Collections

The Journal of a trip from Kingston, Ontario, to Cincinnati, Ohio, recounts a traveler's experiences during a journey that took him through New York and Pennsylvania in February and March 1820.

The Journal of a trip from Kingston, Ontario, to Cincinnati, Ohio, recounts a traveler's experiences during a journey that took him through New York and Pennsylvania in February and March 1820. The traveler embarked on February 24, 1820, and immediately encountered icy, rough roads and other difficulties. He noted machinery he saw on the Canadian countryside. After crossing into New York, the author visited Albany, where he observed the state legislature (February 28, 1820), and New York City. The author initially found Pennsylvania "very dull" (March 4, 1820), but later enjoyed the western countryside, despite being prevented from traveling on one Sunday when he found himself in an area where the population observed strict religious rules (March 12, 1820). On March 17, 1820, the diarist boarded a Cincinnati-bound boat, whose crew told "a great Number of Anecdotes of the late War & [portentously] of the Rascally treatment they received when prisoners." Many entries pertain to anecdotes about traveling companions and lodgings. An account of "Articles Bot" is in the back of the volume.

The Niagara Falls travel diary contains entries written while the diarist (anonymous) was on a trip from Albany, New York, to Niagara Falls, in the summer of 1815. The volume includes descriptions of the terrain around the falls and of the people the traveler met during the journey.

The Niagara Falls travel diary (18 pages) contains entries written while the diarist was on a trip from Albany, New York, to Niagara Falls, in the summer of 1815. The volume includes descriptions of the terrain around the falls and of the people the traveler met during the journey.

In the first entry, dated July 24, 1815, the author described a tour to Niagara Falls, starting at Albany and traveling past Utica along the Mohawk River. The diarist noted that the terrain was "unmistakable for its beauty" and compared it favorably to Harper’s Ferry. The second entry, August 4, describes the trip by ferry from Buffalo, New York, to Fort Erie, and eventually to Niagara. At Fort Erie, which was "a heap of ruin," the traveler encountered a military officer who had witnessed the fort’s siege by the British in 1814. Next, the author described the town of Chippewa, which suffered a damaging battle one year earlier. Passing Fort Niagara, the travelers enjoyed an easy approach to Niagara Falls; the writer described its physical features as well as the inhabitants of the area, including the Forsyth family, who hosted them. The diarist was disappointed that this natural wonder was so easy to reach, and lamented that the falls were "so completely at our command[,] so entirely abased at our feet." Multiple paths stretched along the falls, including trails on both the Canadian and New York sides.