Diaries

A.T. (Alvin Thompson) Smith was an early Oregon pioneer who participated in the formation of the government of the Oregon Territory, and who also helped to found Pacific University. This collection contains transcripts of his diary, written from 1840 to 1853.

This anonymous handwritten volume contains several texts, including a diary of a sea voyage from Boston to San Francisco in 1852, a description of an 1863 trip on the Columbia River, and miscellaneous handwritten recipes, notes and clippings.

James Gerrish was an Oregon pioneer of 1844, and a Methodist circuit preacher who worked in Oregon and Washington in the 1850s-1860s. His diaries, dated 1854-1863, record his daily life travelling and preaching to communities on the frontier.

Dr. G. Orlo Jefferson (1860-1949) was an optometrist in Portland Oregon, and also a trustee of Pacific University. He and his wife, Matilda J. Calhouns Jefferson (1859-1933) traveled extensively in the Western United States, the Middle East and Europe. The bulk of the collection is made up of photographs, diaries, and travel documents relating to the Jeffersons' journeys, which are particularly interesting for their documentation of early automobile travel.

Collection consists of the diary, and transcript copies, of John Lawrence Johnson, kept while crossing the plains from Missouri to Oregon in 1851.

Harry William Morrison was a trombone player in a military band during the First World War (91st Division, 166th Brigade, 348th Field Artillery Regiment, Band Section). This collection consists of diaries, writings, and a photograph album, mostly relating to his service in France and Germany between 1918-1919.

Collection consists of drawings and diaries (both originals and transcripts) and correspondence pertaining to Virgil K. Pringle, Pherne Brown Pringle, and various other family members.

James Knox Sears worked as a farmer in Polk County, Oregon from the 1860s-1929. His diaries contains short entries for each day of 1909, 1912, and 1913, with notes about his work and visits to friends and family. Personal correspondence, mortgages, contracts and other financial documents realated to Sears are also included in this collection.

Laduska Jane Walker Sears lived from 1857-1903 in Polk County, Oregon. Her diary and recipe book contains a short entry for nearly every day from January-August 1876, when she was about 19 years old, as well as recipes.

LeRoy and Reatha Smith were Pacific University graduates who were active in the field of education in Oregon and California. The collection includes correspondence, diaries, notes, educational records, photographs and other material.