A Columbian reader writes, "Solomon Dwinell kept a diary during the Revolutionary War. In 1937, this diary was in the possession of a descendant, Reverend Walter S. Elliot in Portland. I wonder if the diary could have been donated to an archive."

She goes on to ask, "Are the Rev. Walter S Elliot and his family in a 1936 or 1937 city directory? When did the Reverend die? To what church did he belong?"

These are good questions because the first step in tracing a story like this is to determine if it is possible. A search of the Portland directories does not show a Reverend Walter Elliot/Elliott. The Oregon Death Index shows six Walter Elliotts. We could research each and every one in that list. However, that would take considerable time, and we are not sure the investment would pay us.

We switch our focus and look at Solomon Dwinell. A search for him on Ancestry.com, a "fee" database, shows that several people posted information about him. Dwinnell was born in 1757 in Sutton, Massachusetts and died in 1830 in Milbury, Massachusetts. One sentence is particularly interesting, "There is a copy of his diary at [the] Scattle [sic] Public Library." The misspelling of Seattle makes one wonder if this is true or not.

The Seattle Public Library's catalog is online. A search for Dwinell/Dwinnell does not show a listing for a diary. There is a listing for a history of the Dunnell/Dwinnell family by Henry Gale Dunnell. The book was originally published in 1862. It would be worth a trip to Seattle to look at the book.

We are looking for a manuscript, and the best place to search is NUCMC, The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. NUCMC indexes manuscripts held in collections throughout the United States. This includes diaries, Bibles, and correspondence.

There are bound volumes to NUCMC in university libraries, and there is an online index at http://lcweb.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html.

The search term, "Dwinnell" brought up a "hit." Solomon Dwinnell was a U.S. Continental Army soldier. His diary, written in 1777, includes his Revolutionary War service. Places represented include Boston, Massachusetts, Long Island, N.Y., Bennington, Vermont and Yorktown, Virginia. The original is in the Worcester Historical Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Minnesota Historical Society made typescripts of the original document.

We now know there is a diary and where the original is located. A letter can be written to both the Worcester Museum and the Minnesota Historical Society. And, we did this research from home!

© 2004–2009

Connie Lenzen, CG