SALEM Diary of abolitionist Hise brings 19th century alive

A 19th-century Salem man depicted both ordinary and epic events.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- On the morning of Nov. 17, 1878, almost 125 years ago, Daniel Howell Hise did as he had done virtually every day for three decades. He made an entry in his diary.
"Cloudy and wet," wrote the prominent Salem businessman, women's rights advocate and abolitionist who had helped guide fugitive slaves to freedom. It was his last written observation.
Hise died later that day of what is thought to have been a heart attack. His sudden death at 65 ended his work as an able chronicler of life in 19th-century Salem and America.
In time, Hise's journal came to be recognized as a valuable historical artifact.
Library's efforts
But it might have been largely forgotten if not for efforts in recent years to have it transcribed and made available at the Salem Public Library.
Although the original journal is stored at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, Salem library visitors can now view printed or CD versions and see for themselves the power of the pen as wielded by someone fully engaged in the world around him.
Hise's journal, originally embodied in more than 30 notebooks, captured both the ordinary and the epic. Slavery, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, the Civil War, Lincoln's assassination and the country's centennial were noted by Hise alongside entries that comment on the weather, local happenings and his roles as family man, entrepreneur and maker of many Salem buildings that still stand.
Although his writing was unpolished in terms of grammar and spelling, it shows the keen eye of a gifted observer.
"I fell in love with this man," said Judi Allio, a Salem library reference assistant. "The joys and sorrows of his life touched me," she added.
Daunting assignment
It was Allio who in 1999 was handed a daunting assignment by George W.S. Hays, Salem library director and Salem Historical Society president.
She was to continue the work of transcribing Hise's journal, a task started several years earlier by Victor Woods, a historical society member.
Aided by Hays and the same microfilm copy of the journal Woods had consulted, Allio succeeded after nearly two years of work.
"You could feel the emotion" in Hise's writing, Allio said. He was "a red-headed, red-bearded dynamo who kept a diary."
Allio described how the job came alive for her when she began examining the microfilm and saw Hise's handwriting and his doodling in the notebook margins.
She sometimes speaks of the 19th century don in the present tense, as though he still lives at 1100 Franklin Ave., where he sheltered runaway slaves and entertained such human rights champions as Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth. The residence is now designated a historical home.
Identifies with him
"It's an incredible human story," Hays said of the journal. In reading it, "you laugh with him, you cry with him, you agonize with him."
Hise "paints an image" with his writing, Hays added, referring, for example, to his detailed accounts of Philadelphia, which he visited for the nation's centennial.
"You can just feel Philadelphia in 1876," Hays said.
Although Hise's journal can be viewed through the library, Hays said it deserves wider distribution.
He is hopeful that one day a publisher can be found to print the document.
"We feel this story needs to be promoted," Hays said. "It's the story of America in that period."