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This is a transcription of the diary belonging to Samuel W. Jones of Schenectady, which traces the growth and development of the Schenectady region and the nation as a whole as well as Jones' personal life from 1821-1855. The Jones Diary can be divide into roughly two segments. The first section (ca. 1822-45) is dominated by country and state politics; the second, (ca. 1845-55), with personal observations on the weather and his family. The diary reveals a great deal about the nature and direction of state and local politics, as well as the development and improvement of transportation and communication through railroad development and the telegraph. The diary also contains a great deal of family and personal history as he details the births, deaths, marriages, visits, and travels of friends and family.