A TOUR
THROUGH
NORTH AMERICA;
TOGETHER WITH
A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW
OF THE
CANADAS AND UNITED STATES.
AS ADAPTED FOR AGRICULTURAL EMIGRATION.
BY PATRICK SHIRREFF, FARMER,
MUNGOSWELLS, EAST LOTHIAN.
EDINBURGH.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, PAUL’S WORK, CANONGATE.
PUBLISHED BY OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO.,
LONDON; DAVID ROBERTSON, GLASGOW; AND WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO.,
DUBLIN.
1835.
TO
MR JOHN DEANS,
PENSTON, EAST LOTHIAN.
MY DEAR DEANS,
I dedicate the following tour to you, who had an opportunity of judging
of many of the scenes and occurrences which I have described. Your
candour and honesty have long been known to me, and I hope the
sentiments and the feelings expressed in the succeeding pages, will be
found to accord with your own character.
It has been said that I was appointed by a party of East Lothian farmers
to visit and report on the Canadas and the United States; but nothing
could be more unfounded. A younger brother having expressed a wish to
try his fortune as an American farmer, I resolved to explore the country
for the purpose of enabling me to give an opinion on the step which he
contemplated. With this single object in view, my Transatlantic
excursion was originally planned, and afterwards performed, unfettered
and unassisted by any party whatever.
Having been led to travel from a sense of fraternal duty, I would have
willingly remained satisfied with simply accomplishing the object of my
journey, being aware how recently some individuals of the highest
attainments had published works on America, and how ill qualified I am,
in some respects, to convey an accurate impression of a country and
people so interesting. But the solicitations of friends induced me to
give my opinions to the public, and the result will, perhaps, prove
their partiality to have been greater than their discernment.
Having passed much of my time apart from fashion and politics, the
position which I occupied in the world may not have been favourable to
an impartial view of all which came under my notice. My acquaintance
with agriculture enabled me, however, to judge of American farming
without relying on the opinions of others, and, while listening
patiently to much which was told me, I drew conclusions only from what I
saw.
In measuring the advantages of the different parts of the country by the
standards of nature, and the reward of agricultural industry by produce,
I hope to have departed from custom without having been led into error.
Nature is the most general and invariable of agricultural tests.
Want of information is a complaint which has been brought against
treatises on emigration, and the charge in all probability arises from
diversity of human character; one mind being incapable of furnishing all
requisite information to another, without previously knowing what is
required. The first part of this publication is intended to show the
opportunities which I had of seeing the country, and the second part to
aid in forming an opinion of the different places of settlement. I have
aimed only to impress the understanding of the reader, and should any of
my representations and conclusions be found to differ from reality, I
shall regret having written a word on the subject.
The common currency of the United States and the Canadas consists of
dollars, expressed by the character $, and worth about four shillings
and threepence sterling. The dollar is divided into one hundred cents,
of about the value of a British halfpenny each. In the State of New York
and Upper Canada the dollar is divided into eight shillings, or sixteen
sixpences currency. In Lower Canada the dollar consists of five
shillings currency. The dollar of Illinois is divided as in the State of
New York, but the shilling is often called a “_bit_” and the sixpence a
“_piccayune_.”
I was not aware of any circumstance which could possibly influence my
judgment in favour of one portion of America more than another, until I
heard that my brother Charles had fixed on Illinois as his place of
residence. Like myself, he had seen Upper Canada before visiting
Illinois, and his preference of the latter district may be regarded by
some individuals as corroborative of the opinions which I have
expressed, and by others as the cause of my partiality. But since an
inducement to praise Illinois may exist, my statements regarding it
ought to be carefully examined.
Being a farmer in the strictest sense of the word, and having written
the volume at intervals snatched from professional duties, I make no
pretensions to correctness, much less to elegance of composition. My
only aim has been to state plainly and freely what appeared to be truth,
and I trust this will be received as an apology for any inaccuracies of
style which may be discovered, and for such dogmatical and homespun
expressions as may be considered inconsistent with good taste.
PATRICK SHIRREFF.
MUNGOSWELLS,
_10th January, 1835_.
CONTENTS.
TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA.
PAGE
CHAP. I.—Journey to Liverpool—Lady and Child—Dine at
Lancaster—Impostors at Manchester—Railway—Lateness of the
season—Desecration of the Sabbath—Agricultural details—Napoleon
packet-ship—Cemetery—Mr Huskisson, 1
CHAP. II.—Voyage from Liverpool to New
York—Sea-sickness—Crew—Passengers—Details—Approach to New
York—Washington Hotel, 5
CHAP. III.—Theatre—Mrs Trollope’s Work—Customhouse
Officer—Race-course—Details—Westhouses Breeding
Stud—Thunderstorm—Return to the Hotel—Excursion to Long
Island—Newtown—Flushing—Agriculture in the Neighbourhood of New
York, 9
CHAP. IV.—Journey from New York to Philadelphia—Steam-boat—Railway
Coach—Militia Muster—American and British soldiers—Characters of
Travellers—Mansion-house Hotel—Funeral—Excursion to
Holmsburg—Hotel-keepers in America and Ireland—Mr W * *—Mr F *
*—Sir John Sinclair of America—Fair Mount—Naval
Yard—Philadelphia—Return to New York—Face of the
Country—Agricultural Details, 17
CHAP. V.—New York—Damask hair-cloth manufactory—Dr H * * *,
President Jackson, and Black Hawk—Hyde Park—Residences in
America and Britain—Taste for Flowers—Cattle and Sheep—Scenery
of the Hudson and Clyde—Fast Eating—Albany—Coach
Passengers—Women working in Fields, 27
CHAP. VI.—Journey from Albany to Boston—New
Lebanon—Pittsfield—Road Repairing—The Features of the
Country—Rhododendrons—Northampton—Mr Stuart’s Description of
Northampton—Stage Passengers—Mode of
Courtship—Villages—Agricultural Notices, 36
CHAP. VII.—Journey from Boston to
Lowell—Lynn—Salem—Newburghport—Female waiters, or
helps—Agricultural Notices—Stage passengers—Lowell—Manufacturing
Females—American and British manufacturers—House
building—Benevolent Societies—Water Power—Manufacturing power of
Britain and the United States—Notices of Nature, 42
CHAP. VIII.—Journey from Lowell to Saratoga—Keene—Bellows
Falls—Townsend—Arlington—Driver at Table—Landlord and
Driver—Passage of the Green Mountains—Stage Coach practices of
America and Britain—Passengers and Travellers—Juvenile
politeness—Agricultural Notices—New England Villages—Free School
Education unfairly estimated by British travellers—Education of
Scotland and the United States—Public Schools—Fagging in the
Seminaries of Britain—Principles of Education, 48
CHAP. IX.—Company at Saratoga—Fast Eating—Notices of Buel Farm—Mr
Buel—New York—State Agricultural Society—Advantages of a young
country—Farmers of Britain and the States—British Agricultural
Societies, 57
CHAP. X.—Journey to Geneva—Schenectady—Question Asking—Stage
Driver—Valley of Mohawk—Agricultural Duties—Utica—Attention to
Females—Marcellus—Skeneatiles—Cayuga Bridge—Dinner
Party—Dumfries-shire Farmer—Sheep Husbandry—Condition of
Animals—Farms—Geneva, 74
CHAP. XI.—Journey from Geneva to Lewistown—Land offered for
Sale—Canandaigua—Genesee Country—Variations of
temperature—Agricultural Notices—American and Scotch notions of
Reverted Wheat—Genesee Flats—Mr Wadesworth—Avon—Wood
Bridges—Girdling Trees—Falls of the Genesee—Rochester—Ridge
Road—Face of the Country, 81
CHAP. XII.—Niagara River and Falls—Carving—Entrance to
Canada—Cavern beneath the Falls—Rapids—City Building—Stage
Passenger—General Brock’s Monument—Letters—Maps—Queenstown and
Niagara—Agricultural Notices—King—Old Settlers—Disappointment
with Canada, 88
CHAP. XIII.—Baffled in reaching the Western States—Buffalo—4th of
July—Oneida Indians—Fort Erie—Early Marriages—David
Baxter—Petersburgh—Separate from Companions—Musquittoes—Settlers
around Dunville—Earing of Wheat—Dunville—Face of the
Country—Notices of Nature—Breaking Fruit-trees—Bar-room
Group—Junction with Companions—Visit a New
Settler—Politicians—Hamilton—York, 97
CHAP. XIV.—Excursion to Lake Simcoe—Hope—David
Willson—Meeting-house—Tenets of the Children of
Peace—Northumberland Farmer—Soil—Notices—Excursion to
Niagara—Scenery of Lake Ontario—Return to York, 106
CHAP. XV.—Journey from York to Coburg—Mail Waggon—Mr
Somerville—Agricultural Notices—Clay Kneading—Female Helps
seating themselves at Table—Port Hope—Coburg—Agricultural
Notices—Fast Eating—Excursion to
Peterborough—School-Fellow—Peterborough—Rice Lake—Notices of
Nature and Agriculture—Settlers—High Price of Land—Injudicious
Settlement—Bay of Quinte—Indian Settlement—Canada
Thistle—Kingston—Storekeepers and Store-pay—Grasshoppers—Lake of
the Thousand Isles—River St Lawrence, 119
CHAP. XVI.—Excursions around Montreal—Township of
Hinchinbrooke—River Chateauguay—Kinds of Houses—Bushmen and
Farmers—Squatters—Price of Land—Flag Staffs—Huntingdon—Isle
Bourdeaux—Face of the Country around Montreal—Farming of old
Settlers—French Canadians—Laprairie—Wheat Fly—Cheap Purchase
Chambly—Cheap Education—Mistake Roads—Horse Ferry-boat—Starving
out—Mountain—Race Course—State of Agriculture around
Montreal—Montreal, 130
CHAP. XVII.—Journey from Montreal to Hamilton—Separation of
Friends—Rideau Canal—Emigrants passing up the St
Lawrence—Massena—Waddington—Ogdensburgh—Lake of the Thousand
Isles—Andrew Dinwoodie, a Farmer from Dumfries-shire—Live-stock
from England—Innkeeper of Kingston—Great Britain
Steamer—Emigrant Passengers—John By Steamer, 142
CHAP. XVIII.—Journey on the Banks of the Grand River—Corduroy
Roads—River-side Vegetation—Cradling—Settler from
Edinburgh—Reserve of the Six Nations—Nellis Settlement—Indian
Notices—Settler from Perthshire—First Settlers—Gentle
Children—Agricultural Notices—Great Heat—Drinking Water—Raising
Bee—Brantford—Oak Openings—Paris—Galt—Guelph—Waggoner at
Table—Face of the Country—Dutch Hotel, 149
CHAP. XIX.—Journey from Galt to Goderich—Farmer from
Roxburghshire—Female Worth—Improved Health of Scotch
Farmers—Visit Captain A * * *—Humming-birds—London Family in the
Bush—Guides—Avon Accommodation—German Settler—Notices of Nature, 164
CHAP. XX.—Goderich Hotels—Eagle’s Nest—Doctor Dunlop—Cheap
Dinner—Search for an East Lothian Farmer—Goderich—Poverty of
Settlers—Canada Company—State of Goderich Settlement—Journey to
London—Mr T * * *—Aux Sable Creek—Ship-builder from Essex—Negro
Settlement—Notices of Nature—Robinson Hotel—Mode of
Travelling—Huron Track Roads—London—St Thomas—Port
Stanley—Emigrants from Argyleshire—Dirty Beds—Agricultural
Notices, 172
CHAP. XXI.—Colonel Talbot’s Residence—Camp-meeting—Barn—Mrs
Aldgeo—Moravian Indian Village—Cheap Fruit—Runaway
Slaves—Excursion to Bear Creek—Mr Goose—Soil—Agricultural
Notices—River Thames—Unhealthy Appearance of
Inhabitants—Chatham—Plains—John Macdonald—Colborne
Furnace—Neighbourhood of Amherstburgh—French Inn, 183
CHAP. XXII.—Horse Hiring—French Inn—Negro Family—Prairie—Supplied
with Oats—Mouth of the Thames—Elephant—Yorkshiremen—Want of
Conveyance—Old Settler—Prairie—Face of the Country and
Soil—Notices of French Inhabitants, and their Agriculture—Huron
Indians and their Agriculture—Royalists and their
Agriculture—Notices of Nature—Detroit
River—Amherstburgh—Sandwich—Ferry—Detroit, 200
CHAP. XXIII.—Journey from Detroit to Chicago—Thrashing
Machine—Face of the Country in Michigan—Prairie Hen—White Pigeon
Prairie—Travelling Party—La Porte—Cooking Breakfast—Jaded
Horses—Thunder Storm—Hovel on the Shore of Lake Michigan—Face of
the Country—Notices of Nature—Chicago—Indian
Treaty—Horse-racing—Intoxication—Fair—Occurrences at Chicago, 217
CHAP. XXIV.—Journey from Chicago to Springfield—Oak
Plains—Travellers—Crowded House—Du
Page—Benighted—Clatterman’s—Ottawa—Family from New
England—Travellers—Gouging—Sleeping Accommodation—Peoria—Pekin
Storekeeper—Salt Creek—Hospitality of
Inhabitants—Springfield—Prairies—Notices of Nature—Face of the
Country—Soil—Agricultural Notices, 231
CHAP. XXV.—Journey from Springfield to St
Louis—Jacksonville—Emigrant from Edinburgh—Beds—Face of the
Country—Alton—Mississippi—Luxuriant Vegetation—Bottoms—Mamelle
Prairie—Mr Flint—St Charles—River Missouri—Notices of
Nature—Indian Antiquities—St Louis, 251
CHAP. XXVI.—Voyage from St Louis to
Cincinnati—Mississippi—Ohio—Falls of the Ohio—Passengers—Details
of the Voyage—Notices in Natural History—Vessels on the
River—Louisville—Hotel—Steam-boats—Inquisitive
Irishman—Tobacco-squirting American—Advantages of Shabby Attire
to Travellers—Mr Hamilton’s Account of Men and Manners in the
Western Steam-boats—Cincinnati—Agricultural Notices, 265
CHAP. XXVII.—Journey from Cincinnati to Detroit—Macadamized
Road—Lebanon—Passengers—Agricultural
Notices—Pawpaws—Cider-making—Hotels of the United States—Customs
of the Country—Columbus—Details to Sandusky—Mr Hamilton on the
Prospects of the
Union—Sandusky—Cider-making—Perrysburg—Mamee—Ohio—Michigan, 284
CHAP. XXVIII.—Journey from Detroit to New York—Western Lakes which
form the River St Lawrence—Cleveland—Erie Canal—Cold
Weather—Canal Packets—Sabbath School Children at Rochester—Black
Children—Slavery in the United States—Agricultural
Notices—Washington Hotel—Transition from Rudeness to
Refinement—Travelling—Cheap Land—State Election—Inhabitants
Consulted in Political Matters—Arrival at Liverpool, 305
A VIEW OF THE CANADAS AND UNITED STATES, AS ADAPTED FOR AGRICULTURAL
EMIGRATION.
CHAP. I.—System of Nature Reproductive and Progressive, when aided
by Man—Soil is a Workshop—Nature and Man manufacturing
Produce—East Lothian Agriculture—Corn Laws—Leases—Competition
for Land—Situation of Tenants—Situation of Hinds—Prospects of
the People connected with Land, 327
CHAP. II.—Persons engaged in American Agriculture—American and
British Agriculture—Application of Capital and Labour to
Cultivation—Rent—Price of Land—Proportions of Nature—Capital and
Labour in the Production of Farm Produce, and their Distribution
in Britain and America—Capital required to Stock a Farm in both
Countries—Unhealthiness of America—Climate—State of
Society—Situation of Young Men without Capital—Choosing America
or Britain, 340
CHAP. III.—Lower Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling
Land—Productions and Prices—Farming near Montreal—Climate
affecting Agriculture and Farmers, 350
CHAP. IV.—Upper Canada—Inhabitants—Climate—Soil—Mode of Selling
Land, and Prices—Bad Effects of Selling on Credit—Situation of
Settlers without Capital—Price of Land in Upper Canada, and the
Western United States—Price of Land, and Mode of Settlement
Injurious to the Province—Suggestions for Improving the State of
the Country, 356
CHAP. V.—Productions—Agricultural Societies—Want of
Pasturage—Progress of Forest Settlement—First Crops on Forest
Land—Worn-out Soil—Mildewed Wheat—Misrepresentations of
Canada—Mr Ferguson’s Statement—Township of Nichol—Praises and
Detractions—Choosing a Situation—Advantages and Disadvantages of
Upper Canada for different Emigrants—State of the
Inhabitants—Constitution—Game, 368
CHAP. VI.—United States—Climate—Diseases—Productions—Agriculture
East of the Alleghany Mountains—Agriculture West of the
Mountains—Wages—Choice of Residence—Progress of Wealth—Wages of
the United States and the Canadas—Profits of Capital, 391
CHAP. VII.—Wealth and Refinement of Different Parts—Writers on
American Manners—Plainness—Civility—New England Character—Unfair
Dealing—Emigrant’s Situation and Character—Government—United
States and Upper Canada, 403
CHAP. VIII.—Illinois—Climate—Face of the
Country—Prairies—Soil—Salt—Lead—Iron—Coal—Water
Communication—History—Towns—Government—Education—Kentucky
Population—New Englanders—Pioneers—Manners and Customs, 419
CHAP. IX.—Productions—Animals—Fowls—Country for Sporting—Mode of
Selling Land—Unsold Public Land—Number of Indians—Government
Policy towards the Indians—War with Indians—Decrease of
Population—Agriculture—Wages of Labour—Illinois and Upper
Canada, 434
CHAP. X.—Prairie Agriculture—Capital Required—Crops and
Prices—Wages of Labour Compared with Land and Produce in
Illinois and Britain—Future Prospects—Sheep Husbandry—Illinois
and Upper Canada—Illinois and Britain—The Canadas and Illinois
estimated by the standard of Nature—Emigrant Information, 445
TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
_Journey to Liverpool—Lady and Child—Dine at Lancaster—Impostors at
Manchester—Railway—Lateness of the season—Desecration of the
Sabbath—Agricultural Details—Napoleon packet-ship—Cemetery—Mr
Huskisson._
I left Mungoswells on the 20th of April, 1833, and proceeded from
Haddington to Edinburgh by the Earl Grey stage-coach, drawn by a pair of
thoroughbred bays, in charge of Quinten Campbell, a most excellent
driver, who landed us at the end of the journey, a distance of seventeen
miles, in less than an hour and a half, without an application of the
whip.
After spending a few hours in Edinburgh, two friends, who intended
accompanying me on a transatlantic tour, and myself, were seated in a
Manchester coach, and we arrived at Carlisle about five in the morning
of the following day.
During a few minutes’ delay which occurred in changing coaches at
Carlisle, a waiter at the inn asked us to partake of breakfast; and
resented our declining to do so, by saucily refusing to exchange small
silver-money for a half-crown piece. My friend and I here agreed to take
an outside place alternately, to accommodate a lady and child with an
inside one. In course of the day I learned from the lady that she was
booked as a passenger from Dumfries to London, and had, to her regret,
been detained a whole day at Carlisle. It was evident that this
unprotected female and her innocent charge had been imposed upon, and
her escape from a second day’s detention was entirely owing to the
little concession of my friend and self in her favour.
Breakfast was served at Penrith, and the party complained loudly of the
fare placed before them. The stage passengers were joined by other
travellers at Lancaster, where eighteen in number dined together,
carving for themselves, and several partaking of hot punch, in the space
of twenty minutes, which was the whole delay at Lancaster.
We reached Manchester a little after nightfall, where we spent the
evening; and one of my friends not having sufficient change to settle
with the guard and driver of the coach, he soon afterwards paid them in
the coffeeroom. Next morning two different individuals presented
themselves, as deputed by guard and driver to receive their allowance.
My friend good-humouredly rallied the impostors on the hopelessness of
their attempt, and they seemed to feel the force of his satire more than
they perhaps would have done a scolding. I have noticed the treatment of
the lady and child at Carlisle, as well as the impostors at Manchester,
in consequence of a lecture from a fellow-passenger on Yankee knavery,
and a well-meant advice to guard myself against American duplicity.
Without meaning to impeach the character of my fellow-countrymen, I may
remark that the natives of Britain need not illustrate moral delinquency
by examples from other countries. Mankind seem to be, nationally as
individually, sensible of the faults of others, although, at the same
time, they are blind to their own.
We travelled from Manchester to Liverpool by the railway, on the morning
of the 22d, and accomplished a distance of thirty miles in an hour and a
half. Several miles were performed in two minutes, according to my
stop-watch. At the request of a friend, I occupied a place on the
outside of a way coach, and was much annoyed by the current of air and
coke from the engine. My eyes did not recover the effects of the coke
for forty-eight hours afterwards.
On the east coast of Scotland the season had proved to be one of the
wettest and latest on record. At the time of our departure the vegetable
kingdom had scarcely responded to the vivifying influence of spring—the
buds of the hawthorn and the larch were expanding only in sheltered
places. England did not present a more advanced vegetation. We were
fortunate, however, in obtaining the first good weather of the season
for our journey; and, notwithstanding the bleakness of nature, the ever
varying scene afforded many objects fitted for contemplation. We crossed
the line separating England from Scotland early on Sunday morning, and
for many miles afterwards the roads were covered with herds of cattle
and flocks of sheep, travelling towards the south. This was a novel
sight to a Scotsman; such practices on Sabbath being prohibited by the
laws of his country. The desecration of the Lord’s day may, perhaps, to
a certain extent, be traced in the customs of every Christian country,
but in no case whatever ought appearances to be regarded as the measure
of religious feeling, the seat of which is hid from human eye. Without
assigning to my countrymen purity and intensity of religious emotion, I
may be permitted to say, a Scottish Sabbath is marked throughout by a
still, quiet, external decorum, seldom met with in other parts of the
world, which fosters piety, and checks an open display of profanity. I
trust her inhabitants will ever respect and preserve its solemnity of
character.
The land from Carlisle to Manchester seemed, generally, poor and
indifferently cultivated. The enclosures are small in size, often
surrounded by irregular fences, formed and maintained at a sacrifice of
soil and labour. Many of the grass fields were studded with lean young
horses and cattle, industriously seeking a repast which nature still
sparingly supplied. Betwixt Manchester and Liverpool, much of the grass
lands had been ploughed with a furrow slice, only two and three inches
in depth. Three stout horses yoked in line, the first of which was led
by a boy, were seen dragging a small harrow, kept on a narrow convex
ridge, by means of a man with a rope operating like a rudder, and he was
apparently the only severely worked animal engaged in the operation. The
agriculturists of Britain being deemed enlightened, and her soil not
producing a sufficient quantity of food for the population, it was
painful to witness land so mismanaged and labour so misapplied. This
anomaly may, perhaps, be accounted for, by the genius of the inhabitants
of this district having long been successfully applied to manufactures;
and neither soil nor climate being congenial to agriculture; together
with entails, tythes, and corn laws, checking the devotion of skill and
capital to cultivation. Chatmoss, through which the railway passes,
seems, however, an exception, and I regretted time did not permit an
examination of the interesting management it is under, with which I had
become acquainted by means of periodicals devoted to rural affairs.
On reaching Liverpool, our first proceeding was to search for a
conveyance to New York, which we obtained in the Napoleon packet-ship;
the commander, Captain Smith, resigning his cabin to my friend and me,
the other berths in the ship having been previously engaged, with
exception of one which was required for our companion.
Part of the 22d, 23d, and 24th, was spent in viewing the attractions of
Liverpool, the chief of which, in my estimation, is the cemetery. This
repository of mouldering humanity has been recently formed, and its
numerous beauties have not been matured or mellowed by time. Trees,
shrubs, and flowers, were diminutive, and generally in their winter
garb, which fully displayed the memorials to the gaze of visitants. The
cenotaph to Mr Huskisson stands near the centre, and can seldom fail of
fixing for a time the attention, and exciting the sympathies of his
countrymen. The world is now enjoying the green fruits of his genius,
with prospect of increasing and lasting supply, while the laurels of
contemporary warriors are barren and fading. So long as the principles
of free trade are cherished and acted on, the memory of Huskisson will
endure.