The OHIO HISTORICAL Quarterly
VOLUME 65 ?? NUMBER 1 ?? JANUARY 1956
From England to Ohio, 1830-1832:
The Journal of Thomas K.
Wharton
Edited by JAMES H. RODABAUGH
This is the journal of an immigrant boy
who came from his
native England to the United States in
1830 and lived for nearly
two years in Ohio. It was transcribed by
the author in 1854 and here
and there recollections were added. It
is an interesting journal for
several reasons: It relates in detail
the story of the journey from
the Humber to Ohio and gives colorful
descriptions of the country-
side and of life in this country and in
this state 125 years ago. Its
author enlarged the value of his written
record by including on its
pages a series of competent drawings of
many points of interest on
his trip and scenes and structures that
caught his eye during his stay
in Ohio. It was written by a lad only
sixteen years old when the
journey began and but eighteen when he
left Ohio, a remarkably
perceptive youth, however, with a broad
knowledge which sharpened
his appreciation of new experiences.
The journal reproduced here is part of a
manuscript volume cover-
ing four years from May 3, 1830, to
October 15, 1834, and including,
besides the record of the journey from
England and the residence in
Ohio, the diary of two years spent in
New York.
Thomas Kelah Wharton, our journalist and
artist, was born in
Hull, April 17, 1814. His father was a
general merchant and ship
owner, who, having suffered reverses in
his business, decided to
move to the United States. He came to
this country in 1829, acquired
a 180-acre farm at the south edge of
Piqua, Ohio, and sent for his
family.
Thomas, his mother, and his three
brothers and two sisters set