Item Detail
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MSS 184
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Esaias Edwards Diary, 1812-1897
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Overland Trails - Diaries
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Edwards, Esaias
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1897
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Handwritten autobiography and diary. The account is retrospective until 1856. Edwards writes extensively about his conversion to the Mormon Church in 1839, life at Nauvoo, Illinois, and the death of two of his wives. There is a lengthy discussion in the opening pages of the diary about astronomy and a family cooperative city, "Edwardsville" which he hoped to build. Edwards made the overland journey from Iowa to Salt Lake City in 1848 by ox team and writes briefly about the scarcity of feed and company organization. The rest of the diary discusses life in Utah, Edwards' business pursuits and legal problems, and family relations.