PA Photos and Documents

This diary of Edmund D. Cleaver (1833-1888) consists primarily of entries devoted to spiritual introspection. Most entries reflect Cleaver’s assessment of his own spiritual state while also noting his attendance at Methodist church, who preached that day, and his teaching at Sabbath School. Some entries end in prayer. Cleaver often recorded the deaths of family and friends, including a classmate with whom he attended school in New London, Pennsylvania. Cleaver also writes about a journey into Philadelphia where he observed a “depth of depravity,” and he recounted the story of someone who was transporting a Black man in New Castle County, Delaware, who was stabbed by that man. Cleaver writes of traveling to see his immediate family in New Castle County, and the diary concludes with entries in September 1852, describing the death of his younger brother.