In 2021, local historian Larry B. Keech called the Portsmouth Athenaeum with a simple question. 

Would the Athenaeum be interested in a digital transcription of a set of more than 40 diaries penned by local resident Supply Foss Trefethen? 

These diaries recorded day-to-day life in Rye and Portsmouth spanning the 50 years from 1856 to 1907. They capture events from the mundane to the notable: notes on the local weather; births, deaths, and marriages of friends and family; working at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; references to shipwrecks; and commentary on local and national politics —  including assassinations, executions and the Civil War. 

So, absolutely yes, the Athenaeum was interested.

Who is Supply Foss Trefethen?

Supply Foss Trefethen, a resident of Rye, was born in 1833 and died in 1907. He wore many hats: son, brother, husband, father, shipwright, house builder, carpenter, farmer, landlord and politician among others. 

He saw the change at the Navy Yard from wooden ships to ironclads in the 1860s and steel or iron ships required by the Navy in the 1880s.