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" Business during the Week was very dull. The great Plague of the
Year Cholera is driving every Country [person] and Merchants from
Surrounding Cities away. The City looks like a desert Compared to
its usual animated appearance. Last week ending the 6th there were
78 deaths from it, altogether 173. This week ending yesterday 278
deaths 189 from Cholera. People parting for a day or so, bid
farewell to each other. My Partners family are fortunately in the
Country. I and Clemens sleep in the Same bed, in Case of a Sudden
attack to be within groaning distance. . ."
-- Diary entry for Sunday, May 13th, 1849
Joseph J. Mersman was a liquor merchant, a German American
immigrant who aspired-- with success-- to become a self-made man.
The diary he kept from 1847 to 1864 provides an intriguing account
of life in Cincinnati and St. Louis-- America' s emerging frontier.
Outside of Gold Rush diaries and emigration journals, few
narrative records of the antebellum period have been published. As
a record of both the man and the time in which he lived, "The
Whiskey Merchant' s Diary" is a valuable resource for social
historians, providing significant details about bachelorhood,
whiskey making, ballroom dancing, circus history, card games,
steamboat transportation, gender roles, theater history, and
Victorian etiquette. The diary is also the story of a man who
confronted serious disease, and his descriptions of cholera and
syphilis are exceptional.
Complemented by photographs, maps, and period advertisements, the
diary reveals how a German American businessman worked to establish
himself in his newly adopted country during an era that wasrife
with opportunity. Linda A. Fisher' s professional training as a
physician makes the public health aspect of this project
particularly valuable, and her annotations throughout serve to
emphasize the significance of Mersman' s firsthand observations.
" Business during the Week was very dull. The great Plague of the
Year Cholera is driving every Country [person] and Merchants from
Surrounding Cities away. The City looks like a desert Compared to
its usual animated appearance. Last week ending the 6th there were
78 deaths from it, altogether 173. This week ending yesterday 278
deaths 189 from Cholera. People parting for a day or so, bid
farewell to each other. My Partners family are fortunately in the
Country. I and Clemens sleep in the Same bed, in Case of a Sudden
attack to be within groaning distance. . ."
-- Diary entry for Sunday, May 13th, 1849
Joseph J. Mersman was a liquor merchant, a German American
immigrant who aspired-- with success-- to become a self-made man.
The diary he kept from 1847 to 1864 provides an intriguing account
of life in Cincinnati and St. Louis-- America' s emerging frontier.
Outside of Gold Rush diaries and emigration journals, few
narrative records of the antebellum period have been published. As
a record of both the man and the time in which he lived, "The
Whiskey Merchant' s Diary" is a valuable resource for social
historians, providing significant details about bachelorhood,
whiskey making, ballroom dancing, circus history, card games,
steamboat transportation, gender roles, theater history, and
Victorian etiquette. The diary is also the story of a man who
confronted serious disease, and his descriptions of cholera and
syphilis are exceptional.
Complemented by photographs, maps, and period advertisements, the
diary reveals how a German American businessman worked to establish
himself in his newly adopted country during an era that wasrife
with opportunity. Linda A. Fisher' s professional training as a
physician makes the public health aspect of this project
particularly valuable, and her annotations throughout serve to
emphasize the significance of Mersman' s firsthand observations.
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