Caroline lived abroad for most of the next 34 years of her life. In 1849, her husband was appointed U.S. Minister to Turkey, a position he held until 1853. During this period, the Marshes, along with George’s son, his niece Maria Buell, and family-friend Caroline Paine, traveled extensively through Turkey, Egypt, the Levant, and Southern Europe, remaining in Greece for several months in part to complete a diplomatic mission there. Caroline returned with the rest of her party to the United States in 1854, residing in Burlington once more until 1861. In that year, her husband was appointed U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of Italy, and the couple traveled to Europe that June in the company of Caroline’s niece, Caroline “Carrie” Crane. While in Italy, the Marshes took several sightseeing trips through northern Italy, southern France, Switzerland, and western Austria. They also moved several times to stay near the capital of Italy, which moved from Turin to Florence in 1865 and then to Rome in 1873. George Perkins Marsh died in 1882 at the Marshes’ home in Vallombrosa, and Caroline returned to the United States the following year, living with her nephew Alexander Crane and other relatives until her death on October 27, 1901.

Throughout her life, Caroline suffered from several health challenges, including strokes, eye ailments, and difficulty walking and sitting for long periods without pain. Before the latter ailments were corrected through surgeries in 1866 and 1873, they hindered her ability to read and move without help, yet they did not prevent her from becoming an accomplished poet and translator or from participating in various philanthropic projects. She learned French, Italian, Swedish, and German by having others read aloud to her, which enabled her to read widely and prodigiously even during periods of near-blindness. In 1856, after mastering the German language, she translated The Hallig or, the Sheepfold in the Waters: A Tale of Humble Life on the Coast of Schleswig by Johann Christoph Biernatzki. Three years later, she published a collection of original poetry, The Wolfe of the Knoll, and other Poems, and later compiled and edited a collection of her husband’s correspondence, which she published as Life and Letters of George Perkins Marsh, Vol. 1 in 1888. During the latter years of her life, she became involved in several charitable ventures: she collected autographs from famous Italians to donate to the U.S. Sanitary Fairs, which supported sick and wounded Union soldiers during the Civil War; she served for many years in Florence as president of the board of managers of the Collegio Ferretti, an orphanage for Protestant Italian girls founded Salvatore Ferretti, and in 1876, she and her husband became the adopted parents of a Swedish toddler, Carlo Rande, who they raised as their own during their final years together in Italy.

Caroline Crane Marsh’s 17 “Italian” diaries (1861-1865) included here document the Marshes’ day-to-day lives during their time in Italy, particularly during their stay in Turin.

Topics include the American Civil War, race and slavery, Catholicism, European political and social relations, British-American political relations, Napoleon III and Second French Empire, King Victor Emmanuel II and Italian politics, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Italian nationalism, religious and funerary practices in Italy, the status and treatment of women in Italy and elsewhere, problems within and interactions between the Italian social classes, the experiences of Protestants, Jews, and rural peasants in Italy; health and medicine in Italy, Italian industries and agricultural practices, the Italian education system, the Italian language, crime and punishment in Italy, Italian fashion and etiquette, tourism and hospitality in Italy and the Alps, popular books and reading habits during the 1860s, George Perkins Marsh’s diplomatic and scholarly activities in Italy, and the everyday experiences of upper and lower-class Italians.

Topics in this diary include tourism and hospitality in Italy and Southern France, education in Italy, communication methods in rural Italy, agriculture and land ownership in Italy and France, foreign enlistment in the American Civil War, crime and punishment in Italy and France, the experiences of the Italian peasantry, erosion and land management in Southern France, French art and architecture, the effects of American Civil War on other countries, divorce in the 19th century, language and accents, diplomatic etiquette, and Christianity, especially Catholicism.

Topics in this diary include Protestantism in Italy, crime in Italy, acquiring and occupying real estate in Italy, music and performance in Italy, the climate and culture in Piobesi, Italian elite’s attitudes towards liberalism, Italian social etiquette, tourism and hospitality in Italy, women’s education and occupations in the 19th century, and Italian and international attitudes towards the United States and the American Civil War.

The international political climate remains unsettled in this diary: political unrest continues across Europe and war seems imminent between England and the United States in the wake of the Trent Affair. The Italian political scene, however, becomes quite turbulent during the period:...

The international political climate remains unsettled in this diary: political unrest continues across Europe and war seems imminent between England and the United States in the wake of the Trent Affair. The Italian political scene, however, becomes quite turbulent during the period: demonstrations in favor of national unification break out across Italy, the Italian ministry is dissolved, Bettino Ricasoli steps down, and Urbano Rattazzi becomes the new prime minister. Throughout all of this, the Marshes stay in Turin and continue to meet Italian elites and foreign nationals, including Rosa Arbesser, governess to Princess Margherita of Savoy. They also renew their acquaintance with Hungarian exile Lajos Kossuth and his family. The Marshes attend several political and social gatherings during this period and play their part in the Doria-Benedetti feud, “the social revolt against France” by the Torinese elites.

Topics in this diary include the status and problems of Italian women, the role of women in marriage and society in the 19th century, Italian marriages and the influence of the Catholic church on marriage, education in Italy, the etiquette of Italian royalty and elites, Catholicism, and the celebration of Carnival in Italy.

Topics in this diary include Italian agriculture, tourism and hospitality in Italy and the Alps, gossip and etiquette in Italian high society, renting and occupying real estate in Italy, King Victor Emmanuel, the experiences of the Italian peasantry, nineteenth-century attitudes towards insanity, nineteenth-century (American) Independence Day celebrations, expatriate attitudes towards the American Civil War, and the treatment of American soldiers during the Civil War. This diary covers several topics relating to religion, as well, including Irish Catholicism, the Pope, the overlap between Church and State in Italy, Catholic attitudes towards Protestantism, conversion, and religious celebrations.

Topics in this diary include charity in Italy, relations between the Italian social classes, etiquette in Italy, Italian royalty and nobility, death, grief, and memorialization in Italy; Italy’s literary circle, Italian art, spiritualism, democracy, slavery in the United States, and Catholicism.

Topics in this diary include tourism and hospitality in Italy and the Alps, agriculture and rural industry in Italy, Italian court etiquette, relations between the Italian social classes, Italian marriages, Mexican politics, the Crimean War, and the effects of the American Civil War on Italy. This diary also covers several topics relating to religion in Italy, including persecution, legal protection, religious neutrality in diplomacy, religious celebrations, charitable works, and religious orders.

Topics in this diary including renting and occupying real estate in Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, medical care in Italy, charity work in Italy, Italian funerary practices, English politics and diplomacy, reading habits in the nineteenth century, nineteenth-century attitudes towards Jews, Wallachia (Romania), Catholicism, etiquette, the Suez Canal, and the Taiping Rebellion.

Topics in this diary include Giuseppe Garibaldi, renting and occupying real estate in Italy, Italian art and architecture, Italian etiquette, Italian marriages, the education of women in the 19th century, tourism in Italy, the culture, climate, and industries in Genoa; Italian agricultural practices, public religious celebrations, the “Roman Question,” Christianity among the English and their attitudes towards Catholicism, crime and punishment in Italy, and Caroline Crane Marsh’s reasons for keeping a diary.

On January 30, 1779, Kent married Lydia Sheldon and the couple had several children. Kent died in Dorset on January 9, 1813.

The first part of Kent’s diary details his religious experiences between the ages of 12 and 21, while the remainder describes his participation in the Continental Army’s campaign into Canada in 1775, especially the Siege of Fort St. Jean (“St. Johns”).