary for 1865

Sarah Earle Chase started this diary on April 9, 1865 at Richmond, Virginia. Her entries are scattered throughout an account book used by R.H. Dickinson & Brother, a slave trading firm in Virginia, between 1855 and 1858. It is not always clear in which order Sarah Chase wrote her diary entries.

Selected Sarah Earle Chase letters written between 1861 and 1913 are also available digitally.

About Sarah Earle Chase
Sarah Earle Chase (1836-1915) and her sister Lucy Chase were teachers in the South (beginning in January 1863 in Virginia) and described their experiences and observations in letters home. Sarah, who was in poor health, stopped teaching in 1866. After teaching, the sisters traveled in Europe, writing home letters and keeping fragmented journals. Sarah returned to Worcester, Massachusetts, where she died in 1915.

An 1862 family album of carte-de-visite photographs provides additional visual context.

Transcription

Digital Copy

View the entirety of the diary

Publication / Creation Year
1865