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Start Over Collection Henry Toler Diary, 1782/1786 Date range 1791
College of William and Mary

Henry Toler Diary, 1782/1786

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This small diary was kept by Henry Toler from December 21, 1782 through October 20, 1783 and from April 21 through November 6, 1786. The diary begins with Toler leaving Philadelphia, where he had received his training as a minister, and traveling back home to Virginia, where he took up the life of an itinerant Baptist preacher. Funding for his education and his first horse had been provided by Baptist-convert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, whom Toler frequently visited. Toler rode circuit through Tidewater and Piedmont Virginia, from the Lower Peninsula to Northern Neck and as far west as Goochland and Louisa counties. The 1786 section of the diary includes the establishment of a church in Westmoreland County, where Toler became a more settled minister.

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Diary and transcription, 1782/1993 Box MsV Box 142, Folder 1

Toler begins his diary as he is preparing to leave Philadelphia and take up his career as an itinerant Baptist preacher in Virginia. His education had been funded by Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, who also provided the horse Toler rode from Philadelphia and on his circuits in Virginia. Toler records his travels and the occasions when he preached or heard other preachers, usually citing the Biblical texts of the sermons. He often notes the doubts, anxieties, and hopes that occupy him as he pursues his career. In 1786 he helps establish a church at Nomini in Westmoreland County, where he becomes a more settled minister. His first child is born. 4 x 6 in., with a loose, paper cover. A few pages are missing, and the section covering 1786 begins and ends in mid-sentence. Accompanying the diary are issue 31 (1992) and issue 32 (1993) of The Virginia Baptist Register, containing a two-part transcription of Toler's diary.

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