Black, Fred A.

Diary chronicling daily life and maritime work, 1877-1878 by Fred A Black ( )
in English and held by 1 library worldwide
Manuscript diary kept by Fred A. Black, a young steamship crewman, of Sandy Point, Maine. Short daily entries in pencil complete a partially printed 1877 Standard Diary, describing employ on various named steamers carrying freight and passengers between Boston, Rockland, Northport, Belfast, Searsport, Bucksport, and Bangor. Ships that Black sailed with include the S.S. Cambridge, Katahdin, City of Richmond, and Falmouth. Entries also record Black's social activities in Sandy Point with local friends, noting sleighing parties, clam bakes, socials, and singing school, and his encounters with young women. Black kept his diary through January of 1878 despite the end of preprinted headings. Several pages are filled with Black's practice of penmanship, and with the copying of young women's names.