Ohio History Journal

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

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sail from Hull on May 3, 1830, on the three-masted packet ship

Diana. Sailing north along the coasts of England and Scotland, the

little ship passed through the Pentland Firth and crossed the North

Atlantic. Just one month after leaving Hull the Whartons disem-

barked at New York City, where they visited until July 1 before

leaving for the West.

They traveled up the Hudson on a packet barge towed by steam-

boat, over the Erie Canal by canal boat from Albany to Buffalo, and

across Lake Erie by steamboat to Sandusky, Ohio, where Thomas'

father met them on July 11. Crossing the rough roads of northern

Ohio by carriage, they arrived at their Piqua home on July 17.

There they spent a bit more than a year, when Father Wharton,

tiring of the experiment in farming, sold his farm in the fall of 1831

and began a search for a more suitable occupation. The family spent

the winter in Dayton and Springfield and moved to Columbus the

last of February. Early in April they moved to Zanesville, where

Father Wharton had rented a home and purchased a "large ware-

house" for a wholesale business. There the family settled down.

Thomas, however, stayed but a month, when he returned to New

York City to study architecture with Martin E. Thompson and live

with the Thompson family at 24 Howard Street. The portion of the

journal reproduced here stops with Wharton's return to New York.

In the summer of 1832 cholera struck New York, and Wharton

moved up the Hudson River, where he visited for four months in

the homes of Dr. David Hosack, the eminent New York physician

and scientist, who had a large estate at Hyde Park; Colonel Syl-

vanus Thayer, superintendent of West Point Military Academy;

and Gouverneur Kemble, owner of the West Point Foundry. Whar-

ton also visited the West Point and Hyde Park area at other times

in the next two years, and became acquainted with a number of

notable persons, including General Winfield Scott, Thomas Sully,

and Washington Irving.

He returned to New York the latter part of November 1832 to

study and to teach drawing and design at the Rev. William A.

Muhlenberg's Institute (later St. Paul's College) at Flushing, Long

Island. He was located there when he concluded his journal in the

fall of 1834.

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON           3

 

In 1840 Wharton became a partner of the Rev. Francis L. Hawks

in the establishment of St. Thomas Hall at Flushing. That school

folded in 1843, and in 1844 Hawks and Wharton started a school

at Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 1845 Wharton married a daughter

of Judge Huling of Holly Springs, and moved to New Orleans,

where he worked as an architect. Two buildings known to have been

designed by Wharton were Christ's Church, built about 1847, and

Steel Chapel, a Methodist church, built in 1850.

He also became associated with the construction of the New

Orleans Custom House, first as "an active agent in forwarding this

great public work," and later, in 1848, as secretary of the board

of custom house commissioners.¹ In the latter position he worked

under Major Pierre G. T. Beauregard, who was named chairman

of the board in 1851 and later served as supervisor of construction.

Wharton's first wife died in 1848 and in 1851 he married Emily J.

Ladd, the very young daughter of a New Hampshire couple who

had moved to New Orleans, by whom he had two sons, Prescott and

Thomas.

In 1853 Wharton took a leave of absence from his work because

of poor health, and made a six-months' trip to the East to visit old

haunts, friends, and relatives. He and Emily traveled by boat up the

Mississippi, crossed by railroad to Chicago and Toledo, sailed to

Buffalo on a lake steamer, and continued by rail to eastern points.

On their return they took a boat down the Ohio and Mississippi,

stopping to visit Wharton's sister Emily at Cincinnati and brother

Robert at Madison, Indiana.

Thomas continued his service on the construction of the custom

house, which stopped with the outbreak of the war in 1861. He lived

but one more year, dying in his adopted city in 1862.

He is described as "a man of culture, refinement & polished ad-

dress." He was tall and well proportioned and had a "fine face &

figure." His interest in nature, which is displayed in the accom-

panying journal, continued throughout his life. He was an ardent

diarist, and seven volumes of his diaries, covering the years 1830-34

and 1853-62, are preserved in the New York Public Library.

Wharton retained his interest in art also to the end of his life.

1 Daily True Delta (New Orleans), February 16, 1856.

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4    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Everywhere he went he made pictorial records, inserting many

sketches in his journals. He also did numerous drawings in pencil,

India ink, sepia, water color, and oil. Many of these were done for

friends, while others were made for printing and sale. During his

two-year residence in Ohio he produced a series of twelve wash

drawings, of which six are of scenes in or near Piqua, two are of

scenes in Troy, three are of scenes in Dayton, and one is of a scene

in Columbus. The New York Public Library has nearly one hundred

of Wharton's drawings and paintings, in addition to the sketches

in the several journals. Among these, besides the drawings made in

Ohio in the 1830's, are two drawings done at the mouth of the

Maumee River in the summer of 1853 and nine Ohio River scenes

done in the fall of that year.

In 1854 Wharton transcribed his diary of 1830-34, in the main

apparently with little emendation but with some added reminis-

cences. The drawings in this journal were copied by Wharton from

sketches made on his journeys of those early years in this country.

A comparison of the drawings in the journal with original sketches

made in the early 1830's reveals that the copies were reproduced

faithfully.

Some slight alterations have been made in bringing the manu-

script journal to the printed page. For the sake of ease of reading,

the ever-present dash has frequently been replaced by a period or

comma, whichever seemed called for, and the initial letters of new

sentences thus formed, capitalized. Some new paragraphing has been

done, and, more rarely, commas have been added where none appear

in the manuscript. Dates have been carried from the margin to the

center of the text and italicized. The drawings have been reproduced

separately, in order to achieve good reproductions. Otherwise, the

journal appears as much as possible like the original.

The diary of 1830-34 was acquired in 1919 by the New York

Public Library from Mrs. Wharton, who had moved to New York

after her husband's death and died there in 1932 at the age of 97.

It is reproduced through the courtesy of the library and with grati-

tude for the assistance of the staffs of the manuscripts and prints

divisions of that library.

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6    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

 

The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton, 1830-1832

 

In the middle of April my mother had completed her preparations

for rejoining my Father who had left England for the United States,

the previous year; and had purchased a farm at Piqua on the Gt.

Miami in Ohio and was now all ready to receive us. Accordingly

we engaged staterooms on the Packet Barque Diana, Capt. Sugden,

for New York-my mother, myself, brothers Henry, Robert I.,

Charles A. and sisters Marianne and Emily M.

May 3, 1830

On Monday May 3rd we said our last farewell and went on board.

The partings were the more painful as but few of our friends were

reconciled to our leaving our native land, and many of them strongly

opposed it. My mother, however, considered it the path of duty and

the rest of us who were old enough to know anything were buoyed

up by the prospect of seeing distant lands, and I, being the oldest,

tho but 15 [16] felt proud of my new responsibility.

At 3 P.M. we left the Hull pier-head and sailed down the Humber

with a moderate breeze but somewhat against us so that we had to

tack frequently. The wind freshened as we approached the mouth

of the River and we were outside the Spurn Head Lights before

midnight. Here our Pilot left us.1 The canvass [sic] swelled and

whitened in the clear moonlight and wafted us further and further

from the "loved ones" left behind, perhaps for ever.

May 4

At sunrise we were under the lofty cliffs of Flambro' [Flam-

borough Head] shining like snow wreaths in the pure sunlight and

the deep blue ocean still slumbering at their feet--myriads of sea

fowl hovering around their summits and the vast Bay on their rear

losing itself in the uniform brightness of the heavens.

We kept close in shore, and the coast as it passed in review be-

came every instant more and more interesting to us. What recol-

1 At this point the ship sailed northward along the coasts of England and Scotland.

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON           7

 

lections of the past came crowding upon us as one familiar point

after another rose successively before us! The Promontory and its

lighthouse--Filey Bay--Oliver's Mount--Scarbro' [Scarborough]

Castle and the well known purple heaths of Silpho' and Suffield.

We passed Whitby late in the afternoon and as the day declined the

shore sunk gradually away, and we saw our dear native land for the

last time just as the latest ray lit up for a moment the line of cliffs

that still appeared above the horizon. The ship thro' the day had

scarce any perceptible motion yet a certain languor warned us of

coming sickness. We had but one fellow passenger in the cabin, a

Mr. Stanley from the West Riding, but were in a few days joined by

a Mr. Boyd, a man of delicate frame, and wholly unfitted for the

privations of the Steerage in which were from 70 to 80 persons.

May 5

Early in the morning we were abreast of fair Montrose sailing

easily along the coast of Scotland. At 11 within 5 miles of Peter-

head, showing a fine spread of houses and two spired churches.

Southward the land has an easy slope to the ocean till it reaches the

town and lighthouse of Buchanness [Buchan Ness] where it be-

comes bold and rocky. Far in the interior to the northwest rise the

insulated summits of the Mormond Hills and relieve the sandy

level between Peterhead and Kinnairds Head Lighthouse, at which

last point the land again withdrew until evening brought us in sight

of the shadowy mountains of Caithness.

It now turned cold and windy and the waves swept by as dark as

midnight with foam specks of the purest white where they parted

at our bows. I retired early and missed the renowned John o'Groat's

House² and Duncansby Head which we passed by moonlight.

May 6

We cleared the Pentland Firth in the night--the most dangerous

point in the whole voyage--a region of storms and tempests, and a

wild volume of waters, pent up between the rocks of Scotland and

the barren Orkneys alternately rushing thro' from the German Ocean

2 According to legend, John o'Groat, a Dutchman, built his octagonal house with

eight doors and furnished it with an eight-sided dining table, in order to prevent dis-

putes over precedence in his family.

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8    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

to the Atlantic and back again. We were fortunate in having both

wind and tide in our favour but those who stayed on deck say the

surges were perfectly terrific, and it was indeed a fearful sight to

see how they whirled us by the frowning precipices of Caithness.

The violent motion kept me awake nearly all night, tossing from

side to side of my berth, and conjuring up images of "Norna of

the Fitful Head" and her mis-shapen sprite--the shades of Ossian--

the uncouth offspring of mists and whirlwind. My mother now be-

gan a severe course of seasickness which continued with little in-

termission to the end of the voyage. It bore very hard upon me, too,

for a full fortnight from this time often confining me to my berth

the livelong day, and even after I was pretty well over it, a little

extra motion seldom failed to bring on a relapse. What dreary days,

and wakeful nights of sufferring [sic]!, but the assiduous kindness of

Capt. Sugden and his Steward greatly alleviated our forlorn con-

dition, and every comfort was provided for us from their ample

stores.

My brothers were but little affected and Marianne escaped en-

tirely. Little Emily, however, had occasional attacks but they were

soon over. Poor Boyd was a pitiable object, but Stanley enjoyed

himself quite as much as if on shore.

May 8

On Saturday afternoon, feeling a little better, I went upon deck

and saw the hazy mountains of [the Isle of] Lewis--murky clouds

above--wild, crested waves around--barren ridges before us and

rocks forever washed by driving mists and the vexed ocean. There

were the savage Hebrides of which the Flannan Islands soon lay

close under our lee bow--the most remote of the whole group--

seven surf-beaten, craggy islets whitened over with myriads of Solan

geese, sea mews and storm birds, but human inhabitants there were

none. Nothing could be more desolate, yet it was sad to see them

dwindle away to mere specks on the horizon. They were to us the

last of European earth, and we were now fairly embarked on the

trackless ocean, and emphatically cast upon his Providence "whom

winds and sea obey."

For some days after we left the Western Isles the wind blew

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            9

 

strong & fair, keeping our canvass regularly filled and bearing us

onward at the rate of 7 to 9 miles per hour by the log. Variable

weather succeeded, and frequent change of wind, sometimes bright,

clear days, sometimes cloudy, but always very cold, as we sailed in

high latitudes for a wind, and at one time Greenland was our

nearest shore. Little occurred to break the monotony of the ocean.

Vessels occasionally came within hailing distance mostly bound to

American ports. Our barque, however, being a rapid sailer we rarely

remained long in company, sail after sail soon sunk away under the

horizon behind us. Sea gulls, boatswains and stormy petrels followed

in our wake and hovered around the shrouds--and we once

thought we saw a whale--indeed "'Twas very like a whale." But

we were not South enough for the Dolphins, Albacores and Flying

Fish which I had always associated with an Atlantic voyage. Our

accommodations were excellent--every thing clean & orderly--the

cabin and staterooms very comfortable, and the provisions abundant

and of the best quality.

Good order & good humor prevailed in every Department of the

Vessel. Capt.Sugden's gentlemanly bearing and strength of character

made themselves uniformly felt throughout the voyage. Every body

liked him, and every body respected him, and Ratliff, the steward,

was unwearied in his attentions. In short, in spite of sea sickness,

and the weariness of sea-life our time upon the whole passed cheer-

fully and pleasantly enough.

May 20

On the 20th we were on the Banks of Newfoundland, the sea

fell calm, and a dense fog settled down upon us for several hours.

The mate took advantage of it for cod fishing. He hung out two

lines astern baited at first with pieces of meat, afterwards with the

fleshy part of muscles taken from the fish. Some 30 noble fellows

were soon floundering upon deck. Part were distributed in the

steerage and the rest gave a delightful variety to our meals as long

as they remained fresh.

A day to two after, at noon, land was distinctly visible in the

West--it proved to be the Bay of St. Mary['s], Newfoundland.

The weather being very fair, Capt. Sugden determined to gratify us

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10    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

with a good view of it. Accordingly by 7 P.M. he ran in the ship

within 3/4 of a mile from shore. The scene was too impressive ever

to be forgotten--the sky all gold & crimson and the rocky, iron

bound coast, rising into lofty crags and furrowed with dark ravines,

stretched over the whole western horizon, glowing with the richest

purple, and borrowing a lustre and a beauty from the sky, denied

to its intrinsic barrenness. But it was our first view of America, and

"Arcady" itself could hardly have awakened more intense interest

than did these stony peaks and sea worn precipices. After approach-

ing as near as prudence would admit we stood off to sea again--

and I continued walking the deck till

"Twilight gray

had in her sober livery all things clad."

The splendid tincture of evening gradually faded out, the coast line

melted away, and nothing remained but the wild waves around us

and the stars one by one lighting up their lamps in the heavens

above.

May 30

On Sunday the 30th the air was filled with dense steamy vapour,

and as we were near the shoals of Nantucket there was no little

apprehension on board, but the Capt. and all hands were on the

alert, and by the time the mists cleared away we were beyond the

reach of danger from that quarter. Early the next morning the

shores of Long Island were clearly visible to the north and remained

in sight for some hours.

June 2

We had strong hopes that the 2nd of June would have closed

our voyage but the wind and weather were so foul that before even-

ing Capt. Sugden was compelled to stand out to sea again. It

changed, however, early in the night, and never shall I forget my

joyful surprise when I went upon deck at sunrise on the 3rd of June.

The cold gloomy skies and sombre waters of the preceding week

were suddenly exchanged for the purest sunlight and the sweetest

coast scenery I ever beheld. The Highlands of Neversink3 lay at the

 

3 The Navesink, or Atlantic, Highlands on the New Jersey coast.

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            11

distance of but a few hundred yards, and O! how glorious were their

glossy piles of velvet foliage and the rich green intervals of pasture

land, after the dull leaden mantle of sea and sky. Two white light-

houses gleamed among the trees on the tip of the ridge, and a broad

belt of clean sand lay between the woodland and the waves. This

beach runs out northward into the ocean and terminates in a narrow

tongue of land named Sandy Hook on which are other lighthouses.

Beyond this appeared the swelling hills of Staten Island, then the

"Narrows" forming the entrance to the Bay of New York, and

dividing Staten from Long Island whose diversified shores closed the

view along the northern horizon. In beating up the channel we were

passed by American packet ships Columbia & Charlemagne just

leaving port under a press of canvass for London and Havre.

At 2 P.M. we entered the "Narrows"--Semicircular batteries on

both sides to guard the Bay, and on the high bluff shore of Staten

Island a telegraphic station to signalize vessels arriving off Sandy

Hook and carry their names to the observatory on the top of the

New York Exchange. The Bay now lay spread out before us in all

its magic beauty--northward the spires and buildings of the city--

to the west a range of anil [sic] mountains in the State of New

Jersey--Long Island to the East with its thick groves of oak, and

elms, its avenues of spiry Poplars, its orchards and farm lands,

dotted with white houses and country seats--and immediately under

our eye the picturesque shores of Staten Island and spacious build-

ings of the Quarantine Institution near which we anchored to

undergo inspection.

The land on this side the Island rises gently from the Bay until

it reaches the height of 300 feet which makes it a very conspicuous

and characteristic feature in the Bay scenery. The buildings around

the Quarantine Station, and connected with it, are quite numerous,

and the principal one large and elegant--pure white--with Grecian

collonades [sic] and cupola, and surrounded by a beautiful sloping

lawn planted chiefly with the Weeping Willow which in this con-

genial climate grows with a luxuriance unknown in our chilly Isles.

Then there were Islands, too, breaking the glossy evenness of the

Bay, and the sky above was as pure as a crysolite [sic] and the air

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12   THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

soft and balmy. Summer hues of intense brilliance lit up the fields

and gardens, and the houses looked clean and cheery. It was indeed,

like entering a "New World" for when we left our own beautiful

Island the bleakness of winter still hung over it, and since then

storms and tempests have been our companions so that language

cannot tell how charming every thing around us now appeared.

The Doctor soon came on board, and complimented the ship highly

on her general condition and the healthy appearances of the pas-

sengers & crew, and dismissed us without further detention. We

immediately weighed and set sail towards the city, every one upon

deck, dressed in their best, and gazing with all their eyes at the

objects before us--the steamers, the trim, light rigged vessels, a

thousand interesting details along the shore--Governor's Island with

its military works at the mouth of East River, and the "Bedloe's"

Island towards the Jersey coast--but above all the City--the Island

City--now clearly defined and gradually filling up the field of view

until at 4 P.M. we brought to in the East River at a few rods dis-

tance from the Quay.

An hour after, my mother, Capt. Sugden and I got into the boat

and in a few minutes landed at the Old Slip⁴ in the midst of the

busy crowd. The Captain took us first to the Post Office to see if

there were letters from my Father awaiting our arrival, but there

were none so we hastened up Broadway to Beekman Street, to the

boarding house of Mr. Thomas Slocum, according to my Father's

instructions. We quickly made ourselves known and were warmly

welcomed by our new friends, who at once installed us into ex-

cellent quarters until we should receive intelligence from the in-

terior. In walking up Broadway we were much struck with the

general character of the buildings, the handsome stores, spacious

hotels, old Trinity & St. Paul's and above all the rich Corinthian

and Ionic of the City Hall, and the fine green park around it re-

lieving its snowy marble, the weeping willows, too, in the church

yards, and in the streets the light and elegant carriages, some showy

equipages, and a constant stream of busy looking, fast walking

 

4 At the foot of William Street.

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            13

 

people--such a contrast to the inactive quietness of our ship's deck,

and so much that was new and strange.

I returned to the Quay for my brothers and sisters and at 7 o'clock

we all sat down to an excellent supper, highly delighted with our

American friends, and full of gratitude to the Supreme for having

led us safely thro' the dangers of the uncertain ocean.

In the evening Mr. Russell Coggeshall of Newport kindly asked

Henry & myself to walk down with him to the Battery garden, a

pleasant summer's evening promenade, laid out in walks and grass

plots and planted with noble trees. The clear waters of the Bay

sparkle around its sea wall, and the pure sea-breeze whispers among

the leaves. It takes its name from the semicircular Battery advanced

into the Bay, and connected with the garden by a bridge, the whole

forming the vertex of the triangle on which the city stands. The

Fort has been converted into a place of amusement, with a fine band

& fireworks for the entertainment of the citizens, who flock here in

crowds after the business of the day is over, and the heat abated.

It was late when we returned up Broadway which looked as if

it were lit up for some great holiday, and the gay concourse still

pressing onward. By this time the excitement of the day began to

tell upon us and we looked forward with pleasure to a sound night's

rest on shore. But alas! I was hardly in my first sleep, when we were

suddenly aroused by the most fiendish noises and outcries of "fire,

fire," and the jangling of all the bells in the City. I jumped up and

ran to the windows where I soon found from the talk of the people

beneath that the fire was at some distance. And the uproar soon

ceased again, but it was so unexpected and so different from the

quiet way in which those things are managed where we came from

that it effectually broke our rest for that night. Nor did we ever get

fully reconciled to the frenzy and fury of a "New York fire" during

the whole of our stay in the city. Fires were frequent, and I soon

learned to wonder at the skill and courage shown by the firemen in

the management of their admirable engines.

Week after week passed away like hours in the charming city,

and we saw every thing that was worth seeing in New York and

its immediate neighbourhood. Our kind New England friend named

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14     THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

above was the constant companion of our long rambles, and while

he remained in the city spent the most of his time in showing Henry

and myself such objects as he thought would interest us--The Amer-

ican Museum, the apartments and fine pictures of the City Hall,

various places of public amusement and historical association, and

the Navy Yard at Brooklyn.⁵ He took us on board the ship of war,

"United States," and the "Vincennes" frigate, which last had just

returned from a cruise round the world, and brought intelligence

of great interest from the Islands of the Pacific. One of the marines

made me a handsome present of shells and other curiosities from

the Tropics, a slip of the willow from Napoleon's grave, &c, just

because he heard that I was a fellow countryman. The generous

attentions of Mr. Coggeshall made a deep impression upon us. In-

deed we met with nothing but kindness from every one around us.

Every day too, new objects of interest attracted us either within the

city or in its beautiful environs--and all appearing to the best ad-

vantage as the season was very fine with a sky seldom varying its

brightness and to us unusual warmth, and shedding over the sur-

rounding scenery that weird and dreamy loveliness which I had

hitherto regarded as a mere phantasy of the Poets.

There were the charming Bay views from Brooklyn Heights, es-

pecially from the fine grounds of Mr. Pierrepont⁶ at the head of

Willow Street. Then there were the groves and gardens and

meadows out at Bloomingdale, and along the rocky ledges of the

East River near the Shot Tower. But my favorite spot was the top

of Weehawkin [Weehawken] mountain on the Jersey side of the

Hudson about 2 miles back from Hoboken. I took the ferry boat

one fine morning, crossed at Hoboken, and spent the day in rambling

amongst its fine groves and over the high table lands of Weehawk.

They command a splendid panorama of the city and Bay, the North

 

5 New York was a city of 202,000 persons in 1830. It lay on Manhattan Island

and, triangular in shape, extended about three miles along each the East and Hudson

rivers. Among the "principal places of amusement" were the Park, Bowery, and

Richmond-Hill theaters, Peale's Museum, the American Museum, "and several gardens,

of which Niblo's and the Castle are decidedly the most pleasant." There were then

120 churches in the city. The Tourist, or Pocket Manual for Travellers on the Hudson

River, the Western Canal and Stage Road to Niagara Falls down Lake Ontario and

the St. Lawrence to Montreal and Quebec (5th ed., New York, 1836), 13-14.

6 Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont, a wealthy merchant.

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THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            15

 

River floating beneath, and far away off the graceful outline of

Staten Island, the Narrows, and all the changeful features of that

lovely Bay, then nearer at hand the rich woods of Hoboken, and

every where around picturesque points of rock, hung with flowering

shrubs, and shaded with cedars and forest trees, and the prettiest

little grassy glades all shut in with woods and so retired that but

for the well trodden path winding thro' you might fancy yourself

at an illimitable distance from the haunts of men. I did like

Weehawk and often wondered that so charming a retreat, and so

near a great city should still be left in all its native wildness.

Letters at last came from my Father, with instructions for our best

route into the western country, over 700 miles of which were by

water on the Hudson, New York & Erie Canal and Lake Erie, and

about 150 miles of land carriage in the State of Ohio.

July 1

We had now been a month in New York. Our arrangements for

leaving were soon complete and on the 1st July at 12 M. we were on

board the elegant Safety Barge "Lady Clinton" for Albany--160

miles. The Barge is a new thing and ought to prove an acquisition

as it unites entire safety with fair speed and the very best accom-

modations. It is towed up by powerful steamers, alternately the

"Commerce" and "Swiftsure"--8 1/2 dollars fare to Albany for all.

We had a good band and fair complement of passengers, Capt.

Cowden very courteous, and gentle, agreeable manners, the day

warm and sunny and the very best for the unequalled scenery of

the Hudson.

The city spires grew fainter and fainter as we approached a singu-

lar ridge of rocks skirting the Western shore of the River for many

miles--The Palisadoes. They present a perpe[n]dicular face to the

river of some 200 feet or more, seamed with deep, vertical fissures

and crowned with dark cedars, and ever and anon a strange little

woodsman's hut perched like a bird's nest among the crags.

The opposite shore was widely different--low wavy hills covered

with orchards and fields of grain, thick woods at intervals, farm

houses, country seats, little villages clustering in shady hollows by

the landing places, and every indication of a rich agricultural coun-

• 15
 

16    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

try, and thrifty farming population. A fine expanse of the River

occurs above the Palisadoes, called Tappan Sea [Zee]. The woody

heights of Haverstraw Bay and Nyack sparkled in the afternoon

sunshine and wandering clouds flung their mottled shadows over the

lovely scenery.

At Verplanck's⁷ and Stony Point the shores closed in again and

we were soon immersed in the deep shade of the Highlands, stupen-

dous masses of rock shooting upward far above us into the blue

heavens, and clothed with the richest foliage, ridge after ridge and

one steep precipice after another until about sunset a sudden turn

of the river brought us to the celebrated Military Academy at West

Point. Soon after we emerged from the huge jaws of the Highlands

and at Newburg[h] the mountains had given place on both sides

of the river to gentle hills and cultivable slopes, with rocky points

jutting into the river and beautiful green terraces dotted with the

spires of the arbor vitae and shaded by groves of noble forest trees.

The sky was all flushed with the crimson sunset and the glassy

stream reflected its rosy tints and the rich colouring of the shore. A

clear moonlight followed, and I remained upon deck long after the

fire-flies had lit up their tiny lamps, and spangled the shadows of

the woods and ravines as we passed along.

The Highlands are conspicuous more for the simple grandeur of

their grouping and their majesty of outline than from their height,

the highest not exceeding 1600 or 1700 feet. Ragged peaks, and

barren rocky pyramids there are none, but grand swelling curves of

the richest foliage, half hiding and half revealing the vast masses

of sienite beneath, tho' in some places the leafy screen is drawn aside

and lofty mural precipices of bare granite spring aloft high above

the river, and cast broad shadows over its bright waters. I insert op-

posite a sketch of the gorge as it appears from West Point, with the

old ruins on Constitution Island in the foreground, Newburg[h],

Polipell's [Polopell's] Island & the Shinga [?] mountains in the

distance, Bull Hill, Breakneck, Coldspring Landing & Stony Point

on the right, Butter Hill on the left--euphonious names!!!

 

7 Verplanck's Point, where Philip Verplanck had a "splendid mansion, lawn, arbour,

&c." It was also the site of a fortification during the Revolution. The Tourist, or

Pocket Manual for Travellers, 19.

• 16
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            17

 

July 2

When I went upon deck in the morning the thick vapors which

in this country are generated during the summer night were rolling

away and disclosing a rich lowland country, all meadows and corn

fields, well shaded with fine trees, and set thick with comfortable

homesteads and old family mansions. At 7 A.M. we reached Albany

and my mother and I went immediately and engaged our passage

by canal boat to Buffalo, 364 miles, twenty dollars exclusive of

meals, and a dollar per 100 lbs for extra baggage.

After seeing the baggage weighed and shipped while the boat

was preparing to start, Henry and I strayed off to see a little of the

City. It stands on a fine rising ground and contains 24,216 inhabi-

tants, [is] irregularly laid out, and carelessly built, tho' evidently

improved in this particular. The principal street is very wide and

contains many substantial brick dwellings. The State Capitol stands

at the head of it in an open area surrounded by iron railing. The

churches are numerous, and one of them glories in two lofty towers

surmounted by domes of tin which have a strange bizarre effect when

the sun's rays strike them. Indeed, as I had always before been

used to the vast and solid structures of ecclesiastical antiquity, the

churches every where here struck me as singularly simple and un-

pretending--the nave and chancel of brick or stone, the super-

structure of the tower almost invariably of wood, painted white, and

consisting of a various arrangement of the Grecian orders, semi-

circular, arched windows, deep mouldings, panels and brackets,

dentil cornices &c, surmounted with a short spire or dome, and form-

ing on the whole a sort of campanile or turret. Many of them [are]

very prettily designed and have a light, airy, cleanly appearance in

this warm climate. I observe, too, that the Americans call all their

places of worship indiscriminately "churches" whereas that term

with us is applied only to those of the "Established Church" and the

rest "chapels" or "meeting-houses" which in England are very plain

structures and rarely, if ever, finished with a tower or spire.

An active trade is carried on between N[ew] York and this place

by steamboat and innumerable river craft, and transhipments are

made here to canal boats with which its docks or basins are filled.

• 17
 

18    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

And in return Albany is the shipping point for all the rich and

varied produce of the West and part of Canada, thro' the great

lines of connection the Erie, Northern and Welland Canals, and the

great Lakes to the furthest bounds of the western frontier. Some of

the canal boats are quite light and elegant, others very plain and

homely. Ours was of the latter class and so slow that instead of

reaching Buffalo in six days, as the agent assured us we should, it

took us eight.

After a few hours detention at Albany we proceeded on this

noble canal. Our fellow passengers were Canadians, 1 man and 4

women, and proved very kind people in many little instances. The

midday sun was so intense that the deck had to be washed every 15

minutes to cool the simmering pitch in the seams. About this time

we passed the neat town of Troy with a population of 11,405. The

country between it and Albany [is] level and well cultivated, but

every where disfigured with those unsightly zigzag rail fences, which

are quite out of keeping with the radiant beauty of the general

landscape. They are quite costly, too, and become more and more

so as the forests disappear. They have to be renewed at least every

8 or 10 years, at great cost of labour and material so that where

stone is not abundant the farmers will have eventually to fall back

upon those beautiful live-hedges which contribute so greatly to make

England the "garden" of the world.

At 4 in the afternoon we reached the confluence of the Mohawk

and Hudson where the canal suddenly turns to the West. At this

turn are 3 Locks, and while the boat was clearing them our mother

went with us all to the brink of the River, a few hundred yards off,

to see the Cohoes Falls, the great cataract of the Mohawk. We had a

fine view of it from an eminence which overhung the rocky channel.

The Falls themselves were grand and impressive and the effect

greatly heightened by the sylvan beauty of the Scenery around. The

spray mist floated off across the great pine trees and cedars which

clothed the rocks, and the rocks were festooned with hanging ivys,

and brightened by the scarlet tufts of the Sumac, the flowers of the

"Rubus [sic] repens" and a thousand charming varieties, and clear

crystal rills threaded their way amongst them, then leaped into the

boiling gulf below.

• 18
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            19

 

In the evening we crossed an aqueduct over a branch of the

Mohawk, and as the darkness advanced the whole landscape was

lit up by the starry gleams of the fire-fly, while the twanging of

unnumbered Frogs and the shrill dissonance of myriads of insects,

chiefly of the "cicada" and "grylla" [cricket] families filled the air

with strange sounds, and added a characteristic and to us very novel

feature to the dusky shadows.

July 3

At 5 I rose from a hard and comfortless bed. We were just leaving

the thriving town of Schnectady [sic]. We had only made some 30

miles chiefly owing to the number of locks, which cause great delay.

There are no less the [than] 83 on the whole canal.⁸ This slow

progress pleased us exactly as we wished to see as much as we could

of the country and my brothers and I jumped on shore whenever it

suited us and got on board again at the next lock or village or in

fact almost whenever we chose, as the steersman could easily sweep

the Boat close up to the Tow-Path.

The morning was cloudy and screened us from the fierce sun, the

air mild and pleasant, and views in the beautiful valley of the

Mohawk charming in the extreme, high cultivation around Schnec-

tady [sic] and the grain crops rich and heavy, except the Indian

Corn which had been much retarded by drought. As to this latter

grain I cannot believe that the attempt to cultivate it advantageously

in England will ever meet with success. It needs the length and

almost tropical heat of an American Summer to ripen it. The dif-

ference in climate between the two countries is far too great. Here

every orchard boasts of its luxuriant standard Peach trees loaded

with luscious fruit such as can only be obtained in Britain by the

most careful culture against warm brick walls with a Southern ex-

posure, and as to melons, which are reared there only in the glass-

houses of the wealthy, here every little cottager's garden patch is

redolent with their juicy musk.

During the day the hills grew higher and higher, the distant

horizon more limited, and toward evening we were quite surrounded

8 There were twenty-seven locks between Albany and Schenectady.

• 19
 

20    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

by lofty crags, partly covered with dark foliage and partly exposed

in vast bare surfaces to the action of storm & sunshine.

July 4

Sunday. I was up very early and watching the steaming mists as

they curled upwards against the wild Pine-clad rocks on either side

of us. At "Little Falls" the rapids of the Mohawk dashed by in

glancing sheets of foam.⁹ Then the country changed again and the

river and canal were bordered by level plains and farm lands of

unmistakable fertility.

While passing one of the locks we recognized at a very neat little

house on the canal side, one of the steerage passengers on the Diana,

an elderly respectable looking Newcastle woman. She saw us and

hurried to the boat to beg that my mother would go on shore and

see her new home, in which she pointed out with great pride an

eight day's clock, which she had brought with her across the At-

lantic. Her husband, a shoemaker, had come out the year before.

They seemed contented and happy and were doing well.

In the afternoon we came to the large and beautiful town of

Utica containing 8,324 inhabitants. The people were at their dif-

ferent churches which are numerous and handsome. A Sabbath

stillness reigned over the whole place and every thing so cleanly

and flourishing, and such an air of comfort and competence in the

buildings, and even the humblest tenements, all made the town ex-

ceedingly attractive and left an instant and pleasant impression upon

the stranger. Indeed it is astonishing to mark the rapid progress of

improvement as exhibited on either side of this canal--populous

towns and villages springing up as if under the wand of the en-

chanter, hills covered with orchards and valleys standing thick with

corn. It is a riant, hopeful, joyous looking country, the woodman's

axe sounds cheerily thro' the forest, and the smoke of his log cabin

soon curls amid the leaves, and his glossy corn patch and little

 

9 "LITTLE FALLS, 22 miles from Utica. . . . On each side the mountains are very

high, leaving but a narrow space for the river, canal, and road to pass through. For

about 2 miles the canal is formed by throwing up a wall into the river from 20 to

30 feet high, then excavating into the mountain and filling it up. This was one of the

most difficult and expensive parts of the canal, as it was necessary to blast the rock

with gunpowder, to form the bed of the canal, for nearly the whole distance." The

Tourist, or Pocket Manual for Travellers, 51-52.

• 20
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            21

 

garden of balsams and vines supplants the tangled growth of wild

nature. Wide spreading domains of wealthy husbandmen clothe the

hill sides, and the horn of plenty seems to pour its treasures, and

the genius of industry to shower his blessings equally on the mansion

of affluence and the cot of the humble settler.

The "wilderness rejoices and blossoms as the rose." Religion rears

her temples and learning consecrates her porch where but 60 years

ago the savage Iroquois trod the more savage wilds, and the red

deer scarce stirred at the approach of man.

"Where nought profaned the solitude around

"Save the wild fawn or roe buck's lightsome bound

"And nought was heard amid that scenery drear

"Save sounds like those wild Nature loves to hear--

"The plaintive murmur of the falling stream

"The Zephyr's moan, the Bittern's dismal scream,

"The rushing blast 'oer leafy wilds that swept

"Or fitful gust in hollow rock that wept--"

But it is all changed now. The wave of civilization has passed over

the country and the footprint of savage life is even now nearly

effaced and will soon be lost forever.

In the evening we passed thro' Oriskany growing into importance

in the manufacture of cotton.

July 5

The celebration of the great American holiday took place today

instead of Sunday, and we found the people of the little towns we

passed thro' in the full tide of enjoyment. But unfortunately for

many of them, that bane of America "Whiskey" is too cheap, adding

to the programme of ceremonies some few scenes of tipsy jollity

which could have been dispensed with.

Towards evening we were at the pretty town of Syracuse, with

its two neat churches and Court-house, broad streets and clean white

frame houses, with a few good brick ones interspersed.

Syracuse is a fair specimen of the lesser inland towns, the white

houses of which form the characteristic feature. They are framed

of Pine or Hemlock and covered with narrow weather boards of

Poplar &c, overlapping each other, roofed with wooden shingles,

• 21
 

22    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

and often shaded and adorned with an open colonnade or Piazza

sometimes quite surrounding the building. White and creamy yellow

are the prevailing colors, with green venetian blinds to the numer-

ous openings. Altogether they have a cool airy pleasant appearance

under the glare of a July sun, and are in many cases embellished

with the rich flowers of the Trumpet honeysuckle, Cypress vine, and

various beautiful creepers.

The streets of Syracuse were gay with revellers, and the "militia"

marching in grotesque irregularity to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."

Loud talking politicians were sipping their juleps on the benches in

front of the little "groceries" and along the Towpath were straggl-

ing groups of Indians of the Oneida tribes, the first we had seen.

Their complexion was reddish brown, lips thick, hair long and

coarse, and gloomy, moody looking cast of countenance. The squaws

were dressed with great simplicity and rudeness, some with heavy

blankets thrown over their shoulders notwithstanding the heat of

the weather. The men made a far more showy appearance, one in

particular rejoiced in a dark coloured fringed hunting coat which

together with his hat and trousers, were profusely studded with

drops and pendants of pure silver.

After Syracuse came Lake Onondago [sic], a fine sheet of water

5 or 6 miles long, its low banks buried in the mighty forest, the

little town of Geddesboro' at its southern extremity. Thro' this the

canal passes and near it are the perenniel [sic] Salt springs and Salt

works so well known to the trading community. It is remarkable

that the "springs" rise close to the Lake tho' its waters are perfectly

fresh and pure. Salina owes its name to this sport of Nature and

stands on the Eastern bank, and far away in the distance are the

scattered houses of "Liverpool" which whatever it may be one day

or other, don't [sic] now show even a germ of that commercial

greatness which its name seems to foreshadow.

July 6

In the evening we came to a desolate looking place called nine

mile creek, and the next morning early at Port Byron, Montezuma

at 9, a small town on the east bank of Seneca River, uniting Lake

Cayuga with Ontario. A wooden bridge of 1/2 a mile is thrown across

• 22
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON         23

 

its shallow bed, built on piles and serving as a Towpath to the canal

craft. The river itself was quite mantled over with an endless waste

of tall aquatic plants, flags, and reeds, with patches of open water,

and groups of splendid foliage rising like islands out of the wide

wavy sheets of green.

As we advanced into the interior we were more and more de-

lighted with the variety and beauty of the vegetable and animated

[sic] productions of the country. Grand forests of Oak, Elm, Ash,

Walnut, Hickory, Sycamore, and Pine, were interlaced with an end-

less succession of flowering shrubs, and festooned with the tendrils

and sweet scented flowers of the wild vine. The clusters of the

"clematis candescens," and the "Begnonia [sic] Splendens" in

Arbores Vitae of the freshest green reared their lofty spires, and the

scarlet and yellow tufts of the Sumac, the dark shadows of the

cedar, and delicate sprays of the Locust gave an indescribable charm

to the tangled undergrowth. The woods, too, were perfectly alive

with birds of exquisite plumage--the rich crimson Tanager

(Pyranga [sic] rubra [rubra]), the "Fringilla tristis" [goldfinch]

with its beautiful yellow, shaded into deep black, the Blue bird

(Sialia Wilsoni), the Oriole (Yphantes Baltimore) and the splen-

did cardinal Grossbeak [sic] (Cardinalis Virginiensis). Then there

were innumerable woodpeckers with their glossy scarlet top-knots,

from the smallest variety to the great Ivory Bill (Campephilus

principalis) which clung to the tops of the loftiest trees, and made

the air resonant with its loud and repeated tapping. Then the more

attentive eye found a new source of pleasure in the brilliant colour-

ing of the insect tribes. Every sunny bank and every mantling pool

seemed to attract them in myriads. They are far more beautiful,

too, than the British varieties. The Papilio Machaon, P. Antiope,

P. Fritilaria [sic]10 and many large and richly dyed swallow tail

species are as common here as the Papiliones "Brassica," "Urtica"

and "Atalanta" on the English roadsides, while the naturalist would

find ample scope in the rarer genera. But to revert back to the wood-

land I must not omit that most beautiful and useful of all American

forest trees, the famous "Acer-saccharinum" [sic] or Sugar Maple.

It is peculiar to the country and grows to such a size that a fully

 

10 Butterflies.

• 23
 

24    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

matured tree will annually yield as much as 8 Pounds of sugar,

which may be made nearly as good as that from the cane tho' for

want of suitable apparatus it is generally much coarser. The

molasses, however, is delicious, and the fresh juice as it drips from

the tree into the rude wooden troughs, is palatable and refreshing.

The tree is fit for use at 15 years old continuing so probably for 2

centuries. A camp of 10 acres will contain upwards of 300 Trees,

and produce annually over 2 hogsheads of good sugar, and it is

found that such a camp or plantation annexed to a farm, besides

being highly ornamental and beneficial for pasture, besides the use

of the decayed limbs &c. for fuel, and an abundant supply of sugar

and syrup for family purposes, will yield quite a nice little cash

profit to the proprietor, and the operations are carried on in the

months of February and March, continue but a short time and inter-

fere with no other business of the Farm.

July 7

In the morning we were at Fullam's Basin a small cluster of

houses 17 miles from Rochester where we arrived at 3 in the after-

noon. It is a large, busy and rapidly increasing town, divided by

the Genessee [sic] river whose rapid current supplies an unfailing

power to its numerous flour mills, saw mills and other descriptions

of machinery. Here the canal makes its nearest approach to Lake

Ontario being only 8 or 9 miles distant. A lofty and substantial

aqueduct carries it across the wide Genessee, whose Falls at this

place must have been very beautiful before the clank of machinery

usurped the quiet of the native greenwood.

We met with some detention here which we regretted as we be-

gan to weary of our slow progress.

July 8

Towards sunset we came in sight of the stony ridge on which

stands the fine town of Lockport.11 It takes its name from the works

which carry the canal up its rocky sides. We soon arrived at the foot

of those steeps, and were first struck with the ample span and in-

tricate frame work of the bridge thrown across the chasm, at the

11 Lockport was sixty-three miles west of Rochester on the canal and thirty miles

from Buffalo.

• 24
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON            25

 

bottom of which we were gliding along. Then a bend in the canal

brought us in front of those noble Locks which filled us with

wonder at the difficulties which had been overcome, and the dura-

bility and excellence of the workmanship in this gigantic under-

taking. The Locks are double--5 on one side for ascending, and 5

on the other for descending boats--excavated from the native rock,

and faced with solid masonry, making in the aggregate a Fall of

near Forty Feet. Then came the greatest wonder of all, the deep cut

of two miles, blasted by gunpowder out of the mountain of stone,

whose vertical walls rose above us on either side to the height of

Twenty feet or more and shut out all view of the country beyond.

The canal is at this point about 550 feet above the level of the ocean

and a little below that of Lake Erie which is made to act as an in-

exhaustible feeder and keeps it always full.

During the night our Canadian passengers left us for their home

near the Falls of Niagara from which we were now only 12 miles

distant, almost within sound of their roar, but we must pass them

by this time, and trust to a propitious future.

July 9

At sunrise we were at Black Rock only a few miles from Buffalo.

The morning was delightful, and the cool Lake breeze exhilirating

[sic] beyond measure. We soon caught a glimpse of its blue waters

dancing in the sunshine beyond the white buildings of Buffalo. The

Niagara river floated slowly by us, and on the opposite side lay the

shores of Canada the territories of the British King.

At 8 A.M. we were in Buffalo, and bid adieu to our slow-moving

"Nautilus." This is the largest & finest Port on the Lake, the town

handsome, and ought to be wealthy, as it is the great thoroughfare

for all the traffic on these inland Seas. Steamers of great size and

power leave daily for Detroit,12 a flourishing city near Lake St. Clair,

landing goods and passengers at the intermediate ports of N.York,

Pennsylvania, and Ohio. These ports are Dunkirk, Erie, Cleaveland

[sic], Ashtabula, Huron, and Portland. Fleets of schooners and other

sailing craft cover the Lakes, shipping goods from the New York

Canal to the Lake ports, and thence they are forwarded by land

12 In general the steamboats at this time ranged from about 100 feet to about 135

feet long and from about 100 to 350 tons burden. They were side-wheelers.

• 25
 

26    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

carriage, or the grand Ohio Canal to the interior of the "Great

West" which in return exports the produce of its rich lands to the

Eastern markets, all passing thro' the hands of the Buffalo mer-

chants. The Ohio Canal will soon be finished. There will then be

an unbroken communication from the sea at New York, by the

Hudson, the N. York Canal, Lake Erie, the Ohio Canal, and the

Ohio & Mississippi Rivers to the sea again at the Balize [Island]

below N. Orleans, thus entirely surrounding the older states with

water applicable to all the purposes of internal commerce, and as

it is now in contemplation to extend the canal in operation between

Cincinnati and Dayton to the Lake at Maumee Bay, nearly the

whole of the fertile Ohio will be included within the range of in-

land navigation.

We found two steamers in port, the "Enterprize" and "Henry

Clay."¹³ We chose the first as she was to leave immediately, and had

our baggage taken at once on board, our fare to Sandusky, above 200

miles, thirty dollars including every thing. At about 9 we were on

the waves again. As we pushed out into the Lake the wind freshened

but being quite ahead we made little progress altho' our engine was

a powerful one--low pressure. The waves were tipped with foam,

pure, fresh, transparent with all the life and brilliance of the ocean,

and, to the north, apparently as boundless. The southern horizon,

however, was lined with the trackless woods of the coast, and dis-

tant hills far away in the interior. For a short time, to be sure, we

kept in view of the Canadian shore but this soon receded and for the

rest of the voyage we saw but little shore except the low grounds

and deep forests of Pennsylvania and Ohio, from which we were

seldom more than a few miles distant. The average breadth of the

Lake is 40 or 50 miles tho' opposite Cleaveland [sic] it is said to

be 90.14

The Steamer was large and bulky with roomy cabins--that for the

Ladies upon deck, for the gentlemen and dining below--fitted up

much like the New York and Albany Boats tho' with less pretension

both as to space and finish.

As we advanced the swell increased and the weather became wild

13 The Enterprise, a vessel of about 220 tons, was built in Cleveland in 1825-26;

the Henry Clay, 301 tons, was built at the same time in Black Rock, New York.

14 Lake Erie ranges in width from twenty-eight to fifty-eight miles.

• 26
 

THE JOURNAL OF THOMAS K. WHARTON              27

 

and stormy bringing its usual concomitant "sickness" which made

sad havoc in the ladies apartments, and my poor mother suffered

sadly all the way, even more than on the Atlantic, perhaps owing to

the short, jerking motion which is far worse than the heavy roll of

the open ocean.

July 10

I spent a pretty comfortable night, as the bed was excellent and

when I went upon deck the next morning, we were moored to the

long pier at Erie, Pa. taking on wood. This place is 75 miles from

Buffalo and affords excellent shelter in bad weather.

The morning was calm and cloudy, but we had not long left Erie

before it became very rough again, and towards evening the pitch-

ing and vibration of the vessel as wave after wave struck her bows,

were distressing beyond measure. I was by this time on the "Lake

sick" list but a night's rest recovered me, and I was on Sunday

morning as well as if on firm land.

July 11

We were not far from Sandusky where my Father was to meet

us--and all impatience to see him again--the Lake calm and the

wind more favorable than hitherto. At half past seven we put into

the little port of Huron to land goods, and an hour or two after

breakfast brought us in sight of the lighthouse at the mouth of

Sandusky Bay.15 At this juncture some dark clouds which had been

gathering in the West burst over us in the most violent rain I ever

witnessed, continuing as we wound up the very circuitous channel

between the shoals of the Bay, but it fortunately ceased before we

reached the wharf at Portland,16 where we soon descried my father

pacing up and down the pier long before he could distinguish us

from the crowd that came trooping upon the deck as the boat ap-

proached the landing. We were soon on shore, and all hastened to

the Inn near by just opposite the Bay.

 

15 Marblehead Lighthouse, built in 1821.

16 Portland was laid out in 1817. Its name was changed almost immediately to

Sandusky, though it was known for many years also as Portland, which was the name

of the township in which Sandusky was located.

[The journal will be continued in the next issue.]

• 27