Henry Smals Diaries

Collection

Identifier: SC 0096

Not requestable
Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Henry Smals Papers, 1871-1891, consist of three boxes containing eighteen volumes of diaries written by Henry Smals of Bridgewater, Virginia. The topics of diary entries are brief outlining day-to-day activities. There are mentions of acquaintances that are ill, various business transactions conducted in town, the movement of livestock, and hay through town, ongoing town projects, church activities, marriages, births, deaths, and other details of town life. The activities of "colored people" are occasionally noted. Throughout the diaries, Smals made small drawings of people and animals and added illustrations clipped from newspapers. A folder, located in Box 3, contains printed copies of a partial index and a list of highlights for most volumes as well as an ad for "Henry Smals, Fashionable Barber! Main Street, Bridgewater, Va."

Dates

Creation: 1871-1891

Creator

Smals, Henry, 1810-1892 (Person)

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk. (library-special@jmu.edu).

Biographical Information

Henry Smals (1810-1892) is listed in the 1850 Rockingham County Census as a shoemaker with real estate value of $1,000 with a wife, Mary, and six children. There is an entry for Henry Smalts in the 1860 census and for Henry Smalls in the 1870 census that gives additional household details. He may also have been a barber sometime during the 1880s (ses Box 3, Folder 4). His surname appears as a variation of Smalz and Smaltz as well.

Extent

0.7 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Henry Smals Diaries, 1871-1891, consist of three boxes containing eighteen volumes of diaries written by Henry Smals of Bridgewater, Virginia. The topics of diary entries are brief outlining day-to-day activities. A folder, located in Box 3, contains a partial index and a list of highlights for most volumes as well as an ad for "Henry Smals, Fashionable Barber! Main Street, Bridgewater, Va."

Arrangement

The diaries are arranged chronologically where possible, but due to variations in size are physically housed as follows in the Contents List. Volume 14 is filed in a separate container.

Provenance

The collection of diaries was first presented to George M. Hanger by Smals' grandson, Gal Miller, in 1910. The diaries were then given to George P. Furry in 1920, Edwina Furry in 1970, and Dorothy Merriefield in 1983.

Acquisition Information

The collection is on deposit from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society.

Bibliography

United States Census Office, 7th census. 1850 U.S. Census, Rockingham County, Virginia. Wichita, Ks.: S-K Publications, 1987.

Processing Notes

The diaries appear to have been rebound, perhaps several times, and some volumes have sections in them that are not in chronological order. In some places the ink has faded to illegibility. In the fall of 2002 and 2003, Peggy Dillard and Ken Hinkle respectively created partial indices for the Smals diaries. The entries transcribed as part of these partial indices are included under each diary's scope and content note.

In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 2059.