Ohio History Journal

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.             211

'Society to him,

Is blithe society, who fills the air,

With gladness and involuntary song.'

Of his evenings at home, he also quotes lines from Wads-

worth strangely and beautifully coincident with his own experi-

ence of the howling wind outside.

"But let him range round; he does not harm,

We build up the fire; we're snug and warm;

Untouch'd by his breath, see the candle shines bright,

And burns with a clear and steady light;

Books have we to read; hush, that half-stifled knell

Methinks 'tis the sound of the eight o'clock bell."

"Many times I have been told how ridiculous it was to come

from the society of antiquarians and politicians and play ball with

boys of six. But it is natural to me, infected by their mood, by

my early life."

These brief touches tell the whole story of his boyhood up to

twelve years of age.

Active political efforts among the rural population, in the

exigencies of politics under the leadership of Isaac Hill in New

Hampshire, in 1829, brought to his father an appointment as State

librarian and the removal of his family to Concord. Here Cyrus

finds access to books and congenial work in assisting his father.

The lad's quickly acquired knowledge of the resources of the

library and his methodical classification of the books, attracted the

attention of the patrons of the library in the Capital City. They

found him thirsting for a classical education, his father too poor

to aid and no friend to assist.

The literary citizens of Concord, thereupon, united in secur-

ing for him, admission to Exeter Academy as a "charity scholar,"

which he entered in the fall of 1830. He completes his prepara-

tory course in one year, enters Dartmouth College and goes

through the Freshman and Sophomore course in the required two

years. A breaking down in his health -but especially from lack

of funds to continue - led him to decide to drop out for one year,

and by teaching and literary work to endeavor to secure the means

to return and complete his course.

212       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

He is given a position as a teacher in a private school in his

home city. He enlists with him Moody Currier, afterwards Gov-

ernor of the State, and Asa Fowler, also subsequently eminent

in State affairs, in organizing a venture of a periodical to be

known as the "Literary Gazette," the editorial work principally

devolving on him. Actively engaging in all reform movements,

delivering addresses, writing for the local papers and keeping up

an active correspondence with the leading reformers, conducting

historical and antiquarian investigations, he breaks down com-

pletely. At this juncture, Mr. Fletcher, a Trustee of the College,

came to him with a proposition to join him in the trip outlined

in the "Extracts." From his work in teaching he had barely laid

aside twelve dollars. This his father, somehow, contrived to sup-

plement with enough to make it even one hundred dollars. The

good mother "with great anxiety concerning the perils of steam-

boats and Indians he will encounter," helps him to prepare his

scrupulously clean, but scanty wardrobe, which he decides ample

for him to undertake this journey.

This journey completed, he returns to college greatly im-

proved in health and spirits, takes a front rank in his class in

everything except mathematics, writes leading editorials for the

"Herald of Freedom" and "Newport Argus," sends for publica-

tion historical and antiquarian matter to literary journals, under-

takes and completes by the latter part of October for publication

this same year, a "Biography of Hon. Isaac Hill," which Parton,

in his "Life of Andrew Jackson," refers to as "the best and most

authoritative life that has been written" of that leading supporter

and confidential adviser of Jackson.

In connection with his regular college duties, he plunges into

the study of Spanish and French, reads, comments upon and crit-

icises their literature, races with canoes on the river, fights it out

on the foot-ball grounds, nerves himself to be present at critical

surgical operations by the celebrated Dr. Mussey, carefully noting

the effect on the patient and diagraming the incision in detail, ran-

sacking the fields for botanical and geological specimens and

every day entering in his Journal comments on the instructors and

the instruction of the day.

In his Senior year he was invited to deliver a public address

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.           213

before the whole college. Concerning this address, his college-

mate, Judge Dana, writes:

"The most marked event that I recollect in regard to him"

(Bradley) "was the lengthy speech which he delivered without

notes before the whole College and which was a masterly produc-

tion, which with other achievements, established his reputation as

one of the only two real geniuses connected with the college dur-

ing my day."

Rev. Rockwood says: "In his lawyer-like address, he stood

easily at the front in the class for intellectual endowments, schol-

arly taste and the power of moving public assemblies."

From all that can be gathered it is evident that he ranked in

college life as the peer of three distinguished men, Daniel Web-

ster, Rufus Choate, and Salmon P. Chase, preceding him in three

regular decades. The environments, experiences, struggles and

limitations in early life of Webster and Bradley were the same,

and educated at the same Academy and College, the biography

of the life of the one could be exchanged for the other without

material modification up to the date of graduation. Webster ex-

celled perhaps in weighty mental endowments, surely in physical

constitution, but Bradley outmatched him in rapier intellect,

stood and worked on a higher plane of moral tone and purpose

and with far greater industry and method. Bradley's career ended

with graduation. What it might have been, had life continued,

can only be conjectured.

He graduated in July, 1837, and returned to his home only to

arrange for a surrender to his fatal disease.

"His large collection of autographs, rare and curious pamph-

lets, and specimens of minerals he arranged and bequeathed to the

New Hampshire Historical Society." His Journals were placed

in the hands of a chosen friend for preservation. Then "with an

unfaltering trust he folded the drapery of his couch about him and

laid down to pleasant dreams," July 6th, 1838, aged 19 years and

9 months.

To-day, one bends over a little leaning slab, brushes off the

dust and scratches away the moss to decipher a name, date of

birth and death and that is all. No, not all! So long as men shall

struggle for freedom, plead for the weak and unfortunate, pro-

214        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

test against penal revenge and judicial manslaughter by the State,

or strive for the rights of man, we shall catch echoes of his voice:

wherever and whenever the people are aroused to slay a giant

wrong, effective arrows will be shot over again, fashioned by

Bradley's hand; -picked up from       his grave.

ON THE OHIO.- HORSE BOAT.

JUNE, 1835.

1. MON. Was glad to escape from a dirty town and a dirty bed

on board a steamboat. It was the Free Trader from Pittsburg, bound to

St. Louis. We left Wheeling at eight o'clock, and they tell us will be

at Cincinnati on Wednesday morning.  How we shall get from there we

do not know. It is very differently constructed from the eastern boats;

the accommodations by no means so good. The engine is very different,

adapted to the river. The cabin is small, only sixteen berths, gentlemen.

They make their trips solely for freight. We have many tons on board,

chiefly goods and merchandise which have come from New York by the

way of the Erie canal, and are now approaching the Western market.

All the passengers they can get in addition to this is clear gain.  There

were just two berths uningaged, and we of course secured them, and well

we did so, for so many passengers have since come on board, who will

have to sleep on couches upon the floor. The steamer Majestic, we

have just heard, exploded its boiler a few days since, down the Missis-

sippi and shockingly wounded ninety persons, many mortally. They were

all deck passengers-those in the cabin escaped uninjuired. The fare

from Wheeling to Cincinnati is eight dollars-me half price; the dis-

tance is 363 miles-all found.

This is reasonable. As we left the town I noticed a square-built

craft plying up the river, at a respectable pace, per force of a somewhat

sluggish water wheel at the stern. I could perceive no other indications

of a steam engine, and on inquiring learned that it was a horse-boat. A

low, circular shed on deck enclose four or six horses, who turn the wheel

as a horse does a turning lathe. This saves a great amount of labor,

required to force up the river those barbarous built square things, which,

before the introduction of steamboats, were the only means of communi-

cation on the western waters. What a vast change has been caused by

this noble invention - it has been the making of this Western world. I

have now before me a letter published in a newspaper in 1813, in which

the writer congratulates himself upon a passage from Pittsburg to Cin-

cinnati in only twelve days.

The singular and unique race of men who formerly navigated these

boats are now nearly extinct. Some continue on the river, however. I

noticed one close to the shore; the boatmen laboriously pushing it up

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 215

the stream, with their faces almost touching the footboard. I sat some

time in the stern of the boat, watching the ever-varying scenery which

our rapid course presented. A voyage down the Ohio probably presents

a view of the finest country in the known world, and the rapid pace with

which we are whisked by gives the whole an appearance of enchantment.

THE OHIO- SCENERY. FACE OF COUNTRY. FANNY KEMBLE.

The shores of the river are very precipitous, running into bluffs

and cliffs, frequently to the height of 300 feet. But these banks are not

sand-heaps; no - from base to summit they are covered with the

deepest verdure; thick forests; gigantic trees give them an air of rich-

ness and grandeur nowhere met with but in this region. Between these

bluffs and the river there is usually a strip of level land called bottoms,

varying in width from a few rods to an eighth or even a quarter of a

mile, and corresponding to our intervals. These bottoms have the richest

soil in the world, and on them are placed the villages and habitations

of the dwellers in this land. The great number and variety of verdant

and richly cultivated lands add much to the beauty of the scene.

From Pittsburg to the mouth there are one hundred of respectable

size, and as many tributary rivers and creeks. There cannot be imagined

anything more pleasant than a steamboat voyage down a navigable

river. The Ohio disappointed me in one respect-I expected to find it

broader. * * * Had a lunch about an hour before dinner--good

policy to blunt the appetite; our table is decently provided, that is all;

river water doesn't taste so bad as it looks, though, and, after all, one

must swallow his peck, and he may as well do it without grumbling. Our

company is small, comparatively speaking, and I have made several pleas-

ant acquaintances. After dinner, I went to my berth and had a good

sleep. Mine is a second-story one; there being two, one over another.

Each pair is furnished with a long curtain, which affords a recess for

dressing, etc., and a sort of closet for our baggage under the lower berth.

Wrote till I was tired. Then read the first volume of Fanny Kemble,

which a gentleman lent me. I really admire the book. It displays a

good deal of cleverness. There are many faults; much affectation, small

talk, egotism and vanity, but I have absolutely found nothing worse, and

all this is more than redeemed by her graphic descriptions. She lodged

at the American Hotel in New York and at the Philadelphia; so did Mr.

Bradley. She finds fault with the first and praises the last; so did

Mr. Bradley. Really, I must publish my journal as a supplement, we

agree so well -"Dear, good little me."

Became acquainted with a young officer in the army - name Allen -

very sociable. He furnished me with an excellent steel pen, to take the

place of my miserable quills.

216        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

MARIETTA. BLANNERHASSET ISLAND. WOODING-PLACE. JUNE.

We passed Marietta in the middle of the afternoon, situated near

the mouth of the Muskingum, the oldest town, I believe, in the State.

It was settled by Gen. Rufus Putnam, John C. Symms and others,

in '88. It was once the most important town in Ohio, but has not

increased very fast, owing to the inundations to which it is exposed and

which it has often experienced. It contains about 1,200 inhabitants, and

is 82 miles from Wheeling. About 14 miles below, we passed the cele-

brated Blannerhasset's Island.  I walked on the upper deck as we went

by. It is beautiful, even for the Ohio, and studded with trees along

the water's edge. It is narrow, but several miles in length. It is in a

high state of cultivation and there are upon it several dwelling houses,

one a very handsome one of brick.

Blannerhasset's splendid mansion is nothing but a heap of ruins;

what was once the abode of beauty, taste and hospitality, is now a sad

monument of the folly of human ambition. Coming down, I peeped into

the place where are stowed the deck passengers. I was astonished at

their number-black and white, men, women and children lolling about

on the floor, the trunks, couches, etc. They carry their own supplies

with them, and feast or starve as they choose. My throat being quite

sore, I applied to the waiter for some ginger tea - no ginger on board.

He, however, recommended stewed vinegar and the barkeeper told me

to tie my stocking round my throat--both certain cures. With the

greatest docility I followed both prescriptions, and retired early to

my berth.

2. TUES. Slept some, and but some. Rose very early-left every-

body snoring and went on the upper deck to walk. Everything was

concealed by a thick fog, on which account the boat lay still about four

hours last night. Passed a little town which stands in the corner between

Virginia and Kentucky. Henceforth, we shall have Ohio on the right

and old Kentuck on the left. When I descended into the cabin, the

passengers were just crawling out of their berths and couches, looking

for all the world as if they had been dragged through so many knot

holes. My throat is about the same as yesterday, despite the negro and

the bartender, and in the morning was very hoarse. Hearing the boom-

ing noise of the escape-steam, I ascertained that we were approaching the

Kentucky shore, and, going out, discovered it was what is called a

wooding place. These they have arranged at convenient distances along

the banks, and it saves much transportation. The price is one dollar

a cord. While loading the wood, I eagerly availed myself of the oppor-

tunity to press the soil of Kentucky- it being probably my only chance.

Read in Maj. Downing's letters and wrote journal. Have been queried

and quizzed a good deal about my book, but was prepared for that.

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 217

GREAT OHIO CANAL. CINCINNATI.

Said my negro doctor, as he cleared the table for lunch, "I do

begrudge your education," and to-night, "I would steal your learning, if

I could." Poor fellow--there is little opportunity for one of his color,

however disposed. One characteristic of the Ohio is its numerous wind-

ings and meanderings. To-day we passed one, 17 miles round and 200

yards across. Being fatigued with writing and a hot day, I was tempted

to try a glass of lemonade. Charge, a levy or ninepence - 100 per cent.

more than I ever before paid. Mr. Fletcher thought it best to have

some washing done here. We did so, and paid at the rate of 4/6 the

dozen. This is the way they extort from strangers, who can have no

appeal from the decision. We passed, this afternoon, the thriving town

of Portsmouth, where the Ohio canal enters the river. This connects

the waters of Erie with the Mississippi, and there is a good amount of

transportation upon it. The waters of the Mississippi, the Onisconsin,

the Illinois, the Missouri, with all its navigable tributaries; the Arkansas,

Red River, Ohio, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Wabash, the Ken-

tucky, the Miami, the Scioto, the Kenhawa, the Alleghany and the Monon-

gahela, all great navigable rivers, with many others of note, may be

made to communicate with the canal, forming an inland navigation of

above 8,000 miles. The trade and productions of this immense country,

watered by these rivers, extending from the Alleghany to the Rocky

Mountains and from the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, floating from dif-

ferent directions and even different climates, can all concentrate at the

mouth of the Ohio canal at Portsmouth. And much of it undoubtedly

will. A vast amount of commission business must, in consequence, be

done here. It is also well situated for the internal commerce of the

State.  Its growth must be rapid, to keep pace with the business

which must naturally accumulate here. It now has over 1,200 inhab-

itants. * * *

3. WED. NOON. Have just returned from a perambulation about

the streets of Cincinnati. Yes, I am actually writing in a tavern in

this queen of the West. The steamboat arrived here about midnight, but

I did not know it till morning.

I slept very soundly, and, having repeated my dose and application,

I think my throat is somewhat, though but little, better. We took in

a very large additonal number of passengers at Portsmouth and Mays-

ville, and were crowded. I was told that they were fuller yet on deck-

stowed in like negroes on board a slaver. Everybody knows something

about Cincinnati; how it is the largest town in the West: how it has

grown up from the very beginning, within the memory of the present

generation. Settlements were commenced here in 1790.

218        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

CINCINNATI, ITS STREETS, CHURCHES, BUILDINGS, ETC.

John Cleaves Symmes, one of the first settlers of the State, was

the original grantee. He had been a judge in New Jersey and a member

of Congress, and was the father of the noted Capt. J. C. Symmes, of

Bung Hole memory. All the property in the city is held by land titles

from him. The town is laid out partly low upon the bottom or first

bank, and partly higher upon the second bank. The streets are, how-

ever graduated so as to render the ascent perfectly easy. We put up at

the Broadway House, for they have a Broadway here, too. It is rather

dirty, though the table is respectably served. A stranger labors under

great disadvantages in regard to a choice of public houses-he is not

always recommended to the one really preferable, and discovers his mis-

take only too late. I met here an old classmate of mine, Hunt, who

left college the same year with myself. He has been here a few days.

and left this morning for St. Louis. Have been strongly advised to go

there, thence up the Illinois, across to Chicago, and round to Detroit.

Should admire it much, but time does not admit. Besides, they are

expecting the cholera there soon; it is raging dreadfully down the river

at Memphis, New Orleans, and Natchez.

Noticing a communication of Dr. Daniel Drake, in the Whig of this

morning, in relation to the subject, and passing by the office I called in

and rescued it from the grate for my autograph book. Called on Josiah

Drake, a bookseller here, formerly of Northwood, but whose connections

now live in Concord, and informed him of the welfare of his friends. He

is to call at the tavern at half-past two. The streets of Cincinnati are

broad, and intersect at right angles. Those from the river north are

called by miscellaneous names, those running east and west are num-

bered-First, Second, Third, etc. Went into the Episcopal Church, a

new and richly finished building, but somewhat fantastical in its style

of architecture. The pews are all lined and cushioned uniformly and the

doors are furnished with plates, on which are inscribed the owners'

names. The paving stones used here are a novelty-they are not round,

but are thin and long and are laid in strait lines across the streets and

make a somewhat tasty appearance. Passed a large Roman Catholic

Church-there are many professing this religion in Cincinnati. The

population is of a heterogeneous character, very few, comparatively speak-

ing, of the inhabitants being natives of this region. The buildings here

are all modern in appearance; they are chiefly of brick, and some of

very pale, miserable quality. They are very generally dated, the year of

their erection being placed close to the waterspouts, near the roof. They

range from 1827 to 1835 -most appear to be in 1830 and 1831.

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 219

CINCINNATI SWINE. M. T. WILLIAMS, ESQ. CANAL. TROLLOPE'S.

I am told that there has been much less building here for two years

last past than during the same time before, but that this season very

considerable improvements will be made. Indeed, I noticed a great

deal of building; where stone is used, it is freestone, of a grayish color,

soft and easy to be worked, but I am told durable. Passed through one

of the markets; there are several here. The inside is engrossed by the

butchers; along the outside, under a portico, were ranged the vegetables -

an abundance of fine, tempting strawberries. It is a hot day here - as

hot as at Washington; indeed, the latitude is about the same. There is

a good deal, far too much, of mud and dirt and stagnant water about the

streets; if the cholera approaches, it will set them a scrubbing. Swine

are here in abundance - to be expected in this vast pork market. Remem-

bered Mrs. Trollope's amusing descriptions of her adventures with the

hogs in the streets of Cincinnati. Perhaps they are not much exagger-

ated-for the beasts are impudent. They know enough to give way to

a carriage, but as to a foot passenger he must always turn out; they won't

budge an inch for a whole regiment, and no one wishes to come in con-

tact with their filthiness. Presented a letter from Mr. Hill to Micajah

T. Williams, Esq., president of a trust company, alias a bank, and sur-

veyor-general of the State. He promises me letters to Michigan, also

another autograph promise; but a faint one, very. I am to call again

at three, and be introduced to his boys. Mr. W. was at the bank and

very busy. He thinks we had better return to Portsmouth, and take the

canal to Cleveland. There have been incessant rains for the last three

weeks, and the roads along the state are in a horrible condition. Besides,

we shall be obliged to travel in the night. I should prefer the canal,

although it is doubtless tedious, but Mr. Fletchehr is for the stage coach,

and I suppose I shall have to take it. P. M. -Walked down to the bank

and was introduced by Mr. Williams to his two boys; likely, intelligent

youths of fifteen and sixteen.

We walked up to the canal-the Miami canal-which comes up in

the northerly part of the city, and here are furnished with seven locks,

excellent specimens of durable workmanship. Only freight boats come

up through the locks, the packets remaining below. The canal was

crowded with boats. We looked in upon the celebrated Buckeye fire

engine, owned and manned by lads. They are very proud of it, and it

is the most effective engine in the city-the earliest on the ground.

Passed Mrs. Trollope's folly-her celebrated Bazaar-which she planned

and built, but failed before it was quite finished, and never paid for it.

The profits of her book doubtless compensated her for her disappointment.

220        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

BAZAR. FERRYBOATS. COVINGTON. COAL. FOUNDRIES.

It is a handsome building, of a fantastical style of architecture,

with a sort of a dome on the top and a cupola surmounting it. The

front is Gothic, and elegant. It is divided into wine rooms, ball room,

etc. I forget the name of the present occupant. Then we walked down

to the river, and took passage in a steam ferryboat for the Kentucky

shore. There are two of these ferryboats, square built, curiously con-

structed things, continually plying between Cincinnati and the opposite

side of the river. The Ohio is narrow--they cross in a few minutes,

turn out and take in passengers and immediately return, and so on.

Price for a foot passenger, six cents; and a great many horses and car-

riages are transported. There is no bridge and all the communication is

through these boats; they are, it is said, excellent property. The dollars

must count up fast. We landed in Covington, a flourishing village,

founded in 1815. Hard by, a little above it, is Newport. Both these

towns make pretty appearance from opposite side of the river.

There are very many handsome houses, which stand, as it were, in

tiers, on the slope of a beautiful hill. This hill rises behind the village

to a great height, and the eminence is crowned with magnificent forest

trees and fresh verdure. This is a fashionable resort, and the place is

furnished with shady seats, at convenient distances. Here Mrs. Trollope

delighted to come, and sleep and dream away the day, and hither we

directed our steps. The streets of Covington are regular, and so, laid

out as to appear a continuation of Cincinnati. Indeed, though under

a different government and different laws, it is a mere suburb of that

city, and one might easily fancy that some mighty rush of waters had

lately broken in and separated it from the rest. It does not appear quite

so favorable on a near view as from the other shore-there are too manly

manufactories and too much coal smoke and coal smell, for the latter its

more offensive to me than the former. Indeed, this bituminous coal is

villainous stuff. It contaminates everything-air, earth, dwellings and

inhabitants.

COVINGTON IRON WORKS.

We entered one of the rolling mills, an extensive, open shed, under

whose roof were going on all sorts of manufacture of iron. It was indeed

a curious scene. The laborers were almost in a state of nudity, their

brawny limbs covered with a glowing perspiration and their blackened

features and hideous, naked deformity reflected from the raging furnaces

and the white-hot masses of hissing steel; combined with the curious

operations they were engaged in performing, the oaths and imprecations

so freely employed, and the suspicious looking instruments which they

handled, gave this much the appearance of a portion of the kingdom of

the Arch Fiend, populous with devils, imps and the paraphernalia of tor-

ment. I watched many of their operations with great interest. * * *

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 221

There were many very little boys employed in this horrible business,

whom I pitied exceedingly. They nearly forfeited all claim to my com-

miseration, however, by their impudence, amusing themselves in the

intervals of their occupation by throwing lumps of coal at the strangers.

I suppose they knew no better. The huts of these workmen of course

add little to the beauty of the villege.

HAPPINESS OF HOGS.

In our way to the hill, we crossed a deep ravine or gully, which

was almost literally full of mud, clayey mud, at the bottom. This was

full of swine, who here presented a picture of perfect happiness, real

unalloyed enjoyment. Indeed, a hog is a lucky animal. No work, no

trouble, no torment, no sickness, no politics, nothing to disturb the smooth

current of his imaginings-he lives on a life of pleasurable forebodings

of the transmutation of things, anxious about no futurity, tormented by

no knowledge of the inducement which operates upon mankind to afford

him such undisturbed ease.

The monarch of Macedonia might have exclaimed, with more reason,

"Were I not Alexander, I would be a hog."

But apropos of swine, it is giving them a grain too much liberty to

allow of their running at large in the streets. In a morning paper I saw

a notice of one of these ravenous beasts seizing a young child by the

arm, tearing him from his mother's doorstep into the gutter, where, had

it not been for the child's screams and the interference of a gentleman,

he would inevitably have devoured it. This was a little too bold. We

passed by an extensive rope walk and a spot where a college is to be

built, to the foot of the hill. I was so tired we did not ascend it, but

gained the blasted trunk of some fallen vegetable giant, whence we had

an excellent view of the opposite shore, of Cincinnati and its environs.

STEAMBOATING.

A prominent object is the great number of steamboats constantly at

the landing, arriving and departing at all times of the day, some bound

for Louisville, St. Louis, Natchez, New Orleans, others for Portsmouth,

Maysville, Wheeling, Pittsburg. The pale color of the brick used in the

construction of the buildings gives the city a poor appearance. I am told

they have no brickyards; that is the soil being everywhere clay, the

builder digs his cellar and fashions the dirt therefrom into brick for the

superstructure. From our log-observatory I noticed a man fishing in a

way to me novel and curious. He had at some previous period sunk a

long line, extending several rods, crosswise of the river, to which are

attached baited hooks of different sizes, in great numbers and at small

distances. He then leaves his line to take care of itself, and was now

paddling along in a boat, drawing up the lines, clearing it from weeds,

mud and game, and letting it drop again into the water. His luck was

222        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

not remarkable on this occasion- a sturgeon and a smaller fish were

all. I am told the fish market is supplied chiefly from the Miami, the

Ohio not being very productive. Returned from our jaunt, and were fer-

ried back to Ohio about eight o'clock, having escaped the perils by water

and by steam, the dangers from the coal boys and the hogs. In Coving-

ton are raised a large part of the swine which render Cincinnati so cele-

brated as a pork market.

MR. WILLIAMS. SLAVERY HERE. TAKEN SICK.

I drank tea at Mr. Williams', and promised to call again in the

morning before I start; he is to give me letters of introduction to Col.

Mack, Mayor of Detroit, and Hon. Mr. Lyon, the Michigan delegate

in Congress. Mr. W. is one of the old citizens of Cincinnati, one of

the canal commissioners, has been a member of both branches of the

Legislature and was the unsuccessful candidate for the United States

Senate, beaten by Tom Ewing. He is a zealous friend of the administra-

tion, a handsome man, large, portly, and of florid complexion, about

forty-five years of age. He tells me that a great many of the family

servants here are slaves, hired out by their masters on the other side

of the river, who receive the wages of their toil. I was shocked at the

existence of this sort of slavery; there can be no more harm, no more

guilt, no more shame, in purchasing human flesh outright and for life than

in hiring its use for a limited time, yet is slavery forever prohibited north

of the Ohio. There is something in this I do not understand; it strikes

me the laws should have cognizance of the subject, but if they have, who

is to administer them in behalf of the poor negro.

There are many blacks here; though compared with Baltimore or

Washington, the population one meets in the street is seventy shades

whiter.

Returning to my lodgings by a circuitous route, I passed near a

section of the town inhabited almost solely by blacks, and called Green

Town-locus a non lucendo, I suppose. Also visited Mrs. Trollope's

celebrated Bazaar again; it should be called Madame Trollope's Folly.

The good lady could not pay for it in money, so she made it up in

abuse. Tired enough.

"To bed, to bed, ye sleepy head."

* * * * * * * * * *

PROF. STOWE. INFLUENCE OF DRESS. LANE SEMINARY.

In the forenoon Mr. Fletcher rode out to Lane Seminary, about

two miles from the city, to visit President Beacher and Prof. Stowe, with

whom he is acquainted. He describes the building as of brick, not very

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 223

handsome, but surrounded by a genuine noble old forest, which they are

improving to the best advantage.

P. M. Just after dinner, Prof. Stowe called on me, at my room;

luckily, he found me up-just dressed. Old Snyder, as we used to call

him at old Dartmouth, looks just as he used to when he superintended

the extraction of Greek roots by our wise sophomores (all but bachelors

now), except that he is thinner- dresses rather shabbily-an affectation

of independence which I believe they have at Lane, but which I do not

like; a man in authority ought to dress well, properly, because he feels

better. I have seen manuscript letters of Carter to his brother, in which

he advises him to heed not his dress, anything will answer to wear -

only cultivate the mind. But he was wrong. I can study better and do

anything better in a new jacket and clean shirt than with my arms out

at the elbows and my outer man begrimed with dirt. I wonder whether

Prof. Stowe is popular here.

He has ways about him, a stiffness, and not exactly stiffness either,

a sort of tare and tret, firebrand disposition, which was continually making

him hiss in hot water at Hanover. He informs me there are only forty

students at Lane - it doesn't seem to thrive - they were not politic in

suppressing the discussion of the slavery question among the students: this

measure has given the institution a blow, from which it will be long

ere it recovers. At half-past four I went on board the steamboat. I

was not fit to go, so said the doctor, and so felt I, but I did not wish

to stay at Cincinnati any longer. I was sorry not to be able to see

Mr. Williams, agreeably to engagement, or let him know the reason I

failed. The steamer was large, and much more commodious than the

one we came down in, with more airy cabins. Her name is appropriate-

the Velocipede. She is a new boat, this being her second trip only -the

first up the river. It takes much longer to go up than down, the current

of the Ohio being strong; on the Mississippi it takes twice as long.

From Cincinnati to New Orleans they frequently go in eight days; they

used to be months. The Velocipede was advertised to start precisely

at five. She did start at eight. However, Mr. Fletcher obtained for me

a berth, on first going aboard, where I lay as much at my ease as the

state of my inward man and my aching bones would admit. * * *

There is one bad fault (by the way, was there ever such a thing as

a good fault?) about this boat-she shakes dreadfully.

CINCINNATI. CHOLERA. GAMBLING AND DRUNKENNESS.

As I lay in my berth, waiting for the good-bye, I heard two gen-

tlemen conversing about the cholera and received the pleasant intelligence

that there were yesterday four cases in Maysville, Ky., all of which

terminated fatally in a few hours.

That place is between this and Portsmouth, the place of our des-

tination, and the boat stops there some time.  * *

224        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

6. SAT. We stopped this morning two hours at Maysville, landing

and taking in passengers, freight, etc. Those who join us report five new

cases of cholera. Some of the deaths happened in a shockingly brief

period after the first attack. Yet, although surrounded in this way by

disease and death, the center of our cabin supports a gambling table,

around which sit four respectable looking men, with cards in their hands,

oaths on their lips, cigars in their mouth, liquor on the table, and heaps

of silver before them. How long would such a sight be allowed on board

an eastern steamboat, even though some wretch should by any mis-

chance find himself in such respectable company, sufficiently abandoned to

all sense of shame to attempt it. Intemperance, too, that great pre-

vailing sinking sin of the west, prevails to the same extent as though such

a thing as sickness and death did not exist.

FANNY KEMBLE'S JOURNAL. ARRIVE AT PORTSMOUTH.

Almost every other face, even in what is called good society, exhibits

the devotion of its owner to the mint julip, sangaree and toddy. On

board the stages and boats I have found a majority of the passengers,

even lads, openely and shamelessly call for their bitters before breakfast,

as well as their numerous draughts during the day. As usual, our boat

is crowded with passengers--how many there are in motion on these

western waters. My health is better to-day.

This forenoon finished reading Fanny Kemble's Journal. This book

I believe I have seen in every steamboat I have traveled in. I am really

pleased with it. There are no coarse and vulgar aspersions of men and

manners as in Mrs. Trollope, Col. Hamilton, Capt. Hall, et id omne genus;

it is merely a lively gossiping transcript of the first novel impressions of

a young, imaginative, giddy, much flattered, spoiled girl and amid all the

shoal water of nonsense and affectation there are many pithy observa-

tions, much excellent humor and very many fine descriptions and touching

solilloquies. It is easy to perceive in what respect she erred and thereby

drawn upon her head ridicule and malediction. It is her personalities.

Every day she alludes to some individual with whom she chanced to

come in contact, and sets off her allusion with some pointed remark. Now,

although she gives no names, but an abundance of dashes, the person

himself and a few others can but understand the references, of course are

disgusted and vent their spleen upon the work and its witty author by

denying them any merit. As to those cases in which she has ventured

to ridicule particular customs, in almost every instance her observations

are just, agree with my own preconceived opinions and, I think, must be

acknowledged correct by every unprejudiced mind.

There are exceptions. Played a few games of backgammon with

Mr. F.; also with a loquacious foreigner. P. M. At two o'clock arrived

at Portsmouth; were immediately assailed by an officious landlord, who

would insist upon giving it as his decided opinion that his house was the

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                  225

best in the place. Finally went there, and obtained some dinner. As yet,

I have drank no raw Ohio water since I left Cincinnati; when I couldn't

obtain tea, I went dry.

PORTSMOUTH, OHIO. FILTH AND DRUNKENNESS.

We hope to have found a canalboat about starting, which would

have taken us up to Piketon or some other pleasant inland village, where

we might spend the Sabbath in quiet; but there are none going till

to-morrow, so we shall probably pass Sunday here. I am sorry for it;

it is a vile place, or its looks belie it.

7. SUNDAY. What a horrid hot night we had last night-the sultri-

ness seems to increase here at night. Our tavern is internally arranged

with a strained affectation of city accommodations, but externally, in its

back yards and buildings, it is truly abominable. I am thoroughly dis-

gusted with it and with the town. There are few New Englanders here,

and there is nothing Yankee about the place.

The Front street, facing the river, is the business street; here every

other door is a tavern or a grocery; the character of the population is

that of a community of drunkards, at least that part of it which has

fallen under my observation, and the whole town seems to be contam-

inated with it. Then, the back streets - they are nothing but lanes - and

every house, whether stone, brick or wood, bear symptoms of decay. But

this isn't the worse feature- the filth, the nastiness, is perfectly disgust-

ing. The soil is hard clay, impervious to everything. Pools of stagnant

water, and swine, their hides encrusted inch deep with putrefaction, infest

the ways-the yard or lane under our winder (private, too) is a stinking

nursery of pestilence. No wonder the cholera makes dreadful havoc

when it enters such a place. The wonder is, they escape so well. What

a contrast between this and one of our pleasant New England villages, with

its neat, painted frame houses, its pretty enclosures, flourishing farms,

cleanly outhouses, its church and its school-house.

Yes, that village school-house, which a traveler meets in New Eng-

land every mile of his journey and whose purpose he cannot mistake, I

have seen none these 500 miles. The population is of a mixed character,

and a large portion of them do not separate Sabbath from the rest of

the week. This morning the Rufus Putnam, a handsome new boat, came

gallantly down the river, on her first trip, full to the brim. Boats are

continually increasing, but there is no diminution of patronage. Walked

out to the canal, where it crosses the Scioto River, to see them force a

canalboat across. The river is much swollen by the recent rains, and the

current is very rapid. The operation of getting a boat across was well

worth seeing, but hardly worth describing. There are here a Methodist,

a Presbyterian and an Episcopalian Church, all small; this is not a

church-going place.

Vol. XV -15.

226        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

PORTSMOUTH. BEAUTIFUL SCENE. CANAL AND FERRY.

The Methodists have the largest society. There were no services in

the Presbyterian, so we attended at the Episcopalian. Listened to the

reading of their long, formal prayers and to a very brief rhetorical flourish

by way of a sermon, from Revelations 22, 17. Came home not much

edified. In the afternoon had some little showers, which did the atmos-

phere some service. They are short and frequent in this country. Spent

the afternoon in writing journal, also a letter to Concord. Took a short

walk along the river. I presume I have seen more drunken men to-day

than for the last six years in New England. The whole character of

the place seems to be dissipation. Directly opposite Portsmouth is one

of the loveliest spots I ever set my eyes upon. A rich, narrow bottom

rises behind into a noble hill, which for a great height is covered with

noble forest trees.

This hill, towards the top, becomes perpendicular, and you look over

the tops and through crannies of the branches, against a rough, rocky

precipice, apparently smooth as a wall, rising to a very considerable height

and its summit crowned with trees. The proprietor of this beautiful

territory has it in his power to render it one of the most enchanting spots

in the world. Towards evening the captain of the canalboat, the Indiana,

in which we proposed to voyage toward Cleveland, called at the hotel

and gave us the welcome intelligence that he should leave to-night. At

the appointed time we went to the spot where the canal crosses the Scioto,

about a half a mile from our lodgings, having previously sent on board

our baggage.

On our arrival, to our inexpressible mortification, the ferryman

obstinately refused to take us across the river that night, alleging it was

too late, there were not enough men, etc. The captain, a very clever,

gentlemanly man, said it was of no use to try to drive him- he had too

much of the mule in his composition. The Scioto is now ten feet above

its usual level, and its current is very swift at this particular point. A ferry

is established, and every boat is obliged to submit to the ferryman's

caprices for his passage. If the canal had been carried across the river,

some miles farther up, it would have saved considerable lockage and

expense and been far better in other respects.

ON BOARD CANAL BOAT. OUR CABIN. OUR COMPANY.

The depot might then have been made at the other end of the town,

and Portsmouth would doubtless be the gainer thereby. At present

it reaps very little advantage from the canal. Freight is scarce here, a

greater part of the produce of the country being carried toward Cleve-

land, and by the way of the Erie Canal, to the New York market. The

boats come down not more than half loaded, and back again with hardly

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 227

any freight at all for the first hundred miles. They have more passengers

down than up, by far, however. They have here no packet boats exclu-

sively for passengers. The forward part of the boat is the gentlemen's

cabin, about 10 feet by 12; next, the ladies' cabin, about 10 by 5; then

the main part of the boat for the freight, where are also stowed the mid-

ship passengers; then, in the after part of the boat, the dining room, per-

haps 10 feet square, with a kitchen closet adjoining. Had we started

to-night, we should have been five and twenty miles on our journey; as

it was, we submitted with the best grace we could, although our mortifi-

cation was proportioned in extent to the joy we experienced when we

first learned our intended departure. The maid of all work, a very

decent looking woman, soon transformed the cushioned seats into respect-

able couches, and we prepared for bed, preferring this little airy cabin

to our confined stinking hole in the inn. * * *

8. MONDAY. Slept middling. Rose very early, walked round near

to the river, returned, then walked into town and back again.

Several steamboats arrived last night and this morning, and brought

several more passengers, so that we are sufficiently crowded for all good

purposes. Indeed, I began to suspect that the captain, having no freight,

was not particularly anxious to cast off last night, but was willing to

add to the number of his passengers. This little cabin, in which I am

at this moment writing, would have been a fine, comfortable room, did we

have it all to ourselves.

LOCKS. WANT OF BRIDGES. COUNTRY ON THE CANAL.

One of the company is the Rev. Mr. Potter, the clergyman who

officiated yesterday at the Episcopal Church. While at breakfast, the fer-

ryman got us under way and across the dreadful passage--could have

been done just as well last evening. Our breakfast was plain enough, a

piece of bacon, a piece of mackeral, both salt as the Atlantic, baker's

bread and butter. We have, however, one luxury--decent spring water.

Close to Portsmuth are a number of locks, and we were a long time

getting fairly started. At one place we had to go ashore and assist them

in opening the gate. This kind of traveling is undoubtedly pleasant

enough for a short time, when one doesn't feel in a hurry, so as to be

impatient at the delay of the plaguey locks. There are a great many

of them on this canal in its whole extent-no long levels, as in the great

New Yorker. They go very slow, advancing about sixty miles a day.

Were the roads decent, we should have tried the stage, but they are hor-

rible. The mail has been due many hours at Portsmouth, but cannot

cross Beaver Creek. Why? exclaims a New Englander. Because, friend,

they have no bridges in the south and west over fordable streams, and this

fact explains what I have wondered at--newspaper notices of the

failures of mails because they cannot cross such and such a stream, or

creek, as they call them here. It is now about ten o'clock. We have

228        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

passed five locks, and have advanced perhaps a dozen miles. The sun is

not oppressive and the deck is a pleasant spot.

On one side of us is the exceedingly fertile bottom--the Scioto

by a short distance beyond--and the canal defended from extraordinary

freshes by a high embankment, or levy, as they call it. On this bottom

are many well cultivated spots, Indian corn in abundance and well

advanced, they must reap a heavy crop. On the left hand is an occa-

sional settlement; rich land in much of its extent, richly wooded. The

beautiful sycamore is a prominent tree. The banks are covered with

wild camomile, cotton-wood shrubs and other bushes I know not of.

Freestone is quarried in this neighborhood to a great extent, and is used

for every purpose to which stone is applied.

They speak highly of its durability, etc., but they have never known

New Hampshire granite. Establishments for working it are frequent;

they cut it into blocks, gravestones, etc., the canal locks are made of it.

Iron is found in this region in abundance and is extensively worked.

Several mills are in operation near Portsmuth. A wealthy man, con-

cerned in this manufacture, died a short time since, and, agreeably to his

injunction, was enclosed in an air-tight, cast-iron coffin and placed near

his house, on the surface of the ground, to remain there forever. We

frequently pass under bridges, over which crosses the road, and which

are built so low as to drive us from our stations on deck or oblige

us to stretch ourselves out on its surface. Horrid work, this traveling

is, for one's clothing.

DUTCHMEN. SLAVES. COLONIZATION SCHEME.

We have one midship passenger on board, who amuses me exceed-

ingly. He is a genuine old Dutchman, and is on his way to Europe, the

only real specimen of the Knickerbocker I have seen. He carries con-

tinually in his mouth a long Dutch pipe, and is very sociable, but it

would puzzle Dr. Percival with his twenty different languages to under-

stand his lingo. I was just now in the midships, to open my trunk, and

found him perched on the baggage, munching his bread, cheese and bacon

with great gusto, washing down his mouthfuls occasionly by a resort

to his cup and sweetening them ever and anon by a whiff at his insep-

arable companion, the long-handle pipe. But I have written enough; I'll

go on deck again. The gentleman whom I took to be Rev. Mr. Potter,

is, in fact, a resident of Mississippi; he is a strong colonizationist; not,

he says, because the society can bona fida transport by their own exer-

tions all the blacks in the country, or even one-third of the increase, but

their efforts will demonstrate the feasibility of the plan, the practica-

bility of establishing a colony where the negroes shall enjoy their

political rights.  In  Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Kentucky, etc.,

the slaves are unprofitable; in the sugar and cotton countries, far other-

wise. The consequence will be slavery will cease in those states, the

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 229

slaveholders either selling them to the South or taking them with them,

where they can be made profitable. This will confine slavery to a small

portion of the country, and that portion will be so much overstocked as

to reduce the value of the property. Then, the masters will combine

to colonize the unprofitable portion of them, and the rest-something will

be done with them. This was the whole amount of his reasoning. He

informs me that the value of this species of property in Mississippi is

enormous, that every negro, or boy as they call them, will cultivate ten

acres of cotton, and that the revenue of many of the planters exceeds

$50,000 a year.

FERTILITY OF SOIL. IGNORANCE OF INHABITANTS. HUTS.

The soil on the bottom is remarkably fertile, and the climate is good,

particularly for those predisposed to pulmonary disorders. He advises

me to go there, says there is a great demand for private tutors among

the planters, and that such situations are exceedingly pleasant. It is now

four o'clock, the country we have passed through is somewhat diversified

and uninteresting, but preserving a uniform character. On the right,

highly fertile and generally cultivated bottoms separate the canal from the

Scioto, which sometimes, however, approaches close to the towpath.

On these bottoms corn is raised fifty years in succession, with no

other manure than the annual sediment which the river deposits.

Such land is worth about thirty dollars the acre. Occasionally we

pass a log hut or two, sometimes situated on a road, frequently surrounded

only by rocks and stumps, but all alike in one particular - the abundance

of little tow-heads which lay sunning about the door..

At one of these houses, where is a fine spring and where the boat

stopped for water, we landed and obtained a glass of milk, or rather a

dipper of milk. We asked the woman what was the name of the township

or the county in which she lived. She giggled, hardly seemed to under-

stand the question, but at length replied that it was "an out-in-the-woods

place, she reckoned." That was all the name she knew, and that was

enough for her purposes. But these children, they are growing up in

ignorance, perfect darkness, intellectually. They seem to have in the

West no New England pride about their houses; all the scattered build-

ings on the great national road and in this region are built of rough logs,

notched at the ends, and the best of them, with the interstices filled with

mud, sticks and stones and their roofs shingled or thatched. We have

this day passed no villages.

Many of the houses are embellished with the trophies of the hun-

ter-the hides and horns of the deer, etc. Deer and wild turkeys are

abundant here, sheltered by the thick forests which crown the swells, and

which afford a refuge for thousands of warblers whose notes generally

sounded strange in my ear. Taking my station on the prow of the boat,

I have sat for hours watching the ever varying scene and listening to

their changing notes.

230        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

ILLINOIS SPECULATIONS. CHICAGO. ALTON, ETC.

Very often, the canal widens and forms reservoirs at convenient

places. Frequently pools of stagnant water are formed near, carrion often

floats on the surface, miasmata are generated, all which must render a

residence near the bank unhealthy. It is in fact a nursery of fever and

ague. Yet fish live in considerable abundance in this water; doubtless

the poor creatures are subject to bilious complaints. Water snakes,

huge, vile looking monsters are frequently seen on the shore, basking

in the sun. One of our fellow-passengers made a good hit at one with a

pole. We passed a high, shed-like looking building, rising like a shattered

light-house, under which some unsuccessful experimenter had been boring

for salt, which is found in abundance in many parts of the state and

in this neighborhood. Everybody is advising me to travel farther West,

if I wish to see a full display of the energies of the country. We have

an Illinois man aboard, who speaks with rapture of the extensive and

fertile prairies of his adopted state.

There the corn grows from 12 to 20 feet in height, and in the valley

of the Kaskaskia it yields 100 bushels an acre, with no other care than the

labor of ploughing.

Chicago is doubtless going to be one of the greatset places in the

country, a vast city; at present, an excellent place for emigration. Alton

is a promising place; it is the general opinion that it will become a great

city, on account of its situation, being so near the confluence of the Mis-

souri with the Mississippi. It will be the great depot of the productions

of the Missouri valley.

Many think, however, it can never increase, against the influence of

its overgrown rival, St. Louis, which has such a start of it. There are

also natural disadvantages. The shore is precipitous, and there is no place

to put their buildings except in the ravines. They have an excellent land-

ing, and in case the Missouri trade should be turned to Chicago and

New York it must be a great place. There is another location, which

Ohio folks think is destined for a thriving settlement and vast city - the

Maumee country, on the disputed territory - with Michigan. By the way,

Governor Lucas' extra session of the Legislature meets to-day at Colum-

bus to blow the Michiganders sky high. But as to the Maumee country,

our Illinois man says there is one insuperable objection to its advance-

ment-the citizens must be manufactured and raised on the spot-emi-

grants cannot live there.

BRUTE OF A DRIVER. SCENES ON THE CANAL.

If that is the case, it is not a possession worth a harder war than

that of words and of ink. I am told the notion that the Catholics are

gaining possession of this western country is all nonsense, that there are

none but foreigners; no priests or churches except in a few large cities,

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 231

and they make no converts. For want of any other book, I read to-day

that old but universally popular story, the "Vicar of Wakefield," which

I found on board.  I had read it two or three times before, but several

years since, and it interested me much.

We are just stopping at a lock, having traversed since the last one,

a level of ten miles, in just three hours, wanting ten minutes.

Part of the way we had a brutal driver, who, in spite of our remon-

strances, would insist upon making it his amusement to torment with his

long lash the forward horse, a noble animal, though under such man-

agement, of course a little restive. We are drawn by two horses, tan-

dem, who are changed about once in twelve or fourteen miles. They

seldom trot. The hind horse is ridden by the driver, generally a youth,

and a rough, hardy, tough-swearing, nondescript animal, totally inde-

pendent of the captain, who has no control over him or his horses.

This one, after exercising his little, brief authority over the poor beast

till he had almost worried the animal to death, turned upon every luckless

sheep or pig, who trusting to his tender mercies, might remain within

reach of his whip. At length, we were all excessively delighted to see

an old bellweather carry off, at a sudden jerk, wound round his neck,

the cruel lash, which was not recovered till after a hearty race on the

part of the boy and a hearty laugh on the part of the passengers. Towards

evening in company with most of the passengers, went ashore at one

of the locks and walked to the next one, about a mile, where we waited

for the boat. Here about a dozen Irishmen were at work digging and

filling up an excavation, which the water had worn around the gate. Two

old canalboats, their dwelling house, were moored near. Noticing rather

an inviting room in one of them, I went, in company with another, and

entered it, making an errand for a glass of water. An Irish girl, very

comely and neat in her appearance, was busily engaged in baking two

tempting loaves of bread in a commodious cookstove. Everything had an

air of cleanliness and comfort which one would hardly expect to find in

such a place.

MOUND. CHILLICOTHE. BUILDINGS. DUTCH.

The bank here was covered with horehound, boneset and camomile,

all growing wild and luxuriating in great abundance. Take it all in all,

we have had a very pleasant time -a good company and good weather -

it having been hazy and occasionally a slight sprinkle; in this way we

were enabled to avoid the heat which, at this season, is generally exceed-

ingly troublesome on the canal. Had a very respectable dinner, too.

Towards evening, wrote journal. Passed a large, conical mound, as steep

as the earth could be made to lie, like a section of an egg. It had no

appearance of having been opened.

9. TUES. Our little cabin was fitted most ingeniously with berths,

for ten persons, but so contracted were the limits appropriated for each

232        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

that he could only draw himself onto his shelf lengthwise and there lie,

without stirring for fear of a fall or a broken head. We did not wish the

windows open on account of the unhealthy miasms from the canal, and

of course were uncomfortably hot. I had a good nap, on first crawling

in, and a late one in the morning; the body of the night I lay and chewed

the cud of reflection with about as much elbow room as a man might

find in his coffin.

Awoke. Looked out of my window upon a block of stores, which it

seemed I could almost touch. I jumped out upon the floor, all dressed,

and found myself, with one exception, the last of the Mohicans.  We

were in Chillicothe, the ancient seat of government of the Ohio, and the

canal runs directly through it and is lined on either side with shops and

stores. Took a long walk round the town, and am much pleased with it,

but there is displayed much of the same negligence in building and the

outskirts are filthy. In fact, all the towns in this State are defiled by

swine. The streets have the smell and appearance of a pig-yard. Some

of the streets are broad, and furnished with handsome brick blocks and

convenient public houses; are high, pleasant and airy. There are many

old looking, small frame houses, however, and some log huts. Their

houses are put together in such a slovenly manner in the West that

twenty years are amply sufficient to clothe them in a garb of antiquity. A

long rope-walk at one extremity of the town I noticed converted into

a block of dwellings. Here live the Dutch, of which there are a great

many here, as happy as kings. The churches here look no more than

respectable, for so large a place, hardly that. Business, which had been

declining, has received a new start in this place, from the grand canal.

CHILLICOTHE. THE WORD "TOWNSHIP." TAKE A HACK.

Chillicothe is situated on the Scioto River, in Scioto Township, for

it is to be understood that in Ohio a town is what we call a village,

while what we call a town is here called a township and the village or

town has very seldom the same name with the township in which it is

situated. Then again the word township has two distinct meanings. The

whole county is surveyed into districts of six miles square, called town-

ships, or, for the sake of distinctin, land townships, but they do not

often correspond to the civil township or government, which sometimes

includes parts of two or three, sometimes not a whole one, as suits the

convenience of the inhabitants.

This, together with the fact that there are some dozens of town-

ships of the same name in different counties, such as Hancock, Jefferson,

etc., creates among strangers and inhabitants great confusion.

The townships are surveyed and named by the county commis-

sioners, who are independent of each other and of course often pitch

upon the same name. Chillicothe is situated on the western border of a

vast alluvial plain, and in its site and plan somewhat resembles Philadel-

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 233

phia, the Scioto and Paint Creek corresponding to the Delaware and

Schuylkill Rivers. At this place our captain, having a load to take in,

and there being no prospect of getting off before noon, we concluded to

leave him and trust ourselves to the mercy of Providence and the roads

for a swifter, if not a safer, conveyance. The stage having left at two

o'clock, we chartered a hack, with two seats and four horses, and put

off about eight. There were four of us, all old friends; that is, we had been

thrown together in the same canalboat for twenty-four hours, and he must

have an abundance of sourkrout in his composition who does not get

acquainted with his shipmates under such circumstances. The road we

passed through from Chillicothe to Circleville was indeed poor, but the

country was splendid.

THE COUNTRY AND ITS PRODUCTIONS, ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE.

One extent of rich, fertile bottom, and such glorious farms, 'twould

make a New Englander farmer's mouth water to see them. They raise

a vast quantity of beef and pork of the finest quality in this region.

They mow comparatively very little hay and raise no potatoes for their

stock, barely enough for culinary purposes. Their grass is timothy and

clover, no other kinds. Their pastures-we saw many head of cattle

in them which would at this moment yield a heavier swath than many

fields, when mowed, in New Hampshire. Wheat is raised in very con-

siderable quantities, and looks beautifully; their harvest time is usually

the last of June; they will have a great crop, though I see by the papers

a very poor one in Virginia and Maryland. But the chief production of

the soil is the Indian corn. Fields are not uncommon containing some

hundreds and even thousands of acres in one unbroken extent, which will

yield from fifty to seventy bushels per acre. They have no labor of

manuring; in the spring, one ploughs, another drops after him and

another covers; they put from four to six corns to the hill. Twice or

thrice a year they plough between the rows, with a single horse and what

they call a shovel plough, a mere light spade fixed to a plough-shaft or

frame. The ear has twelve rows, is short and thick. If it be asked what

they do with these great crops of corn, I answer they fatten their stock on

them instead of hay, conceiving it more profitable. Their cattle are all

raised for market on corn, and their swine consume a great deal also.

They have a way, too, of fattening their hogs in clover; immense droves

of them are seen on either side, rioting in the richest clover fields, their

flanks almost concealed in the verdure and blossoms. They find this

exceedingly profitable, pork in the fall of the year commanding a great

price. "As happy as pigs in clover" is a proverb which we here find

illustrated. They have an unfortunate breed of swine in Ohio, thin-sided

things, and all black or speckled. Their hams seldom weigh more than

eight or ten pounds. I have heard this much lamented, but it is difficult

to remedy the evil. They have fine orchards here, and a prospect of an

234        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

abundant supply of fruit the present season. Peaches will not flourish,

apples and pears abound. Last year, as in New England, there was no

fruit at all. A great part of these fertile plains is still covered with the

primeval forests. When a clearing is commenced, they burn out the

underbrush, girdle the great monsters and leave them gradually to decay

and fall. Many cultivated farms are covered in this way with naked

shafts, with their larger branches scattered hither and thither, many

scathed with the thunderbolt and all bearing the marks of hard usage,

looking like the ghosts of the ancient forests, the seared monuments of

aboriginal grandeur. They make a melancholy appearance amid the sur-

rounding cultivation and remind one of the old warrior, sitting among the

ruins of ancient Carthage.

FOREST TREES. BUCKEYE. POISON VINE, ETC.

The woods are nearly all strangers to me. Among the principal are

the burr oak, a noble, endurable tree; the sycamore, which frequently

attains an enormous circumference; the black and white walnut and the

numerous varieties of hickory. The latter has a shag bark, and resembles

in fruit also our walnut; the white walnut is similar to our butternut

or oilnut. The sugar tree is a handsome tree; sugar orchards are fre-

quent, and the fine molasses from them is found on every table d'hote.

They have the sugar maple, but not in abundance; the ash and white

oak, as with us, but no pines or cedar. The black locust attains a

great size and is a handsome tree, but in beauty is exceeded by the honey-

locust, which bears a long pod, filled with such wild honey as John the

Baptist lived upon in the wilderness. Both these species of acacia are

common here. The papaw is a small-sized tree, and bears a beautiful

leaf. It also produces a fruit half as large as a cocoa nut, soft, pulpy

and sickish-sweet to the palate of a stranger. The natives love it, but

there is no animal, not even the hog, that will touch it, except the o'pos-

sum, another instance of the omniverous nature of the human species.

We were shown many specimens of the buckeye, the shrub or tree

from  which the inhabitants of Ohio derive their national soubriquet.

It bears a round nut, which is covered with an outer rind or shell,

and on whose surface appears a white, circular spot, like the pupil of the

eye. Cattle are very fond of it and eat it whenever they can obtain

access to it, but it is extremely poisonous and unless relief be speedily

procured invariably produces death. Grape vines are plenty, but the fruit

is small and sour; sassafras trees I saw as large as a man's thigh.

There is also a vine, which grows at the base to an enormous size and

which often includes in its parasitical embrace the tops of a whole grove

of noble trees, many of whom die under the weight of its branches and

from its noxious qualities. Our cicerone, an intelligent farmer, one of

the original settlers of this region, knew no other name for it than the

poison vine. It much resembled, except in its larger size, a vine that

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 235

flourishes between Exeter and Newmarket, and which we used to call

Jacob's Ladder. These are the principal trees of the native growth of

the Scioto valley. To make the catalogue complete, the elm should

be added.

PICKAWAY PLAINS. SLOVENLY MANNER OF BUILDING.

Pickaway county, through which we passed, is one of the best for

farming in the State. There is the woodland for timber, the barren for

pastures, the plain for wheat, yielding forty-five bushels the acre, and

the prairies for corn and grass. We passed through the whole extent

of the celebrated Pickaway Plains, the best wheat ground in the western

country. Our farmer described with great enthusiasm the appearance of

these plains, when he first pitched his tent upon its borders. A natural

plain of from three to seven miles in extent, covered with a low, wild

plum, producing a luscious fruit, and without a single tree in its whole

extent to obstruct the view.

I could see a deer, said he, for miles. There are now houses and

clumps of trees, introduced since its settlement, and of considerable size.

Many of the farmers of this fine country are not the owners of the

soil, but pay a rent of one-half the produce. Reckoned in money, they

call their corn worth from 12 to 15 cents per bushel. We passed through

Jefferson, a small town in the township of Pickaway, and forming the seat

of justice of the county of Pickaway. It is now all in ruins, their decline

entirely brought about by intemperance and dissipation, for which it was

long notorious.

The dilapidated state of the houses is truly deplorable. "Somehow,"

said the drunken landlord of a tottering tavern, "the people seem to

have all moved off to Circleville." Their frame houses here, when they

build such, are poor things; the clapboards are nailed directly upon the

studs, they are wider and thicker than ours and of the same thickness

throughout, of course one edge only touches the studs or uprights and

must be weak. Hence, without constant repairing, and that is not

bestowed upon them, they fall to pieces like a child's cob-house. Their

shingles, if shingles they can be called, are slips of thin board, about

twenty inches long, six wide and three-quarters thick and lap over each

other lengthwise, both of the shingle and the building, about ten inches

or half the whole length of each tier being covered by the next. Then

there are two layers of thicknesses of these, the outside one sloping the

other way from the inner, and this is all the boarding they have on their

roof, the shingles being nailed directly upon the rafters, which are placed

ten inches apart. But most of the farmer's houses are meaner still,

built of logs, with the crannies sometimes plastered with mud.

The chimney is placed outside the building, is sometimes all of

brick; in other cases the upper part is of staves, laid precisely like a

cob-house. These chimneys often lean at an awful angle from the build-

236        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

ing, and assist in giving the whole an appearance of reeling and drunk-

enness, with which the occupants too often coincide. Many wealthy farm-

ers, who are worth fifty thousand dollars and who both occupy and rent

vast tracts of rich and profitable territory, are content to live and die

without comfort and without self-respect in these wretched hovels.

CIRCLEVILLE. IGNORANCE OF BARKEEPER. ANCIENT.

We took dinner at Circleville. While it was preparing, we asked

the barkeeper in what direction were those relics of antiquity which have

rendered this place so celebrated. He pointed to a mound opposite, and,

in spite of all my doubts, assured us it was all. We visited it; it is high

and gradual in its ascent, and has been half carried away for gravel. I

picked up half of an Indian tomahawk, much worn, however. There are

indications of animal matter; a black, strong-smelling mould visible in

the excavations, the remains of human bodies. It is supposed that this

mound is in part natural, as there appears to be two sorts of earth

employed in its formation. When the town was settled it was covered

with trees. As I knew the barkeeper's story could not be correct, we

made further inquiries, and were soon directed to the ancient fortifica-

tions. This fellow could not help seeing the mound, which is situated

directly before his nose, and that was as far as he ever troubled himself

to learn about them, a striking example of the want of curiosity observ-

able in relation to objects in our immediate vicinity. The principal fort

is an exact circle, and includes a great part of the village, which has

received from it its name, and which has several circular streets, corre-

sponding to the fort. The circle is one mile in circumference and con-

sists of two parallel walls, the tops about three rods asunder and the

inner one forty-seven rods in diameter.   Between these walls is a

fosse or ditch, sufficiently large and no more so to have afforded earth

enough for the exterior wall, and this wall is in fact composed of gravel,

the soil of the adjacent country. But the materials of the inner wall

were evidently brought from a great distance. It is composed of clay,

which is nowhere else found in the whole neighborhood, and has between

it and the ditch a level footpath about four feet wide.

FORTIFICATIONS OF CIRCLEVILLE. PLAN.

At the east side of the circle is another fort, a perfect square, whose

sides exactly face the four cardinal points of the compass and whose

western side is a tangent to the circle, geometrically speaking; that is,

just touches the exterior wall and becomes incorporated with it at one

point.

At this spot is the only gateway or opening into the circular fort;

that is, the circle had no opening, except into the square, but the square

has, including this, eight different avenues, one at each corner and one

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 237

at the center of each side. These avenues are about 12 feet wide and

the wall rises to its usual height, which is about 20 feet. The square

may be 40 feet each way, or about as large, I think it is exactly, as to

set into the circle. We noticed many vast stumps remaining on the

summit, and the trees found here at the settlement of the town in 1810,

both standing and prostrate, no way differed from those in the sur-

rounding forest. It is easy to imagine what a vast alteration such a

period of time must have produced in the external appearance of these

works, what a filling up of the ditch and a reduction of the height of

the wall. The square fort has only a single wall, which appears higher

in the inside than on the exterior face, as though the dirt was taken

from the interior. As it at present appears, the bank is about twenty feet

in breadth at its base. But time is not the worst enemy these venerable

ruins of an unknown age have encountered. The ruthless hand of man,

in twenty short years, has done more to blot them from existence than

the old destroyer in twice as many centuries. Our descendants of the

second generation will know nought of them, except from description.

About one-half of the circle has been leveled and the ditch filled, and

the ground covered with streets and buildings. The interior wall, too,

is of clay and all the brick in the place is manufactured from it; the

present generation making use of the labor of transportation of a people

whose name is not known.

This clay will shortly be all used up for this purpose and one wall

demolished. The square, being farther from the village, has escaped far

better- in many parts as perfect as when the eye of civilized man first

rested upon its proportions. A road cuts through at one side of it

and a few negroes have the honor of dwelling in that area, which doubt-

less once resounded with the measured tread of disciplined armies, the

pomp and circumstance of war. At a little distance south is a very steep

and high cemetery or mound, which has never been opened, but is yearly

ploughed and cultivated. A very large one, which stood in the center

of Chillicothe, and which had for forty years been spared, was a short

time since removed and its site sold for house lots. This destruction of

these interesting relics for the sake of lucre will surely be regretted at

some future period. The relics which have been found at Circleville have

been numerous. This town itself is very pretty, well situated, and were

it not for the swine would look and smell like a New England village.

There are 1,500 inhabitants, some handsome buildings, and extensive

warehouses on the canal.

SYCAMORES. BAD ROAD. LOSE MY HEAD-PIECE. COLUMBUS.

We left at two o'clock; it was a sultry day, and our poor horses,

for we had no change, were very tired. The road grew worse and for

six miles was absolutely abominable. It lay through a dense, murky, damp

forest, abounding in water, mud, moss and mosquitoes. There were some

238        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of the largest sycamores I have yet seen, many were eight feet in diam-

eter. The wheels sunk several inches into the black mud, and at some

spots the prospect was absolutely deplorable. However, we worked along,

though at a snail's pace. They might do better did they work their road

property, but their road tax system is both foolish and unjust in the

extreme. Every citizen, rich or poor alike, is obliged to give two days'

work. We passed the town of Bloomfield, a little village with about

150 inhabitants and-a market house!

Every little squad of buildings apes the city in this respect.  Now

for a specimen of my luck. After dark, being tired and sleepy and

having a seat to myself, I wrapped myself up in my cloak, stretched

myself out and went to sleep. I awoke a few miles below Columbus, and

came fully to my senses in about half an hour, when it occurred to me

that I was bareheaded. My cap had worked off and out of the window.

It was an excellent light broadcloth cap, which my father bought in

Boston just before I started on purpose for the journey and which I

much admired. But it was past all redemption and I very philosophically

tied my head up in my handkerchief and resigned myself to circum-

stances. Should I lose my head off before I get home again, I am resolved

to endure the infliction with becoming fortitude. We arrived at Columbus

between nine and ten; could not get admitted at the first tavern, and

where we were received, found the house overflowing with the crowds

of legislators and strangers, whom the exciting question of the northern

boundary dispute has brought together.

COLUMBUS. STATE HOUSE. DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM.

10 Wed. Were lodged in a temporary bed in the gentlemen's public

sitting room. Should complain of the accommodations, if I thought they

could do better. Read Gov. Lucas' message with a portion of the volumi-

nous documents annexed, and tried to obtain one for preservation, but

without success- a few only have been printed as yet, and they are not

to be obtained. There is great excitement in relation to the subject, but

we are disappointed in our expectations of hearing any specimens of

Buckeye eloquence, as the whole matter is in the hands of a committee

and the legislature hold sessions only of half an hour a day, waiting for

the report. It will then be handled pretty decisively, and I should judge

from what I can gather, that the majority are for bold measures. I went

over the capitol. It is a small, square, temporary, brick building, with

two entrances, and surmounted with a patriotic extract from Barlow--a

thing which struck me as in bad taste--a few energetic words might

have answered -but twenty or thirty lines make an undignified appear-

ance.

They will, however, ere long, erect a building more consonant with

the wealth and power of the state. The Representative Hall occupies the

ground floor and the outer doors open directly into it, a situation very

240        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

DEAF AND DUMB. MR. CUSHING. BUCKEYE LEGISLATORS.

There are 40 pupils, 17 of them females, and from 10 to 30 years of

age. At twelve or fourteen, they are most susceptible of improvement.

There appeared to be few younger than 14. They have four schools, or

rather classes, and as many teachers, Mr. Hubbell and three assistants,

two of them mutes and graduates of the Hartford Asylum. The other

is a son of Hon. Senator Morris. They had been classmates of the

fellow who was committed, for a rape at Concord last summer, to prison

for life, and expressed great interest in the circumstance. They said

he was a bad fellow at Hartford.

We visited each room and watched the operations of the classes.

They did exceedingly well, many, particularly among the females, appear-

ing very intelligent. We were introduced to the teachers and held conver-

sation with them on the state. One in particular was a fine looking fellow,

young, active, well shaped, handsome, with a noble, intellectual forehead

and remarkably quick with the pencil. Mr. F. obtained from  him a

promise to correspond with him. Became acquainted with one of the

Representatives, Mr. Cushing, a man of considerable talent, but who

bears, in common with a large proportion of the members, upon his

person, indications of loose and dissipated habits. One man, Mr. R- ,

formerly a member of congress, and one of the most talented men in

Ohio, but who latterly made himself a brute, was elected for this session

to fill a vacancy. Not having been drunk for a fortnight, he was nomi-

nated to encourage him in his good resolutions, and succeeded in opposi-

tion to an exceedingly popular man, Ex-Governor  -   . No sooner

elected than he got himself dead drunk, and has been intoxicated ever

since he has been here.  To-day he reeled into the house and undertook

to say something, but was pulled down by his friends. There is a care-

lessness of manner, a levity of appearance, an unfitness of expressions, a

profanity in common conversation, in short a conduct, both in and out

of the House, which a New Englander can hardly consider proper in

legislators. With Mr. Cushing we visited the new penitentiary.

OHIO PENITENTIARY. MARBLE AND PETRIFACTIONS.

This building is truly a noble structure, an ornament to the city and

an honor to the state, and when completed will probably be second to

none in the country. The centre and one wing are complete, the rest in a

state of forwardness, the prisoners being busily engaged in preparing their

own accommodations. It seems almost a refinement of punishment to

oblige a man to build his own dungeon. The area enclosed is about

twenty acres, the building of hammered freestone, the centre of four

stories and the wings three. It is on the plan of the Auburn prison and

like the new one in New Hampshire, the wings enclosing an interior

building of five stories of cells, each cell measuring seven feet by three

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                  243

in his personal appearance, in his dress, his habits, his manners, his speech.

He is an old Buckeye farmer and resides on the Scioto, at the village of

Piketon. About 30 years since he emigrated from Virginia to this state,

where he was for many years a member of the legislature and has been

presiding officer of both branches. His wife, he told me, was a native of

Haverhill, N. H. Gov. Lucas is very tall-I should think over six feet-

a spare, gaunt, bony man, much resembling in his form Senator Bell of

New Hampshire. He has a small head, sharp features, a low, retreating

forehead and large self-esteem. His skin is dark, and browned by expos-

ure and labor; in short, his whole exterior is that of a rough country

farmer. His eyes are grey, small but keen--his head greyish and he is

about 60 years of age.

The Governor has much of the old Hickory in his composition;

when his purpose is fixed, the resolute perseverance with which he executes

it, is nearly allied to mulish obstinacy. He was a soldier in the late war

under Hull and others, and performed some hazardous services, it is said,

as a spy. Indeed, he boasted to me in conversation that he had his horse

shot under him in this very disputed territory, at a period when Gov.

Mason of Michigan, if born at all, was an infant at his mother's breast.

He is very much excited in relation to this boundary question: he had

hardly laid aside my letter of introduction before he began to enlighten

me on the subject. On the whole, I was very much gratified with this my

call on Gov. Lucas, for which I am indebted to Mr. Hill's kind offices.

COLUMBUS STATE LIBRARY. THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

In the evening I visited the State Library, which tho' small, is far

superior in numbers and selection, to ours. Many of the best periodicals

and newspapers are here regularly received. The old limping Librarian,

having discovered that I was from the same section of the country with

himself, was quite attentive.

12. FRI. Bid adieu with some regret, to this pleasant little village,

or city, as the inhabitants in anticipation, persist in terming it. Columbus

was founded in 1812. In that year, when the whole of its present limits

was covered with the original forest, it was constituted the seat of govern-

ment by an act of the legislature and named after the adventurer of Genoa.

It was laid out immediately, and many of the lots sold for 2,000 dollars,

while covered with primeval timber. Indeed, everything goes by antici-

pation in the west-the spirit of speculation is the heart's blood of the

country. This would be a cleanly place, were it not for the pigs- as it is,

it is an improvement on other places I have visited. Its streets are broad

and laid out in right angles. One, the main street, on which are the public

buildings, forms a part of the National Road and will be macadamized this

season. The roads in the neighborhood are so bad, that one sees no car-

riages, but heavy baggage wagons. The old family chaise, the elfish gig,

the farmer's wagon, the light dearbon, are here unknown--everybody,

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                  245

more. With a rich soil like this, and a new road, under the circumstances,

the state of traveling may be readily imagined.

However, we wallowed on, occasionally passing through patches of

excellent timber-land. The sycamore tree, the button-wood of the east,

here grows to an almost incredible size. The large ones are usually

hollow, with a shell some four inches in thickness, which continually in-

creases in circumference. When cut at convenient lengths, the trunk is

found very useful. Casks, vats, cisterns, well-curbs, bee hives, pigstyes,

etc., are constructed of it.

At Delaware, a very pleasant and thriving village, we tarried about

an hour. This is the seat of the celebrated White Sulphur Springs, said

to be fully equal to the noted Sulphurs of Virginia. We visited the princi-

pal spring. Near it, is erecting a most splendid hotel for the accommoda-

tion of visitors, whose convenience demands it and whose number it will

doubtless greatly increase. The spring issues forth from the side of the

hill; is enclosed in an excellent curb of marble and the water is itself

clear as crystal. But not so that with which it comes in contact. The

pebbles which line the bottom and sides of the spring and of the brook

which conducts the water away, are covered to the depth of an eighth of

an inch, with a slimy coat of white sulphur. The water is exceedingly

cool and grateful to the sight, of a warm day -but phaugh! the taste!

I have it on my tongue at this moment--I did swallow a dipper full.

If any one wishes to obtain a faint idea of its flavor, let him break under

his nose an addled egg-the resemblance is striking.

SUCH TRAVELING! COONING THE FENCE !

The road in the afternoon was, if possible, worse than before dinner.

Besides the usual depth of mud, we would occasionally, without warning,

dive into a hole of unknown depth, filled with black mud, whose murky

consistency effectually concealed the mysteries of the interior -and there

stick. This they call being stalled - and on such occasions we were obliged

to take a fence rail and help along.

At one of these "swales," we broke our main tug, and most of us

concluded to walk on, while it was repairing. We soon arrived at a deep

and broad pit, floating on whose surface lay several logs, by whose help

we hoped to cross. We all succeeded in passing with feet, but two - one

turned back discouraged-the other, poor fellow, after he had put his

hand to the plough, endeavored to return, but the log slipped from under

him, and he was completely soused in a liquid about the consistency of

cream. He bore it very philosophically, and afterwards had the advantage

of the rest of us, wading with perfect nonchalance through every puddle

that crossed his path.

Where the fences were not covered up or carried away, we usually

crossed these places by an interesting process which these fellows signifi-

cantly term "cooning the fence" - that is by clinging to the fence-rails with

246        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

fingers and toes and worming along in the best manner the case will admit

of. As the fences in this country are invariably of the kind we call Vir-

ginia fence or zigzag, this is really no trifling operation, and for inducing

a general perspiration, I know nothing which surpasses it. But the gro-

tesque figures, the grimaces and the reluctance which some of our grave old

gentlemen displayed at this undignified and laborious way of traveling, was

truly amusing. Being rather active, I generally got over first and then

had a fine time laughing at their awkward manoeuvres and occasional

faux pas.

13. SAT. Last evening, at half past 11 o'clock, we arrived at a mis-

erable inn in the village of Marion, and passed there the rest of the night.

Some slept on benches and some in chairs - for myself, I procured half a

very comfortable bed, in a room which contained only two more. This

morning we progressed, tho' very slowly. The roads grew worse as we

proceeded and the accounts which we received from every individual we

met, would have deprived us of our senses, had we not become perfectly

hardened to anything and everything we might encounter.

Low PRAIRIES. NIGHT COMES. THE LOG HOUSE.

Our road lay most of the day through low prairies and wet of course.

It is to be understood that prairie land is not necessarily low or wet - but

signifies only a level or perhaps undulating plain destitute of timber and

covered with a sweet grass. Such land is often dry and capable of every

variety of cultivation. But the prairies we passed over today are what we

might call meadows; very low and wet, incapable of being drained, in a

state of nature, unsusceptible of improvement. They are used for grazing

and are exceedingly profitable. We saw immense herds of noble cattle

appearing in the distance like a waving grove, and reminding one of the

description of a herd of buffalo, as they are seen congregating in their un-

curbed freedom on the prairie of the Missouri, and as they once were on

this very spot. Each drove is attended by a herdsman and his dogs, who

keep them from straying, who remain with them by day and lodge within

a pound or fold by night. There is no fence here but dog-fence- stone

and wood being alike strangers to this species of ground. There are

occasional huts located in these unhealthy situations, and here and there

an open log-shed adjoins one of these cabins, in which is kept a fresh

team of horses for "the stage." We entered one house - 'twas a new one

-properly a log-house-the logs being roughly hewn and notched at

the ends and a place being left for a window sash. It was all in one

room, about two-thirds of which has a raised floor, of timber chopped

down to about three inches in thickness. At one end, was a large fire-

place, on the bare ground and the kitchen utensils were hung around it.

The chimney, as is invariably the case, was outside of the building, of

sticks of wood built cob-house fashion and plastered with clay-the oven

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 247

of clay and brick is a separate structure, out doors, and erected upon

wooden blocks.

As is invariably the case, the room was stocked with little children, ris-

ing to an unmentionable number, with the greatest regularity, like the

steps of a stair-case, from the chubby little infant, who is playing with

papa's ramrod, to the half simpering, awkward girl, who sits sewing patch-

work at the extreme end of the room. Several of the young 'uns were only

not in a state of nudity and the old lady, like almost every female I have

met in this part of the country, was bare-legged and bare-footed. We took

the liberty to peep into the first structure, the "old house," for this which

I have been describing is the second step towards grandeur, and one more

than most of these settlers make, which looked rather forlorn in its dis-

mantled, inglorious condition. Two or three beds have been left standing

for the accommodation of some of the dozens who make up the family.

This structure is called the cabin and is the settlers' primitive residence -

composed of rough, unbarked logs, heaped up as we build log fence, with

a hole to crawl in, and perhaps another for a window. First in the scale,

is the cabin, then the log-house, then the frame building, and then brick-

stone is out of the question here, entirely. Specimens of all these, as they

have been in turn occupied and deserted, may be occasionally seen on the

farms of some industrious and enterprising farmer. The roads on this

prairie land are always on a level or below the level of the surface, and

are of course a perfect reservoir for the water.

MUDDY ROADS.

No attempt to cover the natural shaky, sticky black soil with any-

thing of a firmer nature has ever been made, and where there was once a

ditch at the side of the road, it is now obliterated. In one instance we

turned from the road and waded through the long grass of the prairie

for miles, prefering a foot of unadulterated water, for it stood to that

depth on the surface of the ground, to a great or greater depth of mud.

In another, we walked three long miles at one stretch, each one with his

boots filled with water and holding up his pantaloons with both hands, as

boys play in the puddles, and this because the state of the road was such

the horses could not draw us. How one of the Virginians did swear ! and

I may add, how uncomfortable it made him. The best part of our party

kept ourselves perfectly good-tempered, nay almost boisterous, and man-

aged to extract amusement, often at each other's expense, out of every

circumstance which occurred, or adventure which we met with. This was

the only true way- we were in for it and must go through; grumbling

could only add to our misfortune.

SLAVE CATCHING AND SLAVE DRIVING.

By the way, I have found out who our three Virginians are-they

are slave-hunters, and are now after three poor fugitives, who have fled

248        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

from that happy condition (?) -a state of slavery. At first they spoke of

them as their property, but I soon discovered that slave catching for others

was their business and that they were well experienced in it, too. The

three negroes were all, they said, first rate - one a good scholar, and re-

markably intelligent. His master was then very sick, and could not live.

Not long since, he expected to die immediately, having had a relapse, and

sent for this slave, who had been hired out on another plantation. The

faithful negro came, watched upon his master, and for a week never left

his bedside except on his business and at his bidding. Yet this master, in

expectation of a speedy departure, must rob this poor slave of his liberty

that he may leave a larger inheritance to his children. These runaways

went by stage to Chillicothe, and were so unwise as to enter their usual

names on the waybills. At Chillicothe, the keeper of the principal house

sent them to the negro tavern and this is the last they have been heard of.

The hunters did not dare to go to the negroes on such an errand, but they

are confident they have steered for Canada, as the runaways invariably do,

and they expect to find them on the lake, detained by certain men they

have stationed at the prominent places to watch or capture suspected

negroes. They did not dare to make any inquiries on the road, because they

say, they never get any satisfaction, and complain bitterly of the disposition

the Ohio people show to cheat them out of their inalienable rights. They

say, if they find a constable and point out their negro to him, he will give

the fellow a chance to escape before he will move in the business.

I did not know of the shifts to which they are obliged to resort to

conceal their disreputable employment. Thus, they enter on the waybills

an assumed name, that the negroes may not learn that they are in the

country and be on their guard, and as the poor fellows have only two

days the start, I tremble for them and told the hunters I hoped they would

get away. They grinned and said they would take care of that. From

their conversation, I doubt not they would swear to anything, and to the

ownership of any negro, if they imagined they could do it securely, and

spoke very coolly of the propriety of kidnapping two or three likely fellows,

should they be unsuccessful in their present search. They said, a vast many

free blacks are annually stolen and taken to the south- that they were

knowing to many such cases. From them I learned that Mr. Macpherson,

one of our passengers, then on the driver's box, and the identical man who

came across the mountains with us from Frederic, Md., and who represented

himself as a wealthy slaveholder, about to move to Mississippi, is an

internal slave trader and does business very extensively, annually driving

large coffles of negroes from Maryland, Virginia, etc., to the south. They

have traded with him in that capacity and say they never knew one of these

merchants but represented himself as about to settle with a gang of slaves

upon a cotton plantation at the south. He is now on an errand similar to

their own - is a very genteel man in dress, address and appearance. I

learned that there is quite a village of blacks in Canada, to which the run-

aways direct their efforts, where they find a kind asylum, if they are so

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                 249

fortunate as to reach it and whence they cannot be legally removed. The

hunters had often visited it for purposes best known to themselves. One

of them followed a black, who had escaped on horseback, and found him

there a few months ago. He immediately lodged a complaint against him

for the theft of a horse, had him put in gaol and applied for a warrant

for his removal as a culprit. He complained bitterly of the delays to which

he was subjected by the Judge, (who is a brother of Commodore Elliott,

and a renagade to the British in the late war), and was obliged to return

without his prisoner. He will, on this occasion, visit that place and thinks

he shall meet with better success. I asked with as much simplicity as I

could assume, "What would be the punishment for his crime, if they should

get him back?" Oh, said one laughing, if we get him home, that's all we

want of him; we don't care anything about the theft - that's all humbug.

I became perfectly disgusted with the conversation of these wretches, yet

I gathered from it much interesting information - a great deal of it of too

revolting nature to be transcribed here.

14. SUN. Last evening, the agent assured us we should be in San-

dusky. But it rained all the afternoon; there was a violent thunderstorm

and the aspect of affairs became really discouraging. About 9 o'clock, we

stopped at a log hut to exchange our horses, when our new driver, (for

we change drivers here with the teams), a great, strapping, bare-legged

loon came out and declared with many emphatic asseverations, that it

would be absolutely impossible to get across the prairie that night, but if

we persisted in going on, he would drive us till we stopped. As we saw

he was determined not to proceed, we gave up the case, more especially

as a gentleman appeared, one of the party, who filled yesterday's stage, and

excluded us from going the day we expected to. There were ten in the

party and they were obliged to leave all their baggage behind some miles

with this gentleman to attend it, the driver assuring him that a baggage

wagon would follow and take it on. A wagon did follow and brought the

luggage as far as this place, where the driver, probably discouraged, left

it, deceiving him by assuring him that another wagon would appear and

take it on. Here he has remained since yesterday, and is likely to remain,

till he proceeds by his own exertions. Yet, be it remarked, that his own

passage, with an extra fee for the baggage, were paid by him at Columbus

to Sandusky and here he is left 25 miles below. Meantime, the coach, with

the ladies and the rest of the party, proceeded, struck into the prairie, got

stalled and broken and the driver unhitched the team and returned. The

next morning, he went on with a wagon, and carried them forward- they

are now at Sandusky, and not an article of wearing apparel except what

they have on their backs. They were obliged to pass the night in a broken

carriage, on that wet and lonely prairie and exposed to the attacks of the

mosquitoes, who exceed in numbers and size anything I have ever seen.

No wonder, the gentleman threatened to prosecute.

The log-hut, where we found ourselves, we knew not for how long a

time located, was called a tavern; a bar well stocked with whiskey. At

250        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

one end was a generous fire in a fireplace of true primitive capacity and

here we sat and laughed at the awkwardness of our situation and poured

maledictions upon those whose lies had been instrumental in bringing us

here. Better had we not left the canal. Our boat doubtless arrived at

Cleveland on Friday or Saturday.

However, we forgot our cares over a good supper of roast venison,

corn bread and fresh butter, and then enquired for lodging. There were

many awkward grimaces made, as we all, one by one, poked up the crazy

ladder into a dark hole of undefined dimensions, called par eminence, the

chamber. Here in the garret of a log hut, about a dozen persons passed

the night - the day had been rainy and the floor and the beds flowed with

water. I managed to obtain a dry couch, and as I lay on my back, could

contemplate the beauties of the starry creation, or calculate an almanac,

through the chinks of the massive, rough-fitted logs which formed the roof

and walls of the house.

However, I slept soundly, and at 5 o'clock, we, by common consent

emerged. The light of day gave us an opportunity of observing more crit-

ically the positions each other had occupied during the night, and a general

burst of laughter at the grotesque absurdity of our situation was the con-

sequence of our examination. The scene would have been worthy of a

Hogarth's pallet or a Cruikshank's pencil.

The road, after we left the scene of our last night's adventures, was

for some miles no worse than before and we began to think we had egre-

giously cheated. But not so.

PRAIRIE TRAVELING. ARRIVE AT SANDUSKY CITY.

We had a low prairie to cross, worse than anything we had previously

experienced. We left the turnpike, for the aggravation of this miserable

track, (a road it was not) was greatly enhanced by the sight of a gate with

the rates of toll in glaring black paint, every ten miles, and took the old

road, about a mile longer, and our driver hoped, better. We proceeded,

occasionally getting out and pushing. When about half across, we espied

before us two heavy wagons, stalled, fast in the mire, the very tops of their

wheels concealed in the mud and the poor beasts standing with drooping

countenances and submissive look, before. We could not pass them  - the

same hole would add our misfortune to theirs, and as if a warning to us,

across the prairie, we could see in the turnpike, the indistinct form of the

broken coach, in which we would have gone if we could. The driver spoke

of returning, but we persuaded him to turn off, try to cross the ditch into

the deep grass, and wallow along till he gained higher ground, which was

in sight. He did so, whipping up and encouraging his poor beasts at every

deep hole or ditch, and we following, wading and jumping behind. We

got out safe, but the heavy plunges the coach had made had broken one of

our thorough braces and bent to an awful angle, the axle of the hind wheel.

Most preferred walking to trusting themselves to this crazy vehicle; for

Journal of Cyrus P. Bradley.                  251

myself, I was very tired and rode, bracing myself up on the highest side

of the coach, and at every hole we crossed, expecting a catastrophe. We

finally arrived at the land of rail fences again, and having propped up the

broken strap and axletree, for both were broken, we all jumped in and

proceeded. We changed horses at a very respectable frame tavern, ten

miles from Sandusky, the landlord of which was a native of Dunbarton,

N. H., exchanged our used-up vehicle for a lighter coach, and proceeded

over a good road and for a novelty, at a good round trot to Sandusky

City. Near that place we passed over a high, level plain, which was abso-

lutely sandy. There were swells, too, several gravel banks, small pebbles

and even large stones, all comely sights to see, most surely.

SANDUSKY CITY ALIAS PORTLAND. GALLINIPPERS.

We arrived at Sandusky about two o'clock and put up at the principal

house, kept by a namesake of my own. I shall never forget my ride across

those gloomy, unhealthy prairies, which produce nothing but long grass,

horned cattle, disease, mosquitoes and rattlesnakes. One species of meadow

grass was shown me, to which is given the singular cognomen of Roman

Catholic grass. Why, I did not learn. Sandusky is not so large a place as

I had anticipated, judging from its early settlement and notoriety. The

insalubrity of its climate, rendering it almost impossible for a stranger to

live there, is, without doubt the principal obstacle in its way. As a gentle-

man very significantly observed to me, "A great part of the inhabitants are

over the other side of the hill," for there is their cemetery. Other settle-

ments, such as Cleveland, etc., have been at first nearly as unhealthy, but

have improved in process of time. The fever and ague formerly infested

the centre of New York, much as it now does Ohio, and was not uncommon

in the valley of the Connecticut, within the memory of the present genera-

tion. But in this respect, Sandusky does not improve. The village is not

quarter so large or populous as Concord, but was full of business, for the

Sabbath day. There is, in fact, to a majority of the inhabitants, no Sab-

bath. I was struck with one singularity-the air was filled and every

sunny wall or building was covered with myriads of a disgusting fly, about

an inch long, with large wings and feelers. They are sluggish in their

movements and perfectly harmless - nobody seemed to notice them. When

flying, if they strike an object, they either cling to it or fall, and 24 hours is

the extent of their brief existence. Like mosquitoes, they breed on the

water and generation daily follows generation in inconceivable numbers.

The inhabitants did not appear to notice them, and gentlemen and ladies

as they passed the streets were covered with these reptiles. They find their

way into the houses and infest everything; even the table where we dined

swarmed with them. A gentleman assured me, that he was on board a

steamboat last week which ran aground at the mouth of the Detroit river

in the night, and they were obliged to remain till daylight. In the morning,

vast heaps of these vermin were found on deck, particularly congregated

252        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

about the funnels, being either dead or nearly so, and that the quantity

shoveled overboard was variously estimated by the passengers at from 6

to 8 bushels. Similar accounts have been given me by others, and from

what I myself have seen, I do not doubt their truth. They are considered

as certain forerunners of the cholera, and were never known here till just

before the arrival of that disease. They are called, improperly, gallinippers,

that being the name of a fly which, in common with other species, oddly

enough called pontiacs, from the old chief of that name, are exceedingly

troublesome to horses. We ate our dinner in haste and hurried on board

a steamboat which had just touched on her way from Buffalo to take in

wood and passengers.

LAKE ERIE. ITS BEAUTIES. STEAMBOATS.

I soon found myself on board the Michigan, the finest boat, as is uni-

versally acknowledged, on the lakes. Capt. Chas. Blake is her captain, an

experienced navigator but hard-swearing man. It is an extremely difficult

passage into the mouth of Sandusky harbor and much time is necessarily

consumed in working ingress and egress to the bosom of the fair lake. It

requires, perhaps, as much skill to manage a vessel on these waters as on

the broad bosom of the salt water ocean - for in good truth, they are

inland oceans. The lake I am now on--how small it is compared with

Huron or Superior, or yet with these United States, is nevertheless big

enough to swallow in its bosom the whole of Britain's fast anchored isle.

I could with difficulty reconcile it to my imagination that I was indeed sail-

ing on the surface of a pond, a body of water, as the geographies have it,

entirely surrounded by land. Yet so it is.

In one direction, as far as the eye could reach, looking towards the

dominions of King William, with the exception of an occasional verdant

thickly wooded little island, land could no more be discerned than in look-

ing towards the dominions proper of the same prince from the promontory

at Hampton Beach. More than half the apparent horizon was blended

by the water's edge, and the deep blue wave was thickly studded with craft

of every description from the fishing smack to the brig and schooner, from

a pleasure boat to a steam packet.

These last are not such delightful objects to the sight, as we cast

our glance over the surface of the water, as are the whitened sails filled

with the wind, and urging along the vessel as if endowed with vital pow-

ers. The steamboat's lofty and blackened chimneys, the pump working

up and down, above the deck-these objects which we cannot avoid tak-

ing into view seem misplaced on the bosom of the ocean. There is too