by Scarlett Hoey
“April 19, 1775–This day our men are alarmed to go down to Concord to fight with the army that is come to take our Stores…” Thus reports the diary of colonial Sudbury (modern Wayland and Sudbury) resident Experience [Wight] Richardson (1705-1786). This firsthand account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord is just one example from her writing, which describes several revolutionary events leading up to and following “the shot heard ‘round the world.”
This year, when towns across America and many individual historic sites will launch celebrations for America 250, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, the words of Experience Richardson remind us of the importance of first-hand historic documents.
A transcribed copy of Experience Richardson’s diary is part of the collections of the Wayland Museum & Historical Society and acts as a memento mori, urging the reader to reflect on our own relationship to our community, the world, and our own mortality.
Experience started writing her diary at the age of 23, and she continued writing into her late 70s. The journal touches on a wide range of topics, including religious struggles, the enslavement of Zilpah and Dinah, the weather, childbirth, and news of military engagements.
She notes natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, and in January of 1780 she even writes: “We have as terrible storme of snow as ever I knew taket every way for there is one Great snow upon another and it keps coming still.” Experience takes care to mark her “birth-day” many years in a row (“This day is my birth day and now I am seaventy five years old”) and she contemplates mortality–her own, and that of many who were dear to her.
For caretakers of this document at the Wayland Museum & Historical Society, the diary is particularly intriguing, because it presents the voice of a woman living in a very different time, but in the same area near the same river that still flows northward a few hundred yards from our museum.
Historians know that while the past is history, history is not just the past, and it is impossible for us to read the observations of Experience Richardson without thinking about our own observations of our world today, and how different are the sources that shape our perceptions. Future historians will have the daunting task of exploring the records of Instagram and TikTok alongside more traditional documentation like diaries, journals, and print media like this local newspaper. While the inputs will certainly change, the urge to document one’s life and surroundings is likely to remain a constant. It is, after all, older than written language itself.
When typing out your next post, or dictating to Alexa, perhaps consider how a future historian might use it to understand life back in 2025.
The Wayland Museum & Historical Society is fortunate to hold a transcribed copy of Experience Richardson’s diary, as well as a multitude of cultural belongings and objects that tell the story of Wayland–past, present, and eventually, future.
The museum is an independent 501(c)3 and operates from the Grout-Heard House, the c.1740s yellow house next to the library. All are invited to visit the museum, which is open Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 9:30 a.m.-noon, or by appointment at info@waylandmuseum.org or 508-358-7959.
Visit our website for upcoming events, including Jane Sciacca’s talk on Feb. 26 and the Musicians of the Old Post Road performance on March 8. Explore our website (waylandmuseum.org), follow us on Facebook, and share reflections on life in Wayland that connect our shared past to our present and future.
Scarlett Hoey is the executive director of the Wayland Museum & Historical Society.
