The author, James Chrystie (b. 1811), was the second son of Adden Nicholson Chrystie and Rev. James W. Chrystie. Describes in some detail a trip by stage from Newburgh, New York to the Fews' residence in New York City. On the following day Chrystie, accompanied by his uncle Albert Gallatin, visits with several professors at Columbia College, to discuss his entrance examinations. Alludes to the death of his mother, on 28 December 1828: "I went out to see Grand mother i. e., Frances Witter Nicholson to day, she was much distressed at the time I was there, and expressed a great deal of sympathy with you & the boys, she very frequently mentioned her darling, and favorite child, saying those words."