The handwritten manuscript daybooks of Harriet Maria Elmendorf “Hattie” Gould (1844-1920) reflect the dynamic environment of a multigenerational household in nineteenth-century Albany, New York. Hattie was the great-grandchild of Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer, the first owners of Cherry Hill. She lived at Cherry Hill from 1844 to 1884. Hattie kept handwritten daybooks, or diaries, from 1879 to 1884. While the entirety of the nineteenth century was a time of immense change at Cherry Hill, this period in particular highlighted the changing social landscape and economic hardships of the household.
Historic Cherry Hill
Exploring the Past in the Present
