Maintenance worker writes page in antique diary's history

Instead of going about his relatively mundane task of changing light bulbs one week ago, Tom Brennan stumbled upon a 200-year-old diary -- and now, because of his discovery, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is $1,000 richer. Brennan, a maintenance worker for University City Associates, found the diary in a duffel bag on a radiator inside the 4003 Pine Street apartment building last Monday. Dating back to the early 19th century, the diary is the work of Deborah Logan, wife of a descendant of Philadelphian James Logan, who was a merchant and friend of William Penn. Cory Luxmoore, a descendant of Logan's, recently brought the diary to the United States from England with the intention of donating it to the Library Company of Philadelphia. Luxmoore, however, left the duffel bag containing the diary in a cab as he went back to his hotel. Luxmoore, who felt "really sick" when realizing the diary was misplaced, called all the local cab companies, with no success. Losing hope of ever seeing the diary again, he contacted The Philadelphia Inquirer for possible help in trying to find it. How the bag got from the cab to the building is still unknown. Unsure of what significance the diary held, Brennan showed the diary to Ruth Ann Ricci, a colleague at UCA who collects antiques. Noticing that the diary was written with a quill pen, Ricci searched for the owner of the diary, even doing research on the book at the Free Library of Philadelphia. "It certainly piqued my interest of local history," said Ricci, adding that she started to realize that the diary was important and needed to be stored in a safe place. But when Brennan and Ricci read Wednesday's Inquirer article on the diary, the mystery had been solved. "Deborah Logan's diary is one of the most important women's diaries of the early 19th century," explained John Van Horne, librarian at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Van Horne added that the diary contains her recollections of meetings with George Washington, as well as her recounting of the burning of Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. Known as "Saucy Debbie" for her wit, Logan also included thoughts on politics and domestic service. In a ceremony on Friday at the Library Company, Brennan received his $1,000 reward for returning the diary, which he then said he would donate to CHOP. "I just thought they could use it better than I could," Brennan said. "This is a great day for the Library Company and a great day in Philadelphia history," Van Horne noted. The Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, is America's oldest public library. The library, located at 1314 Locust Street, contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Early American literature and is the only major colonial American library that survived virtually intact. The Logan diary adds to the half-million printed volumes in the Library Company's collections and will be part of the company's collection of James Logan and his descendants.