Diary kept by Jennie Bessie Gowdy (later Simons) when she was a teenager living in Waukegan, Illinois and Saugatuck, Michigan. Topics include her studies, boarding with the Thurstons family and meeting other friends and teachers, her health and the weather, her parents, and Sabbath school and religion, as well as daily tasks.

Diary entries are infrequent over a span of two years. Cover missing. First few pages appear to be a writing exercise. Diary came with a note stating "The diary of our precious mother."