Susy Clemens
 Suzy Clemens, daughter of Samuel Clemens or "Mark Twain", at the age of thirteen, began a biography of her notorious father in 1885. Suzy spoke highly of her father but made sure to leave nothing out about a typical day with him. She wrote,"He is a very good man and a very funny one. He has got a temper, but we all of us have in this family. He is the loveliest man I ever saw or hope to see--and oh so absent-minded! He does tell perfectly delightful stories..." She kept her writing safely hidden away in her room making entries in it daily of her father's characteristics, his writings and day-to-day events. She did this until the summer of 1886.
 Susy's perspective was not formalized, as is in most biographies. It was unique as Susy, in her teen-age years, gave testimony of her life in the Clemen's family during a time when Mark Twain was in the peak of his career. Unfortunately, Susy died in 1896 from spinal meningitis. It was ten years layer that Mark Twain rediscovered her journals and incorporated much of it in his own autobiography. There is nothing sweeter than a little girl who sees her father bigger than life itself.
Suzy Clemens Biography of Mark Twain
Margaret Spaulding
Commonplace Book, 1870
An impressive list of the books read by Margaret Spaulding in the year 1869. The list was made in her own handwriting
Margaret Spaulding's List of Books read in 1869
Abraham Lincoln
 Abraham Lincoln wrote several auto-biographies within a two year period. He wrote of where he grew up, his education and his early political career. He also wrote of his successes and defeats in elections. President Licoln even made mention of his appearance in his writings.
Abraham Lincoln's Autobiographies at About.com
Louisa Collins
 Louisa's world:The 1815 diary of a Nova Scotia farm girl, of Colin Grove, Dartmouth. Louisa Collins led a simple life and wrote about what her life was like on the farm as she was growing up. She wrote of her daily work: doing outdoor work like trimming, making hay, picking morning berries, spinning thread for clothes and sewing, the tedious task of churning butter and having tea, making visits to friends. She wrote of her lack of a "beau" or boyfriend in her life. The weather, rain and sunshine were often topics of her journal.
 She wrote of her fatigue at the end of her long work days and how she would go to the swings or romp in the hay in the barn to wind down. She also enjoyed letter writing to her friends Harriet and Maria. Her father went to town frequently. Lousia much enjoyed it when he brought letters from her friends. In the pages of this young girl's diary was the testimony of hard work. Yet she made time during her busy day to ponder, think, and write in her diary. And on days when she could only but look out her window her dreams and imagination was enough to satisfy her.
Louisa's World
Jane Minerva Tillotson:Diaries
In this diary is the writings of the everyday life of a farm woman in the 1850's and 1860's. It may seem to be a lot of reports of routine daily work. But this is a testimony of how women worked diligently at home to help make their homes what they were.
Jane Minerva Tillotson:Diaries
Mark Twain
 Here is a link to chapters from "My Autobiography, by Mark Twain. Twenty-five chapters by this great American writer and humorist. I always believed that Mark Twain had a remarkable way at looking at things, even when it came to writing about his own life.
Mark Twain at About.Com
Booker T. Washington
"Up From Slavery" : an autobiography by Booker T. Washington. This is another fine example of story telling like it was. Check it out at About.com
"Up from Slavery" By Booker T. Washington
The Scrap Album
"Scrap albums were popular among children in the early 1800's. They were put together like diaries. They were made of scraps and of images that could describe someone's life. They were elaborately put together and a lot of time was put into them. The covering was usually made of leather. Some had printed pages. Others were embossed with flowers and birds. Upon these pages were blanks spaces for pictures or drawings to be pasted. Check the link below to see in great detail.
"The Scrap Album
Letters of a Victorian Lady
Ada E.Leslie, 1883-1894
These are letters from a lady during the 1883-1894 period. She describes her many travels, her job as governess and her marriage. Click below to read them in detail.
Ada E. Leslie
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