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I can honestly say that these diaries are some of the most historical and profusely written in diaries that Iâe(tm)ve owned. T are 4 of them and all were written by William Lamb whom I believe lived in or around Boston Massachusetts and they date from 1836, 1839, 1840 and 1841. I also believe he worked at or had a great interest in The House of Industry, which was a poor house t in Boston. I found on the web a brief description the place, and I quoteâe¦..

"The House of Industry was a poorhouse in South Boston, Massachusetts, that was affiliated with the House of Redemption. During the years that these accounts were kept (from 1839 to 1846), Thomas Seward was the superintendent. The house had a hospital and a school and took in men, women, and children from towns in Massachusetts. The organization fed, clothed, nursed, and schooled the occupants and in some cases helped them move to other parts of the country. Their board was often paid by the town from which they came, but they also earned their keep by producing palm-leaf hats, working in the garden and, at times, laboring outside of the house. The house also acquired income by selling produce from the garden and raising silkworms."

I wish the following map was bigger and perhaps you could find one but this is a map of South Boston and it shows a cluster of four buildings; The House of Industry, House of Correction, House of Instruction and Lunatic Asylum.

/blogs/us/1855_20map_20Boston_20detail_201_small.jpg

The diaries are actually almanacs; one being the New York Farmerâe(tm)s Almanac and the other three are Spoffordâe(tm)s Yankee Farmerâe(tm)s Almanacs.

As I stated above, William wrote on every available space and his writing was also very small and very beautiful and tfor the amount of information you receive is incredible. Especially, the historical information!! He wrote about the presidents, the famous ships and their cargo coming into the harbor, ship wrecks, 4 th of July celebrations, small pox, political news, deaths, his work place, and so much more. He also didnâe(tm)t write every day, just the days that he deemed important. T are two pages for every month and heâe(tm)s also written all over the front and back covers on each side. Heâe(tm)s got notes on the printed pages too. They are truly amazing, as you will see in the following excerptsâe¦.

1836

(Front Cover)

"August 24 th ,

Sailed this day at noon the U.S. Brig of war, Porpoise. Corp. Leut. Ramsey, Commodore Moolsely goes over in her for the purpose of examining different sites in the southern state and Florida for navel depots."

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/porpois2.htm

"September 13 th ,

Died this day on Staten Island, Aaron Burr ex-vise President of the U.S. in his 81 st year of age."

(Inside the 1836 Almanac/Diary)

"January 11 th ,

This evening is the first opening of the Lion Theater. It was a full house. They have 40 horses in the company."

"February 15 th ,

This day the masonâe(tm)s finished building the 2 ovens in the old hall of the House of Industry and the women moved into the new warehouse to commence their washing for the first time. The officers of the establishment for the time being are as follows; Artimas Simondâe(tm)s Esq., Superintendent Capt. Thomas Seward, Assistant Sanborn Farmer, Miss Conn overseer of the kitchenâe¦âe¦." (He does list the rest)

"March 2 nd ,

Great celebration at Charlestown on account of the freedom of Warren Bridge by the legislature of Massachusetts. Warren Bridge was incorporated March 12 th , 1828 being now eight years. Since out of the time the state has had the control of it for 3 years since March 2 nd , 1833. The people of Charlestown and the neighborhood had great rejoicing on the account of firing of cannon and public dinner on the occasion for 2 days."

/wiki/Charles_River_Bridge_v._Warren_Bridge

"March...

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