edited by
JOSEPH E. WALKER
The Travel Notes of
Joseph Gibbons, 1804
Introduction
With General Anthony Wayne's victory
over the Indians of the
Northwest Territory in 1794 and the
resultant Treaty of Greene Ville,
settlement in eastern Ohio and
northwestern Pennsylvania became
relatively safe. A stream of migrants
moved across the mountains and
up from the South in sufficient numbers
that Ohio could claim state-
hood in 1803.
Why did a family leave the security of eastern
Pennsylvania to take
their chances in the more remote West?
What questions did they ask
about the land on which they hoped to
settle? What did a man tell
his wife about the frontier communities
to persuade her to leave her
home and family and take her young
children so far away?
A young man who signed himself "J.
Gibbons" took some "notes"
during a horseback trip to eastern Ohio
and the Beaver River Valley
in northwestern Pennsylvania during the
autumn of 1804. His obser-
vations gave a partial answer, for one
family at least, to the above
questions. He recorded what he saw as
well as what he heard in
conversations with settlers already
there. A reader may suspect at
times that some information stemmed more
from the enthusiasm of
the convert than from provable fact;
[e.g.], the size of catfish in the
Ohio River. But Gibbons displayed
evidence of an honest attempt to
provide for his wife a full and accurate
account of the disadvantages
along with the advantages of migration.
J. Gibbons was a member of a
distinguished Quaker family1
Joseph E. Walker is Professor Emeritus
of History at Millersville State College, Millers-
ville, Pennsylvania.
1. Joseph Gibbons and his wife Sarah,
daughter of William Milhaus (Milhouse,
Millhouse, Milhous), lived on a 126-acre
farm in Uwchlan Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, from 1801 to 1804. In 1803
the valuation of his land, buildings and live-
Travel Notes, 1804
97
which had resided in Westtown and East
Bradford Townships of
Chester County, Pennsylvania, for more
than a century before he
made the journey recorded here. In 1765
James Gibbons was the
largest landowner in Westtown Township.
Fifteen years later he was
the owner of a grist mill, as also were
Joseph and Jacob Gibbons.
Since our diarist wrote that he was the
father of a young family in
1804, he may have been a son or grandson
of one of these millers.
From the distances he recorded on both
legs of his journey, he
probably was residing in Uwchlan
Township of Chester County.
On this trip to the West, Gibbons was
accompanied by his father-
in-law, W. Milhaus of Uwchlan Township,
and Edward Bonsall, Jr.,
of Berks County who may have been
related to Mr. Milhaus through
marriage. They met along the way a
number of other Chester County
persons and visited in the homes of
several former Chester County
families, chiefly Quakers.
Joseph Gibbons married Sarah Milhaus and
became a resident of
Uwchlan Township, probably in 1801. He
is not in the 1800 census of
that township and appears as a taxpayer
for the first time in the tax
returns of 1802 when he owned 126 acres
of land. He must have sold
his land in 1804 because in the returns
for 1805 he was listed as an
"inmate" with no land. His
name did not appear in the listing for
1806 or subsequent years. These facts
identify him as the J. Gibbons
of this journal.
Gibbons recorded characteristics of the
country through which
they passed and gave a lengthy
evaluation of the assets and liabilities
of the Short Creek Settlement and
surrounding communities in east-
ern Ohio. He also made incisive comments
on the people he met and
the accommodations for travelers along
the way. Gibbons and his
companions did not intend to settle on
virgin land. They took with
them money to buy farms which had been
at least partially devel-
oped by earlier immigrants in the Quaker
communities.
stock was placed for tax purposes at
$1832 upon which he paid a tax of $3.84. The tax
returns for 1805 listed Joseph Gibbons
as "an inmate" with no valuation and a tax of
$0.30, and in 1806 his name was not
listed. It is evident that he had sold his Pennsyl-
vania farm shortly after his return from
Ohio on the tour described in this journal. Jo-
seph and Sarah became the parents of a
daughter, Mary P. Gibbons, born in Ohio on
November 26, 1807. The Gibbons and
Milhaus families were listed in Pease Township,
Belmont County, Ohio in 1820. Chester
County, Pennsylvania, Tax Returns for Uwchlan
Township for the Years 1800-1806,
Chester County Historical Society, West Chester,
Pennsylvania; William Wade Hinshaw
(editor), Encyclopaedia of American Quaker Gen-
ealogy (6 volumes, Ann Arbor, 1938), I, records of
Philadelphia Monthly Meeting; Cen-
sus Bureau of the United States, return
for Uwchlan Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, in 1800; Ibid., return
for Pease Township, Belmont County, Ohio, in 1820;
C. W. Heathcote, Sr., A
History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1932), 211.
98 OHIO
HISTORY
Gibbons's good Quaker education resulted
in an effective writing
style. The editor found little need to
add to or interpret the text as it
was written. The penmanship is not
classical, but it can be read with
a minimum of difficulty and with
reasonable assurance that it was
written as it is recorded in this
volume.
The original manuscript for these travel
notes is in the manuscript
collection of The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. The editor
wishes to acknowledge the assistance of
The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania for permission to publish
this manuscript, and Nicholas
B. Wainwright, John D. Kilbourne, and
Conrad Wilson of the Socie-
ty Staff; The Economic History
Association and the Eleutherian
Mills-Hagley Foundation and its
director, Richmond D. Williams, for
research grants.
NOTES made during a tour, through
some of the Western
parts of Pennsylvania and part of
the State of Ohio in the fall
of 1804 by J. Gibbons
Having some time ago concluded to take a
view of part of the state
of Ohio & some of the western parts
of Pennsylvania, particularly
about the Big Beaver Creek; in order to
judge of the propriety of a
contemplated removal to one of those
places _ and the time fixed
upon being arrived on the first day of 23d of
the 9th mo. 1804
left home & went to my father in law W. Milhous's2
to breakfast
when taking leave of the family, set out
on our intended journey, be-
ing 3 in company viz. my father in law,
Edward Bonsall Junr3. and
2. W. Millhaus, father-in-law of Joseph
Gibbons, both purchased farms not far
apart in Pease Township, Belmont County,
Ohio. In 1800 William Milhaus owned 100
acres in Uwchlan Township, Chester
County, Pennsylvania, and headed a household
of two males and four females. Twenty
years later his Ohio household consisted of four
males and four females. He sold his
Pennsylvania farm in 1805, and the tax returns for
1806 had this note: "The land and
Building changed to Conrad & Mathias Kelly."
Heathcote, 197; J. Smith Futhey and
Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania (Philadelphia, 1881), 658; Census Bureau of the United
States, return for Uwchlan
Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania,
for 1790, 1800; Ibid., Pease Township, Bel-
mont County, 1820, 237; descendants of
Samuel Lightfoot and Rachael Milhous, 1966,
manuscript at the Chester County
Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania;
Chester County Tax Returns for
1798-1806; Joseph E. Walker, "Plowshares and Pruning
Hooks for the Miami and Potawatomi: The
Journal of Gerard T. Hopkins, 1804, Ohio
History, 88 (Autumn, 1979), 361-407.
3. In 1790 Edward Bonsall, Senior, was a
resident of Caernarvon Township, Berks
County, Pennsylvania. It is not clear
from Gibbons's account whether Bonsall pur-
chased a farm in Ohio after he was
disappointed in his hopes of buying one belonging to
S. Potts. His name does not appear in
the records of the counties of Belmont, Jefferson,
Travel Notes, 1804 99
myself attended west Cain meeting4 went to Abraham
Jeffries's5 to dinner &
arrived that Evening at uncle Jas Gibbons's,
Mill Creek6__
34 Miles
24th Proceeding on our journey, we passed through
Lancaster and
Columbia & after crossing the
Susquehanna River fell in with Eli &
Amos Evans, John Mechem Junr Jonathan
& Noble Butler7 _ all
of whom were going out to the Western
Country we now trav-
and Harrison as reported in the Census
of 1820, the earliest one now available. There
were, however, two Bonsall families in
the Short Creek settlements in that year. Joseph
was in Mt. Pleasant Township of
Jefferson County and Samuel in Short Creek Township
of Harrison County. One or both of these
men could have been sons of Edward Bonsall,
Jr. Samuel's age would make this more of
a possibility than Joseph who was over forty-
five years old. Isaac Bonsall married
Mercy Milhaus, which suggests a possible tie be-
tween the two families represented in
this diary. Futhey and Cope, 49, 61, 485; Census
Bureau of the United States, return for
Mt. Pleasant Township, Jefferson County, Ohio,
for 1820; Ibid., Town of
Harrisonville, Short Creek Township, Harrison County, Ohio for
1820, 25A.
4. West Cain Meeting, established on
August 9, 1796, is still serving as a place of wor-
ship a short distance north of
Coatesville in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After at-
tending First Day meeting at West Cain,
Gibbons rode west on Lancaster Turnpike to
Lancaster city. Beyond that point, until
he reached the summit of the Allegheny Moun-
tain, he was following the approximate
present route of U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway.
Heathcote, 340; Futhey and Cope, 240.
5. Abraham Jeffries was a fellow member
of the West Cain Meeting. In 1800 he re-
sided in West Cain Township of Chester
County with his wife and five young children.
Census Bureau of the United States,
return of West Cain Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, for 1800.
6. James Gibbons and his wife Deborah
Hoopes Gibbons came to Lancaster Coun-
ty in 1756 from Westtown Township in
Chester County where their ancestors' estates
were side by side. They built a log
cabin on Mill Creek near Bird-in-Hand and the next
year built a large house. He was a
miller, tavern keeper, surveyor, scrivener and justice of
the peace. During the Revolutionary War
he was elected colonel of a regiment of militia
but reluctantly refused the office when
the Friends Meeting at Bird-in-Hand refused to
give permission for him to fight. His
mill is still standing along Mill Creek. Biographical
Annals of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1903), 659;
Franklin Ellis and
Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1883), 892;
George Smith, History of Delaware
County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1872), "Map of
Early Settlement."
7. Amos Evans, John Mechem, Jonathan
Butler and Noble Butler were residents of
Uwchlan Township. Eli Evans lived in
nearby East Nantmeal Township. These five men
joined Gibbons's group for part of the
westward trip, but their ways separated in the
journey over the mountains. The Evanses
were headed for Pittsburgh and had a near-
fatal accident on the way, according to
a report Gibbons received at Beaver. All three of
these family names are common in Chester
County. Noble Butler, the son of Noble But-
ler of Uwchlan Meeting, was said to have
gone to Kentucky. Census Bureau of the Unit-
ed States, returns for Uwchlan and East
Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania, for 1800; Chester County Tax
Returns for 1798; Futhey and Cope, 492, 538-44;
Heathcote, 394-97.
100
OHIO HISTORY
elled together, that
night reached Kings tavern, Sign of the Unicorn8
11 Miles beyond York,
through which we passed, making about 37
Miles
25th Rode 8 Miles to Oxford,9 part of the way
through heavy rain,
breakfasted at the Sign
of the Bull, then 20 Miles further to Haum's
tavern10 on
the top of the South Mountain
where we fed &
reached Chambersburgh
(12 miles) in the Evening, making in all 40
miles-put up at the
Green tree tavern kept by Hydrick
We found on our arrival
at Mill Creek, that the Ague & fever, and
Bilious remitting
fevers, prevailed generally through that neighbour-
hood & by Accounts
as far as 300 Miles back, along the back part of
Virginia, up the
Susquehanna & all round for a very considerable ex-
tent of Country at a Town called Manheim11 about 10
Miles from
Mill Creek, which is
said to contain about 100 houses, it was com-
puted there was 500
Persons lay sick ______at Berlin,12 another town,
not a house Escaped -
and at some of the Taverns along the roads
by reports from
Travellers no accommodations could be had, the
families being all down
with the fever _ we heard of some fields of
Grain that were not cut
__ and generally through
the Country very
backward about Seeding Some fields were only broke
up
and others which were
part Sowed, were left such a
general
complaint throughout
the Country was never known before
_
but
considering the number
sick, there were but few deaths from Mill
Creek to this place 77
Miles _ all along the Road, the fever pre-
vails, & how much
further we don't know
26th left Chambersburg crossed the Blue Mountains,13 Cove
8. Kings Tavern, Sign
of the Unicorn, was between Thomasville and Abbottstown in
York County,
Pennsylvania. Joshua Gilpin stopped there five years later. Joshua Gilpin,
Journal for 1809,
Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
9. Oxford is now the
borough of New Oxford in Adams County, about ten miles east
of Gettysburg. It was
founded in 1793. Thaddeus Mason Harris, The Journal of a Tour
into the Territory
Northwest of the Allegheny Mountains . . . 1803, Thwaites, III, 369.
10. Haums Tavern was
the halfway point between Gettysburg and Chambersburg.
The top of the ridge
was a good place to stop to rest the horses.
11. Manheim, about ten
miles north of Lancaster, had been the location of the fa-
mous Stiegel Glass
works. Gibbons did not go through it on his journey west but was
reporting on conditions
there as he had heard of them.
12. Gibbons later
passed through a village named Berlin, in Somerset County, but
the reference is not
clear as to whether it was that Berlin which had the epidemic of
ague or a village in
Adams County which is now called East Berlin but in 1804 was Berlin.
James Weston Livingood,
The Philadelphia-Baltimore Trade Rivalry, 1780-1860 (Harris-
burg, 1947), 53.
13. The first ridge
encountered was the Tuscarora Mountain between Fort Loudon
and McConnellsburg.
Cove Mountain was west of the Tuscarora. James Flint, Letters
from America,
1818-1820, Thwaites, IX, 69.
Travel
Notes, 1804 101
Mountain &
a number of very Steep hills, between that and Sideling
hill,14 which
is in fact a very considerable mountain
long, Steep
and Stony, and
great part of it entirely paved with Rocks & Stones
__ on Sideling hill we overtook a Waggon &
Cart with several fami-
lies of Swiss,
moving out to Greensburg there
was between 20 &
30 Men Women
& Children, mostly of the 2 latter descriptions, they
appeared much
exhausted with climbing the hill, and were strag-
gled in
companies of 2 or 3 together all the way up to the top, some of
them near a
mile from the Waggon I
took notice of two women
sitting by the
road one of them crying & seemed much dis-
heartened but not understanding their language
we could not
converse with
them _ they were then, at near Sundown, almost 3
miles from a
tavern, which we thought they could not reach, but
would have to
encamp on the top of the hill _ this would be an
uncomfortable
Situation, as the wind blew Cold, & it looked likely
for Rain _ but we
could do no more than pity their hard lot & Jog
on __ our Stages to day were, 9 miles to
Breakfast at the Spread Ea-
gle, Campbells,15
11 miles to Connellsburg16
fed at Davis's
(Gen1
Washington) & 17 miles to B. Martins,17 to Lodge making
in all 37 miles
this was a hard days Journey, we did not reach our in-
tended Stage
till after night, very much tired & with keen appetites,
but after
partaking of some Excellent Coffee, Beef Stakes &c.- felt re-
freshed __ three of our Company gave out &
halted at a mean look-
ing house about
two miles back
27th Rode 10 Miles to breakfast at Captn Graham's tavern18
(for-
14. Sideling
Hill is a long steep ridge in the western part of Fulton County. Fortescue
Cuming, Sketches
of a Tour to the Western Country ... 1807-1809, Thwaites, IV, 57-60.
15. Campbells
or Campbellstown was the original name for the village of St. Thomas
in Franklin
County. I. H. M'Cauley, Historical Sketch of Franklin County, Pennsylvania
(Harrisburg,
1878), 217; Harris, Thwaites, III, 369.
16. This
village is now McConnellsburg. The tavern was about ten-years old in 1804
and is still
operated as a hotel on the Lincoln Highway. Several Davis Families were
listed in this
part of Bedford County in 1790; but, because Bedford County was not di-
vided by
Townships in recording this census, it is not possible to determine which one
ran the inn.
John Davis was the only member of that family named in the census of 1800.
Census Bureau
of The United States, return for Bedford County, Pennsylvania, for 1790,
20, 22; Ibid.,
Dublin and Air (Ayr) Townships, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, for 1800.
17. B. Martin's
Tavern was at the foot of the western slope of the Sideling Hill, near
the present
town of Breezewood. Benjamin Martin resided there in 1790 in a household
of three males
and three females. In 1783 Col. James Martin operated a tavern at the
crossing of the
Juniata River. Ibid., Bedford County, Pennsylvania for 1790, 20; Ibid.,
Providence
Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, for 1800; Harris, Thwaites, III,
367; John
Tyler, "Juniata Crossings: Frontier Outpost," Pioneer America, II
(July, 1970),
4-10.
18. Capt.
Grahams Tavern (formerly Hartleys) was at Bloody Run, now Everett.
102 OHIO HISTORY
merly Hartleys) an Excellent Stage
_ one miles from our last nights
lodging we crossed the Juniatta River
(Rays town branch) and after
rising a very high hill, we rode along
the ridge of that & several other
hills with the River in view at
Intervals, on both sides of us _
af-
fording a delightful prospect of the
different windings of the River at
a great depth below, on both sides &
to appearance not more than
100 yards apart in some places in others a mile or more _ this
branch is about as large as Brandywine19
at Milltown.20
pursuing our journey along the Juniatta,
6 miles from this place we
came to Bedford21 a small town
situate in a kind of bason, nearly sur-
rounded with hills here we left the River and began to
climb
the mountains _ our
Road to day was much better than yester-
day, though the general face of the
Country was uncommonly rough
& uneven __ we fed our horses at an Ordinary on
"middle dry
Ridge"22 and in the
Evening put up at the foot of the Allegeny Moun-
tain, at an old Shackling house which
did not promise much when
we first came in view of it, and on
nearer approach found the Compa-
ny in it were fiddling & Carousing,
but they stopt on our coming up
the company round about the house looked
but ordinary
& the inside of the house was
exceeding dirty as we had no
better chance, put up our horses &
ordered Supper, though doubt-
ful it would be so dirty we could not
eat it-They bustled about,
William Hartley entertained George
Washington overnight at Mt. Dallas near Bloody
Run in 1794. In 1800 William Graham
resided at Everett. T. M. Harris called this tavern
the best between Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh. Census Bureau of The United States,
return for Bedford County, Pennsylvania,
for 1790, 21; Ibid., Providence and Colrain
Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania,
for 1800; William P. Schell, The Annals of
Bedford County, Pennsylvania (Bedford, 1907), 67; Thaddeus Mason Harris, Thwaites,
III, 324; Edwin Adams Davis and John C.
L. Andreassen (editors), "A Journey from
Baltimore to Louisville in 1816: Diary
of William Newton Mercer," Ohio State Archaeo-
logical and Historical Quarterly, XLV (October, 1936), 351-64.
19. The reference was to the East Branch
of the Brandywine River which was near
Gibbons's house.
20. Milltown was the early name for
Downingtown, Pennsylvania, near where Gib-
bons lived. Futhey and Cope, 173.
21. Bedford was a well-known stopping
place on the highway. An early fort had
been built there, and Bedford Springs
resort hotel was about two miles south of the
town. Washington had his headquarters at
the Espy House in Bedford in 1794 during
the Whiskey Insurrection. F. A. Michaux
found it a noisy, brawling town in 1802. Schell,
45-46; Davis and Andreassen, 351-64; William H. Koontz
(editor), History of Bedford and
Somerset Counties (3 volumes, New York,), 1906; F. A. Michaux, Travels
to the West of
the Allegheny Mountains in the States
of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee . . . 1802,
Thwaites, III, 142-46; Harris, Thwaites,
III, 325; Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 61-70.
22. "Middle Dry Ridge" was
given the name because there were no streams on its
side. Joshua Gilpin made several
references to this dryness. Harris found the ridge
beautiful and magestic. Gilpin, Journal
for 1809; Harris, Thwaites, III, 366-67.
Travel Notes,
1804 103
Seized a couple of
Chickens & twisted their heads off __ and got
us a tolerable
supper better than we expected
& tho we be-
lieved it to be dirty,
yet being hungry, eat hearty the
house was
so crowded that we
could scarcely all get chairs to set on, and as
soon as a seat was
vacated _ there was 2 or 3 ready
to seize it
there were several
other Travellers besides ourselves, a dutch family
moving back & a
number of workmen & people of the neighbour-
hood, which altogether
made a throng house we
had pretty
comfortable beds &
upon the whole fared much better than we ap-
prehended it is the best house within many
miles but by no
means a desirable
stage if it could be avoided. __
40 Miles
28th We rose before day, fed our horses & at daybreak
began to
Asscend the Allegheny
Mountain, at 1 mile distant, on the top, at the
white horse tavern23
the Road forks, the Right leading to Pittsburg,
and the left through
the Glades to Redstone,24 here 2 of our Compa-
ny Eli & Amos
Evans left us, going for Pitt-& the remainder being 6 in
number rode 9 miles
& breakfasted at the
"Blue Ball,"25 an Ordi-
nary in the Glades __ we passed through a little town
called Ber-
lin,26 2
miles back, the Road over the Allegeny being 3 miles, was
very good, & there
are divers farms on the top
15 miles further
we crossed Laurel hill
Creek27 & fed our horses at the foot of Laurel
Hill, at Jones's Mill
& tavern,28 a very ordinary place
then went
12 miles further to B.
Davis's tavern29 __
here we had good Quar-
23. White Horse Tavern
was the place where the highway forked. Gibbons's party
took the left fork
known then as the Glade Road. In 1816 the Bedford and Somerset
Turnpike Road Company
was incorporated to build a turnpike along this route. It con-
nected with the
Bedford-Stoyestown road four miles west of Bedford. Schell, 52;
Koontz, II, 205-06;
Flint, Thwaites, IX, 77.
24. The Stony Creek
Glades near Stoystown were mentioned by Veeche, 131; and
Schell, 52; Thaddeus
Mason Harris, Thwaites, III, 371.
25. Blue Ball Ordinary
was in Somerset County.
26. Berlin is nine
miles southeast of the county seat town of Somerset. See Note 12.
27. Laurel Hill Creek
is a branch of the Youghiogheny River. It provided the power
for several iron
works. Gilpin, Journal for 1809.
28. The Jones Family
was active in early industry in Western Pennsylvania. Robert
and Benjamin Jones
built Springhill Furnace in Fayette County in 1794. William and An-
drew were residents of
Bedford County in 1790. Westmoreland County contains a town
which is still called
Jones Mills. The description of the road and distances, however,
shows that the Jones
plantation which Gibbons visited was on Laurel Hill Creek near
the corner where the
counties of Somerset, Fayette and Westmoreland meet. It was at
the eastern entrance
to a pass over Laurel Hill that William Jones built a mill. Myron B.
Sharp and William H.
Thomas, A Guide to the Old Stone Blast Furnaces in Western
Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, 1966), 51; Census Bureau of The United
States, return for
Bedford County,
Pennsylvania, for 1790, 20; Reading Howell, Map of Pennsylvania,
1792, Historical
Society of Pennsylvania; Koontz, II, 193-94; Harris, Thwaites, III, 327.
29. The distance given
would place the B. Davis Tavern stop at or near Normalville.
104 OHIO
HISTORY
ters for ourselves & horses,
considering the part of the country we
were in, being newly settled, &
generally by people in low circum-
stances 36 Miles_
29th Rode 12
Miles to "Connellsville"30
on the banks of the
Yoxhiogeni,31 a pretty Stream
of water, over which there is a toll
bridge, 3 of us stopt at Thomas Gibsons,32
he was not at home, but
his wife and daughter Phebe received us
with kindness here
we Breakfasted & then crossed the
River which was now low, not
more than knee deep, but an exceeding
rough bottom, being entirely
covered with Stones like those used for
paving Streets _ rode 11
miles to Union or Beeson town,33 here
we parted with the young man
who had hither-to been with us & we
stopt & refreshed ourselves &
horses at Jacob Beeson's then proceeded
5 miles further to William
Dixons,34 where we put up for
the night making 28 miles.
first day 30th Rode 9 Miles
to Robert Millers,35 left our horses and
Benjamin Davis was listed as the owner
of four slaves when the enrollment of slaves was
made in Fayette County in 1780. Veech,
99.
30. Zechariah Connell was listed as a
resident of Tyrone Township, Fayette County,
in 1772 and the owner of two slaves in
1780. He had a residence in Connelsville in 1800.
Veech, 99, 203; Harris, Thwaites, III,
364.
31. The Youghiogheny River is one of the
main branches of the Monongahela.
Harris described its flow in some
detail. Ibid., 330-34.
32. The Gibson Family had been engaged
in the iron business in Fayette County
before 1800. J. Gibson and Company
started the Laurel Furnace in 1797. Thomas and
Joseph Gibson erected the Etna Furnace
on Trumps Run, one mile from Connellsville, in
1813. John lived in Bullskin Township in
1800. Halliday Jackson visited John in 1816 and
held a Friend's meeting in his home.
Arthur Cecil Bining, Pennsylvania Iron Manufac-
ture in the Eighteenth Century (Harrisburg, 1938), 32, 191; Jackson, Memorandums;
Sharp and Thomas, 46-47; Census Bureau
of The United States, return for Connellsville
Town and Dunbar Township, Fayette
County, Pennsylvania, for 1800; Ibid., Bullskin
Township, 501.
33. Uniontown or Beeson Town. The Beeson
Family was living in this area as early as
1766; Jacob Beeson was listed as
resident of Springhill Township, Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, in 1772. Henry Beeson laid
out the town now called Uniontown in 1778. He
was residing in Union township in 1800.
A traveler wrote in 1797 that Beeson Town had a
brick court house, two large mills and
several iron works. A Journey to the Northwestern
Territory, 1797. Manuscript written by
an anonymous resident of Ellicotts Mills, Mary-
land, Friends Historical Library,
Swathmore College; Veech, 100, 133, 200; Hugh
Cleland, George Washington in the
Ohio Valley (Pittsburgh, 1955), 198; Census Bureau
of The United States, return for Union
Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, for
1800, 616.
34. William Dixon operated a tavern west
of Uniontown on the road to Brownsville.
In 1790 a William Dixon was a resident
of Franklin Township and ten years later in
Menallen Township, both in Fayette
County, Pennsylvania. Ibid., Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, for 1790, 104, 106; Ibid.,
for 1800, 568.
35. Robert Miller is not in the census
record for Redstone Township, Fayette Coun-
ty, in either 1790 or 1800, which would
indicate that he had become a householder in
that place not long before Gibbons
visited him. Possibly he had come from Chester
County and was known to these travelers.
Thomas Milhaus of Chester County was mar-
Travel Notes,
1804 105
walked to Redstone
Meeting about 1/4 of a mile from his house, and
on a high bank which
overlooks the towns of Brownsville36 &
Bridgeport,37 which
are only separated by Dunlaps Creek we
did not go into the
towns, but after Meeting returned to R. M.'s to
Dinner_ here we met with Ann Taylor38 from Short Creek over
the Ohio, who was on a
visit to the families of friends belonging to
Redstone Quarter
& nearly got through she concluded after
deliberating on the
Subject, to go with us to Wm Hillas's,39 and if
Easy in the morning,
return with us & finish her visit at another time
_ we called a little while at Jonas Cattle's,40
and after crossing the
Monongalia River41
went to W. Hillas's to lodge, 4 Miles. from R.
Millers here we were kindly received
& Entertained & next
morning
10thm° 1.
we set out, Ann and her Companion (Christiana Hall)42
being with us __ we rode over an exceeding rough &
uneven coun-
try which is the case
all throughout Redstone
passed through
the Town of Washington
21 Miles from W. Hillas's & about 2 hours
after night put up at
the Cabbin of an honest dutchman43 12 miles
ried to Sarah Miller,
daughter of a large landowner in New Garden Township, Chester
County. Thus there may
have been a relationship between the Miller and Milhaus Fam-
ilies which prompted
this visit. Heathcote, 204; Futhey and Cope, 660; Census Bureau
of The United States,
return for Redstone Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, for
1790 and 1800.
36. Brownsville is at
the point where the National Highway descended from the
high plateau, on which
Redstone Old Fort was located, and crossed the Monongahela
River.
37. Dunlaps Creek
divided Brownsville from Bridgeport. Veech, 81.
38. Ann Taylor was the
wife of Jonathan Taylor of Short Creek, Ohio. She had been
hostess to the Gerard
T. Hopkins party earlier in the year 1804 when the Baltimore men
had stopped at Short
Creek. She attended The Miami Monthly Meeting in Waynesville,
Ohio, in 1803. See
Hopkins, Journal, note 35; Jonathan F. Linton, 117-24; H. E. Smith,
35-85.
39. William Hillas (or
Hillis) was living on land on Miller's Run near Canonsburg
which George
Washington claimed. Washington visited him in 1784 in an effort to se-
cure a settlement from
Hillas and many others who were living on the tract. The Hillas
home which Gibbons
visited, however, was not on the Washington claim but farther
south near
Centerville. He may have moved after Washington won his suit, against the
settlers in 1786.
Cleveland, 294, 298.
40. Jonas Cattles was
a resident of Luzerne Township, Fayette County, in 1790 and
supported a household
of three males and five females. By 1800 his family had in-
creased to ten members, Census
Bureau of The United States, return for Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, for
1790, 107; Ibid., Luzerne Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, for
1800, 558.
41. The Monongahela is
one of the main branches of the Ohio.
42. Henry and John
Hall were residents of Springhill Township, Westmoreland
County, in 1772. This
was a family which had been in the area of Redstone for many
years and Christiana
Hall may have been visiting relatives there. Veech, 200.
43. At Washington,
Pennsylvania, the travelers left the main trail and went across
106 OHIO HISTORY
further _ we had pretty good quarters for our
horses. but fared
poorly ourselves. the
women had a bed in a cold kitchen and us 3
had a Chaff bed spread
on the floor, in the room with the Old man
& his wife, where
we made shift to pass the night though
with-
out much sleep we might have stopt at a tavern, but as
there
had been three several
robberies committed there lately, we did not
think best to call at
it _
some Tongue, Cakes and Cheese
brought
with us, was our
Supper, with the addition of a little ordinary tea for
such of the company as
wuld drink it __ but as I never use
Tea, I
fared poorly after
such hard riding, in the morning
l0thm° 2d
we breakfasted in the same manner we had supped &
proceeded on our
Journey the road we now travelled was
a bye
road but being
reckoned shorter our pilots took it
though what
we gained in distance
was amply made up by the badness of the
road the best road from Washington is
through Middletown 12
miles Charlestown on the Ohio 12
miles then there is 7
miles of level Road
along the banks of the River, to the mouth of
Short Creek _ but we
came through the very roughest part of the
country & to the
banks of the River at the mouth of Short Creek
there is a Creek on
each side of the river nearly opposite to each oth-
er & both go by
the same name, except for distinction, that over the
Ohio is called
"Indian Short Creek" from our last Stage, through a
small town called
"West Liberty" to the River, is 13 miles __
The Ohio is a
beautiful Stream of water. I think the handsomest I
ever saw _ it was a very calm still time, not a
breath shook the
tremulous leaf, nor
the smooth expanse in the least ruffled; the water
was clear and glided
silently & slowly along. I stood for some time on
the bank beholding
with delight a stream I had so often heard tell
of, and wished to
see the banks on both sides covered
with
virdure & from 15
to 30 feet high, in some places more __
the reflec-
tion in the water of
the Lofty timber which grew on the banks & of
the banks themselves,
was truly pleasing _ and as I stood gazing
at it, I contemplated
in Idea the future grandeur of this western world
___
when this Stream should be covered with vessels spreading
their canvass to the
wind, to convey the produce of this fertile coun-
try to New Orleans and
across the Atlantick Ocean __ I had
full
time to revolve these
things in my mind, as the ferry boat could not
convey over all that
wanted a passage father & I
therefore
country through what
is even today a sparsely settled area of southwestern Pennsylva-
nia. They could not,
of course, find taverns for this section of their itinerary and stopped
at houses they found
in the late afternoon.
Travel Notes, 1804 107 |
|
waited till her return __ we then crossed & landed at a small new town called "Warren town"44 at the mouth of "Indian Short Creek" whilst our horses were feeding I sat on a pile of boards on the bank & made these notes __ then rode 5 miles to our friend Joseph Steer45 who has a Grist & Saw Mill on Short Creek __ here we were hospi- tably received & next morning-3d he accompanied us to Concord Meeting46 8 miles _
44. The village at the mouth of Short Creek is now called Rayland. Flint, Thwaites, IX, 104. 45. Joseph Steer was a miller on Short Creek. His mill and residence was five miles above the mouth of that stream at the Ohio River. This distance places his mill at Mt. Pleasant, where he resided in 1820. He had previously lived at Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where his land adjoined that of James Gibbons. He sold that land in 1768 and moved to Virginia from which state he had come to Ohio. In 1820 an- other Joseph Steer, possibly a son, was a near neighbor of John Gibbons in Belmont County. Ellis and Evans, 891-92; Census Bureau of the United States, return for Mount Pleasant Township, Jefferson County, and Pease Township, Belmont County, Ohio, for 1820; Daniel J. Ryan, "From Charter to Constitution," Ohio Archaeological and Histori- cal Quarterly, V (November, 1895), 1-164. 46. The Quaker center at Concord Meeting, begun in 1799, did not develop into the metropolis which Gibbons anticipated for it. He stated later that the inhabitants ex- pected the state capitol to be built there because Concord was nearly halfway between the Western Reserve and Cincinnati. The meetinghouse was about six miles from St. Clairsville, but no modern town has survived to preserve the high hopes of the early settlers. Correspondence with Richard C. Knopf; Downes, 97-99; H. E. Smith, 35-85. |
108 OHIO
HISTORY
our intention being to attend as many of
friends Meetings as we con-
veniently can, take a general view of
the Country for a considerable
distance round, and endeavour as we go
along to feel after the propri-
ety of removing here __ of which for some time past we have had
a
prospect but being anxiously desirous to be guided by best wis-
dom, have a hope I shall be preserved
from running into any thing in
my own will or time, which would
occasion uneasiness hereafter
therefore intend to wait for clearness
how to proceed in this very im-
portant & interesting concern
from
meeting we went home with Horton Howard,47 a valuable
friend where we now are, and feel much
at home.
3 miles.
in the afternoon Joseph Steer &
Horton Howard rode with us about 6
miles round the Country, to view several
tracts of land for Sale
and returned in the evening with our
kind host
10 mo. 4th took a view of
some land for Sale and attended Short
Creek Meeting,48 it was not large, say
from 60 to 70 Persons of both
Sexes & about as many at Concord
yesterday, but we were informed
they were much larger on first days H. H. accompanied us to
meeting & then to Jonathan Taylors49
to dinner, we were kindly re-
47. Horton Howard came to Short Creek in
1799 with two other men from the
Coresound Monthly Meeting in Carteret
County and the Trent Monthly Meeting in Jones
County of North Carolina. Their purpose
was to select a site for a settlement of Carolina
Quakers. The migration took place in
1800. In 1823 Horton J. Howard began publishing a
semimonthly journal called Juvenile
Museum at Mount Pleasant and in 1827 became
publisher of a newspaper called The
National Historian and St. Clairsville Advertiser. He
was also a mapmaker and publisher of
botanic medical books. In 1820 two Howard Fam-
ilies were near neighbors of William
Milhaus in Belmont and Jefferson Counties, and
four years later Henry Howard was a
Belmont County supporter of John Quincy Adams
for president. Harry R. Stevens, The
Early Jackson Party in Ohio (Durham, N.C., 1957),
170; Bond, 1, 255, 286, II, 525; Francis
C. Hibbard, "Origin of Some Early Belmont
County Newspapers," Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, LV (April,
1946), 178-82; James H. Rodabaugh,
"The Friends Yearly Meeting House at Mount
Pleasant," Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Society Museum Echoes, XXIX (April,
1956), 27-30; Census Bureau of The
United States, returns for Pease Township, Belmont
County and Warren Township, Jefferson
County, Ohio, for 1820, 239, 475.
48. Short Creek Meeting was the center
of a growing Quaker community in eastern
Ohio. Gerard T. Hopkins had attended
meeting at Mount Pleasant in 1804 and Halliday
Jackson, Letitia Ware and Martha Ross
stopped at Short Creek and attended meetings
at Plainfield and Goshen in 1816.
Settlement at Short Creek is reported to have begun
with the Biggs Family about 1770. The monthly
meeting was organized in 1803. Jackson,
Memorandums; Thwaites, III, 360n;
Downes, 99; Gerard T. Hopkins, Journal, note 35;
H. E. Smith, "The Quakers - Their
Migration to the Upper Ohio, Their Customs and
Discipline," Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Quarterly, XXXVII (January, 1928),
35-85.
49. Jonathan Taylor served as clerk of
the Short Creek Meeting. He was a resident of
Mount Pleasant Township, Jefferson
County, in 1820. Isaac Taylor was a large landowner
Travel Notes, 1804 109
ceived by Jonathan & his wife Ann
there we rested till the next day
5 miles
5th Intending to take a view of the Country and
particularly of some
lands on the heads of Still Water &
Captena,50 where a new settle-
ment of friends is forming, and some of
fathers relatives & friends
had lately removed from Georgia we set out in the morning,
though it rained, which increased &
continued 'till about noon
the roads were exceeding Slippery and
disagreeable travelling which
is always the case in this country after
a little rain __ the horses
would Slip & Slide about as if the
road had been coated over with
soft Soap; and it was with difficulty
they could keep their feet &
Climb up or descend some of the Steep
hills __ we rode about 19
Miles, & after baiting our horses
pursued our journey one mile
from this we came to what is called
"Morris town"51 consisting of 3
or 4 log Cabbins with puncheon Roofs
__ one of them a tavern
but there is a town laid out & one
or two more Cabbins building
about 7 or 8 Miles from this town we
came into the Settlement,52 hav-
ing passed through an entire wilderness,
except one farm __ in the
last mentioned distance
in this days ride we passed over some
very good land for the first 8
or 10 Miles __ after which the quality was we thought much inferi-
or, though chiefly well timbered, with
White & black oak, but
scarely any other kind to be seen; and
here we observed there was a
great deal of underwood, which is not
the case in the Walnut & Sug-
ar maple land __ but we could not form an accurate
Judgment re-
specting the general situation of the
Country from this days ride, as it
was principally along a ridge, which of
course was inferior in quality
to the land on each side __ however from the best information we
could obtain, there is no considerable
quantity of good land in either
of those directions; and that all of it
was taken up_
we arrived at dusk, at the Cabbin where
fathers couzin Robert
in Pennsbury Township, Chester County,
in 1780; and Joseph Taylor was an early miller
in Pocopson Township of that county.
Heathcote, 206-07; The Friends Library (14
volumes, Philadelphia, 1838-1848), 111,
155-59; Census Bureau of The United States, re-
turn for Mount Pleasant Township,
Jefferson County, Ohio, for 1820, 208; H. E. Smith,
35-85.
50. Stillwater Creek, west and south of
Short Creek, is a branch of the Muskingum
River. Captena Creek is a small stream
flowing into the Ohio below Bellaire, Ohio.
51. Morristown is a small community on
Alternate U.S. 40 about twenty miles west of
Wheeling, in Union Township of Belmont
County. Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 231-32; Faux,
Thwaites, XI, 172; William P. Overman,
"Early Ohio Postal Routes," Ohio State Archae-
ological and Historical Quarterly, LV (January, 1941), 21-29.
52. The settlement was the area of
farmed lands which Gibbons reached after
passing some miles of uncleared land in
Union and Richland Township.
110 OHIO HISTORY
Milhous53 lived with a
brother in law, not yet having a house ready
for himself they invited us to alight, but finding Robert's wife
had lain in but 2 or 3 days, we
concluded, two families in that situa-
tion, with a considerable number of
small Children __ in a little
Cabbin of one room without any loft, was
quite enough without the
addition of 3 traveller; therefore
grouped our way in the dark, some-
times in the path & sometimes out,
about a mile further to the widow
Williams's,54 their mother in
law, who lived in a Cabbin similar to
the other, with another Son in law; here
we found a throng house, 3
men, 3 women, & 3 or 4 Children,
which with us 3 made a considera-
ble family, to sleep together in one
little room, but we made out very
well, they were kind, did the best they
could, we were contented &
slept sound_
They have laboured under great
inconvenience in this Settlement
on account of Mills, having to go part
of the time 27 Miles, and now
they have 8 or 9 Miles to a Horse mill
at Morris town, but 'tis ex-
pected a Mill will Shortly be erected in
their neighbourhood it
was only last fall & this Spring
that these friends removed there
we rode this day about 29 miles
6th taking leave of friends here we went to R.
Milhous's, Stopt a
little while, then rode across the
Country about 31/2 miles & turned
into a farm house to procure some oats
for our horses as we were fear-
ful of giving them new corn &
nothing else could be had among the
new Settlers _ here we first saw the hand
Mill at work grinding
new Corn, but it is a tedious
opperation and here we learned a
new method of washing potatoes a woman threw a parcel of
them into a hommony mortar, poured a
little water over them, then
jumped in & after dancing on them
& tumbling them about a few
times with her feet, gathered them out
& put in the pot for boiling
from this place we went to Wm Hodgins's,
then a mile further to
53. A Robert Milhaus was born at
Richland in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in
1733. Robert did not appear in the 1820
census, but there was a Jacob Milhaus, farmer
and father of two young children, both
females, in Coldrain Township of Belmont Coun-
ty, which is the area in which Robert
lived. However, Robert Milhaus signed a mar-
riage certificate at Mount Pleasant in
1832. Census Bureau of The United States, return
for Coldrain Township, Belmont County,
Ohio, for 1820, 118; H. E. Smith, 35-85.
54. There were two areas in which
Williams and Hodgins Families remained neigh-
bors sixteen years after Gibbons visited
these people. William Williams and Robert
Hodgins lived close to each other in
Somerset Township, Belmont County. In Warren
Township of the same county, Daniel
Williams, Henry Williams and Stephen Hodgins
were all neighbors. The Hodgins family
migrated from Georgia in 1803. Census Bureau
of The United States, return for Warren and Somerset
Townships, Belmont County,
Ohio, for 1800, 150, 277; H. E. Smith,
35-85.
Travel Notes, 1804
111
Joseph Middletons55 _ after getting feed for our horses & some
refreshment ourselves, we concluded from
what we had seen herea-
way, it was not worth while to look much
more in this part, as we
thought the land was much inferior in
quality to that about Short
Creek & Concord tho' good land, and people here
endeav-
oured to persuade us was far superior to
any other __ it is chiefly
white oak land, Shallow soil & Clay
underneath, which they alledge
it the best & most lasting kind of
land in this Country, for Small
Grain, and not subject to wash __ but they are of the opinion that
the rich Walnut & Sugar maple land
tho' better for Corn at present, is
too Strong for wheat, Rye &c which
grows so rank it lodges & that it
will wash more, and wear away faster
This however is I think merely
conjecture I can see no reason for drawing such a conclusion
and there has not been time since the
settlement of the country
to prove it besides, we were informed, that the best land here
was already taken up, and if it had not
been; 30 or 35 Miles seemed
quite too far from market, which must
always be the case here, as the
Trade undoubtedly will Center at the
Ohio, and the trouble & Ex-
pense of so much land Carriage along a
bad road, would very much
reduce the value of the produce, these
with many other reasons
weighed with us to decline any further
thoughts of fixing here
but the most weighty reason of all with
me is, that no part hereaway
felt like home, nor could I think it the
place designed for me;
in the afternoon we left J. Middletons
and found our way through
difficult, winding & intricate paths
9 miles to Joseph Wrights,56 in
Plainfield Settlement,57
on the heads of McMans Creek
This
friend, with his wife, and a number of
Children, 3 of them nearly
young men grown, came over from Ireland
& settled down in the
woods about two years ago he was a Shopkeeper in Dublin
none of them knew any thing of farming,
of course they were a raw
Sett for such an undertaking; they have
now 50 or 60 Acres of land
55. Joseph Middleton was a resident of
Warren Township, Belmont County. Census
Bureau of The United States, return for
Warren Township for 1820, 276.
56. In 1820 there were two men named
Joseph Wright in Belmont County. It is possi-
ble that Gibbons met the resident of the
town of Belmont who was a merchant and the
head of a household of ten males and
three females. The Joseph Wright of Flushing
Township was a farmer and a younger man.
The merchant was the Belmont representa-
tive for Charles Osborn's anti-slavery
newspaper, The Philanthropist, in 1818. Census
Bureau of The United States, return for
Flushing and Goshen Townships, Belmont
County, Ohio, for 1820, 158, 182; C. B.
Galbreath, "Anti-slavery Movement in Ohio,"
Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly, XXX (October, 1921),
355-96.
57. Plainfield Settlement was another
Quaker center about six miles west of St.
Clairsville and twelve miles from the
Short Creek Meeting. Halliday Jackson reported a
well-filled meeting house on August 4,
1816. Jackson, Memorandums.
112 OHIO HISTORY
cleared &
fenced in their crops they say
have been good, &
they have the
largest & best Cabbin we have seen, appear to be in-
dustrious
& I think will make out very well they
received us with
hospitality
& treated us with much kindness 14
miles
7th
being first day we went with J. Wright & family to Plainfield
Meeting, 31/2
miles. & from thence to Saml. . .
Gregg's58 to dinner, I
mile from
Meeting on the Wheeling or Chilocothe Road,59 and then
along that
road 5 Miles to St. Clairs ville60 (or Newells Town)
This is a new
& flourishing town (about 11 miles from Wheeling on
the Ohio)
built on the Chilocothe Road, which is the main leading
Road down to
Hockhockin, New Lancaster, Scioto, the Miami's &
Kentucky
This is the
County town, consists of about 30 Houses already built,
besides
several others now erecting, mostly hewn log & frame, and
underpinned
with Stone, & brick Chimneys
They are detached
from one
another on each Side of the road, for about half a Quarter
of a mile _ observed
as I rode through, there was 8 Taverns, a
Post office, 2
Stores, a Physician, Apothecary, a Sadler, Joiner, Shoe-
maker,
Blacksmith &c &c _ and there are 2 or 3
Grist mills, be-
sides Saw
Mills, within 2 or 3 miles __ so
that this Settlement has
many
conveniences and advantages, which others are deprived of,
but we did not
esteem the land hereabouts to be
equal to that at
Concord &
Short Creek __ the former of
which is about 6 Miles
from this __ what we rode over to day is mostly
white Oak land,
but as we draw nearer to the river __ the timber is more mixed
with black
& Red Oak, Sugar Maple, Beech &c.
58. The name
Gregg was fairly common at that time in Belmont and Jefferson Coun-
ties. Halliday
Jackson was entertained in the home of Abner Gregg at Plainfield during
August of
1816. Jackson, Memorandums.
59. The
Wheeling Road was the Zane Trace west through Ohio and into Kentucky.
This part of
it became a section of the National Road a few years after Gibbons saw it.
Hopkins,
Journal, note 37; Clement L. Martzolff. "Zane's Trace," Ohio
Archaeological
and
Historical Quarterly, XIII (July,
1904), 297-331; Archer B. Hulbert, "The Old Na-
tional
Road," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, IX (April,
1901), 405-519.
60. St.
Clairsville was laid out in 1803 by David Newell of Pennsylvania and originally
called
Newellstown. Here Benjamin Lundy organized Ohio's Union Humane Society in
1815 to work
for abolition of slavery. Halliday Jackson thought the town looked prosper-
ous in 1816
and found "a small but neat brick meeting house which was well
filled" for
the meeting on
August 2. The next year, Morris Birkbeck said the town had 150 houses,
stores,
taverns, doctors' and lawyers' offices. The long main street was not paved and
very dusty.
But he thought, "the Court House, a handsome brick structure on the sum-
mit, has a
cheerful and rather stricking appearance." Thomas H. Smith, "Ohio
Quakers
and the
Mississippi Freedmen - 'A Field to Labor,' " Ohio History, LXXVIII
(Sum-
mer, 1969),
159-71; Jackson, Memorandums; Downes, 82; Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 232-33;
Faux, Thwaites,
XI, 172; Morris Birkbeck, Notes on a Journeyfrom the Coast of Virginia
to the
Territory of Illinois (Dublin, 1818),
57.
Travel Notes, 1804
113
We went home with Thomas Smith61 (who came here
from
Virginia, his father formerly removed
there from Bucks County) and
staid with him that night, intending to
look at some places in this
neighbourhood to morrow. 10
miles.
8th This morning Thomas went
with us, we rode about 8 Miles
round the lines and through divers
adjoining tracts of land near to
St. Clair's ville Some of the land we thought good and
pos-
sessing singular advantages, but upon
the whole could not feel easy
to enter into any contract for them
__ as to myself my mind seemed
more particularly bound to the neighbourhood
of Concord and
Short Creek __ so that it was with reluctance I could drag myself
along from place to place to view land
in other parts and espe-
cially at this time I felt so little
interested in the objects before me,
that I could scarcely keep awake, or
bear to go any further about
being well satisfied, this was not a
home for me __ therefore re-
turned to St. Clairs ville, dined at
Barns's tavern62 & then proceeded
on about 6 miles to Frans
Townsend's,63 here we were kindly re-
ceived & entertained, ourselves
& horses fared well _
14 Miles
9th Having an inclination to see the town of Wheeling,64
what nec-
essaries might be procured there, and at
what price also what kind
of a road we should have there, if we removed
into these parts
Edward & myself concluded to go,
while Father & Francis viewed
some land in the neighbourhood
about 1 1/2 mile of the road was very
hilly, but the remainder good,
61. Thomas Smith of St. Clairsville was
a farmer and father of seven children by
1820. He had migrated from Virginia.
Census Bureau of The United States, return for St.
Clairsville, Richland Township, Belmont
County, Ohio, for 1820, 218; Jackson, Memo-
randums.
62. Barns Tavern at St. Clairsville,
Ohio, was opened in 1803 by John Barns. Census
Bureau of The United States, return for
Richland Township, Belmont County, Ohio, for
1820, 217; Hulbert, 405-519.
63. The Townsend Family was descended
from Joseph Townsend who came to
Pennsylvania with William Penn in the
seventeenth century and settled near West
Chester, Pennsylvania. Francis and his
brother Benjamin moved to Redstone in 1786,
but neither remained there very long.
Francis moved to Ohio, and Benjamin was a resi-
dent of South Beaver Township of Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, in 1800 where David
Townsend was one of the early settlers.
Sherman Day, Historical Collections of the State
of Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia, 1843), 107; Census Bureau of The United
States, return
for South Beaver Township, Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, for 1800; Futhey and Cope,
735-38; The Biographical Encyclopedia
of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century (Phila-
delphia, 1874), 172.
64. Wheeling, on the Ohio River, was the
terminus of the first segment of the Nation-
al Road. It was one of the most
important crossing places on the Ohio for travelers going
west. For a description in 1803 see
Harris, Thwaites, III, 349.
114 OHIO HISTORY
down to the Ohio, following the meanders
of Wheeling Creek to its
mouth we left our horses on this side at a tavern, and were
ferried over one branch of the Ohio to
an Island, containing about
400 Acres of extraordinary rich bottom
land but the banks suffi-
ciently high to prevent its being
overflowed (This Island lies opposite
the town of Wheeling in the middle of
the river) the timber all
cleared off except the border of the
Banks, and the land divided
into fields & meadows we were informed it belongs to Colo.
Zane65 & his brother;
that 50 dolls per acre had been offered for it
10 years ago, and that 100 would not now
purchase it _ here was a
great abundance of apples, which to us
was a rarity: and 2 Peach or-
chards, Containing we were told 30
Acres; we walked across the Is-
land about half a mile wide, and after
regaling with apples and some
sweet Cider were ferried over the other branch of the River,
about a quarter of a mile wide, &
landed in Virginia,66 (part of the
Territory of Virginia runs along the
East side of the Ohio, which river
divides it from the State of Ohio) here on a high bank is the
town of Wheeling, Containing about 90
houses most of them
built of frame or logs, some few, of
bricks & one of handsome Stone,
the residence of Colo. Zane The Town appears to be a considera-
ble place of trade & Sufficient to
Supply the Settlers with most of the
Articles they stand in need of_ though not at quite as low a price
as could be wished67 Dry Goods one third advance for
Cash
on the Phila Price, & 50
per Cent in barter __ Hard ware &
Cutlery
at the same rate, Castings 5d 1/2 per
lb. Salt 4 1/2 to 5 Dollars per bushel,
Coffee 3/. per lb. Sugar 1/. Crockery
pretty high (but a Potter is ex-
pected at St. Clairs ville from Philada
shortly) Queens ware high,
Plates l ld to 5d1/2 a piece according
to the Size wrought Nails
18d per lb _ the prices of country
Produce at the towns & Mills &c
is as follows - fresh beef 2d1/2 to 3d
per lb. Butter 7d to 1/. per lb.
wheat 4/3 to 5/71/2 per bushel Rye 3/.
Corn 2/ to 3/. sometimes 3/9. but
most commonly 2/6 - Sugar [?] to [?] per lb - Dried Apples 7/6 &
Dried Peaches 5/. per bushel.
65. Colonel Ebenezer Zane was the
founder of Wheeling and builder of Zane's
Trace. He laid out the town in lots in
1793. Downes, 77-82; Faux, Thwaites, XI, 169,
176-77, 181-82; Bond, I, 446; Harris,
Thwaites, III, 33; Martzolf, 297-331.
66. Of course, this is now the western
panhandle of West Virginia.
67. Wheeling prices were given by
Gibbons in a mixture of the United States deci-
mal system and the British pounds (£),
shillings (/) and pence (d). It was common in
Pennsylvania to use the latter pricing
system until the War of 1812. A Pennsylvania pound
usually converted into dollars at the
rate of £1:$2.67. Joseph E. Walker, Hopewell Vil-
lage: A Social and Economic History
of an Iron-Making Community (Philadelphia,
1966), 173.
Travel Notes, 1804 115
after walking through the town &
pricing a number of Articles, we
Re-Crossed the River, which from the
high wind that had prevailed
all day and the boat being loaded with a
waggon & a number of
horses, seemed likely to be a difficult
passage; but we got over safe &
returned to Frans. Townsends, having
travelled
10 miles
From what we have hitherto seen &
heard in travelling through
this Country, it appears, that the
general face of it, from the River
Ohio westward to the river Muskingum,
which is from 40 to 60 miles
between the two Rivers, is mostly hilly,
and some Ridges run Across
in different directions that are but
thin land in comparison with the
other __ but on the head waters of the different Creeks the land is
mostly of an Excellent quality It is computed, the best
land is a Strip that lays along the
Ohio, of 8 or 10 Miles in width, for a
considerable Extent up & down; but
even in this there are Excep-
tions: some of it being thin &
Stony though principally clear of
Stone, rich and fertile __ a great deal of it too hilly and full of
waves
to be pleasant to the Eye, or desirable
for agreeable farming land, yet
many very handsome farms &
Sufficiently level, may be picked out
on the flats, after rising considerable
hills, & Contrary to what is usu-
al in many other places, the roughest
& most hilly land, is the richest
and best; & always the best watered
__ all of it very fine for grass
__
the bottoms formed between the Hills & along the margins of
Creeks are exceeding rich, & yet
they do not appear to be highly
prized, as all the land will answer for
meadow __ This Country
abounds with the Sugar Maple tree, a
considerable quantities of
Sugar is made by almost every family,
some of it appeared equal in
colour, grain and taste to the west
india Sugar - we met with no oth-
er during our residence here, except -
at one place, Loaf Sugar was
on the Table for tea
some of these trees particularly in the
rich bottoms grow very large
- they yield variously according to
their growth and Situation, from
2 to 10 pounds, Each. __ N. Updegraf68 tapped a tree
which ran 90
Gallons of Juice in one day, but how
much goes to make a pound of
Sugar we could obtain no certain
information of- it is supposed
about 6 Gallons __ the time of making Sugar is the latter End
of the
68. Nathan Updegraff, farmer and
manufacturer, was one of five delegates from
Jefferson County to the State
Constitutional Convention in 1803. He helped to establish
the Mount Pleasant Meeting. In 1824 he
supported Henry Clay for President. Caleb
Atwater, A History of the State of
Ohio (Cincinnati, 1838), 359; Harry R. Stevens, 176;
Downes, 99.
116
OHIO HISTORY
2d &
beginning of the 3d Months _
from the Sap of this tree is
also procured,
excellent Molasses and Vinegar
The land is mostly
very well timbered and a great deal of it extraor-
dinary fine,
consisting chiefly of White and Black oaks, Red, Spanish
& Chesnut, Oaks,
Sugar Maple, Hickory, Black & White Walnut
Beech in some places
plenty & large, Wild Cherry, Honey & Common
Locusts, Pawpaw or
Custard tree, black & white Mulberry, very fine
Ash, Some Chestnut,
but not plenty, a good deal of large Shell bark
Iron tree, Buck-Eye,
Elm, Lynn, Gum, Ash Sassafrass _ in
some place the
Cucumber tree & a tree called Mahogony, Crab Ap-
ple, Plumb trees,
nine bark, Spice, and leather wood bushes - with
other trees &
Shrub common with us
When the land is
cleared, which is easily done in a common way,
as there is no
underwood, except Spice wood bushes in some places
with little labour it
will produce great Crops of Corn, Wheat,
Rye, Barley, Oats,
Buckwheat, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Squashes, Mel-
ons, Turnips, Cabbage
&c and in short every thing that our Country
produces, grows here
with a luxuriance unknown to us _ it
is ex-
traordinary for Hemp,
Flax & Tobacco __ The Country is
so new
there has not yet
been an oppurtunity of making a full & fair trial of
what the land will
produce per acre but there has been
raised
as much as 30 to 40
bushels of Wheat & Rye 30 to 70
bush. of
Corn, 80 bushels of
Oats per acre & so in proportion of other things
_ the Corn grows to a
great heighth in some places a person
lately removed here
(Jn° Strall) informed us he had been assisting
one of his neighbours
to top Corn, some of which measured 12 feet
from the Ground to
the uppermost Ear, & I have heard of some since
taller
Weeds grow so fast
that it is almost impossible to keep Corn
Ground clean they are
of various kinds, but the most common are the
Iron weed (which
grows to the heighth of from 10 to 15 feet) Butter-
weed, and Spanish
needles; of the latter there is a Super-abundance
- besides others
common with us _ We found in walking out in
the woods & other
places; our cloaths would be covered with little
burs, known by the
name of beggars lice, which stick so tight to
woolen it was
troublesome picking them off The
Cattle and
Sheep that range in
the woods, get covered over from head to foot
with these burs,
which occasions them to make a droll appearance
__ the Sheep at a distance appear black _ and I had Supposed
it would be
impossible to get them out they
were so matted in
the wool, it would be
Spoiled; but I was told that was not the case,
some of it rubs
off some is picked out, and the chief
of the re-
Travel
Notes, 1804 117
mainder
comes out in dust __ it is however, by
no means a desira-
ble method
of raising Sheep, to let them range the woods, and in a
general way,
the Country is so improved that pasture can be spared
for them __
The Climate
here is very healthy and milder than with us, the Air
pure &
freed from noxious vapours the
Inhabitants not Subject
to any
particular disease, except such as all neighbourhoods are lia-
ble to - vizt
Small Pox, Measles &c but no instance of Flux, Fever &
Ague or
other Fevers in the present settlement __
it is however al-
lowed to be
sickly further down the River __ at
Scioto, Hawkin,69
Miamis and
Mad Rivers, and also on some of the Waters & along the
flats &
low Ground 40 or 50 Miles back from the Ohio __
It is not as
subject to violent Storms, Thunder or Lightening as it is
in our
country, and no instance of a Sugar tree being Struck __ the
winter does
not set in till late, say the middle or latter End of the
twelfth
month & early frosts in the fall are not common __ the land
generally
clear of Stone and from what we seen & heard, Stone can-
not be had,
except in some places, for building I
saw but two
kinds in
this Country, Lime Stone and free Stone but
there does
not appear
to be any difficulty in procuring Clay for Bricks, when the
Country is
sufficiently improved to require it
many of the
Chimnies are
topped with Bricks, some of which looked well, others
ordinary,
owing to bad choice in the Clay The
Waters here are
subject to
fail, so that there are few running Streams in comparison
with
Pennsylvania, but a great number of Springs, which appeared to
us good, tho
small, & we were invariably informed they did not fail,
but remained
sufficient for the purposes of the farm __
and it is not
apprehended
there will be much want of water for Mills - some of
them can
grind all day at this season of the year; and such as do fail,
it is only
for a few months __ this inconvenience
'tis supposed may
be obviated
- either by getting a quantity of Grain ground when
Water is
plenty, which is found upon trial keeps very well __ or by
resorting to
the Horse Mills, of which there are several and
should there
be occasion for it Mills may, & I think it highly proba-
ble they
will, be erected to go by Steam, as it could be done at a
much less
Expense here than in other places where a fuel is not so
plenty
Coal &
Limestone, is frequently seen on the Surface of the Ground,
sides of
banks, & in the Creeks, the beds of which are often paved
with
limestone __ but in a general way I
apprehend the limestone
69. Hawkin
River is evidently intended to be the Hocking or Hockhocking River.
118
OHIO HISTORY
lies deep, which it
is supposed is the occasion of the waters sinking
__ in some parts of the Creeks there will be
a considerable quantity
of water and perhaps
10 or 20 Rods below, the Creek will be nearly
dry then the water breaks out again a piece
further down; so it is
with some of the
Springs, they will not run far 'till they disappear and
break out in a fresh
place
There has not yet much
trial of sinking Wells, but I seen several &
were informed water
could be had without going deep say 30
to
35 feet
Peach trees appear to
grow luxuriantly & we were told many of
them had been full of
fruit, but it was all gone before our arrival,
which appeared a
little strange, as the trees on the other side of the
River were loaded
with fruit from the time we began to Cross the
Mountains &
through the Redstone Country to the borders of the
Ohio, but here the
quantity being small in proportion to the number
of Inhabitants, it
was soon consumed;
There are few Apple
orchards yet planted out, but in many places
there are small
nurseries of young Apple trees _ and trees for plant-
ing may be had
without going a great distance Apple
trees at 9d,
& Peach trees at
3d & 4d a piece
The Country abound
with several sorts of Game, particularly Deer,
Bear & wild
turkies _ the latter are exceding plenty, a respectable
friend informed me
that three persons went one day a few miles be-
yond the Settlements,
and in the course of that Evening & the next
morning, they Shott
90 odd & took home __ there
are also Wild
Cat, Racoon &
Rabbits, but not so plenty Squirrels,
Grey &
black, likewise
Pidgeons, Pheasants & Partridges in great numbers
__ but the game must necessarily grow Scarcer
every year, as the
Settlements extend,
so that hunters will have to go a little further
back, beyond the
improvements, if they expect to procure much
game The Creeks & small streams have not
many Fish in them,
and it is impossible
they should, unless they were Amphibious, or
grew very fast, as
they would be destroyed every fall when the
waters sink; though I
heard of some pretty clever fish being caught
this Season in Short
Creek __ I suppose it must be in some
part of it
not so subject to
sink as other places but the Ohio
River
abounds with very
fine fish they tell us of Cat fish
that will
weigh 80, 100 and 120
lbwt of an excellent Quality Salmon 5
to
101b. _ White Perch 1 to 201b Bass or yellow Perch
from 5 to 201b.
Pike from 3 to 5 feet
long & 10 or 15lbwt.
some few Eels
these are all caught
with the hook and line __
In some
neighbourhoods Girls may be had to assist in the house
Travel Notes, 1804 119
and men to work on the farms _ Girls wages 5/. per week mens 3/.
to 3/9 per day, and 9 or 10 dollars per
Mo. The price of clearing land is
various, from 4 to 6 Dollars per Acre,
for which Sum they will clear
according to the Custom here, which is
to Cut down all the timber
under a foot diameter, Girdle the large
trees, cut the logs into lengths
fit for rolling, fence the land, Grub
what is necessary and pile up the
brush ready for burning
It does not appear that Grain is Subject
to any kind of insect after it
is reaped, but the Hessian fly has been
found in some places in the
Grain that was growing
It is probable that different kinds of
Tradesmen will be plenty -
but at present there is more want of
Carpenters than Masons
The Settlement and improvement of this
Country is progressing
with great rapidity about 4 years ago many of the Inhabitants
came into the then wilderness & pitched
their tents, where they
sometimes lived for 2 or 3 weeks untill
they cleared a small piece of
Ground and built a cabbin, barely
sufficient to shelter from the
inclemencies of the weather as it was
seldom plastered with mud -
and frequently not even chunked between
the logs so that there
was no want of fresh air __ their attention was then turned to sup-
ply the wants of the family, this was
fatigueing & Expensive; at first,
they had the Ohio to Cross and bring
their provisions from the
Redstone Country every trip would take them 3 or 4 days
from
home by degrees as the Country settled, Mills were erected on
this side of the River & the
difficulties of Early Settlers decreased
__
but as nearly all the land is now taken up for 25 or 30 miles from
the River and the Mills already built
are generally built a few Miles
from the Ohio, the remote settlers have
to Experience Similar diffi-
culties with the first adventurers, as I
observed before with respect
to those settled on Still water who had
from 20 to 27 miles to go to
Mill__
It is truly cause of Astonishment to the
traveller through this Coun-
try, when he reflects, that 4 years ago
it was almost an entire
Wilderness, and now he cannot often go
two miles or even one, and
very frequently not half a one, before
his attention is arrested by a
fine Crop of Corn growing among the
deadened Trees __ Stacks of
Grain and Hay near the simple lot of the
contented husbandman,
Fields cloathed with beautiful verdure,
rendered more pictureisk &
pleasing to the Eye by the uneveness of
thee Country, which still
presents something novel to the
view some beauty not before
discovered and beyond this another &
another_
In viewing this Country in its Embryo
state, some judgement may be
120 OHIO HISTORY
formed what maturity will bring
forth already, in some places,
the first Effort at accommodation in a
small rude Cabbin, has given
place to a second, larger, better built,
and more convenient inside,
this in its turn has been succeded by a
third, still more spacious
logs neatly hewn, well plastered
between; Stone or brick Chimnies,
Shingled Roofs, and as by this time Saw
Mills are erected, boards
are procured for flooring, Partitions
&.c &.c - so that many of them
are comfortable dwellings and but a very few years will Elapse,
ere this now comfortable dwelling, must
give place to one of Brick or
Stone, according to the fancy or ability
of the owner of the Soil
There has been a great rise in the price
of land in particular neigh-
bourhoods __ In the little town of St. Clairs, lots of a quarter
of an
Acre Sell for 130 to 150 Dollars, Each
and 40 Acres near the town,
which two years ago could have been
purchased for 400 Dollars,
lately sold for 2000 _ a large
farm a Mile from the town Sold for
13 1/2 Dollars per Acre __ and I did not
hear of any (that was im-
proved) between that and the River;
under 7 and from that to 12 dol-
lars per acre __ but a considerable number of this
description may
be had from the first Settlers who took
it up at 2 dollars, and for this
advance are willing to encounter the
wilderness a second time
There does not appear to be the least
apprehensions of being dis-
turbed by the Indians the right of Soil being Extinguished by
Congress and they upon friendly terms
with the whites but
Should they ever become hostile, the
frontier Settlements would
have to bear the brunt, they are
extensive and remote from this place
The Seat of Government was fixed by the
Constitution of the State,
at Chilocothe, on the Scioto River, 50
Miles from the Ohio & 150
Miles from this place, until the year
1808 _ and that no money
should be appropriated during that time
for the Erection of Public
Buildings, but where it will be after,
depends upon the Population of
the Country, from present appearance
there is little doubt of its being
in the neighbourhood of Concord __
I have examined the Constitution &
some of the Laws, from which
and from information, it appears, our
Society are not exempt from Mil-
itary fines, which amounts to Six
dollars per annum __ but no de-
mands have yet been made on any friends
notified to attend muster
Nothing else appears particularly to
affect us, except in respect to
Marriages but this 'tis thought will not amount to anything, as it
is conceived the Spirit of the Law is
complied with, 'tho not the let-
ter__
There are 10 Particular meetings and 4 Monthly
Meetings of
Travel
Notes, 1804 121
Friends __
vizt. __
Concord
Monthly Meeting held the 3d. day after the third Sev-
enth day in
every month & Preparative 4th. day preceeding at Con-
cord in the
even months & at Plainfield in the odd months _ pre-
parative at
plainfield 5th. day preceeding
is Composed of
Concord held of a 4th. day Estabd.
Plainfield 5" do
Still Water 4" Indulged
Wheeling 4" do __
Short Creek
monthly meeting held the 3d. Seventh day in every
month __ at Short Creek in the Odd months, and at
Plymouth in
the even
months __ is composed of__
Short
Creek held of a 5th.
day Estabd.
Plymouth 4" Es
Cross Creek 5
" Indulged
Plymouth
preparative the 4th. day preceeding the 2d.
Seventh day
_ Short Creek the 5th. day preceeding the 3d.
Seventh day
Miami Monthly
Meeting70 held at Miami the 2d. Seventh day in
the month particular meeting of a 5th.
day
Middleton
Monthly Meeting71 held the 2d seventh day in every
month at
Middleton is composed of Middleton
_ 5th. day
[and] Salem
(in Pennsylva.) 4th.
Preparative
meetings at each of those places, on the 4th. & 5th.
days
preceeding the
monthly meetings
Middleton
Meeting is in what is called Bull Creek Settlement, and
the nearest
for Friends at Beaver72 to attend __ about 20 or 22 miles
_ all of these
Meetings belong to Redstone quarter, and Baltimore
yearly
Meeting, at present, but friends expect Shortly to be allowed a
quarterly
Meeting, to be held at Short Creek or Concord _
The distances
between the Meetings are nearly as follows __
vizt.
70. Miami
Monthly Meeting was centered at Waynesville near Lebanon, Ohio. It is
still in
existence. The Friends Library, III, 460; Hopkins, Journal, March 23,
1804.
71. Middleton
Monthly Meeting was in Middleton Township of Columbiana Coun-
ty, Ohio.
Gibbons associated the Middleton and Salem meetings and located Salem in
Pennsylvania.
72. Big Beaver
Creek (or River) is a branch of the Ohio River. A Quaker settlement
had been made
along this stream. The town of Beaver, at the mouth of the river, was
incorporated
as a borough on March 29, 1802. Day, 106; Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 99.
122
OHIO HISTORY
from Short Creek to
Concord _ 5 Miles
Plainfield 12
Still Water 12
Wheeling 14
from Short Creek to
Plymouth_ 7
to Cross Creek 12
Middleton
or 38
Salem
and they are about 12
miles apart
from Concord to Miami
Meeting 240 miles.
10th. mo. IOth. Left Fr Townsends, him &
his wife accompanying us to
Concord Meeting, which
was I thought a poor low time
after Meeting went to
view divers farms that were for sale, but did
not fix on any, though
one of them, I thought I could be contented
with (being a rich
fertile Spot) could I have been Satisfied in my own
mind that it was right
for me to purchase & remove here, but the Ev-
idence of this being
wanting, could not determine on any thing at
present H. Howard was with us dined with Josiah
Bundy73 who
lives on the place and in the Evening went home with
Horton to lodge
8 miles
11th.
Horton accompanied us to day to examine a considerable
number of farms
offered for Sale, at noon called at a Cabbin and got
some feed for our
horses, and asked for some for ourselves, being
hungry; it was an
Irish family lived in the house & very dirty
the woman of the house
said she had plenty of Potatoes boiled but
no meat _ nor any bread made, but offered to make
some if we
would wait from the outside appearance of the
house, a full
Barn, besides 8 or 10
Stacks of Grain &c. I had expected better fare,
but now concluded if
the bread was made I could never Stomach to
eat it, therefore
proposed if we eat anything to take the Potatoes, as
most likely to be
Clean accordingly we all paraded on
wooden
Stools round a dirty
table, on which was set a large dish of Potatoes,
a plate of butter,
some knives & Salt; we set too and eat heartily of the
73. Josiah Bundy was
the tenant on one of the farms Gibbons considered purchas-
ing. By 1820 he was no
longer a resident of this immediate area; but Benjamin Bundy,
William Bundy, Thomas
Bundy and Moses Bundy were farmers in Pease and Warren
Townships of Belmont
County. Their ages were in a range which would be possible for
Josiah's children. The
Bundy family were in the migration from North Carolina. Census
Bureau of The United
States, return for Pease Township and Warren Township, Belmont
County, Ohio, for
1820, 237, 272, 274; H. E. Smith, 35-85.
Travel Notes, 1804 123
Potatoes, but spared the butter, She
brot. each of us a tin of milk, this
I could not force down ______ paid 11d.
a piece for dinner & departed
we proceeded on to view divers other
places, but could not de-
termine upon taking any of them _ for my
part I did not feel at lib-
erty to go into a purchase at this time,
went to Jonathan Taylors to
lodge, having travelled about on the
different places say
15 Miles
Shortly after we got there 3 other
persons from Chester County,
came to see this part of the world, (one
was Jacob Tyler74 of West
Cain;) in the Evening we had a sitting
in the family, which to me was
Satisfactory; wherein I felt more Openness
in the prospect of Settling
in this Country than I had hitherto done
Having now been 8 or 9 days in these
parts and rid about in differ-
ent directions we thought we could form
a judgment respecting the
various Soils & different
neighbourhoods, and upon what condi-
tions we might be suited in either, had
thought when we parted
with H. Howard, to defer purchasing
until we went home, consulted
with our friends and heared what they
had to say, after giving them
as Just an account as we could, how we
found things in this country
and if it was concluded to remove, then
write out to him to se-
cure some particular Tracts of land for
us, which we thought would
answer pursuant to this conclusion we Expected when we went
to bed, to Set off in the morning for
Beaver, on our way home
12th. After Breakfast took leave of our friends Jona.
Taylor and wife
and went to Horton Howards, where by
appointment Frans. Town-
send was to meet with us & accompany
us to Beaver __ I did not
feel easy to leave the neighbourhood now
the appointed time was
arrived, without making a Purchase &
yet could not see my way as
clear as I wished, was therefore in a
Strait, being fearful of going to
fast upon conferring with my Companions
and with Horton &
Francis, we concluded to defer going as
intended, and spend a little
more time in viewing some other places
we had heard of, and fully
Satisfying ourselves before we left
these parts, fearing we might have
to take another long Journey, to do that
which ought to be done now
74. There were many Jacob Taylors in
several different generations of the family in
Chester County; so it is difficult to
identify positively the one to whom Gibbons refers at
this point. In 1790 there were men by
this name in Sadisbury and New Garden Town-
ships but not in West Cain. The Census
of 1800 also fails to show a Jacob in West Cain
Township. Perhaps he was a young man
living in his father's household at that time.
The Taylor Family was prominent and
numerous in Chester County. Futhey and Cope,
735-38; Census Bureau of The United
States, return for Chester County, Pennsylvania,
for 1790, 68, 70; Ibid., West
Cain Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for 1800.
124 OHIO HISTORY
__
we therefore set out upon a fresh ramble through the Country,
and tho' it was very uncertain what
might come of it, yet I felt myself
relived from some anxiety and was much
more easy and Cheerful, as
soon as we came to this conclusion
previous to leaving Hortons, E. Bonsall
agreed with him, to pur-
chase a farm we had looked at a few days
before, Which belongs to
S. Potts75 at Yellow Creek,76
but as he declined removing to it, had
desired Horton to dispose of it,
Containing 160 Acres of Excellent
land; about 40 of which is cleared,
fenced & render tillage at 8 Dol-
lars per acre __ it is allowed by Judges to be one of the
best quarter
Sections in the Settlement
We went to See another place, which it
was thought would please
me, and allowed to be equal in quality
to Edwards __ liked it pret-
ty well, and as I sat on my Horse
viewing the prospect around me; en-
deavoured with the small portion of
light & understanding I was fur-
nished with, to feel after the propriety
of removing here: being
resigned (as I thought) to remove here
or any where else, that I could
believe was my proper allottment perhaps I looked for greater
clearness, than was in wisdom seen meet
to be dispensed to me, and
which I hoped I should be furnished with
to enable me with cheer-
fulness to undertake a wearisome Journey
to a Strange land, with a
tender wife and helpless offspring, over
so many terrible mountains,
which I have dreaded from the time I
crossed them, and often, very
often, reflected on since but tho' no great clearness was fur-
nished, yet feeling peaceful and easy in
the prospect, concluded I
might safely go so far as to
purchase-and if afterwards it should ap-
pear best not to remove to it-I could
dispose of it without less [loss?]
__
this conclusion I kept to myself till next day there is about
30 acres cleared & under fence
__ a good Spring near to a Suitable
place for building the land lays well for this Country, is
of an ex-
cellent quality & well timbered _
among which is a great quantity
of Sugar Maple black walnut & wild
Cherry there are 3 Cabbins
75. The Potts Family in Chester County
is discussed in Futhey and Cope, 683-88.
From the information given, Gibbons does
not indicate that S. Potts was known to him.
He was evidently a resident of Yellow
Creek Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. In
1824 Samuel Potts of Belmont County was
secretary of a state convention of Henry Clay
supporters held at Columbus. Harry R.
Stevens, 131, 172.
76. There are several streams in the
area named Yellow Creek. Gibbons mentioned
that this one was between Short Creek
and the Beaver River. It was probably the one
Caleb Atwater showed flowing into the
Ohio River near Liverpool about twelve miles
above Steubenville. The township there
is also called Yellow Creek. Caleb Atwater,
"Descriptions of the Antiquities
discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western
States," Transactions and
Collections of the American Antiquarian Society, I,
MDCCCXX, map- opposite 109; Cuming,
Thwaites, IV, 103.
Travel Notes, 1804
125
_
two of them tolerably good and I think may be made a hansome
agreeable place; We went also to see Several other farms
in ex-
pectation of meeting with one to please
father, but after riding back
and forward about 20 miles returned to Hortons without
doin
any thing
13th. Set off this morning to see a
place which was highly recom-
mended as an extraordinary good one, and
better improved than
common, which had not been offered for
Sale but the owner
had consented on being spoken to the
Evening before, to let go at 10
Dollars per acre __ there is between 80 & 100 Acres under
excellent
new fence, 50 or 60 acres of it cleared;
about 20 Apple trees & a great
number of young peach trees planted
out a good Cabbin & a
large new Barn, built of logs, floored
& Shingled Roof_ a hand-
some place & well timbered he agreed to purchase it __ and
now I agreed to take the other if it
could be had @ 8 Dollars per acre
_
the owner B. Stanton77 sent for & came in the Evening as
also
Joseph Satterthwaite78 of
whom Father purchased; my offer
being
acceeded to I drew articles of Agreement between him & me
_
Articles were also drawn between Satterthwaite & father, & a
Lean from Father to the Tenant __ it was late in the Evening before
the Prelimmary Conditions & payments
were all adjusted & the writ-
ings drawn and now being quiet & making these notes, I feel
satisfied in having proceeded so far,
let the issue be as it may H.
Howard & Fras. Townsend took
abundance of pains & troubles in go-
ing about with us to the different
places no doubt in part, be-
cause they wished us to settle here but independent of this. H.
77. B. Stanton sold his farm, located in
Pease Township, Belmont County, Ohio, to
Gibbons. Benjamin Stanton, member of
Congress and governor of Ohio, was born at Mt.
Pleasant, Jefferson County, in 1809. He
may have been a son as the Gibbons farm was
only a few miles from Mt. Pleasant.
Edward M. Stanton was born at nearby Steubenville
of a Quaker family. His father's name
was David, but his grandparents were Benjamin
and Abigail Stanton who in 1803 were
among the first settlers of Mount Pleasant. B.
Stanton was an Anti-slavery Society
officer for Belmont County in 1836. Who Was Who in
America, Historical Volume, 1607-1806 (Chicago, 1963), 501-02;
Rodabaugh, 27-30; H.
E. Smith, 35-85; W. H. Hunter, "The
Pathfinders of Jefferson County," Ohio Archaeo-
logical and Historical Quarterly, VI (June, 1898), 95-313; Robert Price, "The Ohio
Anti-
slavery Convention of 1836," Ohio
Slate Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XLV
(April, 1936), 173-88; James L. Burke
and Donald E. Bensch, "Mount Pleasant and the
Early Quakers of Ohio," Ohio
History, 83, 4 (Autumn, 1974), 220-55.
78. Joseph Satterthwaite owned the farm
which Milhaus purchased in Pease Town-
ship, Belmont County, Ohio. In 1820
Joseph "Shadowthite" was engaged in farming
and manufacturing in Richland Township
just west of Pease. He headed a household of
five white males, five white females and
a free Negro male. Census Bureau of The United
States, return for Richland Township,
Belmont County, Ohio, for 1820, 206; Jonathan
Linton, 117-24; Jackson, Memorandums.
126 OHIO HISTORY
Howard is a worthy kind hearted friend,
and I trust we feel united in
Christian fellowship rode this day
5 miles
first day 14th. Intending for
Beaver Settlement, concluded to go to
Short Creek Meeting, Spend the rest of
the day with friends in that
neighbourhood, and set out in the
morning homewards; H.H. & F.T.
who staid all this time 'till we were
ready accompanied us, and
after meeting went home with Ann Taylor
to dine, & proposing to go
to Joseph Steers to lodge, he also went
with us here Horton
recd. an accot. from S. Potts the owner
of the place Edwd. had pur-
chased, that he declined setling &
intended coming to it himself
This was a considerable disappointment
to all of us, but particular-
ly Edwd. now on the Eve of our departure
and when we thought we
were all fixed with places that pleased
us __ and we had designed
to call on S. Potts in our way to Beaver
to get articles drawn between
him & Edwd. this appeared now
unnecessary, after consulting
together he concluded to return with
Horton & look at some other
place this Evening, & come to us in
the morning _ this plan fixed,
they returned & we set forward,
calling at Nathan Updegraffs in our
way, who came with us __ we got to Joseph Steers & staid there
that night 7 miles 15th. Last night it came on to rain which
continued most of the day Horton & Edwd. did not
return till
near noon, the place he went to look at
did not please him _ and
as he was disappointed in the other, he
now agreed with N.
Updegraff for a Section of land he had
in the neighborhood of Short
Creek, which we had twice looked at
& Examined pretty thoroughly
_
I drew articles between them & by the time the business was
fully adjusted it was near night therefore concluded to defer set-
ting off 'till morning
It occurs to make some further remarks,
before we leave this coun-
try; The land as has already been
observed, is generally exceeding
rich & fertile, even on the highest
hills, and the timber on them ex-
traordinary fine, but as there is no
underwood Except in particular
places, it is easily cleared _ a hand will clear an Acre in a week
__
the common method after the logs & brush is burned, is to har-
row the ground over, if intended for
grass and sow it with timothy or
Clover Seed __ or if for Corn, plow it
People here are much in
the method of seeding among Corn &
they Sow later than in any oth-
er place I have Seen; though it was now
the middle of the tenth
month, very few had seeded & some
had not got the ground cleared
which they designed to sow they seemed to be under no con-
Travel Notes, 1804 127 |
|
cern about it, telling us the Custom was to continue Sowing untill near New Year's, or the winter Sets in _ Clover answers exceeding well, and there is no need of Plaster of Paris __ either Timothy or Clover will do to mow the year it is sown, and frequently two good Crops may be taken __ it grows so luxuriantly in many places dung is considered as unnecessary if not a nuisance, but Some few have tried a little on Corn Ground & they say it was the better for it __ The best timber for fencing (when Chesnut cannot be had) is white Oak, wild Cherry, Locust, White and black walnut _ but the common method is to fence with what grows on the ground at the first clearing I have seen a good deal of fence made of wild Cherry, Ash, and Shell bark hickory, which 'tis said lasts very well __ the price for Splitting Rails, if found their Diet, is 3/. per hun- dred __ 3/9 to find themselves and 5/. per hundd. for Splitting & making fence Horses & Cattle sell lower here than with us, therefore the fewer are brought out the better _ Horses £20 to £30, a yoke of Oxen 50 to 60 Dollars __ Milch Cow & Calf 12 to 14 Dollars __ In respect to what might be necessary for New Settlers to bring with them __ as a general Rule, they should bring their Cloathing, |
128
OHIO HISTORY
Beds
& Bedding, some tools, such Articles of Household furnitur as
they
would want immediately on their arrival here, & which would
not Sell
so as to allow them to be replaced here by new ones at 50 per
Ct.
advance __ or to take it in another
way - the price of hauling
a hundred
Wt. to this Country is (say) 6 Dollars now if a
hunddWt.
of those Articles are worth paying the freight, and they
could be
conveniently brought it would answer better, than being at
the
trouble immediately on arriving here to hunt them up through
the
Country it would also be well
to bring out the Mountings for
furniture I have before mentioned that
Tradesmen of different
kinds was
likely to be plenty, I still made Enquiry as opportunity of-
fered and do not find there is much lack except
of Carpenters
_ how it may be in building with brick or
Stone, is as yet uncer-
tain, but
'tis apprehended there will be a difficulty in many places to
procure
Sand for mortar
This
Country has hitherto been deemed inland, & inaccessable
by water
from the Ocean _ it is probably it will continue to be the
case for
large Craft, but Sail boats very frequently come up from New
Orleans,
the Lead mines & other places loaded with Cotton, Lead
&c.
to Wheeling when they have
a fair wind they can Stem the
tide very
well but there is a
Considerable Trade down the Riv-
er, when
the water is high, which continues for Several Months in
the
Spring sometimes during the Summer
and in the fall _ as
many as
20 arks may be seen at one time floating along
divers of
them
large 50 feet long, 15 feet broad
& 7 or 8 feet high, and
some
larger, they will carry from 300 to 350 barrels of flour large
vessells
are also built and completely fitted out for Sea _ we saw
one Brig
building at Charleston, Several other vessells at Pitt79 &
some
floating in the River
In these
new Settlements women assist in the agricultural & manu-
facturing
part more than with us, it is very common for them to help
about
gathering & burning brush planting Corn, Swingling flax &c.
and I saw
in many places women weaving and was informed
there was
2 or 3 women for one man in that Business
I was
near omitting one remark which to me proves more in favour
of this
Country than volumes written in its praise, which is the gener-
al
Contentment that reigns through every neighbourhood all
seem to
think their part of the Country the best _ we made
much
79.
Gibbons had not passed through Pittsburgh on the way west; so this probably
was a
reference to the eastward journey. If this is true, some revision of his
original notes
must have
been made after he reached home.
Travel Notes,
1804
129
enquiry but could not
find any that murmured or were dissatisfied or
wished they had nor
removed here, none that were willing to return,
or looked back to the
flesh Pots of Egypt they voluntarily
(for
the present) and with
great Cheerfulness undergo hardship and
deprivation of some
of the Conveniences & Luxuries of life they had
been accustomed to,
expecting and with great reason that in the turn
round of a very short
time they will live comfortably and
this
with the early
settlers is already realized, we found no lack among
these of the good
things of this life, they lived full and plenty
on the other hand
thousands might be found who were lavish in
praise of this New
Canaan and when we mentioned the hardships &
Difficulties of
moving out they treated it as a very trifling thing, I en-
quired particularly
of many of the women (as possessed of most feel-
ing &
Sensibility) on this Subject, but they uniformly declared they
did not mind at all
__ those who were weakly increased
Strength
by the Journey and
the timid became more courageous
they
told me of a woman
friend (Joseph Vanlaws wife) from Jersey who re-
moved out there and
drove a light waggon herself all the way to
Ohio, with a young
Child in her lap, her husband was along; but he
had the heavy waggon
with their Goods to Attend to __
therefore
she had to drive
herself_
I have very little
doubt but some may suppose the account I give of
this Country
exaggerated, it may be so; but I am not sensible of it; it
appeared in my Eyes
in pleasing Colours, and in this I have many
companions even some who at first entertained an
unfavourable
opinion respecting
it, yet had the Curiosity to see a land so much
Spoken of _ tho'
almost predetermined not to like it but
when they saw the
Richness and fertility of the Soil, the Luxuriance
of the herbage _ the loftiness and variety of the timber the
Charming Landscapes
which every where Strike the Eye they
could not resist a
desire of becoming purchasers & Settling in a Coun-
try where with so
little labour & at so small an Expense the necessa-
ries & Comforts
of Life may be procured as far as my
slender
knowledge extends
Travellers all unite in praise of the western Coun-
try in Morse's Geography may be found a
particular description
of the then North
west Territory in more flattering Colours than I
have set forth
__ will transcribe a Small Extract
from that Work as
a Specimen
"The Country on
"the Ohio is
every where pleasant, with the large level Spots of rich land
"and remarkably
healthy One general remark of this
nature will Serve
"for the whole
Tract of the Globe comprehended between the western
130
OHIO HISTORY
"Skirts of the
Allegany Mountain thence running Southwestwardly to the
"distance of 500
Miles to the Ohio Falls, then crossing them North wardly to
"the head of the
Rivers that empties themselves into the Ohio thence along
"the Ridge that
Separates the Lakes & Ohio Streams to French Creek
"this Country may
from a proper knowledge be Affirmed to be, the most
"healthy the most
pleasant, the most comodious, and most fertile Spot of
"Earth known to
the European people"
But notwithstanding all
that can be Said in favour of this Country,
there remains three
serious objections, vizt. - first, the Scarcity of
water at some seasons
_ Secondly The Roughness and une-
venness of the Country
which in some places will make unpleasant
Plowing & must for
a considerable length of time cause bad roads
Thirdly _ The distance from a good market, or if
the pro-
duce is sold at home,
the low price it will bring
The two first
objections may be dispensed with __ as
it appears
from all the
information we could obtain that there is a Sufficient
number of never failing
Springs in most places (and where these are
wanting water can be
procured by digging) to answer all the purposes
of the farm _ there is also water for Mills through the greater part
of the year and with a little foresight and
care Grinding may be
done in the Wet Season
to last through the dry and as the
Country comes to be
opened, improvements will Still be made in the
Roads __ and the uneveness of the Surface which now
causes un-
pleasant travelling,
may be so helped, by winding round some of the
Hills, digging down
little nobs filling up or bridging over
some
narrow breaks and
Chusing the most favourable Ground as to be
rendered agreeable and as the land is so fertile Hills that
are too
steep to plow may be
put in with Grass for mowing or pasture
but
the last and most
serious objection Respecting markets remains to be
answered and this will require an abler pen than
mine, guided
by a person possessed
of more accurate knowledge than I could pos-
sibly obtain in so
short a time, as it would embrace __
the means of
obtaining materials,
and the Expence of building and Equipping
vessells for conveying
produce not only down the River but across
the Atlantick the facility of or obstructions to
navigation what
new Channels of
Commerce will probably be opened _ or how far
we may reasonably
calculate upon the present ones being enlarged
with many other things
which I shall leave and give my simple
opinion & thoughts
on the Subject I have Supposed from
the
great emigrations to
this Country and from the Apparent and pro-
fessed contentedness
among the Western People _ they must cal-
culate upon advantage
in some way or other to compensate for the
Travel Notes,
1804
131
loss of Friends &
Relatives left behind; the fatigues of a long Journey
and the difficulties
to be surmounted in settling a wilderness Country
_ now, how far these
calculations are realized is the next thing to
be examined
The Early Settlers
having overcome their first fatigues and difficul-
ties, now find
themselves pretty comfortably fixed _
their fields
smile around them
_ the Earth with little labour
produces more
than they can consume
_ the Surplus they sell, (at present)
at a low
rate _ but they consider that their country is in its infancy
and as
Population and
Agriculture increases, Commerce will also increase -
_ as the land is so
natural to Grass, Grazing will become a
profitable business,
some Essay has already been made _
droves
of fat Cattle have
been taken from thence, and as the raising of Cattle
becomes more general,
it will be more of an Object for drovers to go
there _ this would be a Cash Article __ and it is likely that con-
siderable advantage
may be made by raising Horses the
Expence & trouble
would be small _ they are easily taken to mar-
ket & would bring
a good price
It is also Supposed if
in clearing of land, the bark of the trees was
saved, Ground &
put in Casks, it would be a valuable Article for Ex-
portation And it is probable other
Channels of Trade will be
opened If the population should
continue to progress for a series
of years with the same
rapidity it has for 3 or 4 years past
many
large towns and
villages will be built __ the
Inhabitants of these
must be supplied by
the Country and by this means a good Market
may be had for what
fresh meat, Poultry, Butter &c. the farmer may
have to Spare who in
return will be Supplied with Such Articles as
he cannot raise
__ If by these and other means he
makes a comfort-
able living it is
certainly doing much better than is usual in older Set-
tled Countrys for this
(Supposing it to be done) is upon a farm which
will not cost one
fourth part as much as an Equal quantity of land with
us _ the land will produce 3 or 4 fold more than our land
__ and
the farm is daily
rising in value _ and it
is of no consequence to the
farmer whether the
advance is made by the land or by the produce
Suppose, for Example,
a person possessed of an Estate in Pennsylva.
worth £2000 near to a
good market, if from this Estate with all its ad-
vantages he cannot do
more than make a living, or Evenn Suppose he
laid by £50 a year
which is supposing a thing that don't commonly
happen Still he would be a gainer by selling
that Estate & laying
out £600 for a farm in
this country on which he might make a living,
perhaps something
more he would then have £1400 left
which if
132
OHIO HISTORY
put to
Interest would produce £84 per annum or if judiciously laid out
in land would
double itself in a few years This
calculation is for
an improved
farm at 8 or 9 Dollars per acre but the advantage would
be much
greater in favour of those who could content themselves
with
purchasing unimproved land at 2 dollars per acre __ as things
appear to me
in this point of view, I note them, in order to prove (if my
calculations
are not Erroneous) to the satisfaction of those who have
thoughts of
removing to this Country, that there is a fair prospect of
living
comfortably there & of being able to make more ample provi-
sion for a
rising family than could be done by remaining in our old
Settled
Country
But whether
such accumulation would be eventually promotive of
their best
Interests must be left and it is very possible I may be mis-
taken in my
Ideas respecting this Country, but I would not willingly
either gloss
over its defects or magnify its advantages, neither do I
wish to use
one persuasive argument to induce any to emigrate thither
_ I made much observation and Enquiry and
was diligent in inves-
tigation (as
far as time & my slender Capacity would allow) to come at
the truth
__ the result I commit to writing
& leave others to judge,
and Act as
they think best
As to myself
it is in my view a matter of very great consequence to
remove with a
family to such a distance and though there appears to
be a fair
prospect of temporal advantage, this is not Sufficient without
something
more to induce me to come to this conclusion __ that
many have
already removed and others will under the direction of
best wisdom I
have no kind of doubt and it may be right for us
and I have
often & earnestly wished for myself & my dear relatives in
an especial
manner that we may be favoured to see what our proper
business is
& act accordingly following
that which makes for
Peace either
in going or staying then
the blessing will rest upon
us __ and Short of this there is no true
happiness to be enjoyed
10 mo. 16th,
This morning was foggy & the Road wet & Slip-
pery, but as
it did not rain, after breakfast we left our friend Joseph
Steers where
we have been kindly entertained and provided with
provisions
for our Journey & following Short Creek down to its mouth
5 miles we
rode up along the banks of the Ohio which as the water
was now low,
was from 30 to 50 feet high most of
it a beautiful
level Road
through exceeding Rich land the
border of the
bank at our
right was lined with large trees of various kinds amongst
which were a
great number of Sycamore trees __ I
measured the
Stump of one
that had blown down & found its Circumference at the
height of 3
feet from the Ground was 28 feet _ another one which
Travel Notes, 1804 133
was growing & appeared to be
perfectly Sound measured 40 feet __
We passed through the land which the
Mingoes and Shawanese In-
dians were formerly Settled on & had
their towns at the dis-
tance of 7 miles from Short Creek is
Charlestown80 Standing on the
East bank of the Ohio, it appeared to
contain about 70 houses
some of them built with bricks _ 7
miles further up on the west
Side is Steubenville81 this
is a County town of between 80 & 100
houses a considerable number of
them are of brick large &
handsomely finished __ it Stands on a high bank _ the Streets
are wide & Cross each other at right
Angles it is in this town the
land office for the State is kept here all the Entries for land, &
the payments are made __ after feeding our horses we crossed the
River to the Virginia Shore, about one
mile above the town, all along
the border of the River is rich bottom
land, in some places narrow in
others half a mile or a mile wide to the
foot of a ridge of hills which
extends up & down the river on both
sides __ we were informed
the water rises 25 or 30 feet above its
present heighth, at which time
it is navigable for large vessels to go
down and out to Sea there being
no obstructions in it except a trifling
falls82 several hundred miles be-
low this __ it is a Smooth bottom, chiefly small Gravel with scarce-
ly any rocks or stones,
we left the River when we crossed it
& Seen it no more for the day,
travelling a rough road & in some
places very thin land for about 10
miles further & put up at a private
house _ making
30 miles
The family was Methodists __ after we had eat Supper they en-
tertained us with an account of the many
difficulties they had en-
countered since their first Settlement
in this Country 35 years ago83
from
the incursions of the Indians
they had often beset the
house & tried to take them alive,
but they had always made out to
Escape
The Old man seemed to feel the renewed
vigor of Youth and much
80. The location and distances place
this community at Wellsburg, West Virginia.
81. Steubenville, Ohio, is about twenty
miles northeast of Short Creek. The town
was founded about 1798 by James Ross and
Bazaleel Wells. Cuming, Thwaites, IV,
107-08; Flint, Thwaites, IX, 101-03;
Nathaniel Dike, "Nine Letters of Nathaniel Dike on
the Western Country, 1816-1818,"
edited by Dwight L. Smith, Ohio State Archaeologic-
al and Historical Quarterly, LXVII (July, 1958), 189-226.
82. The Falls of the Ohio are at
Louisville, Kentucky. Boats were removed from the
water and rolled on logs around the
falls.
83. If it is true this couple had
settled there thirty-five years earlier, they would have
come west in 1769. They were, therefore,
early in the settlement of the region northwest
of Pittsburgh.
134
OHIO HISTORY
animated whilst
relating the bloody Encounters and Hair breadth
Escapes he and others
of his neighbourhood had experienced, in
which his wife joined
(who by the bye put us in mind of the Vulgar
Proverb, that the
Grey mare was the better horse) so that it was to
me very evident,
notwithstanding all their pretensions to Religion
that the same
unmortified Spirit was still alive in them __
Father & I
retired early from their company and conversation &
went to bed in a room
adjoining the one we had sat in _ & Francis
& Edward into a
bed in one corner of the Sitting room _ in the
presence of the Old
couple
as soon as we had all
got settled in our nests, the old woman (being
the head) first tuned
her pipes, then the old man joined in chaunting
forth a lengthy Hymn,
with so loud a voice and so melodiously, that
there was no danger
of our Sleeping whilst this lasted __
when it
was ended she made a
long prayer in the course of which I was un-
der some little
concern least she should leave nothing in Store for
themselves for she
made so many requests;
first that the
Strangers who were cast upon them this Evening
might be endued with All
the Graces of the Spirit, that their Sins
might be cast into
the Sea of Obillion, that they might be preserved
to return in Safety
to their families and prayed for their families &c.
&c. &c.
__ then for the Country at large, for
their particular Neigh-
bourhood & for
themselves, that the inhabitants hereabouts might
become diligent
hearers of the word and eminent for Piety & virtue
&c. &c. to
all which her Clerk added a long Amen
This being concluded
they came into our Chamber (the door of
which was open all
the time) undressed before us & went into a bed
in another corner of
the room _ At this farm we met with abun-
dance of Apples &
Peaches the owner of it said he had 2 orchards of
about 800 bearing
Apple trees & above 1000 Peach trees, from these
he distills large
quantitites of Whiskey and I leave others to deter-
mine, whether the
work of Righteousness in their neighbourhood
will be more advanced
by their Prayers, than retarded by the distri-
bution &
consequent use of so much Spiritous Liquors
17th. We fed our horses and Started pretty early and
after riding over
a rough uneven
Country & extreme poor land for about 14 miles Stopt
at an Irish Slab
Cabbin Tavern, we fed our horses, but the Cabbin
was so exceeding
filthy & dirty we had no desire of ordering break-
fast_ but applied to our Saddle bags which
furnished us with
Beef & Cakes,
this with a little milk we got at the house served to
satisfy our present
wants __ some of us were hard set to
drink the
milk having no doubt
but it was very dirty however we forced
it
Travel Notes, 1804 135
down & went on __ the land over which we travelled continued
ex-
ceeding poor until we arrived at the
borders of the River
The reason of our taking this Rout &
having the River to cross
twice instead of going up to Beaver on
the west side of the Ohio was
to avoid a great bend in the River &
by taking this way, F. Townsend
supposed it was 10 miles shorter & 5
miles better
We had rode all along upon a very high
ridge which in our part of
the Country would be denominated a
Mountain __ it gradually be-
came narrower until it terminated in a
point just wide enough and
nothing to Spare for a waggon to pass
along, here the Road began to
descend __ We paused a moment to view the prospect before us
_ this was the Spot for the pencil of
the Limner, or the Pen of the
Poet, to delineate some of the wonderful
works [of] nature & form a
Landscape which would Strike the
astonished Eye with wonder &
delight the ground on either side descended (to appearance) al-
most perpendicularly to a tremendous
Gulph below the lofty timber
which grew in the vallies beneath -
might from our present heighth
have been mistaken for the Small
Shrubbery of the plains
whose leafy honours were of many
different Shades & hues, being
changed by the chilling hand of frost;
on our left was a valley of con-
siderable Extent and at the distance of
a mile or more gently glided
the beautiful Ohio __ the Prospect on either side & before us
was
terminated by a long range of very high
hills _
We dismounted and led our horses down a
long hill, at the foot of
which ran Raccoon Creek this we crossed
just above where it emp-
ties into the Ohio & Soon after
crossed the River in a boat __ 3 or 4
miles from this we passed through the
town of Beaver containing
about 20 houses all of them frame or logs except one built
of
hewn Stone this town is laid out upon a large Scale 2000
Acres of land being appropriated for the
purpose __ it is in a beauti-
ful situation, on a large level piece of
Ground just below the mouth of
the "Big Beaver Creek," on the
Banks of the Ohio which is here at
least 100 or 120 feet high, from whence
there is a fine prospect of the
Surrounding Country the windings of the River & of Beaver
Creek __ the plan of the town extends over the Creek __ and if
any means could be devised to supply it
with Wholesome water, it
would no doubt ere long become a thriving
handsome place but
in this there is a difficulty, as water
cannot be procured by digging,
and there is but one Spring near from
which the water is conveyed in
trunks, [bored logs] & this in the
fall of the year is very ordinary
it is Supposed, and from appearances is
probable, that where the
town now Stands & for many miles
round, has at some age of the
136
OHIO HISTORY
world been a Lake; this high bank is
principally Gravel & the whole
Surface covered with Paving Stones,
which must have been brought
to their present round Shape by rubbing
& driving about in the
water admitting this Spot to have been a Lake, will furnish a rea-
son why water cannot be found by
digging, though they have went
to the depth of 100 feet, as that did
not go beyond what is termed
"made" Earth of course there
are no Springs in it___but is it not
probable if it was dug through this
& into the Original soil, that
water would be found
about a mile up Beaver Creek is a Small
town on Bradys Run
here we stopt at Joseph Hoops's 84 who keeps Store __ were re-
ceived with kindness & after
partaking of some Excellent Coffee &c.
which by this time (3 oClock) we had a
good Appetite for _ went
about a mile further up the Creek to
Evan Pughs85 _ having rode
this day-27 miles
our friends here received us cordially
and were glad to see us
fearing from our long detention down the
River that we had gone
home they informed us that one of our former company Amos
Evans had a narrow Escape for his life
__ as his Cousin Eli & him
were crossing a bridge over a race his
horse took fright, ran back-
wards over the Side of the bridge &
fell with him about 15 feet in the
water the horse's hip struck first against a Stake which broke
the fall, otherwise it was thought Amos
would have been killed, as
the horse would have fell on him but
this stop in it enabled him to
disengage himself, and 'tho they both
went into the water they were
several feet apart; he did not receive
any hurt himself _ but had
84. Joseph Hoops, or Hoopes, was
probably a relative of the Gibbons Family. Uncle
James Gibbons was married to Deborah
Hoopes, and the Gibbons and Hoopes' ances-
tral estates were side by side in
Westtown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
The Census of 1800 lists a Joseph Hoops
as a resident of South Beaver Township of Bea-
ver County, Pennsylvania, with a wife
and two young daughters. Hoopes, Townsend &
Company erected an iron furnace at
Brighton in 1803. Census Bureau of The United
States, return for South Beaver
Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, for 1800; Bio-
graphical Annals of Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, 659; Day, 107-08; George
Smith,
"Map of Early Settlement";
Heathcote, 192.
85. Evan Pugh was of a Chester County
family known to Gibbons. One Pughtown is
in northern Chester County and another
is in northern West Virginia, a few miles west of
the Beaver Settlement. There was an Evan
Pugh in Coventry Township of Chester Coun-
ty with a wife and four young children
in 1800, but no Evan Pugh appears in the Beaver
County report for that year. However,
several pages are unreadable. In 1780 Jonathan
Pugh owned several mills in Coventry
Township in the northern part of Chester County.
Futhey and Cope, 699; Heathcote, 188;
Census Bureau of The United States, return for
Chester County, Pennsylvania, for 1790,
61; Ibid., Chester and Beaver Counties, Penn-
sylvania, for 1800.
Travel Notes, 1804 137
to procure another horse to return home,
leaving his own so crippled
as not likely to recover
[The following sentence was written at
this point in the NOTES but
was stroked out lightly: Our friends
here received us with cordiality
and were glad to see us, fearing from
our long detention down the riv-
er that we had gone home _]
There are a considerable number of
members of our Society here
but they have no meeting nearer than
Middleton __ about 22 miles
distant
18th After a
comfortable nights lodging we felt refreshed & having
breakfasted took a walk out to see the
Grist & Saw Mills & from
thence a small distance up the Creek to
the first falls, as the water
was low, I went without much difficulty
from Rock to Rock near half-
way over, the Bed of this Creek appears
to be one entire Rock, or at
least paved with Rocks, and 'tis said at
very low times __ Acres of it
may be seen with Scarce a vein in it, so
smooth and level, that by
some persons it is used as a threshing
floor, at the Second falls a mile
higher up, and had we went yesterday
might have seen them at
work
The Beaver is a fine Stream of water,
nearly as large as Schuylkill at
Reading and at low times not above knee deep
There are many curious cavities in the
Rocks at the falls, some cir-
cular and others of different shapes and
figures some perpendic-
ularly down to the depth of 2, 3 or 4
feet, and from a foot to 3 feet
wide, like wells filled with water _ in
others the water had Es-
caped through Subterraneous passages, I
walked about from one
place to another viewing these different
appearances and works of na-
ture performed by means of the various
Currents & Eddies of water
which will some times twist & whirl
a Stone round on the face of the
Rock till by the continual friction a
complete circular hole is bored
__
Edward & I procured Hooks & lines to fish at the falls, but
after
trying about half an hour without
Success we returned to John
Pugh's86 to dinner then rode up to David Hoops87 at
the Sec-
ond falls __ here is a Saw mill & on the opposite side of the Creek
A Grist Mill __ the Race for the Saw mill was singular the low-
er side being a Stone wall built on the
Solid bed of the Creek parallel
86. John Pugh was evidently a brother of
Evan. John and Sara Pugh are mentioned
as man and wife in Futhey and Cope, 699.
No John Pugh was found in the Census report
of Beaver County in 1800. This is not
conclusive, however, as several pages of this report
are too faded to be readable.
87. See note 84. For the Hoops family
history in Chester County, see Futhey and
Cope, 605; Day, 107-08.
138 OHIO HISTORY
with its banks for about 250 feet, after
which the Race was in the
usual way here we staid all night
19th. Elizabeth Cadwallader88 (widow of Reese)
and Eli Hillis89
(son of Wm. of Redstone) came up
in the morning to D. Hoops's and
we all Set off to go up to the place
where Joseph Townsend90 & the
Hoops's are building a Mill _ on the Canneconece which empties
into the Beaver most of the Road was very Stoney and
Hilly
after traveling 7 miles we crossed the
Beaver which is here a
deep and rapid Stream I held the bridle
of Elizabeths Horse as she
was timid about crossing & said her
head would Swim; we had not
proceeded far into the Stream, 'til she
halloed out she was going,
and going she was, this obliged me to
let go the bridle & seize hold
of her, it was with difficulty I could
keep her from falling over until
Edward came up on the other side to
assist me when we
brought her safe to Shore _ rode a
mile further to the Mill & farm
after dinner went to view a large body
of Land adjoining which be-
longs to the Washington Academy, &
which we designed to examine
when we left home
We rode several miles, perhaps 4, in
divers directions on the land
& 'tho we thought it pretty good,
yet did not esteem it by any means
equal to the land about Concord; it is
chiefly White Oak land & we
thought lay too flat, more fit for
meadow than winter Grain, very few
Springs on it, and we were of the
Opinion it was a cold clay Soil
however we were not disposed to take a
full view of it __ this would
have been a work of several days and as we felt nothing to in-
duce us to alter our former prospect or
to think this was the place for
us to Settle __ concluded it was spending time
unnecessarily to go
88. Rees Cadwallader received title to
the land on which he founded the town of
Bridgeport in 1783 from Captain Lemuel
Barrett. He owned land in Brownsville as early
as 1781 and was the founder of a number
of mills where he was also residing in 1790.
Cadwallader and Rees (or Reese) were
both common names among the Welsh Quakers
of Uwchlan Township, Chester County. See
Gilpin, Journal for 1809; Census Bureau of
The United States, return for Luzerne
Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, for
1790, 107; Hopkins, Journal, note 24;
Veech, 81; Heathcote, 209.
89. The Gibbons party stopped at his
father's home on their way west. Many of the
early settlers on Beaver Creek had moved
there from Redstone. It is probable, there-
fore, that Hillis (or Hillas) was
visiting former neighbors or relatives at Beaver. Cleland,
294.
90. There were many Joseph Townsends in
Chester County. This one may have
been Joseph Townsend, son of Francis and
Rachael Talbet Townsend. Francis is men-
tioned in note 63. There were two
Townsend Families in the same township with Joseph
Hoops in 1800. They were David and
Benjamin, each with a wife and several small chil-
dren. Census Bureau of The United
States, return for South Beaver Township, Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, for 1800; see also
notes 63 and 84.
Travel
Notes, 1804 139
about any more
_ we had some thoughts of going
about 20 Miles
further to
Bull Creek Settlement91 __ and
friends here were urgent
for us to look
about and fix amongst them, but our way seemed
hedged up therefore turned about and came down
to Evan
Pugh's,
intending to set off homewards in the morning having
rode about
__ 21 miles
20th. Lydia Pugh92 having kindly
offered to wash our Cloaths we
had left some
out when we went up the Country
which being
now done &
some Cakes & Cheese provided by her & Sally Pugh93
for our
accomodation over the mountains __ we
took leave of them
& friends
here _ who had been kind to us _ and many of them
had built so
much upon our coming to reside amongst them that it
was hard to
relinquish the idea _ Some of them shed tears when
we parted
Francis
Townsend who had been waiting upon us since the 12th.
went about a
mile to shew us the ford over the "Big Beaver" we then
parted &
proceeded on our Journey our Road
was mostly along
& near the
Banks of the beautiful Ohio __ saw
three Deer feeding
in a little
valley these were the only wild
Animals we found
whilst out
_ after riding about 8 or 10 miles
__ came to the Spot
where Genl.
Wayne94 lay with his Army in the winter of 1793 when
out against
the Indian I counted 19 or 20 Stacks of Chimneys in 2
Rows with 2
fire places in each, built of Stone __ &
one Stack con-
structed with
brick _ had 4 fire places in it _ to every fire place
a Cabbin was
built all of which, save one, are now destroyed this
Encampment was
on the banks of the River which are here very
high &
level __ the timber all cut down for
a considerable distance
round __ 4 or 5 miles from this we stopt at the
house of a son of Ca-
91. The Bull
Creek Settlement was the locale of the Middleton Meeting which
served the
Quakers of the Beaver Valley. They traveled over twenty miles to attend.
Gibbons did
not visit that settlement. But it is possible, also, that Gibbons here had
reference to
another Bull Creek which flows into the Allegheny River at Tarentum,
Pennsylvania.
92. Lydia
Pugh, wife of Evan. See note 85.
93. Sally
Pugh, wife of John. See note 86.
94. Wayne
received his appointment to command the Western Army on March 5,
1793, and
immediately assembled his men for drill at Legionville, Pennsylvania, and
moved down the
Ohio River to Cincinnati by May, 1793. Lockwood Barr, editor, "Let-
ters from Dr.
Joseph Strong to Captain John Pratt," Ohio State Archaeological and
His-
torical
Quarterly, LI (July, 1942), 236-42;
Richard C. Knopf, editor, "A Surgeon's Mate at
Fort Defiance:
The Journal of Joseph Gardner Andrews for the Year 1795," Ohio State
Archaeological
and Historical Quarterly, LXVI
(January, 1957), 57-86; B. F. Prince,
"Early
Journeys to Ohio," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XXX
(January,
1921), 54-70.
140 OHIO HISTORY
leb Way95 (of Cain) and fed
our horses, then proceeded on
there is only a horse path from Beaver
to Pitt on this side [of] the riv-
er (the Waggon Road is on the other
side) several miles of the way is
dug out of the side of a high hill,
which projects out close to the Riv-
er, and if a horse was to Stumble or
Start a little to one side him and
the Rider must inevitably go down a very
steep bank onto the Shore,
if not into the River _ on the other hand, Rough Craggy Rocks,
were piled one upon another
perpendicularly and in some places
hanging as it were over our heads to the
heighth of 100 feet or more
threatning destruction to the poor
traveller below who
finds ample employment, between watching
that his horse makes
strait Steps, and Eyeing the Rocks
above, which from their number-
less Cracks & Cavaties, Shapes &
figures, are continually varrying
and presenting something new & Strange
to view
after passing this place we had a pretty
good Road for several Miles
& arrived before Sundown at the
Allegeny River __ the late Rains
had caused it to rise, it was now from 8
to 10 feet deep and about as
wide as Schuylkill is at Reading, we
were ferried over & landed in
Pittsburg, rode through the town and put
up at "the Pure Fountain"
on the banks of the Monongalia also a
beautiful Stream and quite as
large as the other
we took a walk down to the point where
the two Rivers form a junc-
tion & it then takes the name of
Ohio, we also saw the Remains of the
old fort Banks_
there were a large number of Arks &
boats along the Shore, some
loaded & others waiting for load;
divers others building, and some
Sea Vessells on the Stocks __ this is a very thriving place & Con-
tains above 200 Houses most of them
Brick large & well build, a
Court house, Market House &c.
&c. __ 30 miles
First day 21st Left
Pittsburg, rode 71/2 miles to Breakfast
121/2 to feed & 12 more to
"Greensburg" _ nothing remarkable
in this days ride, except, that we met
several movings One rath-
er singular a small Cart drawn by a little Pony contained I sup-
pose the wardrobe & furniture
belonging to 14 Men, Women, and
Children who accompanied it _ there was three small Children in
the Cart & 6 or 7 walking by
95. Caleb Way of Cain was another
Chester County man. He was listed among the
landowners of West Cain Township in
1774. In 1780 he had a tavern, and in 1790 his
household consisted of six males and
five females. Futhey and Cope, 169; Heathcote,
186; Census Bureau of The United States,
return for Chester County, Pennsylvania, for
1790, 73; Ibid., West Cain
Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, for 1800.
Travel Notes, 1804
141
Just before we entered the town we came
to a small Swampy run,
father was foremost & rode in to let
his mare drink __ she soon
sunk up to her knees & it appeared
to be deeper further in __ he
therefore turned her head round to get
out but she could not disen-
gage her hind feet, they stuck fast after Strugling a little to no
purpose she gave out and squatted down
like a dog on her hind quar-
ters __ he dismounted hastily in the mud, fearing she was going to
lay down and got her out without any
other damage, than having the
Boots, Saddle bags and great Coat a good
deal dirtied __ and one
of her feet Sprained
put up at the Sign of Genl. Wayne 32 miles Greensburg is a
County Town __ contains 60 or 70 houses many of them built of
brick
22d Rode 11 miles to
Breakfast at Skyles's tavern then 11 more and
fed in West Liberty96 a small
Village at the foot of Laural hill con-
taining a dozen log houses crossed the Mountain 7 miles over
and about an hour after night put up at
Grahams Tavern in Stoyes
town97 38 Miles, much fatigued, most of the Road being very
bad, but after a good Supper and resting
well at night felt refreshed
and able to pursue our Journey in the
morning this town contains
19 log and frame houses
23d. Rode 9 miles to
breakfast at Statlers tavern98 on the Allegeny
Mountain _ then
crossed the remainder of the mountain (about 12
miles over) both this and the Laural
hill are very rough and owing to
the late rains exceeding miry, (even on
the top) for many miles togeth-
er __ it is much worse for waggons or horseman than the road we
went out _
we baited our horses at MCCullochs99
(formerly Bonnets) where
96. West Liberty was in Pennsylvania
and, of course, not the village earlier men-
tioned in West Virginia. It may have
been the present town of Laughlintown, near Fort
Ligonier, which was the stage stop in
1815. Michaux, Thwaites, III, 148: Pittsburgh Di-
rectory for 1815, 152.
97. Stoyestown was a well-known stopping
place on the Pittsburgh Road at Stony
Creek. Ibid., 152.
98. Statlers Tavern was operated by
Casper Statler on the top of the Allegheny
Mountain. It was noted for its huge
twelve-foot fireplace before which thirty or forty
persons had been known to sleep. Statler
had been an ensign in Forbes's army. He mar-
ried Rebecca Walter who was captured by
the Indians in 1755 and scalped. She was
rescued in 1762. Morris Birkbeck found
cherry trees in bloom outside the inn on May 27,
1817. Schell, 53, and appendix, 12-13;
Clement B. Buckley, Diary, note 170; Michaux,
Thwaites, III, 147; Harris, Thwaites,
111, 372; Birkbeck, 38.
99. McCullochs was at the fork of the
two roads going to Pittsburgh and Redstone.
On the way west Gibbons had mentioned
the White Horse Tavern at this place. In
earlier records Bonnet's Tavern
identified this fork in the road. See note 23; Howell,
Map of Pennsylvania, 1792, Historical
Society of Pennsylvania.
142
OHIO HISTORY
the two Roads unite
__ 16 Miles & in the Evening got
to Grahams
tavern100 (formerly
Hartleys) 10 miles making for to
day 36
Miles
about 4 miles from
Bonnetts we passed through Bedford, we had
rode in the rain all
day and over much bad road in order to reach
this place, fully
expecting good Quarters but we found a
throng
house 4 men & 3
women occupied the Parlour into which we were
ushered (besides a
considerable number in other parts of the house)
the Landlady said the
house was so full she did not know what to
do with us __ we regretted we had not stopt at Bedford
__ but it
was now too late to
look out for other quarters therefore concluded to
Stay if we had to
Sleep on the floor __ The Company in
the Parlour
looked with Jealous
Eyes at us, and no doubt were as sorry to see us
come, as we were to
find them there they
kept a long silence and
except one man were
very reserved he
did Condescend after
about an hour to enter
into conversation with me
Father & I had a
bed in the kitchen Chamber, where I passed an
uneazy night, being
several hours before I got to Sleep
owing to
Fleas, or Bugs, or
both, or something, I could not tell what it rained
most of the night, but
holding up in the morning 24th we set out and
rode 10 miles to
Breakfast at Martins Tavern101 between these places
we met 6 movings-I
enquired of 3 of the Companies & they were
from Jersey going to
the Miamis _ one of the families were
friends
of the name of Silver
we also met 3 men who had a large Box fixed on
a waggon Carriage,
drawn by 3 horses Containing they
said a
Lion weighing 6001b.Wt.
which they were taking about for a Shew
It has been frequent
cause of admiration to us to meet so many Peo-
ple moving back, one
would be ready to suppose our thick settled
parts of the Country
would be very much thinned, the roads are so
throng'd not only on
this side of the River Ohio, but on the other,
we could not go many
miles on any main Road without meeting some
of them when we were at Beaver, we were informed
there had
100 families passed by
in one day; chiefly New Englanders going out
to New Connecticut102
on Lake Erie we met divers of them with two
Yoke of Oxen to each
Waggon, the Oxen were Shod & appeared to
have stood the Journey
well after Breakfast we pursued the
same Rout we had taken
in coming up for about 4 miles then took an-
100. Grahams Tavern at
Everett (Bloody Run) was a stopping place for the Gibbons
party on their way
west. See note 18.
101. Martin's Tavern
was also a place visited on the way west. It was near Juniata
Crossing. Pittsburgh
Directory for 1815, 152; Harris, Thwaites, III, 372; See also note 17.
102. New Connecticut
on Lake Erie was the Western Reserve of Connecticut.
Travel Notes, 1804
143
other main road leading to Philada. 103 by the way of Strasburg,
Shippensburg Carlisle &.c in order to Judge which would be
the best way for a waggon if we should
conclude to remove to Ohio
_
in the evening put up at the Burnt Cabbins104 (Jamesons
tavern)
22 miles from our last stage making in
the whole for the day 32
miles
The Road for 15 or 17 Miles back pretty
good we met between
the last Stage & this 13 movings,
which with 6 in the morning, is 19 to
day
10 or 12 of these were from Jersey
some from Morris's
River & some from East Jersey going out to the Miami's __ we
also came across Wm. Rodgers of Jersey,
who informed us he was ac-
companying John Hunt105 on a
religious visit to the Meetings belong-
ing to Redstone __ we did not see John they had broke one of
the Axle trees of their waggon and he
was gone with another person
into the woods to search a suitable
Stick to make a new one
many of those who remove back appear to
be in low Circumstances
some being on foot, some on horseback
__ and very often a
single horse and Cart, or a waggon and
two horses would be at-
tended by from 10 to 15 Persons. many of
them Children, so that
they must have to walk a great part of
the way let the weather be as it
may
The Evening we came through Bedford it
rained fast, and the
Roads were very Sloppy, a short distance
on this side the town we
met a Cart and one horse the Cart was nearly filled with furni-
ture, in the hind part was a Bed on
which a Child of about 18
months old, was fixed, it has neither
hat or bonnet on and the rain
pouring on its little head __ 2 men were with the Cart an Elderly
woman and 4 or 5 daughters (I suppose)
walked behind they
were pretty well dressed with Joseph's and Dunstable Hatts
_
some had stockings on, others without but it made little odds in
103. On Sideling Hill, Gibbons turned
left on the Three Mountain Road toward Fort
Littleton. This was a shortcut to
Shippensburg and Carlisle which had been built
eighteen years earlier by John Skinner
of Horse Valley, Franklin County, under a con-
tract with the Commonwealth and was
largely used by drovers of cattle, sheep, hogs,
horses, mules and turkeys on their way
to Philadelphia. John Skinner Papers, privately
owned by Fred W. Shearer, Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania; John G. Orr, "Three Moun-
tain Road," unpublished paper
written in 1905. The editor has a typescript.
104. Burnt Cabins is a small village at
the foot of the western slope of the Tuscarora
Mountain. George Washington spent the
night of October 21, 1794, at the Red Tavern in
Burnt Cabins when he was traveling east
from Bedford. Fortescue Cumings stopped at
Ramsey's. Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 57-58;
Orr paper.
105. John Hunt was from Darby,
Pennsylvania. He married Rachel Gibbons in 1777.
Futhey and Cope, 565.
144 OHIO HISTORY
the looks, as
all of them were mudded half way up the leg & shoes
and Stocking
and legs were all of a colour
25th. We
started pretty early & about 2 miles from our lodgings began
to Assend the
Blue mountains they appeared
to be very steep
and Stony, but
by twisting & winding about on the sides of the hills
a much better
Road is made than we expected; after gaining the
Summit of the first
ridge we descended on the other side into a deep
valley about a
mile in width _ in this valley is
a small village of
about 40 log
and frame houses & 1 good Stone house __ it is called
"Fannetsburg"106 we passed
through and immediately began to
Assend the second
ridge from the top of which we saw still an-
other before
us and a deep Valley107 lying between of about half a
mile in width,
some of it under cultivation __ after
descending into
this second
valley and rising the third ridge an
extensive pros-
pect opened to
view beneath us was a large
valley108 of many
miles in width
and further in length, westward, than the Eye could
reach _ on the East and North the valley
appeared bounded by a
chain of Hills
__ but the prospect of the town of
Strasburg109 and
of the farms
around, from our present heighth was
pleasing it
looked like a
finely cultivated Garden perhaps
it afforded more
satisfaction
at this time than it would at another we had
breathed so
much pure air on the top of the Mountains and fasted so
long, that by
this time we had keen appetites
and this was our
intended Stage
for breakfast _ 11miles-The town of Strasburg
contains about
70 Houses from hence we went to Shippens-
106.
Fannettsburg is on the Conococheague Creek in Path Valley which lies be-
tween the
Tuscarora and Kittochtinny Mountains. The village was about a decade old
when Gibbons
saw it. Local reports relate that a "Liberty Pole," emblem of
sympathy
with the Whiskey
Rebels, was removed from the center of the village just in time to pre-
vent President
Washington's being offended when he passed there on October 22,
1794. F. A.
Michaux said it contained 29 or 30 houses in 1802. John Walker Papers, pri-
vately owned
by the editor; Michaux, Thwaites, III, 141-42; Cuming, Thwaites, IV,
55-57.
107. The
valley mentioned here is Horse Valley. They passed the tavern owned by
John Skinner,
builder of the Three Mountain Road; but they were probably unaware of
this and did
not stop. Cuming found Skinner a good conversationalist and his tavern
clean and
serving good food. Skinner Papers; Census Bureau of The United States, re-
turn for
Letterkenny Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, for 1800, 927; Cuming,
Thwaites, IV,
53-54.
108. The large
valley is the Cumberland Valley.
109. Strasburg
is a small village at the foot of the last ridge to cross on this route, now
called Upper
Strasburg to distinguish it from the Lancaster County borough. Pittsburgh
Directory
for 1815, 152; Michaux, 141.
Travel Notes,
1804 145
burg110 11
miles, Stopt at couzin P. Cochran's111 dined & fed then
went 10 Miles further
to Lotshaws tavern112 to Lodge 32
Miles
26th. Rode to Carlisle to Breakfast 9 miles __ to the River Susque-
hanna at Chambers's
ferry113 18 miles
& to
Middleton114 to
Lodge 7 miles making 34 to day
We found it exceeding
Cold riding in the morning & when we got
the River it began to
hail which increased for some time, with Rain
when it changed to
Snow __ but cleared up Cold in
the night
10 mo. 27th.
The Ground and Trees covered with Snow which begin-
ning to thaw added to
the Rain made the Roads Sloppy & disagreea-
ble travelling crossed Sweetara River which was
now rideable
& went 9 miles to
breakfast at Elizabeth town115 then 27 miles to
New Holland to Lodge,
a[t] Ellmakers tavern _________Edwd. had left us &
gone for Lancaster in
the morning 116
28th. Rode
9 miles to breakfast, 12 to Fathers & four home __ mak-
ing 26 miles
110. Shippensburg was,
in 1804, an old trading town in the Cumberland Valley. It
was named for the
celebrated merchant family of Shippen. Michaux stopped here on
his way west in 1802.
Michaux, Thwaites, III, 140-41.
111. Patte Cochran was
a cousin of Gibbons who furnished a meal for men and hors-
es but did not detain
the homeward-bound travelers very long. The 1790 census of
Chester County lists a
Patrick Cochran in West Cain Township. But in 1800 the Cumber-
land County census
listed among the residents of Shippensburg the tavern-keeper Patte
Cochran. Clement A.
Buckley stopped at Cochran's Inn in 1818. Clement A. Buckley,
Diary, note 9; Census
Bureau of The United States, return for Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania, for 1790, 73; Ibid.,
Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, for 1800.
112. Latshaws Tavern,
at Walnut Bottom on the road to Carlisle, was on the Harris-
burg to Chambersburg
segment of the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia Road. Peter Ladshaw
was listed as a
resident there in 1800. Ibid., Dickinson Township, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, for
1800; Schell, 51.
113. Chamber Ferry
over the Susquehanna River was twenty miles from Carlisle and
fourteen miles from
Elizabethtown. It was near the present site of the Harrisburg-York
Airport at the mouth
of the Yellow Breeches Creek. In 1804 it was operated by General
Michael Simpson who
lived on the York County side of the river. The Scotch-Irish in
America, (Nashville, 1897), 139; Cuming, Thwaites, IV, 38; Pittsburgh
Directory for
1815, 152; Census Bureau of The United States, return for
Cumberland County, Pennsyl-
vania for 1790, 90.
114. Middletown is
eight miles down the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg. It
was on the Harrisburg
to Dowington Turnpike and the Harrisburg to Lancaster Turnpike.
Schell, 51; Ellis and
Evans, 830.
115. Elizabethtown is
a college community between Harrisburg and Lancaster.
116. Gibbons and
Milhaus passed to the north of Lancaster and reached New Hol-
land about twelve
miles beyond Lancaster. They were on the Downingtown to Harris-
burg Turnpike.
Nathanial Ellmaker was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate from New
Holland (Earl
Township) in 1796, and nominated for Vice President of The United States
in 1832. Ellis and
Evans, 810, 814.
146 OHIO HISTORY
We had been out 5 weeks and 1 day, and
travelled 847 Miles
180 of which was in the State of Ohio __
From the time we left the mountains
until we got within 15 Miles of
home, the fever still prevailed (as
mentioned in the fore part of these
notes) in all the towns, and in every
house we could get to _ it was
not agreeable to lodge or Stop at such
places, but we could not do
otherwise _ there has been a
considerable number of Deaths and
some persons have recovered after 4 or 5
Attacks of this disorder.