BRIAN P. BIRCH
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats: An English Family's
Impressions of Ohio in the
1830s
While the frontier was a great leveler
of people, in putting them
back into log cabins and deerskins, it
was also a zone of increasingly
varied economic opportunities, as the
new settlements created a de-
mand for services and communications.
Not only was there a need,
as the frontier moved across an area,
for farmfolk to occupy land, to
clear the forests and to till the soil.
Opportunities also arose for a host
of other trades and skills-road
builders, millers, preachers and
many more. As the settlement frontier
moved on, the openings for
some skills increased faster than
others. Those pioneers faced with
much more competition often needed to
move from place to place and
from trade to trade in order to survive
and prosper. Frequently indi-
viduals combined farming, the
predominant frontier activity, with
some other trade or skill to best meet
these fast-changing circum-
stances.
Nowhere is this flexibility of activity
and frequent change of lo-
cation better seen than amongst the
British in the early period of set-
tlement in the midwest. The British
formed a significant minority
amongst the foreign-born on most
midwestern frontiers, including
that in Ohio, but because no language
barrier hindered their spread
they dispersed widely and, unlike some
foreign groups, formed few
areas of concentration. As a result,
they have left behind little evi-
dence of their former existence either
on the landscape or in the ar-
chives.1 What little can be
learned of them would suggest, however,
Brian P. Birch is Senior Lecturer in
Geography at Southampton University, England.
1. There are no texts on British
settlers in the midwest and only a few books and ar-
ticles on them in individual states.
Some reference can be found to British farm settlers
in nineteenth-century Ohio in Mary L.
Ziebold, "Immigrant Groups in Northwestern
Ohio to 1860," Northwest Ohio
Quarterly, 17 (April-July, 1945), 62-71; and James H.
Rodabaugh, "From England to Ohio, 1830-1832: The
Journal of Thomas K. Whar-
ton," The Ohio Historical
Quarterly, 65 (January, 1956) 1-27, 111-51.
102 OHIO HISTORY
that many came to the frontier as much
to practice trades and skills
they had picked up in Britain as to take
up land for farming.2
That the British should have adopted
this approach is natural not
only in view of the increasingly varied
needs of the frontier by the
time it was traversing Ohio, but also in
view of the types of emigrants
flowing out of Britain. By 1830 England
had ceased to be a predomi-
nantly rural society, and the majority
of those leaving Britain were
coming from urban and industrial areas.3
With little or no knowledge
of land clearing and farming, many of
the English saw the American
west as much as a place to practice
their varied non-farm skills as to
secure their future through land
ownership and agriculture.
Something of the nature of this
urban-based flexibility with
which the English seemed to approach
frontier living can be illus-
trated by use of a set of recently-discovered
letters written home
by a family of English brothers who
emigrated to America in the
1830s.4 The letters of the
Mighill (pronounced Mile) boys, repro-
duced here, tell of their frequent
changes of employment as boat,
farm and factory hands in Ohio and
elsewhere after 1831, and lend
support to this view of the English as a
relatively mobile and peripa-
tetic group. Like other English
emigrants, however, the Mighills were
not good letter-writers either in terms
of their frequency of contact
with their correspondents-in this case
their parents in England-or
in terms of fully recounting events in
their lives in America. Nor can
we learn anything of their experiences
there from other sources. It
therefore becomes necessary to piece
together evidence from their
letters to present any sort of coherent
story of their lives on the Ohio
frontier.
In spite of the shortcomings of the
letters, it is clear that all of the
Mighill brothers, and their one sister,
emigrated as young adults to
the United States, leaving England, one
after the other, over the
space of a few years. The letters allow
us to learn more of the activities
2. For an example of the life of an
English preacher-farmer on the Ohio frontier, see
Brian P. Birch, "A British View of
the Ohio Backwoods: The Letters of James Martin,
1821-1836," Ohio History, 94
(Summer-Autumn 1985), 12-24. The archives of the Ohio
Historical Society contain a few sets of
letters written by British settlers in Ohio; for ex-
ample, the letters of Scottish immigrant Charles Rose
written in 1822 and 1830 from
Wellsville, Columbiana County, Ohio.
3. Charlotte Erickson, Invisible
Emigrants: The Adaptation of English and Scottish
Immigrants in Nineteenth Century America (Leicester, 1972).
4. The Mighill Family Papers were
deposited in the East Sussex County Record Of-
fice, Lewes, England, in 1977 and are
catalogued as AMS 5575. The American letters
used here form only a small part of an
extensive collection of family materials. They are
quoted here with permission, and the
help of the county archivist in sifting through
the papers is acknowledged.
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 103
of Richard, the eldest brother who came
to Ohio in 1830 at the age
of 18, and of two of the younger
brothers who reached the state a
few years later. We can learn much less
of the other two brothers and
one sister who also emigrated to
America, or of their parents to whom
all the surviving letters were
addressed.
When the sons and daughter emigrated,
their parents were living
in Brighton, then a small south coast
fishing settlement in the county
of Sussex. Mighill senior had begun his
working life apprenticed to a
tanner in rural Sussex, but by his
thirties had become a fish retailer
in the town of Brighton.5 Around
mid-century, after his children
had emigrated to America, he attained
greater status and wealth by
getting involved in real estate
development related to Brighton's rap-
id expansion as a coastal resort for
London. But it is clear that as a
young father of restricted means he had
been able to provide his
children with only a limited amount of
education and with no pros-
pects of training or advancement in a
trade or profession. For this rea-
son alone, going to the developing
American west must have appealed
to his children as a way forward.
Several conclusions can be drawn from
the fragmentary evidence
the letters provide of the Mighill's
approach to life in frontier Ohio.
First, each of the brothers appeared to
be quick to take every oppor-
tunity to better his circumstances by
moving frequently from job to
job and from place to place. Richard,
the first to emigrate to Ameri-
ca, worked for a few months for a
Zanesville brewer before becoming
a boathand on the Miami and Erie canal,
and later worked on Missis-
sippi river boats. Similarly, Philip,
the second brother to arrive in
Ohio, worked for several farmers over
the space of a few years, and
Edward, a third brother, worked on the
Mississippi, in a Cleveland
factory and on an Ohio farm during his
first few years in America. A
second point that becomes clear is that
the Mighills made much use
5. Richard Mighill, the father of the
five sons and one daughter considered here,
was born in 1794 and died in 1865. Relatively
late in life he became involved in proper-
ty development in the Cliftonville
section of Brighton, one of the fast-growing resort
areas of the town. See E. W. Gilbert, Brighton:
Old Ocean's Bauble (London, 1954).
The eldest Mighill boy, Richard (1813-90),
emigrated to Ohio in 1830 and, after several
years in Ohio and the southern states,
moved to California. A second brother, Philip,
arrived in Portage County, Ohio, in 1838
but had settled in New Orleans within two
years. Edward first appears on the scene
in New Orleans in 1840, and after some years
in the south and Ohio went to Australia
in 1853 where he stayed for two years before
returning to England. A fourth brother,
William, had emigrated to America by 1842
but lived mainly in the south before
settling in California in 1851. Similarly, Joseph, the
youngest brother, was living in the
south in 1839 but cannot be traced further, while
Grace, their only sister, was living
there in 1860. The collection includes no American
letters from the last three named
Mighills.
104 OHIO HISTORY
on their arrival in America of contacts,
probably made by their par-
ents, with other English families
already settled in Ohio. These con-
tacts often provided them with a first
job, although each son was
quick to release himself from his
tutelage as soon as a better opportu-
nity presented itself. Thus not only did
Richard first work for an Eng-
lish brewer, Mr. Stile, in Zanesville,
but Philip worked for an English
farmer near Cleveland when he arrived in
Ohio, while Edward lived
with Mr. Stile later. The names of
Stile, Bartlett, Buckwell, Green and
Brown, all Englishmen in Ohio who were
known to the Mighills in
Brighton, England, recur at several
points in the letters.
It was largely because Ohio by the 1830s
had attracted a consider-
able minority of English, who had
established themselves in a varie-
ty of trades with which they were
familiar in England, that later new-
comers, like the Mighills, similarly
gained experience in a diversity of
occupations. Indeed, the existence in
Ohio in the early-19th century,
more than in other midwestern states, of
a thin but widespread scat-
ter of England families-many of them
from southern England like
the Mighills-probably attracted the
Mighill boys there. That each
of the Mighill boys in turn quickly
released himself from the grip of
his first employer-and not always on the
friendliest of terms-is fur-
ther evidence of a strong feeling found
amongst the English, like oth-
er settlers, that one could do best for
oneself by going it alone, taking
each break as it came. For the Mighills,
as for many others, reaching
the point where one could go by one's
own "hook" might involve
passing through several stages of
employment-from being at first
taken under the wing of a fellow
countryman, then gaining experience
at a variety of jobs before finally
getting one's own farm, mill, boat or
other business. The letters that follow
make it clear that the Mighills
saw success in terms of becoming
independently established, and
that movements from job to job and from
place to place were but nec-
essary steps towards that goal.
Finally, that several of the Mighills
should see their independence
in terms of working on the waterways of
Ohio and the Mississippi
Valley should come as no surprise. The
opening of the Erie Canal,
linking the lake to New York in 1825,
heralded the development of
other links-notably the Ohio and Erie,
and Miami and Erie Canals
-across the state to the
Ohio-Mississippi River system to create a
vast inter-connecting transport network
through the Mississippi Ba-
sin. With Ohio and New Orleans at either
end of this great route,
trade blossomed along it for a few short
years from the 1830s, and
the Mighills saw this boom developing.
The letters are reproduced here with
only small elisions, the na-
ture of which are indicated in
parentheses. In order to ease their
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 105
reading, some additional punctuation and
paragraphing have been
introduced into the letters and several
capitals removed. The original
spelling which sometimes varies from
place to place, especially be-
tween brothers, has been largely
retained except where it causes
confusion, in which case the modern
equivalent is given in brackets.
The first two letters, written by
Richard in 1831 from Zanesville
and three years later from Cincinnati,
show that he had contacted
several English famillies, who were
probably known to his parents,
on first arriving in Ohio. He had also
taken a job with a family ac-
quaintance from England, Mr. Stile, a
brewer in Zanesville. In his sec-
ond letter, however, Richard explains to
his parents that he left Mr.
Stile within a year because "he did
not use me rite," and he had
gone to work from Dayton on the
waterways. At the time of writing,
he was steering a Miami and Erie canal
boat but had twice been
down to St. Louis on other craft in
previous years. So impressed was
he with the Mississippi Valley that he
had plans to work his way to
New Orleans, from where he might return
to England or go else-
where in the midwest. But Richard's
first letter may also be of inter-
est for the list of goods he prices and
for its brief description of
Zanesville and its factories, both
indications of the material progress
of Ohio which was impressing him.6
Zanesville, April 26, 1831
Dear Father and Mother,
I have to apologize for not writing to
you before, but wishing to give
you a more correct account of what I
have been doing or, I might say,
what I am doing now (h)as prevented me
till I could give a favourable
account which I think I am now capable
of. You will first have the
price of provisions-flour 31/2 dols per
barrel, pork 21/2 dols per 100
lbs . . . [more prices] . . . eggs 6
cents per dozen. Dined on Christmas
Day at Mr. Greens of a fine goose, cost
25 cents, and on New Years
day at Mr. Saunders of a turkey at 18
cents . . . All kinds of grocery
very cheap, timber 1 dol per 100 feet,
brick 3 dol per 1000, lime 121/2
cents per bushel. A good cow for 8 or 10
dols. We have good horses
6. Zanesvillle, on the Muskingum River,
had been capital of Ohio 1810-12 and had
developed a range of industries in the
1820s. Salt had been produced there since 1817
and the letter from Richard in 1831
refers to 7 or 8 salt works. Flatboats had worked
north to Cleveland and down to the Ohio
since 1810, and were replaced by keelboats
after 1835 when the river was improved.
J. Hope Sutor, Past and Present of the City of
Zanesville (Chicago, 1905), 171.
106 OHIO HISTORY
very cheap. Timbered or uncleared land
is very cheap 11/2 dols per
acer, cleared land is from 5 to 6 dols
per acer. All kinds of glass is very
cheap.
Hear is 2 glass factoreys, 2 iron
founderys, 3 saw mills, 6 grist mills,
2 oil mills, 1 paper mill, 2 woollen
factoreys, 1 cotton factorey, 4 tan-
ners. The people tell me that a boots
tanner is the best business going
on hear in this part of the country. Sole
leather is 28 cents per lb, the
tanners tan with hickory and oak barks.
7 or 8 different salt works
between this and Dinkins (Duncan) Fall
which is about 8 miles from
hear. Mr. B is at work at Dinkins Fall
building a grist mill .. . [family
greetings] R.M.
Cincinnati, Ohio, June 20, 1834
Dear Father and Mother,
[Family greetings] . .. I left
Zanesville in April 1832 . . . [address
letters to Cincinnati] . .. I am at
present stearing the canal boat 'Emi-
grant' which runs from Cincinnati to
Dayton which is 65 mils. I am
getting 14 dollars a month. When I left
Zanesville I went down the
river to Lewisville wich is 550 mils
from Zanesville and 150 mils below
Cincinnati. I stade thare 2 months. I
went to Santlewes last sumer and
staed thare one month. The collary
(cholera) was thare very bad
and in Cincinnati. Thare was not many
cases on the canal but in town
thare ware 80 and 100 of a day.
Santlewes is 700 mils from Cincinnati,
fore hundred mils down the Ohio river to
the north and three hun-
dred up the Missipia. I have been nine
[months] on the canal ever
since I came from Santlewes.
I am going down the river to New Orleans
this fall if nothing appins
[happens]. I think I shall come home the
followin spring. If not I shall
go further west to see a little more of
this cuntry. I like this part of the
cuntry better than eny I have bean in
yet. This is a fine cuntry for a
labring man or trads man. A labring man
can get 12 and 15 dollars a
month and fawn [all found]. Thare are a
grate many canal and turn-
pikes agoing on. Here are plenty of work
for a labring man. Produce is
the same prise as in Zanesville. Thare
are a grate many fish caught in
this river. Calfish which way from 10 to
100 pound. Thare are steam
packets that carry from 100 to 700 tuns
burden each. They can run
from New Orleans to Pitsburgh in 16 and
18 days which is 25 hun-
dred mils. They can go down in 8 and 10
days. They can carry 200
passengers each.
The reason I left Mr. Stile was I
thought he did not use me rite. I
worked for him till I received your
letter and fawn [found] out that he
had sent to you for more close [clothes]
for me for I had wore all mine
Taking the Breaks and Working the Boats 107 |
|
out and he did not buy me eny more. I did not want to luren the bruers trad [learn the brewer's trade] eny how so I thought I would go to work for myself. I worked in Zanesville for one Mr. Baldwin till I got me sum close [clothes] and then I went down the river to Lewes- ville. I got 10 dollars for gowing down . . . [explanation for losing a hunting weapon]. The reason I did not rite to you before I did not no ware [know where] to tell you to direct your leter for I have been very unsettled even since [I] left Zanesville. I hope you will not be angry at me. I shall rite to you agane when get to New Orleans. Thare are flat boats that go from hear to New Orleans. Tha can carry 7 and 8 hundred barrell of flower each. A man can get 30 dollours for goin down. It was one of these kind of boat I left Zanesville in, a flat boat, down in 5 weeks from Cincinnati which is 1800 mils. |
108 OHIO HISTORY
Santlewes is a fine cuntry for a labring
man. 500 mils above Sant-
lewes is the led mins. A man can get 65
dollours a month thare but it
is very hard and disagreeable work. Land
is cheap up there because
it is new. Land can be bought for 1
dollour and 25 cents an acar in the
area on the parerer [prairie] which has
not got a tree on it ... [Greet-
ings] R.M.
Richard wrote a third letter home nine
months later. This was ad-
dressed from Zanesville to which he had
just gone to see his old em-
ployer, Mr. Stile, after completing
three years working on the Miami
and Erie Canal. In this letter Richard
announces his imminent depar-
ture for New Orleans and a possible
onward voyage to England, trav-
el made possible because he had been
"dewing very well" in his
work out of Dayton, a part of Ohio he
liked better than Zanesville.
Zanesville, Febury 20, 1835
Dear Father and Mother,
[Greetings] . . . I am now in
Zanesville. I arived hear on Thursday
last from Dayton ware I have been for
the three years. I left Dayton
Friday last. I have been runing on the
canal. It runs from Dayton to
Cincinnati wich is 65 miles. I have been
stearing a canal boat at 15
dolars per month.
I am going down the river as soon as it
rises which is expected in
about 2 weeks. As soon as I get down to
New Orleans I shall cum to
England and sea you all if nothing apens
(happens). If not I will rite
and let you now ware to rite to me. I
rote to you last June from
Cincinnati but never received any
answar. I saw James Stile tis morn-
ing and got the close [clothes] that
you sent to me. I was very glad to
hear from you. The handkerchief that
Betsy sent I think a gradeal
[great deal] of. I wish I had some chanc
to send you sumthing to
keep for my sake. I put a 5 cent peas
under the seal of the letter I sent
to you from Cincinnati. I receaved one
letter from Mr. Baldwin. It
stated that one Mr. Buckwell had come to
hunt me.
I understand that you are in a gradeal
[great deal] of trouble about
me. You need not fret your selvs about
me for I have [been] dewing
very well sins I left Mr. Stile. I can
work half my tyme in this cuntry
and do well. I lik the cuntry about
Dayton much better than this part
of the cuntry. Dayton is situate on the
Miami river. Cincinatti is on the
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 109
Ohio river but is about four hundred
mils from Zanesville by water.
The land is very level in that part of
the cuntry as I was travling.
Stade one night at a tavern which had 6
thousand acers of land be-
longed to it and 6 hundred head of
cattle and a grate many sheap
and hogs. The land is very brown and
hilly about Zanesville. Thares
no stone calc about Dayton and
Cincinatti but thare is plenty of good
wood . . . [more prices and news of
other English people around
Zanesville] R.M.
The next three letters from Richard to
his parents were all posted
from Liverpool, and were all sent within
a month of each other in late
1835 after he had arrived in England on
a cotton and tobacco ship
from New Orleans.7 Explaining
that his stay in Liverpool would not
allow him to travel to Brighton to see
them, he told his parents that
he expected to make another
trans-Atlantic voyage the following
year, at which time he would visit them.
He reiterated his liking for
Ohio and his greater attraction to the
Dayton-Cincinnati area than
Zanesville. But all parts of the
Mississippi basin offered a future.
All parts of that large cuntry are good
and more particularly those
parts on the Ohio and Miami rivers. I
shall advise any person that [is]
wishing to emigrate to the western
cuntry to go by the way of New
Orleans. It will be found much
expeditios and les expence. Reasons
are this. On eny arivale they can
without being detained take steam
to any part of the western cuntry. The
fare from New Orleans to
Cincinnati is 5 dollars, luggage
included. I think the tanners busnes is
as good as eny other but as to the
houses of lether and bark in
Cincinnati I dew not know. On my return
I shall make further enquir-
ies.
Either because Richard got home to
England to see his parents on
a regular basis over the next few years,
or because his letter-writing
became even less frequent, it is not
possible to say if he returned to
7. Letters from Richard Mighill in
Liverpool to his parents in England, September
14, 1835, September 27, 1835, and
October 11, 1835. It is the latter one that is quoted
here.
110 OHIO HISTORY
Ohio as he intended. He certainly sailed
back to New York in early
1836, but no more was heard from him
until 1840 when, with his
younger brothers William and Edward, he
was based in New Orle-
ans where they had purchased a 12-ton
boat in order to trade along
the Gulf coast.8
But they apparently did not fare too
well in this business, because
Richard was again working the flatboats
down the Ohio-Mississippi
from Cincinnati to New Orleans in the winter
of 1841-42, and from
New Orleans in 1842 Richard wrote the
following letter to his parents.
William and Edward are gawn up the river
to spend the summer
... as things was rather dull hear at
that time both hear and at
Mobiel . . . Things are some better than
thay ware when they left.
Most of the sixty bancks are resume
speace [specie] payment . . . I
have been steam boating lateley and
think of continuing on till I can
dew something better for myself ... If
enney of you think of going to
America I should advise the Cannadas.
The United States are a
getting worse and worse every year and I
think I shall leave it soon
myself if things do not change soon for
the better. There is a grate
meny leaving this cuntry for Texas and
New Callaforns [California].9
Little can be learned of Richard's
whereabouts after 1842, but it
appears that he had cut his ties with
Ohio. Either he wrote no more
letters home or they were not preserved,
and none of his brothers,
all of whom were by now in America,
refer to his wanderings. A final
letter from him written in 1856 from Los
Angeles reveals that he had
joined the gold rush to California, along with
brothers Edward and
Philip, but had made no money in the
process. He was by then in
southern California visiting the hot
springs south of Los Angeles to
ease his rheumatism which for the last
three years had been "so
bad that I have not bean able to do
scarce enithing."10 He was then
43 years old.
Leaving Ohio and his English contacts
there to develop his Gulf
Coastal trading business in 1840,
Richard returned up river to Cincin-
8. Letter from Richard Mighill in New
York to his parents, February 12, 1836, and
from New Orleans, April 19, 1840.
9. Letter from Richard Mighill in New
Orleans to his parents, May 23, 1842.
10. Letter from Richard Mighill in Los
Angeles to his parents, March 19, 1856.
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 111
nati on the flatboats on a number of
occasions over the next few
years; but these journeys seemed to
become less frequent. Yet in a
similar way, his younger brother Philip,
as a new arrival in America,
also looked to Ohio and to English
contacts there for his first em-
ployment just as Richard had done in his
early months in the New
World.
Philip arrived in Aurora, southeast of
Cleveland, in 1837 and
worked for a few months for an English
farmer and family friend,
George Bartlett. As the following
letters show, he found the experi-
ence unsatisfactory. He was then
employed for a short time by a Yan-
kee farmer in the same area, but reported
that he was treated little
better by him than by Bartlett. Between
1838 and 1840 Philip wrote
three letters to his parents, the first
two of which, on this early peri-
od of his life in Ohio at Aurora, are
quoted together here.11 Of his
employment with George Bartlett, Philip
wrote:
. . .when I first got here I lived with
him for 6 weeks. He used me
very well along first about 3 weeks.
After that he was allways cross
with me. He wanted to play Englishman on
me but it would not do
here amongst Yankees-I am a Yankee
myself. George went to work
for a neighbour one day and left me to
rake some hay. I did not rake
it all before a shower came. When he
came home he was cross and
told me to look for another place . . .
In another letter Philip reported:
... George Bartlett kept me to work for
him for fore months for
witch he never thanked me but when I
left him he told people that I
worked for him to pay my passage out
here. I hope I never shall see
the wretches face again. Since that I
worked for a Yankey 5 months
for witch I received nothing. This was
9 months for nothing but was
a wearing out my cloths all the time. A
man wanted me to go to
Illinoise and lived with [him] but I
thought best not to go.
Over the two years after his arrival in
Ohio Philip had other em-
ployers than the two mentioned here. His
third was an Uncle Moses
of whom he wrote: "I have lived
with him for one month for which
11. Letters from Philip Mighill in
Aurora, Ohio, to his parents, October 26, 1838,
and April 20, 1840.
112 OHIO HISTORY |
|
he paied me eight dollars and I just begin to see into the Yankeys." In a second letter from Aurora, written eighteen months after the first, he reported that he was working for another Yankee, William Staunton, his fourth employer, but that Staunton was thinking of shifting into central Ohio.
I am not used here as I was at that Englishman Bartletts. I am going to stay with him 1 year. He thinks of going about 200 miles south from here .... There it is newly settled. That is the country for me, all woods and plenty of game. The land there is 1 1/4 dollar per acre. I wish I had about 50 soverings to bye some land with my boss. He is going to bye 80 acrs. The lots are one mile square 160 acrs in a lot ....
A third letter Philip wrote ten weeks after the last, and addressed from Streetsboro, a few miles south of Aurora, shows that he had left the employment of William Staunton and was now working for an- other farmer, Samuel Russel. That he felt more settled here, in spite of illness, is suggested by his plan to stay with Mr. Russel for at least a |
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 113
year and to have his parents visit him
from England, in connection
with which he asked them to bring
"a good fox hound" for hunting
and two Durham heffers for his employer.
Streetsborough, June 28, 1840
Dear Father and Mother,
[Letter received] . . . I am in
Streetsborough with Mr. Samuel Rus-
sel jun ... I have been here about 3
months. I have had the fever
and ague 2 months and have not been able
to do anything but I am
now on the gain . . . [family news] . .
. I think I shall stay whare I am
this summer . . . [news of George
Bartlett] . . . Mr. Russel says he
should like to have you bring me out 2
of your Durram heffers when
you come out next sumer . . . [food
prices] ... I shall stay here next
summer if nothing happens. If you come
out here bring a good fox
hound with you for foxes are verry thick
about here. We caught too
one day last fall. The clothes you talk
of sending, I have no shirts.
Anything will be acceptable . . .
[family greetings].
No more at present from your
obedient son,
Philip Mighill
Whereas Richard had appeared to do
little to encourage his
brothers to join him in America-but they
still came-Philip was
much more forthright in his advice. Just
as in the last letter quoted
he was considering the visit of his
parents, so in his two earlier letters
he urged his brothers, Edward and
William, to come to America
and advised them on how to come: "I
wish to no if it is ever you in-
tention to come out here. If you had
have come when I did, with 100
soverings you would have been better
satisfied here than with all
you have got in England." In a
later letter he advised them to join
him as soon as possible, and that it was
best to come via New York
and without a passage paid by an
employer to whom one is then in-
debted:
If ever any of you come across, come on
your own hook . . . We
were not used verry well on board the
Dianna. If ever you come out
here do not come in the way we did, come
by the way of New York
114 OHIO HISTORY
for it is mutch cheaper on the cannall
and better. William I wish you
had come out here. With what you had you
could have bought you
a good farme and you could have doubled
it by this time. If I only
had what you had when I started I should
have been a rich man by
this time...
Three other letters, all written by a
third brother, Edward, in 1842
complete the series. Soon after arriving
in America Edward had, like
his brothers Richard and Philip, been
attracted to Ohio where he
hoped to farm, and, like his elder
brothers Richard and William,
had worked for some time on the
Mississippi flatboats. The first let-
ter reproduced here was written by
Edward in New Orleans soon af-
ter he had arrived from Cincinnati on a
flatboat.
New Orleans, January 17, 1842
Dear Farther and Mother,
I now take this opertunety of writing to
you hoping to finde you in
as good helt [health] as it leavs me,
for I was never in beter helth in
my life, thank God. I arived hear last
Wednesday from Cincinnata on
a flat bote. I left thair on Nov. 9 but
the water was verey low and it
took us a long time to cum down. We
brought down 1000 barel of
flower, 60 of whiskey and 60 of pork. I
had 28 dolars for cuming down
on her.
Richard got hear about 2 weaks ago. He
left Cincinnata a few days
after me on a flat bote but came on her
no further than Vicksburgh.
He is hear and quite well. William we
hear arrived hear about 6
weaks ago. I am tolde he was quite well
but he could scarse se out of
his eyes, but I hear he was a little sik
last sumer. He neverd stop hear
a day but went on to Mobeil. I wrote to
him last nite. He was in Saint
Louis I belive last sumer. I have not
seen nor heard from him since
last May.
This is the first time I have wrote to
you since I wrote in Cleveland
and I thing [think] if I was not to
write you would never get a leter, for
neither Richard or Wiliam will write.
Frank Bartlett is hear and quite
well. I saw him yestarday. He told me he
had not heard from home
for 2 years. He thinks it verey strang
[h]is farther does not write. He
ast (asked) Richard and me down to
dinner today but I could not
find Richard and I did not go. I wrote
to Mr. Stile in Cleveland on
the 16th of January and expects an
answer soon. The [they] were all
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 115
well when I left that. Mr. Stile
received a letter from his son James
from Zanesville while I was in
Cleveland. The letter stated of a Mr.
Buckwell and his wife from Brighton
which arrived there this sum-
mer and he suposed they came away in the
night while folks were in
bed . . . [further reference to
Brighton].
It has been verry sickly hear this
summer and there was a great
many deaths in the sitty (city). Times
has been verry dull here for
some time back but they are mending
fast. Provisions of all kinds is
cheap here except flour and it is worth
6 dolars for a barel. Pork is
from 2 to 3 cents per lb. Potatoes is
from 1 dolar to 1 1/4 per barel ...
[more prices and family greetings].
Edward Mighill
Edward's next two letters were written
from Cleveland, an area
which he said he liked better than the
south and which offered
cheaper living. He hoped to get a farm
there.
Cleveland, May 29, 1842
Dear Farther and Mother,
[Greetings] . . . I arived hear from
Orleans the 25 of April and
William with me. Things ware verey dull
thair. Thair was plentey of
coton and other produce in the citey but
the merchants ware verey
backward in shiping of it and 8 of thair
banks ware in a verey bad
state. Thair money was onely worth 25
cents for the dolar.
I ham now working for one Mr. Hodle. I
get 13 dolars per mont[h]
and things are verey dull hear but I
think thay will take a start soon
for thay are going to bild a grate deal
this sumer I hear. I think I shall
stop in this countery this winter for I
like it much beter than the
southern counterey and I would have done
much beter hear last
winter if I had stopt, than I did by
going to Orleans. I want to get my-
self a peice of land if I can and go to
farming for I finde a roling stone
gathers no moss.
William left hear on the 9 for New York,
and from thair he is a go-
ing to cum home for a wife. I hope she
will cum for I think it will be
much beter for bowth of them and I think
she will like this countery
much beter than England wen she gets
hear . . . [William going to
Mobile first]. I want you to send out by
him some garden seed of all
kinds for if we get a peice of land thay
will be verey handey to us, for
it is a hard mater to get good seed
hear. I told William to fetch some
but I expet [expect] he will pay no
attention to it. I want you allso to
116 OHIO HISTORY
send me a good suite of clothes for
Sundays and Wiliam will pay you
for them, and I will setle with him for
them, for I canot get eney hear
that is good for eneything without
paying three times the wourth of
them.
Richard left Orleans about 3 weaks
before we did, asteamboating.
He came to Cincinnata and wen we got
thair the bote had left for Or-
leans and so we never saw him. But I
expet he will cum up hear this
sumer. Theay had a verey milde winter
hear and the spring was a
month erler [earlier] than it usually
is. All the crops look verey well
and they say thair will be great crops
of wheat and corn this year.
Thair is allso a great show for fruit.
Provishons are very cheap. Hear
pork is from 3 to 4 dolars per barel . .
. [other food prices] . . . eggs 3
cents per doz. The hens say they too
cheap it dont pay to lay them.
Every other things is cheap in
comparison to numeros to mencion as I
am getting tired of writing.
James Stile was hear from Zanesville. He
told [me] he had a leter
from Brighton stating the railroad being
finisht and the terminance is
coming in which I was glad to hear. I
hope yough [you] will write as
soon as you get this for I have not
heard from yough for 14 months
. . .[asks for a Brighton newspaper,
family greetings].
Your dutiful and afaconate son
Edward Mighill
Edward's last letter, and the final one
in the whole series, shows
that at the end of 1842 he was little nearer
getting the farm he hoped
for even though he had "a pocket
full of dolars." He was now work-
ing in a hog distillery near Cleveland
and living with Mr. Stile, the
English farmer to whom Richard came
originally, and a Mrs. White
who was a silk dyer.12 The
letter also refers to other Englishmen in
Ohio who were known to his parents and
at various times had be-
friended the Mighill sons.
Cleveland, December 28, 1842
Dear Farther and Mother,
[Family greetings] . . . ever since
William left I have been to worke
for one Mr. Pelie this last 5 months in
a distilery. I left thair on Christ-
12. By 1840, just before Edward arrived,
Cleveland had become the second-most
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats 117
mas Day on acount of it a stoping to
repair the boilers and stills, but
he wants me back again wen they start
wich will be about 2 weaks.
But I think I will not go for I do not
like it on acount of having to work
on Sunday. Besides it is verey
disaegreable work and I can aforde to
stay still the rest of the winter for I
have a pocket full of dolars, or till I
can find something to suite me beter . .
. [letters received].
I am living with Mrs. Winter and Mr.
Stile and are very comforta-
ble. I have not sent aney papers to you
this sumer for ware I worked is
2 miles from Cleveland and it was seldom
I got a chance to cum into
the citey to se for them in one of your
letters.
You wish to know what is cum of Green
and Brown. They are both
in Zanesville. Green is at work in the
stone cuting bisnes [business]
but is maried againe to a widow women
with 9 children, and [h]is
own 5 make onely a small family of 14,
but I believe that he had a
pretey good farm with hur. Brown is at
worke at the bote bilding
trade . . . :[Brown's children].
In the last letter I had from yo [you]
say yo had some of our porke
but it was not so good in flavour [as]
your own, but for my part I have
seen beter hogs hear than you can begin
to rase, and eat fines porre
[pork] than ever I did in Brighton. But
in this countery thay think so
little of it they take no paines in
salting and packing of it as you do at
home, but I gess the packers thinks it
will do for John Bull at the
disterley.
We fated about 9 hundred hogs which are
fed upon the meal after
the spirits are taken from it. Theas
ware all boiled down for lamp oil
wich wen manafactured is worth $1 per
galon. This pays beter than
making porke of it. Thay take the hogs
and cut them up, hams and
all, boil it down into larde after wich
it goes through another process
and becomes equl [equal] to eney
straned sperm oil ... Thair are sev-
eral of this kinde of manafactures
started up in and about Cleveland
and is geting quite comon in all the
western states. Ded hogs can be
bought now for $1 + 1.50 per
hundredweight, beef is $1.50 to $2 per
hun . . . [more prices] ... I bought 3
fine young gees at 15 cents
each. Theas I meen for my birthday and I
wish you ware heare to
have some dinner with me. I think they
will go pretty well with a
good plum puding.
populated city in Ohio, with over 6000
inhabitants and a wide range of industries.
There were two hog-packing companies,
such as the one that Edward worked in, in
Cleveland in 1829, and others were
established in the years that followed. W. G. Rose,
Cleveland, the Making of a City (Cleveland, undated), 110.
118 OHIO HISTORY
It has been a pretey mild winter so
far, they say, but it [h]as been
as cold as I have seen it fore maney
years, but I supose I feel it more
by being in warm climates so long.
Thair has been more loss of lives
and shiping on the lakes this winter
than has been nown for a num-
ber of years before . . . [no news of
Philip, send news from home].
We have had a one Mr. Hick a preching in
Cleveland and he
preches that the coming of Criste will
be in April next. Thair are some
belive him and quit work and have joined
him. Others have gone out
of their minde, others insane and some
died through his preching.
Others call him an imposter but for my
part I think he is after wat he
can get.
We have had but verey little snow this
winter. The canal [h]as
been shut up this 6 weaks and all
navagacion stopt on the lakes. The
ladis of this citey have been round
bying up all turkeys they could
get and give them to the poor, the
widow[s] and sik for thair Crist-
mas diner, likewise food, flour and
watever theay neded to make
them comfortable for the winter. It was
rather sikley in Cleveland last
sumer, and thair ware a good maney deths
. . . [Greetings].
Edward Mighill
Edward, finding his employment at the
hog packers "very dis-
aegreable work," eventually bought
the Ohio farm he hoped for al-
though he had to sell it again in 1845
when he failed to keep up with
the payments. By this time he was in the
south working for his
brother William, about whom we can learn
least but who ran a cotton
dray business out of Mobile. When
Richard's coastal boating busi-
ness failed in New Orleans, leaving him
and Philip unemployed, all
four brothers left the south for
California, three of them to the gold-
fields and William to San Francisco.
Just as they left Ohio for New
Orleans, so they left the south for
California, in search of new oppor-
tunities on fresh frontiers.
BRIAN P. BIRCH
Taking the Breaks and Working the
Boats: An English Family's
Impressions of Ohio in the
1830s
While the frontier was a great leveler
of people, in putting them
back into log cabins and deerskins, it
was also a zone of increasingly
varied economic opportunities, as the
new settlements created a de-
mand for services and communications.
Not only was there a need,
as the frontier moved across an area,
for farmfolk to occupy land, to
clear the forests and to till the soil.
Opportunities also arose for a host
of other trades and skills-road
builders, millers, preachers and
many more. As the settlement frontier
moved on, the openings for
some skills increased faster than
others. Those pioneers faced with
much more competition often needed to
move from place to place and
from trade to trade in order to survive
and prosper. Frequently indi-
viduals combined farming, the
predominant frontier activity, with
some other trade or skill to best meet
these fast-changing circum-
stances.
Nowhere is this flexibility of activity
and frequent change of lo-
cation better seen than amongst the
British in the early period of set-
tlement in the midwest. The British
formed a significant minority
amongst the foreign-born on most
midwestern frontiers, including
that in Ohio, but because no language
barrier hindered their spread
they dispersed widely and, unlike some
foreign groups, formed few
areas of concentration. As a result,
they have left behind little evi-
dence of their former existence either
on the landscape or in the ar-
chives.1 What little can be
learned of them would suggest, however,
Brian P. Birch is Senior Lecturer in
Geography at Southampton University, England.
1. There are no texts on British
settlers in the midwest and only a few books and ar-
ticles on them in individual states.
Some reference can be found to British farm settlers
in nineteenth-century Ohio in Mary L.
Ziebold, "Immigrant Groups in Northwestern
Ohio to 1860," Northwest Ohio
Quarterly, 17 (April-July, 1945), 62-71; and James H.
Rodabaugh, "From England to Ohio, 1830-1832: The
Journal of Thomas K. Whar-
ton," The Ohio Historical
Quarterly, 65 (January, 1956) 1-27, 111-51.