Book excerpt: Calvin Fletcher, born in Vermont in 1798, came to Indiana from Ohio in 1821, and in the next forty-five years made a fortune, raised eleven children, and was a pillar of the community. This pioneer Indianapolis lawyer, banker, and philanthropist kept a diary for most of his long life, and in it he recorded both the growth of his family and his community. Whether complaining, criticizing, observing shrewdly, or agonizing, Fletcher emerges as both a complex and unforgettable human being. Each of the set's nine volumes has a preface, chronology, and index. Volume nine includes a cumulative index.