Joshua
Hempstead
Born:
New London; September 1, 1678
Died: New London;
December 22, 1758
Entry
by Bruce P. Stark
Joshua
Hempstead was a diarist who spent his entire life in New London.
He began keeping a diary on September 8, 1711, and faithfully
continued it until November 3, 1758, just a month and a half before
his death. The diary, the only one of its kind in Connecticut,
fills over 700 tightly-packed, printed pages and provides a detailed
picture of the life of Hempstead, his family, neighbors, and acquaintances.
It also includes a great deal of information about events in New
London and eastern Connecticut.
Hempstead
was a farmer, surveyor, carpenter, gravestone carver, trader,
petty attorney, and public official. During his long, active
life
he served as selectman, deputy to the General Assembly, justice
of the peace, and militia officer. Most importantly, however,
he was a keen observer and recorder of events in the lives
of
hundreds of inhabitants in the New London area. Readers of the
diary can follow Joshua Hempstead's life day by day for more
than
forty years. The first entry tells of his carpentry work on a
vessel being constructed in New London and the last one records
the sufferings of a dying man. "I keep house Still. Exceeding
Sore in my Bowels where the pain was last week. There is difficulty."
At the death of his wife on August 5, 1716, he states simply:
"my Dear Wife Died about half an hour before Sunrise. I
was at home al day except in the Evening I went to ye burying
place."
Events
of great and small importance are recorded, as are the births,
marriages, illnesses, and deaths of neighbors. The pageantry of
the funeral of Governor Saltonstall is described on September
22, 1724; the life and death of the New London Society United
for Trade and Commerce are outlined in a series of entries between
August 16, 1732, and June 5, 1735; significant colonial elections
such as those in 1733 and 1740 are discussed; and the excesses
of the Rogerenes and ardent supporters of the Great Awakening
are recorded.
While
Joshua Hempstead's diary is difficult to read, it is an indispensable
resource for all those interested in daily life in Connecticut
in the first half of the eighteenth century.
For
Further Reading
"Diary
of Joshua Hempstead of New London, Connecticut," in Collections
of the New London County Historical Society. New London, 1901.
*
Entry under revision.
|
