Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Boston to St. Louis travel diary recounts an arduous month-long journey between the two cities made by rail, steamboat, and stagecoach in the fall of 1837.

The Boston to St. Louis travel diary recounts an arduous month-long journey between the two cities made by rail, steamboat, and stagecoach in the fall of 1837. The anonymous author, a staunchly religious man, refused to travel on Sundays and attended Sunday religious services at Presbyterian churches throughout his travels, which took him through northern New York, down the Erie Canal, across lower Michigan and northern Illinois, and finally down the Mississippi River to St. Louis. The diarist wrote daily entries about frequent delays, bad weather, his route, the scenery, and various traveling companions, many of whom he knew. Though the initial leg from Boston to Rochester, New York, proceeded without difficulty, he became stranded in Cleveland and was frequently held back by poor, muddy roads as he proceeded by stagecoach from Detroit to Chicago. He finally reached St. Louis on November 28 and concluded the journal on November 30, a lonely and homesick Thanksgiving. Though the author's daily entries fully chronicle the hardships of travel in the early 19th century, they also provide interesting anecdotes and commentary, including encounters with wild animals along the road, and news of the murder of abolitionist minister Elijah Parish Lovejoy, which the diarist first heard about in Chicago, but also later in Alton, Illinois, where the murder made "abolitionism…more than ever the topic of conversation" (November 25). The final two pages of the volume consist of a table of distances, fares, and expenses incurred throughout the trip.

This collection is made up of 7 letters that George Franklin Lee of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, wrote to his father, wife, and son while traveling in 1844. He described the scenery, towns, and people that he encountered along the Ohio River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Illinois River, and Great Lakes.

This collection is made up of 7 letters that George Franklin Lee of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, wrote to his father, wife, and son while traveling through in 1844. He described the scenery, towns, and people that he encountered along the Ohio River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Illinois River, and Great Lakes.

Lee's letters (approximately 20 pages) are dated from April-May 1844. He wrote 4 letters from St. Louis and Independence, Missouri, and 1 letter each from Chicago, Illinois; Buffalo, New York; and Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. Lee traveled by river steamers, including the Valley Forge, Lexington, Jasper, Panama, Bunker Hill, and Emerald. He reported the names and populations of cities and towns he passed and visited, and often compared them to northeastern cities. He occasionally encountered migrants headed west.

While in Missouri, Lee visited Indian agents and spent time with the Shawnee and Kickapoo Indians, noted the denominations of local religious missions, and described some aspects of Native American life. He also responded to news of his family's health, mentioned his business affairs, and commented on riots in Philadelphia. On his return journey from Missouri, Lee traveled on the Great Lakes, where he saw Mackinac Island and Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio. After reaching New York, he visited Niagara Falls, where he hiked behind one of the waterfalls and discussed English customs in Canada. One letter includes an engraving of the Cathedral of St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri (postmarked May 11, [1844]).

This 88-page journal recounts Healy's travels from his home in Middlebury, New York, to northeastern Illinois between May 30 and July 13, 1838. The journal contains notes on his steamship voyages on the Great Lakes, descriptions of his overland travels and experiences in Illinois, and prayers and other religious reflections. This diary is a handwritten copy made by Horace Healy in 1841.

This 88-page journal recounts Healy's travels from his home in Middlebury, New York, to northeastern Illinois between May 30 and July 13, 1838. This diary is a handwritten copy made by Horace Healy in 1841.

Healy departed from Middlebury on May 30, 1838, with a friend, Hosea Wilson, and reached Buffalo the following day, where the men boarded the steamer Anthony Wayne, bound for Chicago via the Great Lakes. Healy kept a brief daily record of distances he traveled and the steamer's stops, until his arrival at Chicago on June 9. There, he took leave of Wilson. Along the way, Healy visited Fort Mackinac, Michigan, and described some of his fellow passengers. Upon his arrival in Illinois, he set out to visit acquaintances living southeast of Chicago, and then traveled westward and northward throughout the area for the rest of the month. A devout man, he recorded his religious activities, his attendance at church services, prayers, and religious thoughts.

The journal also contains brief descriptions of a few settlements, such as Naperville and Rockford, and of life on the Illinois prairie. One man at a camp meeting along the DuPage River mentioned his missionary work with local Native Americans (June 24, p. 38). On June 25, Healy left for home, though he remained in Chicago for several days awaiting a steamer; during this time, he visited Fort Dearborn and other sights. He boarded the Anthony Wayne on June 28, and spent a few days in early July near Detroit, Michigan, where he visited his brother Freeborn's grave in Macomb County (July 6, pp. 66-67). On July 10, he took the Clinton to Buffalo, where he arrived on July 12, his daughter's 14th birthday. The entry for July 12 also contains Healy's lamentation on the sinking of the steamboat George Washington on Lake Erie less than a month before (pp. 81-82). Healy arrived home in Middlebury on July 13, 1838.

Horace Healy transcribed this copy of his journal on October 21, 1841.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour through the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour of the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Young's journal, which contains descriptions and anecdotes from his travel, begins with an entry expressing his sadness upon leaving his loved ones (p. 1). He departed Reading for New York City, where he remained for 4 days; there, he witnessed a procession by the Sons of Temperance. Young then traveled to Connecticut and Massachusetts, where he commented on Boston's Chinese residents (p. 8). He continued to Niagara Falls, Detroit, and Chicago. In Detroit, he received copper samples from Morgan Bates, a prospector (p. 31); in Chicago he recorded his disappointment with the city and its construction. While in western Illinois and Iowa, Young visited a smelting furnace and mine (pp. 43-44), a "lead cave" and mine (pp. 48-49), and the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, Illinois (pp. 56-58).

When Young reached St. Louis, Missouri, he boarded a riverboat bound for Louisville, Kentucky, though he and three other travelers opted to walk the final stretch of the trip (pp. 70-71). Young recalled a stagecoach conversation about slavery, though he declined to participate (pp. 74-75). Upon his arrival in Lexington, Kentucky, he met with Henry Clay at his Ashland estate (pp. 87-88). Young spent much of September in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between Cincinnati and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), he met Lewis C. F. Fatio, former captain of the United States revenue cutter Wolcott, who was on his way to contest a charge of disobedience in Washington, D. C. (pp. 101-102). Young began the last leg of his journey on October 10, 1846, heading for Philadelphia and, later, Reading, where he returned on October 12 (p. 108).

Young occasionally encountered dangerous situations, including a narrowly avoided stagecoach accident between Kalamazoo and St. Joseph, Michigan (p. 33), a fire next door to his Chicago hotel (pp. 36-37), and a suspicious stagecoach passenger at Rockford, Illinois (p. 42). He made acquaintance with many fellow travelers, and often joined them for excursions. Young played the accordion, read local newspapers and the works of Friedrich Schiller, occasionally measured the distances he traveled or noted the costs of transportation, and recorded the name of every hotel at which he boarded.