Inventor Name
Pittman, Levi
Repository
Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
804-692-3500
http://www.lva.lib.va.us/
Physical Description
7 leaves
Summary
Seventeen of the original eighteen bound volumes of diaries, as well as letters and Bible records which belong to Levi Pittman's wife Rachel Windle Pitman are located at: University of Virginia, Alderman Library, Manuscript Division. Levi Pittman, the son of Emanuel Pitman (1772-1850) and his wife Esther Funkhouser (1777-1853), was born on 6 September 1807 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, where he lived until his death in 1892. He married Rachel Windle (d. 1893) in 1845. He was a tinker, repairing clocks and musical instruments, as well as extracting teeth. He created many labor saving items and successfully obtained patents on several inventions, including an apple corer and a cherry seeder. He designed and fitted artificial limbs. Pitman was also an ardent Union sympathizer. Includes typed transcripts of a letter dated 26 March 1830, and abstracts of diaries written from 1844 to 1893 with genealogical notes (7 leaves) on the major family members. Pitman recorded his daily activities in these diaries. The abstracts leave out most routine observation on weather, concentrating on recording deaths, births, and weddings in Shenandoah County, Pittman's work activities and inventions, and observations on elections and church meetings. There is frequent mention of former county residents and family members who have moved or are planning to remove to other states. The war years, despite the missing volume, provide much information on the battles in the Valley of Virginia and citizen activities and Hardships brought on by the civil strife. Pittman's pro-Union sympathies are reflected throughout. A detailed picture of life in Shenadoah County -- both social and economic -- is provided in these diary abstracts that cover the later half of the 19th century.