mss0097_0081.xml Finding aid for Philadelphia weather diary1836 June 1–1842 July 31 University of Delaware Library, Special Collections University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Date encoded (2009 February 12) Finding aid encoded 2009 February 12 English Philadelphia weather diary1836 June 1–1842 July 31 Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Creator unknown.Philadelphia weather diary1836 June 1–1842 July 31 MSS 097, Item 081 1 v. (124 p.) ; 20 cm. This weather diary kept by an unknown resident of Phildelphia, Pennsylvania, contains daily entries, June 1, 1836, to July 31, 1842, recording the temperature and wind direction along with brief comments on the weather. There are monthly rain measurements for 1825 through 1842 recorded "as per gauge kept at the Pennsylvania Hospital" as well as newsclippings documenthing especially severe weather events. Materials entirely in English. University of Delaware Library - Special Collections Source

Purchased, 1964.

 Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

 Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

 Citation

MSS 097, Item 081, Philadelphia weather diary, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

 Shelving Summary Item 081: Shelved in SPEC MSS 097 Processing

Processed and encoded by Evan Echols, February 2009.

 Biographical Note

The unknown author of this diary lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the period 1836 to 1842 and made weather observations from a location in the vicinity of 4th and Market streets.

Biographical information dervived from the collection.

Scope and Content Note

This weather diary kept by an unknown resident of Phildelphia, Pennsylvania, contains daily entries, June 1, 1836, to July 31, 1842, recording the temperature and wind direction along with brief comments on the weather. There are monthly rain measurements for 1825 through 1842 recorded "as per gauge kept at the Pennsylvania Hospital" as well as newsclippings documenthing especially severe weather events.

The daily entries in the bound, 124-page diary are arranged in the form of a chart recording, from left to right, the month, day of the month, day of the week, temperature readings at 9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm, brief comments on the weather, and wind direction. After 1838, wind direction is recorded in its own column as opposed to being part of the weather commentary. After the entries end in 1842, there is a chart recording the rainfall in inches for each month of the years 1825 through 1842. The readings were obtained from the rain gauge kept at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The back of the book contains news clippings dating from January 28, 1839, pasted onto the pages and laid into the diary documenting a particularly violent and destructive storm . There is also an entry dated July 13, 1841, copied from a book kept by a Josiah Coates and describing a thunderstorm in which there were lightning strike fatalities.

 Selected Search Terms Topical Terms Weather--Observations--Philadelphia (Pa.)--19th century--Sources. Geographic Names Philadelphia (Pa.)--History--19th century--Sources. Form/Genre Terms Clippings (information artifacts)Weather diaries. Related Materials in this Repository

This item forms part of MSS 097 Diaries, Journals, and Ships' Logs collection.