The Horatio G. Finch journal (5" x 14", about 365 pages) contains brief daily entries that Finch composed between from December 29, 1858, to May 3, 1872. Each page of the diary represents a specific date (i.e., July 24), with entries composed over the course of as many as 13 years; additional pages are bound into the volume for longer entries. Finch frequently dated entries in Spanish. Before and after the Civil War, he reported news of his daily life in and near San Francisco and discussed his travels around California, consistently noting weather conditions and his current location. During the Civil War, Finch traveled throughout the South, spending much of his time socializing with Union Army officers in Kentucky and Missouri. He often mentioned recent military developments, such as the escalation of tension at Fort Sumter and two reports of Lincoln's assassination, each set apart by a thick ink border (April 13, 1865, and April 15, 1865). In June and July 1864, Finch traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he recorded his impressions of the heavily-shelled town. Many of the later entries, often brief, pertain to Finch's concerns while working on his farm and vineyard.
Finch also bound newspaper clippings into the volume, and its final pages have instructions for repairing macadam and earthenware. Items laid into the volume include a brief joke and newspaper clippings concerning the Civil War, the election of 1864, and Fabius M. Finch's 50th wedding anniversary.
Horatio Goldsmith Finch was born in Indiana on June 12, 1819, and had at least one brother, Fabius M., who married a woman named Nancy Allen. Finch moved to San Francisco, California, in June 1849, and remained there until sailing for the East Coast in November 1861. During the Civil War, he traveled around the South. Aside from visits to Vicksburg and Corinth, Mississippi, in June and July of 1864, Finch spent the majority of his time in St. Louis, Missouri, and Louisville, Kentucky. He returned to San Francisco after the war and became a farmer. Finch married Mary A. Casebolt on July 4, 1872, and they had one son, Fabius T. Finch. Horatio G. Finch died on August 25, 1893.
