Anna is involved with many community members. She actively solicits funds for the Education Society and a German class meets at her house. Yet her point of view is greatly tempered by her age and the diary is replete with the observations of the elderly. Once in a while she forbids the departure of a person as his absence will leave her alone in the house. She is also much concerned with the progress and position of the men in the family, particularly Cornelius, whose travels, job problems, ill health and marriage all gain comment.
Sense of place pervades the diary, along with a sense of family roots.
I watched them from the hill with much anxiety. Brinley's oldest son, Cornelius, also often mentioned in the diary, served as Collector of the Port, like his grandfather. In short, this is the diary of a woman with deep and significant roots in Sag Harbor and Shelter Island revealing her view of the world in her early years of widowhood. Description prepared by Terry Alford, Director, The Manuscript Company of Springfield, Springfield, Virginia, 1977. All rights reserved.