Thomas Russell Hungerford (MD41)'s 1914 travel diary was purchased on 19 Jun 2022. Here is the eBay seller's description:
First off I’d like to tell you about my podcast. I’ve decided to take some of the diaries in my personal collection and share them on a podcast. We now have 29 episodes out and you can find it on most of the podcast venues. It’s called, “Diary Discoveries.”
Well, I must say this is such a historical and after hours of research I finally found our author, and it was worth finding him. One thing (and there are many) is that our author’s Great Grandfather married the niece of our first president, George Washington.
First off, the diary. It’s a travel diary that begins on July 8th while in Washington DC, his hometown, and traveling to NY and then Boston to board the White Star Line Ocean Liner Canopic. He writes the entire time while on the ship, the whole time while in Europe and his also the entire time on the way back home on board the Ocean Line St. Paul.
Now here’s the most amazing thing concerning this diary, WWI is beginning while he’s in Europe and there is a rush for all American’s to leave. In fact there are many meetings for the American travelers on what to do. The signs of war are everywhere and he talks all about them in this diary including the very first sign when he sees a Dirigible Airship while in Venice on August 3rd and then the next day is his first mention of the impending doom, the war.
Before I quote from the diary I want to tell you about our author. His name is Thomas Russell Hungerford and he was born September 9th, 1874, so he’s 39 years old when taking this trip. He was born and a long-time resident of Washington D.C. He worked as a bookkeeper in his father’s prominent real estate business in the early 20th century and eventually took over the business. T.R. Hungerford was very active in local philatelic (stamps) circles, even having worked part time for local dealer H.F. Colman, as well publishing philatelic articles, and while in Europe he talks of even purchasing stamps. His families military history includes service in the Revolutionary war, the War of 1812 and the Civil War and Thomas himself signed up to fight during WWI. Again, his Great-Grandfather even married a niece of George Washington, and his Grandfather was captured while serving as a private in the Confederate army. I don’t know if Thomas ever married but he passed away in 1968.
Not only does this diary talk about the threats of war but there are incredible entries about the people he meets, the amazing places he goes (including Italy, England and France) and historical events. Four prominent people that he meets and that stood out to me are: 1.) Frederick J. Libby (1874-1970), graduate at Bowdoin, Congregational Minister and famous pacifist. 2.) Dr. B. H. Carroll, Jr., diplomat and U.S. Consul at Venice; son of distinguished Texas educator. 3.) James B. Pratt (1875-1944), student of William James at Harvard and long-time professor at Williams College. 4.) Rev. Dr. William T. Beale of Dedham Mass, who edited Temple Tours Herald, the ship’s newspaper and his cabin mate and traveling companion.
There are 94 handwritten pages in this diary and 72 of those are his daily diary entries. He even writes for several days when he gets back to Washington DC, concerning his work, home and his social life. The other 22 handwritten pages are miscellaneous notes including his expenses while on the trip. Last but not least there's a love letter (that he must of copied to the diary before he sent it) to a woman he met while on his travels. I’ve scanned those pages.
And one more interesting thing to note. The SS Canopic had a terrible incident that happened on board only a month before our author sails on it. I found the following information on a web site, and I quote....
"On June 13, 1914 an Italian wounded 25 people, five of them seriously, aboard the passenger ship S.S. Canopic travelling from Boston to Naples. That morning, between 9:20 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., while the ship was approaching the harbour of Ponta Delgada, Azores, the man, a third-class passenger, began stabbing people with a long knife, until he was struck down and arrested. According to a later report, referring to an article published in Il Gionrale d'Italia after the ship's arrival in Naples a few days later, 22 people died in the incident, though the validity of this information is uncertain, since no other source seems to be available that would confirm it."
The photo of the two ships above are ones I copied off the web, but the diary of course is original. All in all, this diary has everything a collector would want.
Submitted by Richard Hungerford at 5:13 PM on June 27, 2022.