the dots from thence through section three and two, show the road
to Albion; and those through sections nine, eight, seventeen, and
nineteen, mark the road to my farm, in the south east quarter of
section nineteen. My other farm is in the north-west quarter of section
eighteen. Albion is in sections one and two; Wanborough is in section
three.
Sections two, five, twenty, twenty-three, thirty, and thirty-three, in
all townships, may be entered in half quarter-sections, {273} that is,
in eighty acres; but in the other sections not less than a quarter can
be entered. Owing to the land being uneven, some sections will a little
exceed 640 acres, and the overplus is always put to the north-west
quarter. The sixteenth section, in every township, is not sold, but
reserved for the support of a public school. But this section in Town
2, is of little value, as much of it is very wet; but let the sixteenth
section be good or bad, it is always reserved for school-land, because
it is nearly central, should a school ever be opened in that township.
A few years back the United States obtained, by treaty with
Indiana,[155] a considerable space of country, to the north of the base
line; and in 1819, a new survey was made to the north of us, and the
land was put up by auction in December, and in February and April last,
to the amount of near a million of acres; but the greater part of it
remains unsold, at the land-offices of Shawneetown, Edwardsville, and
Kaskaskia. {274} I have heard this land is good; it is partly prairie
and partly woodland; not remarkably well watered, and remote from
water-carriage. It is represented as too much settled for backwoodsmen,
and too remote for Europeans.
[155] This must be a misprint. Woods probably means the treaty signed
by the Kickapoo Indians at Edwardsville, July 20, 1819, and by the
Vermilion Kickapoo at Fort Harrison, August 30, 1819. The Indians ceded
all lands east of the Illinois River lying between the Kankakee River
on the north and a line drawn across the state from the mouth of the
Illinois on the south.--ED.
In our journey, I frequently mentioned the state of the weather: I will
now give a short account of it, from recollection, since our residence
here. It was generally dry and hot till the end of October; November
dry, temperate, and pleasant; this continued till the 14th of December,
then wet and cold. January intensely cold, except from the 6th to the
10th, the thermometer sometimes as low as eight degrees below zero, or
forty degrees below the freezing point; but this was only when the sun
was set, as it is much warmer in the day than night; in this respect,
much more so than in England. The Americans told us, it was the
_toughest spell_ of cold they ever knew. The snow was at least eighteen
inches on a level. The middle and end of February warm and showery;
March generally {275} dry, but colder than the preceding month. On the
first of April a heavy fall of snow, and a few following days cold, the
rest of April dry; and after the middle as warm as July in England.
May variable, hot, temperate, and even cold, but mostly dry. June hot
and dry, except a few thunder showers. On the 4th of July a moderate
rain, the rest of the month extremely hot and dry; and now, (August the
15th,) the thermometer stands nearly up to 100 degrees. The Americans
say, they never knew so little rain as in the last thirteen or fourteen
months.
With a few remarks on the country I left, and the one I reside in, I
shall now conclude.
England has the advantage in climate, both in summer and winter; and
people of large property may have better attendance in England than
here. Clothing, furniture, and many articles of convenience and
comfort are cheaper, and in greater abundance in England than with
{276} us. And, it is true, many young men, who have visited the western
country, have been dissatisfied at first, for want of society and
amusements, and the difficulty of procuring comfortable places to board
and lodge at; with the inconveniences attending getting their clothes
made, washed, &c.: females being scarce with the European settlers, as
three or four men have arrived to one woman. But after a short time,
the greater part of them get reconciled to the country.
I should like to see the climate of this country more temperate, both
in summer and winter, particularly the latter; as the cold is extremely
severe, but of short duration. And if we had some running streams, it
would be much pleasanter in the summer to us, and more beneficial to
the cattle.
With regard to water for the stock, during the summer; in some places
there has been great want of it, as most of the creeks have been dried
up, and some of the cattle of the English Prairie went off to the
Bonpas {277} and Little Wabash. But at Birks' Prairie they have done
well for water, as most of the creeks of English and Birks' Prairie
unite a mile below the south-end of the latter in the woods, and it is
there called the big creek, and it is never dry; and from this creek
some of the inhabitants of Birks' Prairie fetch all their water in a
dry season. But few of these Americans will ever dig a well, and some
of those that do soon lose it again for want of welling up. Among
the English, there are now a number of wells, and many of them have
now a good supply of water. When there are a few more dug, and a few
ponds made, I think the prairies will be pretty well supplied with
water, both for domestic use and cattle; but it will be difficult
to extend it to any manufacturing purpose. This year, great drought
has prevailed, from the 1st of April to the 20th of August; but in
the last week we have had three good showers, each of several hours'
continuance, so that the creeks run again, and the earth is got {278}
well soaked; and, I hope, there will be plenty of water for the
remainder of the summer. As the first part of it was so dry, we had no
buffalo gnats, and but few prairie flies or musquetoes; but a great
quantity of common flies, and they, I believe, are numerous all over
America, at least we found them so all the way from Baltimore.
When better cabins are built, and we get a little accustomed to the
climate, I hope much of the inconveniences we feel from the difference
will be over, as we continue to enjoy as good health as we ever did in
England. We here take three meals a day,--breakfast of bacon, beef,
eggs, butter, honey-bread, with tea and coffee: dinner, some sort of
pudding, with meat or game, and water to drink: supper the same as
breakfast. I never liked my living in England better than I do here,
and I am quite reconciled to the loss of beer or cider at dinner. But
I expect beer will be plentiful enough in a few years, and cider at
some future period. Brandy, rum, {279} and wine can be procured, and
whiskey is in great plenty; and too much of it is drank by many. Beer,
peach-brandy, and persico, are also frequently to be purchased. Tea,
coffee, sugar, spices, &c. &c. to be procured at the stores, and most
articles of clothing; the latter dear. We have most kinds of mechanics,
so that we can have many sorts of furniture made; and we have black
walnut and cherry-tree wood to make it with; these trees are in great
abundance, and we have other sorts for building.
Although I am well pleased with the exchange of countries, I hope no
one will leave England on account of my being favourable to America,
as I should be extremely sorry if any person came here, for any thing
I have said in praise of this country, as, perhaps, another might not
be so fortunate, or so well pleased with it as I am; and the trouble
and the expense of moving so many miles is both considerable. It cost
us nearly three hundred pounds, for nine people, including our luggage
of 6000 lb. {280} weight. We were longer than many in performing our
journey, as we took our luggage on with us; whereas many came forward
and left their luggage to follow them by different conveyances, and
many of them had great difficulty and expense to get it again; and some
had it much damaged, and others never received it at all. We lived very
economically on our journey; and, on the whole, I cannot find any party
came so cheap as we did, considering the quantity of luggage we had:
our expenses amounted to thirty-three pounds each.
Some few who had no luggage reached this place from England for
twenty-seven pounds each; but it cost others, including their luggage,
forty pounds and upwards. But of those who came cabin-passengers, I
suppose, the expenses exceeded fifty, exclusive of their luggage.
Here a man with a family may get a good living, in a plain way, and
leave his children in a situation to do the same. But money is too
scarce for a man to get rich by farming, as produce is low and labour
high, so that {281} it will not do to hire much; but what a man and his
own family do themselves turns to good account; for though produce is
low, yet here a man has no rent, tithes, poor-rates, or taxes of any
sort worth mentioning. My taxes, for 320 acres of land, amount to the
sum of four dollars eighty cents, a trifle less than 1_l._ 1_s._ 8_d._
sterling; this for a year's tax to the government and State.
I think that partly cultivation, and part raising of stock, will answer
much better than sowing a large quantity of corn; as stock is reared
without much trouble or expense, but cannot be wintered without some
hay and corn at present. Corn is best; but when the country comes to
be more cultivated, timothy-hay will hold a high place, in a prairie
farmer's estimation, for winter use. I think turnips, carrots, and
mangel-wurzel are too expensive in the present state of the country;
but pumpkins are of great service for the first part of the winter, and
are raised at a {282} trifling expense. I have heard that rye, sown in
July, amongst Indian corn, yields much feed after the corn is ripe, and
also early in the spring. And that land so sown is in good order for
Indian corn, after the rye is fed off in April, but I have not seen any
rye near us.
I have now, I think, given an account of every thing that can be
interesting to any one, and a great deal more than will be so to many
people; but before I left England, I heard numerous enquiries made
as to the most minute circumstances; and, having begun an account
for the entertainment of a few friends, I have noted many trifling
occurrences, to give them an idea of our situation, manner of living,
and the customs in this remote country. And as we are among the true
back-woodsmen, some of whom are much like the late celebrated Colonel
Daniel Boone, always wishing to live remote from society, many customs
here must be different from those of my native country, and new to many
of {283} my old friends; and I hope the foregoing account will at least
give some information, on many subjects they may wish to be acquainted
with.
Though I hope no person will leave England to come here, from any
thing I have said, yet should any one from our old neighbourhood come
to us, I will endeavour to give him all the assistance in my power, as
to choice of situation, &c.
_Wanborough, Aug. 29. 1820._
P.S. As I have no opportunity to send this account to England at
present, I will add a little more to it.
* * * * *
I have seen some wheat thrashed on the earth in dry weather; it was
afterwards put into a cabin, in the chaff; it seemed to me a very
slovenly manner of doing it; but as there was little or no sand where
it was thrashed, perhaps the wheat may not be gritty.
Wheat is much easier thrashed here than in England, owing to the
dryness of the {284} climate. I saw some thrashed without untying the
sheaves, and the straw was quite clean. I was informed a man could
thrash fifteen bushels of that wheat a-day; it appeared to yield well.
Wheat and other grain damage much sooner, in wet weather, in this
country, than in England, from the greater heat of the climate. Indian
corn, on the contrary, will remain out the greater part of the winter,
and sustain but little damage from the weather. I saw some, near us,
that was left out most part of last winter, and was not greatly hurt,
except from birds. This field was much frequented by prairie fowls, and
some other birds, during a great snow in January last, and the greater
part of the corn was eaten by them.
Sept. 1. No bustle to-day as in England, as we have no Game Laws, and
the time of sporting lasts from the 1st of January to the last day of
December; as every person has a right of sporting, on all unenclosed
land, for all sorts of wild animals {285} and game, without any licence
or qualification as to property. The only qualifications required
here are a good rifle and a steady hand and eye. Many of the Americans
will hardly credit you, if you inform them, there is any country in
the world where one order of men are allowed to kill and eat game, to
the exclusion of all others. But when you tell them that the occupiers
of land are frequently among this number, they lose all patience, and
declare, they would not submit to be so imposed on. Here, if game do
a farmer any mischief, he may destroy it by night or by day, in any
manner he may choose, without fear of fines or penalties; and he is
in no danger of offending his neighbour by so doing. And if he should
kill any game, he may dispose of it by public or private sale, if so
inclined. Nor are there here any Excise Laws; a person may make beer,
leather, spirits, soap, candles, &c. &c. and not be troubled with
excisemen; he {286} may likewise turn auctioneer, or any other calling,
without a licence.
I have just finished walling up my well, at Birks' Prairie; the water
rose so fast we had some difficulty to do it. As some of the earth
gave way, it took a large quantity of stones, I suppose from twelve to
fifteen loads. At the depth of 23 feet, we found a small vein of coal
about three inches thick, just above the slate-rock. In digging this
well we found no sand-stone above the clay-slate rock, as is generally
the case. The water had, in the first place, a slight taste of sulphur,
but it wears off, and is now much better flavoured; it stands sixteen
feet deep. It cost 100 dollars (22_l._ 10_s._)
Some began sowing wheat a fortnight ago, but there is but little sown
yet.
We have had large flocks of pigeons, from the north, almost continually
passing over us for the last week.
Sept. 25. This day has completed our {287} first year's residence in
the prairies, and between fourteen and fifteen months in America;
during which time, my family have been in as good health as I ever knew
them, for the same length of time, in England. Although much sickness
has prevailed, in many parts around us, among the American settlers,
the Europeans, on the contrary, have generally enjoyed very good
health, with the exception of a few, who have had agues, from which
they are now recovered. This, I think, may be owing to their different
manner of living, as many of the Americans eat but two meals a-day,
and sometimes but one, while the Europeans eat three times a-day. The
change of climate must, of course, be greater to us than to them.
I lately saw a young pointer-dog, belonging to Mr. R. Birkbeck, that
had three days before been bitten by a rattle-snake, in two places
in the nose. A person present killed the snake, and cut it open, and
rubbed some of the fat on the wounds, and afterwards {288} bathed them
with sweet oil, and gave the dog some castor-oil. When I saw it its
throat was a little swollen, but otherwise the dog was well. This is
the only instance I have met with, or heard of, of any thing being hurt
by any reptile.
As trade is dull, and money scarce, in America, we find the times at
the Prairies also dull. But there are several new buildings going
forward at Wanborough; viz. a malt-house, a brewhouse, a horse-mill, on
an improved principle, (that is, an inclined plane,) and a distillery
for making whiskey; there are likewise half-a-dozen men employed in
making bricks for another year.
I have not seen one Indian, although there have been several at
Wanborough at different times, since I have resided there, but I have
always been from home at the time.
I see the American settlers understand the culture of this country
better than the Europeans, and I mean generally to follow the rules
of the former, unless where {289} I see a great defect in their
practice; and should I depart from their plan, I shall do it at first
on a small scale, to try if my method is preferable to theirs; as I
always observed in England, that when a person removed from one part
of the country to another, he almost always adopted the practice of
that neighbourhood, however different to the one he had before been
accustomed to.
An agricultural society was established last year, in the State of
Illinois, and Mr. Birkbeck made president. It held its first meeting at
Kaskaskia; but whether there has been any other meeting I do not know.
I have just received the patents of my farms, from the city of
Washington, where they had been sent for the president's signature.
They are complete titles, of a short and simple form. The following is
a copy of one of them:--
{290} "269. JAMES MONROE, President of the United States of
America,
"To whom these presents shall come, greeting.
"Know ye, that John Woods, assignee of Hugh Collins, of White county,
Illinois, having deposited, at the general land office, a certificate
of the register of the land office at Shawneetown; whereby it appears,
that full payment has been made, for the south-east quarter of section
nineteen; in township, two south; of range, ten east; containing 160
acres of the lands directed to be sold at Shawneetown, by the acts of
Congress relative to the disposal of the public lands in Illinois.
There is granted to the said John Woods, the quarter section of land
above described; to have and to hold the said quarter section of
land, with the appurtenances, unto the said John Woods, his heirs and
assigns, for ever. In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to
be made patent, and the seal of the general land office to be hereunto
{291} affixed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the
eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and nineteen, and of the independence of the United States, the
forty-fourth.
[Seal.]
By the President,
JAMES MONROE.
Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the
General Land Office.
Recorded Vol. ii. page 445."
I received the above, from the land office of Shawneetown, free of all
expence. By the number 269 at the beginning, is meant the number as it
stands in the Shawneetown land-office books; and it is also mentioned
where to find the entry of it in the general land office books, so that
it is easy to find the title of any land that has been sold at any time
by the United States' government.
We have had but few emigrants from England this summer; but there is a
family or two on the Ohio coming on, and {292} some more are expected
from the eastward. And several at the Prairies intend returning to
England, during the winter, to bring back their families with them in
the spring.
With regard to the language of this country, I have found no difficulty
to understand any of the Americans I have met with, a few words only
excepted. I have seen several from England, that came from a distant
part from that in which I resided, that I have had far more trouble to
understand. Yet the manner of discourse among the true Back-woods-men
is rather uncouth to an English ear. I will attempt to give a specimen
of it, in a conversation between two of them, who meet each other on
the road; one an Esquire, the other a Judge.
_Esq._ Well, Judge, how do you do ? I hope you are well.
_Judge._ Well, Squire, I am tolerably bad. How do you do?
_Esq._ Well, I am a heap better than I was; but I have been powerfully
sick lately.
{293} _Judge._ But, Squire, you have a powerful chance of plunder on
your creature. What are you going to do with it?
_Esq._ Well, I am going to town with a tolerable chance of plunder, to
get it carded at the mill.
_Judge._ Well, so you have got your wool to be carded; I could not
calculate what truck you had got.
_Esq._ Well, I fancy you have been to town. How goes times there?
_Judge._ Times are dull; I calculated to sell my creature there, and
then when I got home, to turn in and earn some money to get me another.
_Esq._ Well, as you could not trade away your creature, you must turn
in and work as well as you can. I also must turn in, and build a cabin
or two, to raise a little cash.
_Judge._ Well, Squire, have you done any hunting lately? I have
followed it steadily for some time.
_Esq._ Well, Judge, I also have hunted {294} steadily; and I calculated
to make a heap of money of my truck, but I have got none.
_Judge._ Well, what truck have you got, to trade away to make money?
_Esq._ I have got a few beefs, and a tolerable chance of corn.
_Judge._ Well, I also have got some beefs, and a powerful chance of
corn, and some wool, that I must toat to town and trade away.
_Esq._ Well, Judge, I must go on and toat my truck to mill, and then
get right strait home.
_Judge._ Well, I must also get on, as my woman is powerfully sick and
weak, and I am fetching her some whiskey.
_Esq._ Well, but Judge, where did you get your creature? It is a
powerfully fine looking one.
_Judge._ Well, Squire, mine is a great little horse, I bought him of
our general; but I must be going; farewell.
Well begins most sentences. Plunder {295} and truck include almost
every thing. A horse is generally called a creature. Beefs are cows.
Toat means to carry any thing. Strait and turn in, are words they
frequently use. Woman,--they always call their wives their women. Many
of them, instead of saying yes, make a sort of noise, like "him, him,"
or rather like pronouncing "m, m," with the mouth shut.
In this remote part of America, judges, generals of militia, colonels,
captains, and esquires, are not generally men of property or education;
and it is usual to see them employed in any common kind of labour. Yet
I have seen men among them that possess very good abilities; far from
ignorant, and much better informed than could be expected from their
appearance.
Oct. 2. This day was kept at Wanborough, as last year, instead of
Catherine Hill fair; but as some of the young men were gone to a county
court at Palmyra, there was no cricket-match, as was intended, only a
game of trap-ball. There have been {296} several cricket-matches this
summer, both at Wanborough and Birk Prairie; the Americans seem much
pleased at the sight of the game, as it is new to them.
The acorns of the white-oak are now falling, and very fine indeed they
are; but the weather is too hot and dry for the swine to thrive as well
as usual. The acorns of the other sorts of oak not yet ripe, nor are
they in so large quantities as the white-oak, except on the post-oak.
The white-oak acorns are much larger than any I ever saw in England.
The post-oak most resembles the English oak in growth, leaf, &c. The
acorns of the other sorts of oaks, differ much from each other, in size
and quality.
26th. I have finished sowing wheat this day. I have only sown six
acres, after Indian corn, potatoes, and buck-wheat; but I intend to get
ready a larger quantity of land another year. Wheat is always sown dry
in this country, and I have never heard of any smut.
I was lately at an auction, of a little live {297} stock and household
furniture, belonging to a person leaving this neighbourhood. The
auctioneer was no less a person than a justice of the peace, and he was
an excellent auctioneer. The terms of sale much the same as in England,
except three months' credit on all purchases above three dollars, on
giving bond and security. But the most striking contrast in this sale
from an English one, was, the auctioneer held a bottle of whiskey in
his hand, and frequently offered a dram to the next bidder. As I made
some biddings, I was several times entitled to a sip out of the bottle.
And though I much dislike the taste of whiskey, I took a sip for the
novelty of the thing. But I found the auctioneer had taken good care
to keep his company sober, by lowering his whiskey considerably with
water. As I only purchased a small lot, under three dollars value,
I had no need to give bond and security; nor did I stop to see their
manner of giving it.