More than two centuries old, the diaries of Joseph Price, a fourth-generation Quaker from Lower Merion Township, offers valuable insight into the history of the Main Line, writes J.F. Pirro for the Main Line Today.

Despite having little formal education, Price was considered one of the most esteemed residents in the township.

He was a builder and a carpenter, and built the Rees Price House in Narberth for a cousin. He also operated a sawmill.

Price started keeping a diary when he was in his mid-30s. He made the first entry on New Year’s Eve 1788, and the final one three days before he died aged 75.

Often written on odd scraps of paper, the roughly 3,000-page diaries represent an extraordinary four-decade repository of the day-to-day details of Main Line life following the American Revolution.

His diaries made it known that President George Washington called for the first national day of Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789. There is also an entry describing the opening of the Lancaster Turnpike.

“The Price diaries are an absolutely invaluable look into 18th-century life in Lower Merion,” said Kate Jiggins, president of the Lower Merion Historical Society’s board of directors.

“The breadth of skills and experiences of this one man, coupled with the fact that he logged an entry every day for 40 years, is truly outstanding. There’s nowhere else in our collection where we get such a detailed and complete look at all aspects of the lives of the early settlers in this area.”

Read more about the diaries in the Main Line Today.

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