Lorenzo Whiting Blood diary

The diary of Lorenzo Whiting Blood was written from 1835 when he was a freshman at Wesleyan, to 1844, when he was a Methodist minister in Mystic, Connecticut. During this period, Blood traveled throughout much of Connecticut, along with some stops in Massachusetts (where his future wife lived)and New York City. Blood wrote about many Methodist ministers, especially his professor Dr. Fisk, as well as many parish members throughout his travels. Blood does not dwell too often on any one person; though he does occasionally mention his wife, Elizabeth Smith and first child, Mary, it is only when something dire occurs that they are mentioned. Blood dwells heavily upon his faith towards God, often ending almost every entry with some assurance to his everlasting devotion to the Almighty. There are also three brief mentions of Blood's sentiments towards abolitionism.

Blood often remarked about Wesleyan University's student body being somewhat unfaithful towards the Methodist faith, and expresses his sentiments towards a more conscious school. There are many Methodist churches written about by Blood in his diary, including, "The African Church,""Farm Hill,""Westfield Baptist Church,""Staddle Hill," along with the churches in Litchfield and Mystic where he was a minister. Blood also spends a great deal of time discussing the educational facilities of Wesleyan University and the Amenia Seminary, along with schools he created in Cheshire and Bradleysville. Blood also took part in many of the regional Methodist quarterly meetings, including the North East conference at Lymn. The diary is written to page 131 but pages 4 through 12 are blank. Also, the physical design of the diary is about 200 pages, but there is nothing written from page 131 to 200, except for a few names in the very back of the book. The diary is entirely handwritten in cursive, and although the first page appears to be written in Latin, the rest of the book is completely in English.

The majority of the diary entries date from Blood's time at Wesleyan University from 1835 to 1838. Blood starts the journal with a look into his past as he explains being raised by Hindal, a cloth trader, who used to beat him regularly. He then identifies himself as a freshman at Wesleyan University, who is training to be a minister of the Methodist faith. During his freshman year he became a member of the Missionary Lyceum, and mentions a "member of Colored Preachers" who was very helpful. After completing his exams, Blood traveled to the state prison in Wethersfield where he preached to about two hundred inmates with good behavior. Also during his summer break, Blood visited a school for the deaf at Hartford where he was amazed at the "conversations with their hands." He also attended a Methodist quarterly meeting where there were "joyous celebrations all night." After the Annual Commencement at Wesleyan on August 23, 1835, Blood spoke at the African Church on September 27, where he was shocked at their zealousness.

On November 14, 1835, Blood left Wesleyan University to teach at a school in Cheshire; however, on March 10, 1836 Blood had to close his school. Blood then returned to Wesleyan University, but unfortunately had to take twice the normal course load. Back at Wesleyan, he preached at the Alms House and Farm Hill, but he still wished to do more. After his sophomore examinations, Blood went to his hometown to visit his mother and his future wife, Elizabeth Smith. At home he discovered his brother was planning to leave on a whaling voyage, so he rushed off to Coostan, Massachuetts to stop him. Though finding his brother's ship to have terrible living standards, Blood let his brother go because he wanted to explore the world. During the start of the new semester, Blood writes that he has doubts about his faith towards God and it makes him want to cry. However, Blood recovered and on November 3, 1836, he left Wesleyan University again, this time to teach at the Amenia Seminary.

After some initial hesitation, Blood became fully acquainted with the Amenia Seminary and became a valuable member of the school. On March 16, 1837, Blood contracted the measles, leaving him on the verge of death for two months during his stay in the Amenia Seminary. However, with the help of Dr. Stanton and Mrs. Clark, he was able to recover and returned to Middletown. Soon after returning, however, Blood was called back to the Amenia Seminary by the new headmaster, Clark. After the term finished on October 13, Blood traveled to New York City, then back to Middletown. By winter break, Blood was again near the top of his class in most of his studies and was preaching frequently at Staddle Hill. His last semester at Wesleyan University passed by uneventfully, and after he completed his final examination, Blood went to Litchfield where he preached in different three churches. On August 4, 1838, Blood went back to Middletown for his commencement where he graduated with 26 other men. After returning to Litchfield, Blood decided to set up a select school in Bradleysville on November 13.

In the February 2, 1839 diary entry, Blood crosses out a large portion of the entry seemingly because it discusses the adultery of a parish member and questions whether the husband will ever come back to the family. In the following entry, another section is crossed out which reads that the husband did in fact come back.

On March 1, Blood had to close his school yet again, and decided to go on a "pilgrim to sojourns." After his travels he decided to go to the Methodist North East Conference at Lymn, where he was upset about the lack of discussion of abolitionism. On June 19, 1839, Blood married Elizabeth Smith and received notice that he would be preaching in a small Methodist church in South Hadley. Here he lived in a one room apartment near the Church, which though it was small, was comfortable. On March 1, 1841, Blood's first daughter, Mary, was born, and soon after Blood was ordained as deacon to Stafford. On June 17, 1843, Blood attended the Eastford Conference, which to his bitterness upheld the doctrine of slavery. The issue was once again brought up at the General Conference, but out of the fear of the southern Methodist breaking away from the Church, slavery was again upheld. The diary ends with Blood being appointed to Mystic, Connecticut, as the Methodist minister there.