Signed by author, a member of the Hempstead family and an author
The Joshua Hempsted House, built in 1678, is a frame building in New London, Connecticut. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Connecticut Landmarks operates the house and the adjacent 1759 Nathaniel Hempsted House as a historic house museum known as the Hempsted Houses. The houses have been restored to reflect a late 17th to mid 18th-century appearance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Hempsted_House
Joshua Hempstead (1678-1758) was born in New London, Connecticut. Farmer, surveyor, carpenter, gravestone cutter, and famous New England diarist, Hempstead began keeping a diary on September 8, 1711, and continued it for almost 50 years until November 3, 1758, a month and a half before his death.
The diary was first published in 1901 by the New London Historical Society. The surviving part of the diary covers 47 years, from September of 1711 through early November of 1758. In its printed form it is about 700 pages long. Because of its thoroughness and the daily nature of its entries, it is an important source of information about colonial life.
http://connecticuthistory.org/joshua-hempstead-diary-a-window-into-colonial-connecticut/