In the summer of 1952, rummaging around
in my uncle's attic, I came across a dusty box
containing four slim leather bound books
filled with a beautiful old-fashioned script, still
very bright and legible, titled 'Peregrinations
of Verdancy.' This was the journal of my great
grandfather, written in 1852
At age twenty, he left his farm home in
central New York state, seeking fortune and
improved health by going to sea. His diary
chronicles in colorful detail, his adventures as
a novice cook aboard a wooden cod fishing
vessel plying the east coast from Nova Scotia
to New York harbor.
This young farm boy commands a surprisingly
charming literary style, delightful wit and
sophistication. Later he travels on land along
the coast describing in colorful detail, the
wonders of that age: printing presses, gas
lights, sewing machines and the hysteria of the
gold rush. His journal provides a fascinating
history of the New England fishing industry
and of the quality and tone of life of that time
in America.
Mary Lou Chayes
Los Angeles, California 2016
