Diaries of Mabel S. Laidlaw and her daughter Helena Laidlaw Livermore of Canton, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. Collection consists of diaries kept by a wife and a daughter of a Doctor in Canton, N.Y., and provides a daily log of domestic life in the first part of the century. Other items include automobile records, autograph books, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, correspondence and microfilm of diaries.
Image of mother and baby with poem from Mabel Sprague Laidlaw scrapbook.
Collection Overview
The earliest diary is dated 1898, shortly before her marriage to Dr. C. Dean Laidlaw, a doctor in Canton. They cover a 52 year period and chronicle her life in Canton, providing an excellent daily log of domestic life in the area.
In addition to the daily diaries there are separate diaries for each Christmas in which are listed the gifts given and received, cards sent and received, guests entertained and house decorations for each year. There is also a separate diary for their camp on the St. Lawrence River, Elmanstone, in which is listed all the persons who visited each season and the fish caught.
Also included are three diaries of her daughter, Helena, which cover the years 1933, 1935, and 1936; a book which records the automobiles owned by the couple, when they were purchased and the operating costs for each; a household expense book; three autograph books and two scrap books.
St. Lawrence University does not own the literary rights to this collection.