James Mease was born on August 11, 1771, the son of Philadelphians John and Esther (Miller) Mease. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1787, he continued in medical school there, receiving his M.D. in 1792. Early in his medical career, Mease published several articles, and he served as a surgeon for nine months during the War of 1812. His published contributions to medical knowledge, however, were less significant than his contributions to several other fields. In addition to several medical works, Mease edited the well-received Domestic Encyclopedia (1803-04) and the two volume Archives of useful knowledge (1811-12), but he remains best known for his Picture of Philadelphia (1807) and his Geological Account of the United States (1807), which was among the earliest geological treatises by an American. A numismatist, Mease published "Description of Some of the Medals Struck in Relation to Important Events in North America" in the Collections of the New York Historical Society (vol. 3, 1821). Many of his papers were read before the American Philosophical Society, to which he was elected in 1802 and of which he was an officer, 1824-1836. He was a founder and first vice-president of the Philadelphia Athenaeum.

On July 3, 1800, Mease married Sarah Butler, the daughter of South Carolina Senator, Pierce Butler. They had two sons, both of whom changed their surnames as adults to Butler in order to secure an inheritance. One of the sons, Pierce Butler, married the renowned stage actress, Frances Anne Kemble. James Mease died in Philadelphia on May 14, 1846, and was buried in the cemetery of Third Presbyterian Church.

Scope and contents:

James Mease kept his journal during two separate periods: during a trip through eastern Pennsylvania and New York state, August-September 1835 (pp. 1-62), and during a journey to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1841 (pp. 63-75). Laid into the volume is a half-sheet containing a partial letter by Mease to one of his sons and some travel notes.

Although the journal is not signed, it has been attributed to Mease because of direct references it makes (pp. 16, 71) to his essay "Description of Some of the Medals Struck..." The handwriting was subsequently shown to match other Mease manuscripts in the Clements Library. Mease's On Utility of Public Loan Offices and Savings Funds by City Authorities (1836) is of interest in that the journeys recorded in the first part of the Clements Library's journal appear to have been taken to gather information for that work.

Two themes run throughout Mease's journal. The first is his strong sense of history. Mease was careful to note historical events which had occurred on sites he was visiting -- making reference both to events which he had witnessed and about which he had read. The second theme is his interest in people, particularly the "common man." Mease enjoyed the friendship and society of some of the most noted persons of his day, yet he was fascinated by a visit with an ordinary citizen, exploring that person's life story, which he would record in his journal.

A brief synopsis of the journal follows:

Trip through Pennsylvania and New York, 1835

Leaves Philadelphia for Bristol

Recalls how mineral water cured his yellow fever, 1793. Visits cemetery to see graves of Revolutionary War figures and actor John Henry (1746-1794)

To Newtown; description of hotel

Taylorsville school levy fails: opposers were illiterates with several children

His 63rd birthday. Reads memoir of Simon Bolivar

View from seat beside stagecoach driver

Description of road from Point Pleasant to White's Hotel at Easton; description of hotel

Easton's vote on recent tax levy: who supported and who did not. Germans in particular were opposed to tax

Founding of South Easton, Easton's countersettlement. Corrects a county map based on Scull's pre-war map

Tavern at Allentown

Discussion with coin collector; biographical sketch of this man, James Hall (b. 1773); description of his collection. Mease promises Hall a book on American coins, colonial and national

Description of Allentown

Coal mine at Beaver Dam. Climate of area

Meets C. Brobst, age 72, who managed to get state of Pennsylvania to splurge $5,000 on a bridge over the Susquehanna River near Danville

Description of Bloomsburg

Discovery of a cemetery where eighty-one patriot soldiers were buried in a mass grave after Tory-Indian raid on Wyoming Valley, 1778. Zebulon Butler (1731-1795) led American troops

Meets Joseph Lewis, son of William Lewis (1759-1819)? -- good commentary about young man's life

Biographical sketch of John Read, once "banker of the King of Wurtemburg." Discusses America as a haven for the have-nots of other countries

Silver Lake: description of Dr. Robert H. Rose's house, family, library, and sheep business (Rose established an experimental community for Free Blacks at Silver in 1833)

Carbondale: bank defrauded its depositors in 1827-28

Scotch settlers better than the "vagabond English." Long description of ride on railroad's inclined plane

Lock House on Delaware & Hudson Canal, operated by 13-year-old girl

Walenpaupack (?) Falls

He crosses into New York

Description of a scow, with sketch, on Delaware River at Port Jervis

Milford: disgusting courthouse and jail

Stony soil of Sullivan County

Silver and lead mine at Ellanville

Discussion with hotel keeper about flowers, esp. clematis

Is served cheese and brandy for breakfast

Eddyville: hears sermon in Presbyterian Church

Kingston Landing, N.Y.

Sails in boat to New York City. Trinity Church. Description of privet hedges at Trinity Church; discussion of privets

New York City paving street by City Hall with wooden blocks

Description of "Mr. Astor's immense granite hotel"

"Mud machine" excavates for dock. Visit to Rapalje book and paper press

Visits Peale's Museum; sees orangutang, anaconda, and a magician

Falls ill and is tended by a "free negro"

Trip to Washington, D.C. , 1841

Reference to career as a physician, 1794-98. Site of Battle of Red Bank, N.J. (1777). Travel companions: Nathaniel Silsbee (1773-1850) and daughter

African-American porter refuses tip because coin is worn. Dinner at Whitman's Hotel: food bad, African-American waiters "shuffle"

Another porter deceives him

Bankruptcy of private person who invested in Bank of the U.S. Brown's Hotel. 1840 election spoils: political appointments. Comment on insincerity of Henry Clay (1777-1852)

St. Clair Clark, Clerk of House of Representatives. Views John Trumbull's (1756-1843) painting, "Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown" and critiques the scene: "So difficult is it to come to the precise knowledge of an actual fact."

In Capitol, recalls what building looked like after British left Washington in 1814

John Sergeant (1779-1852) gives him a seat in Ladies' Gallery of House of Representatives. Hears Robert Barnwell Rhett (1800-1876) speak against tariff. Sees John Pope (1770-1845). Meets with John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), an old friend

Adams promises to introduce him to John Tyler (1790-1862). Visits with Adams in the evening. Wishes to see Tyler on topic of Maine/New Brunswick boundary. Carriage ride with Adams

Adams introduces Mease onto floor of House. Plans for publishing work on American commemorative medals if Congress will back the project; Library committee to discuss it.

Visit to patent office. His own plan for processing patent applications is in use. Reference to the Domestic Encyclopedia

Thomas Cooper (1759-1839) writings critiqued. He meets Tyler in company with Adams. White House tourists. Thler says he has appointed his son to see to refurbishing mansion within limits of $6,000 set by Congress

Talks with Census office re its errors in counting slaves in Pennsylvania. Attends Unitarian Church. Senate discusses Bank bill

M-3282
Recat. 7/96 rsc

Subject index to the James Mease Journal

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