This collection comprises fourteen diaries, 1902 to 1929, written by John W. Gates, a dairy farmer from Madison County, NY. Gates was also a New York state Assemblyman in 1925 and 1926, and a state Senator from 1927 to 1932. The diaries recount activities of the farm, meetings attended as an elected official, and family and business trips. A 1922 book contains accounts for fuel. Three bank account books and loose documents from 1864 to 1897 belonged to Daniel Gates, John W. Gates' grandfather.