Priscilla's Diary Excerpts

Dear Diary,
After the carriage ride out of the city to the wharf, being jostled around like rag dolls as I think we hit every rut and hole on the roads. I avoided going to my cabin because the air was fresh and spring-like on deck. After we cast off and left the wharf in our wake, I noticed dark clouds forming in the distance and we are sailing directly toward them.

Later…
I am taking a moment here in my small cabin to record the fact that I have left Philadelphia,...

Nathaniel had decreed that Priscilla must leave Philadelphia, travel down the Chesapeake Bay by boat, and stay with her sister at Waterwood. He believes he is protecting her from growing anger and unrest that might threaten his wife. But he could be sending her into the center of a gathering storm.

Dear Diary,
I leave tomorrow for Waterwood. It is still shocking to me that the time has come already. The days since Nathaniel made...

As Priscilla writes in her diary, life is becoming a whirlwind of parties, gorgeous gowns, and fancy foods. But a change in the atmosphere, one of anger and unrest, can change the life of a young woman entering the City’s high society in a moment.

Dear Diary,
What a relief it was that Becky came to me almost at once upon receiving my note. Safe in her private company, I could cry and try to make sense of what was happening. She offered me...

1774 - Life for the Society women of Philadelphia is proceeding elegantly, but unrest is beginning to shake the windowpanes of their fine homes.

Dear Diary,
I woke up this morning fully refreshed though I did not have a full night’s sleep. I must still be flying on the excitement of the ball last night. My maid left my beautiful gown hanging in my dressing room. I smiled at the memory of Mrs. Alden’s comment about its fashionable sleeves....

Priscilla Turner Galloway has left the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay to join her husband in Philadelphia. He expects her to enhance their role in the City's society that follows the rigid customs of London. As a young bride in a new place, she confides her hopes and fears in her diary. This is her first entry in her new book.

Dear Diary,
I am absolutely quivering with the excitement of the evening. Everyone spoke of Mrs. Fairchild’s...

It is 1774.

Priscilla Turner Galloway leaves the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay to join her husband in Philadelphia where

... people are angry about tea and taxes

... the local society, shaped by British customs and expectations, is difficult to navigate

... her husband expects her to make a place for them

... while she feels very alone.

As a comfort, she confides in her diary about her triumphs, her confusion, and her fears.

Follow Priscilla's journey as new diary entries appear every...