Ohio History Journal

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The OHIO HISTORICAL Quarterly

The OHIO HISTORICAL Quarterly

VOLUME 67 ~ NUMBER ~ JULY 1958

 

 

 

 

Nine Letters of Nathaniel Dike

On the Western Country, 1816 - 1818

 

Edited by DWIGHT L. SMITH*

 

 

IN JUNE OF 1816 a young prospective lawyer set out from

Haverhill, Massachusetts, to seek his fortune in the West. As was

not unusual then for one who traveled a long distance, he wrote

home letters of considerable length to describe his journey and the

new land to which he came. But in this instance the traveler was

a keen observer who was interested in reporting what he saw and

who was equipped to report it well.

The young prospective lawyer was Nathaniel Dike, a graduate

of Yale College and a man about twenty-six years of age when he

left home. He came well recommended, carrying with him letters

to prominent persons in the West (at least one of the letters was

written by Timothy Pickering, who had been a member of both

Washington's and John Adams' cabinets).1 Dike's first destination

was Pittsburgh, but he soon went on to Steubenville, Ohio, where

he eventually established himself.

In Steubenville he read law, was admitted to the bar, practiced

for a short time, married the granddaughter of a local doctor, and

then for many years engaged successively and successfully in the

dry goods business, the wool trade, and the wholesale grocery

business. At various times in his life in Steubenville he was the

 

* Dwight L. Smith is associate professor of history at Miami University.

1 Timothy Pickering to Rufus Putnam, May 29, 1816. Marietta College Manu-

scripts, Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio.