This page marks three beginnings: the opening lines of a new diary, the first day of a journey, and, most momentously, the start of a marriage. Mary Ann Hamilton of Philadelphia married Septimus Palairet of Bradford-on-Avon, England, in 1843, and together they embarked on a honeymoon tour of the eastern United States and Canada. In the collaborative diary of their travels, Mary Ann contributed the text and Septimus the illustrations. Here, they documented the steam locomotive Eagle, which carried them north from Camden, New Jersey. By the end of the trip, which would take them all the way to Niagara Falls, the Palairets experienced still another beginning: Mary Ann was expecting their first child.
Diary of Mary Ann Hamilton Palairet and Septimus Palairet, 1843. MA 2244. Gift of Arnold Whitridge, 1962.