(CONNECTICUT) [Hartshorn Sheldon S] Diary of a West Haven ex

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Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400

(CONNECTICUT.) [Hartshorn, Sheldon S.] Diary of a West Haven expressman--and amateur detective. [133] manuscript diary pages plus [17] memoranda pages. 12mo, original cloth, moderate wear; two memoranda leaves torn out, otherwise minimal wear to contents, handwriting somewhat difficult. Vp, 1 January 1859 to 1 January 1860

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Sheldon Smith Hartshorn (1813-1866) made his living with his horse-drawn wagon, hauling goods and passengers into New Haven several times a day. Oysters, cheese, Irish servant girls--whatever needed to get from the country to the city was his domain. The diary begins with his wagon being seized temporarily by a creditor on 1 January, and then on 3 April he "ordered a omnibus carage at Lee's factory. He is to take my wagon in part pay." Hartshorn also did a little oystering, attending town meetings on oyster bed allocation on 19 February and 4 March. He did not sign his name in this volume, but a mention of his daughter Cornelia's birthday on 17 March, combined with census and grave records, was enough to settle his identity.
Hartshorne was active in his community during his off hours, in the West Haven Congregational Church (25 April) and in local politics (2 January, 1 April), despite what appears to be a very limited education, to judge by his phonetic spelling--he celebrated "Crismus" on 25 December. On 8 April, he encountered a former Waterbury mayor (and future Congressman): "Saw Julius Hotchkiss coming toward home, pretty well drunk."
On 27 August 1859, his church burned down. In addition to helping at the fair to raise money for a new church, he went around town collecting the accounts of various witnesses, recorded in the rear of this diary. He uncovered some suspicious behavior: one a saw a man "under a tree with a gun on his shoulder, he said 'It burns well, what is it?' They told him it is a meeting house. . . . They thought it was Billings. He was a very short man." Another witness "saw a man with a gun on his back, took him to be Billings. He talked like a French man at first but wen he neard he talked good English."