USA > Illinois > Edwards County > History of the English settlement in Edwards County, Illinois : founded in 1817 and 1818, by Morris Birkbeck and George Flower > Part 7
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Let it be remembered, in these days of convenience and fast travel, that then horseback was the only mode of traveling, and the space contained in a pair of saddle-bags all that was allowed for papers, wardrobe, and often pro- visions for the traveler.
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
The little horse that had carried me on my solitary journey, of over two thousand miles, was a high -bred animal of mettle and of perfect, but of rather slight, frame; not of sufficient bone and substance to carry my weight with the baggage with which I was encumbered, and pressed, as I knew he must be, to a forty-mile daily travel. I gave him to my little friend, Prudence Birkbeck. She loved a gallop on a mettlesome nag. Her light weight he would carry as a feather, and I was well pleased to place my faithful little horse, to whom 1 was much attached, with a friend that would take care of him.
Selecting two of the most suitable animals from our stud of ten, for myself and wife, behold them caparisoned and both of us mounted. On the back of each horse was evenly laid a soft and rather thin blanket, which received the saddle, kept steady in its place by girths and crupper. over the saddle, folded double and sometimes triple, was laid a large and soft Whitney blanket, kept in place by a broad circingle. The pad behind the saddle received the cloak and umbrella, tightly folded in one large roll, and bound with two leathern thongs. The saddle-bags, stuffed to their utmost capacity, were laid on the saddle, under the blanket, kept in place by two loops through which the stirrup-leathers passed. On the top of all sat the rider. It is rather a skilful job to pack saddle-bags well. As you put in their contents, you must poise them frequently, to see that each side is equally weighted. If you fail in this, you are plagued the whole ride, by the bags slipping to one side or the other, to the danger of their striking against the horse's legs, starting him off in a furious kick-
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HORSEBACK OUTFIT.
ing-gallop. A riding appendage, peculiar to horsemen in America, is the legging. It is a piece of blue or drab cloth, about a yard square, folded round the leg from knee to ankle, pinned with three pins to keep the edges in place, and tied by two bands of tape or galloon, one below the knee, the other above the ankle. It catches all the splash and mud, and, when cast off, the pantaloon is dry The women, instead of the full cloth riding-habit worn in England, draw over their usual dress a long skirt, made of bombazine or some dark-colored stuff, and over their heads they cast a large handkerchief, which they tie under their chin. This keeps the bonnet and veil in place, and protects the face and ears from sun, wind, and rain. Our horses and ourselves thus accoutred, we mounted, and this is done by the horses being led to a block-in Western America, generally the stump of a tree-and even then it takes a pretty wide stride and fling of the leg for a man to clear saddle-bags, great-coat, and umbrella. But when once mounted, with a high pommel in front, cloak and umbrella behind, you are not easily dismounted. In these long journeys, there is very little mounting and dismounting, rarely more than once or twice in a day. Accoutred and mounted, our friends came around us with full hearts and tearful eyes, with hopes and, perhaps, some regrets and forebodings. We turned our horses toward their long and toilsome journey, and thus we parted with friends we were destined never more to meet. There is little to recount in this journey excepting its daily toil.
In the latter part of September, the weather is often very hot. Relaxed by the long-continued heat of sum-
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
mer, the body feels excessive languor under autumnal heat. To accomplish nearly forty miles a-day, encumbered as we were, was an effort subjecting us to great fatigue. It would have been to a party of strong men. To my wife, I felt conscious it was a severe trial. Thinking of others always before herself, and gifted with a rare spirit of perseverance and resolution, she would never submit to the least delay, whatever might be her fatigue or suffering. It was getting late in the season, and she dreaded for me a winter's passage across the Atlantic. We never lost a day during the whole journey. We had but one brief delay; my horse falling lame, I had to sell him and get another. But this journey had its perils as well as its fatigues.
Somewhere in the State of Ohio, the waters were out. Rain had fallen for many days. From the edge of the high ground, we saw a valley, nearly two miles wide, cov- ered with water. The river, about two hundred yards before and below us, was undistinguishable from the sur- rounding water, excepting by the guard or hand-rails of a bridge, and the planks on the top of the bridge, which were two or three feet above the water, but each sloping end of the bridge was under water. Sitting on our horses, and hesitating as to what to do, we saw, in the valley below, a man on horseback just entering the water.
· We watched him wading about knee-deep, and saw him ascend the sloping end of the bridge. Suddenly his horse went down under water, and he, floundering off his back, reached the dry planks on the top of the bridge. The horse was carried down stream a long distance before get-
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ACCIDENT AVOIDED.
ting out. Approaching the man within speaking distance, we learned that one of the broad planks from the sloping end of the bridge was gone, but the space being concealed by the water, the horse fell through. Had we not seen this accident, one or both of us might have gone through and been drowned. We soon ascertained that only one- half of the plank was gone, and that the other half might be rode over. In fear and trembling we rode over this half-plank, which was under water and out of sight, and safely reached the top of the bridge. The prospect was not inviting. The valley was two miles wide, and one mile and a-half of it was covered with water. Our way was along a corduroy-road, straight from the end of the bridge, across the valley. Over low, miry valleys, the roads were often made, by digging ditches on each side, thus raising the way a foot or two above the general level. Across this slightly-raised road-bed, logs, that is, trunks of trees, and some of them very large and ten feet long, were laid side by side. A little earth was sometimes thrown between them, but they were generally suffered to sink by their own weight, leaving a rough but hard surface, that nobody would either ride or drive over if there had been any other way of passing the swampy vale. Whenever very high water came, as was the case now, the whole road would be covered, hiding the deep dykes on each side. The course of the road was only visible by the projecting end of a log here and there, or a few logs that had risen, and were unsteady, wabbling about on the surface of the water. But what made it most dangerous, were the holes in the road, concealed by the water. . As the water would
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
not assuage for two or three days, we did not like to lose that time, so we ventured in. A painfully perilous ride it was; at every step, expecting that both horse and rider would be down, floundering in the water; and we verified its dangers, luckily neither fatal nor very injurious. My horse had stepped over one of those unseen gaps under water, made by the loss of a log. Mrs. Flower's horse . innocently stepped with his forefeet over also, but the hindfeet dropped in, bringing the water over the crupper and up to the seat of the saddle. For a few moments, the poor animal was standing half in and half out the water, at an angle almost as steep as the roof of a house. The pres- ence of mind of the rider, who gave a loose rein and a tight cling to the pommel, showing no fear by voice or sudden motion, allowed the sagacious animal to extricate itself, at the unavoidable risk, by its violent struggle, of throwing her over its head. A thorough wetting, and everything wet in the saddle-bags, excepting a slight strain to the horse, was the only real injury.
In a few days we had passed Pittsburgh, and were ascending the Alleghanies. The bracing atmosphere of the mountains, in the latter days of October, made great- coat and cloak acceptable. The contrast to the hot, damp, and sweltering atmosphere, we had left, was great. It is astonishing how soon we are restored from fatigue, con- tracted by exercise, in the open air. Debility is of much longer duration, from labor in factories, stores, and in rooms warmed by stoves. Hail, snow, thunder-storms, and drenching rains are all restoratives to health and spirits. The mountains crossed, we halted at the town of Cham-
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MR. FLOWER SAILS FOR ENGLAND.
bersburgh, at the foot of the east slope of the Alleghanies. In the comfortable and quiet tavern, kept by Mrs. Hettick and her daughters, Mrs. Flower found convenient apart- ments. I was on my way to Philadelphia in twenty-four hours. Here was another parting. Our original number were now being widely separated. Mr. Birkbeck's family hundreds of miles west on the frontier. My wife alone at the foot of the Alleghanies, and myself gone to another quarter of the globe. How different now our situation to what it was four months before. Then united, conscious of strength from our union, and happiness from our strength. Now divided by distance and by time, each fragment exposed to doubt and uncertainty, and, worst of all, to falsehood and misrepresentation of any designing foe. Each unit felt all its responsibilities. After brief delay at Philadelphia, to put Mr. Birkbeck's manuscript in the hands of the publishers, I proceeded on my way. On arriving at New York, I heard of a ship on the very eve of departure for England. I straightway walked to the dock, with my saddle-bags on my arm, and stepped on the Ann Maria, Isaac Waite, captain, James Flack, owner.
In five minutes we were in motion, and, in half-an-hour, sailing on the ocean, with a fair wind and a calm sea. As the wind freshened the sea became rough and angry. The gale stuck right aft with such fidelity that we neither veered nor tacked until we sighted the west coast of Ireland which we did on the fourteenth day after leaving the har- bor of New York. A hard blow, as we entered the Chan - nel, drove us within fearful proximity of the Tuscar light- house, whose lights glared ominously on our decks. The
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
noble ship, under press of every sail, held hard to the wind, beam down and keel out, admirably answered to her helm. It was a fearful moment. We narrowly escaped wreck and a watery grave on that most dangerous coast. We were two days longer, buffeted by contrary winds in the Channel, before we entered the port of Liverpool, which we did on the seventeenth day from New York, then thought to be a very rapid passage. If there is no purga- tory for man between the upper and lower regions of an- other world, there certainly is between the eastern shore of America and the western shore of Europe. I suffered much from sea-sickness during the rough and speedy voy- age. If I chanced to take a slight meal during a tempo- rary lull, I acted but as steward for the fish. The continued suffering of the voyage, after the fatigue of so long and laborious a ride, reduced my strength much. During the winter, I was preparing and assisting others to prepare for a final emigration in the spring.
One copy of Birkbeck's notes* had been left for the
* "Notes of a Journey in America from the Coast of Virginia to the Ter- ritory of Illinois, by Morris Birkbeck, author of 'Notes of a Tour in France,'" were published in Philadelphia in 1817, and in London in 1818. The book was very widely read in England and passed to a third edition. It did much to stimulate emigration to the English Colony in Edwards County. It was translated into French and published in Paris in 1819, under the title of " Lettres Sur les Nouveaux Etablissemens qui se forment dans les parties occi-
dental des Etats- Unis Amérique." The French publisher of this volume has an interesting preface. He says that the work he offers to the public has been published in Philadelphia in 1818; that it is written without pretension, and has no claim to literary merit, but that there will be found in it piquant
details upon the western part of the United States. Those far-off regions have only a scattered population, and have been but little known up to the present time, and that, without doubt, it will be interesting to read a collec- tion of letters written from the Territory of Illinois by an actual inhabitant of that country.
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MR. FLOWER IN ENGLAND.
Philadelphia press, another was being printed in England. The publication of these notes, and, afterward, a series of letters from the prairies, gave a wider range of information as to our proceedings and intentions. During the winter, I was constantly applied to in person and by letter for information and advice on the subject of emigration, by persons in every rank, but chiefly from those in moderate circumstances.
In describing western America, and the mode of living there, I found some difficulty in giving a truthful picture to the Englishman who had never been out of England. In speaking of a field, the only field he had ever seen was a plot of ground, from five to fifty acres in extent, sur- rounded by a ditch, a bank, and a live hawthorn fence; it has two or more well-made gates, that swing freely on their hinges, and clasp firmly when shut. The word field brings this picture to his eye. A zig-zag fence it is diffi- cult for him to understand, but why gates should swing freely on their hinges in England and drag on the ground in America is incomprehensible.
You tell of a log-house. The only houses he has seen are buildings with plastered or papered walls, with ceilings and floors, with halls, passages, cellars, and attics, and each room furnished with a good chimney and hearth. The simple log-house he can scarcely realize. But few can comprehend the difficulties arising from an absence of population. To try and carry them from the conveniences of civilized life, ever present to their minds, I have said: suppose you and your family placed under a clump of oak trees, such as stand in an extensive and beautiful English
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
park, with the sky above, the earth below, no fence, no house, and perhaps no person within twenty miles, and you may have some conception of your situation in a new and unpeopled country. The gloomily-disposed would shake their heads in despondency. The sanguine would make light of the difficulties, and be charmed with the picture. So people would reflect the color of their own minds upon the sketch you gave them.
The publication in England of our travels, my return, and personal communication with a host of individuals, had given a wide-spread knowledge of what we had done and what we intended to do. Our call had received a response from the farmers of England, the miners of Corn- wall, the drovers of Wales, the mechanics of Scotland, the West-India planter, the inhabitants of the Channel Isles, and the "gentleman of no particular business" of the Emerald Isle. All were moving or preparing to move to join us in another hemisphere. The cockneys of London had decided on the reversal of their city habits, to breathe the fresh air of the prairies. Parties were moving, or preparing to move, in all directions. At one time, the movement appeared as if it would be national. Representatives from each locality, and de- scendants from every class that I have mentioned, are now living in the English Settlement of Edwards County, Illinois. The preparatory movements were completed. The first act of our drama here properly closes, and the history of the actual emigration, with the accidents and incidents of the journeyings by sea and land, now begins.
CHAPTER V.
First Party of Emigrants Sail from Bristol, in March, 1818-Many of Mr. Birkbeck's Neighbors and Acquaintances among them- Letter of Richard Birkbeck-Farm Operatives in England-Per- sons composing the Party-Land in Philadelphia, in June, 1818 -Reach Pittsburgh and descend the Ohio River to Shawnee- town-Arrive at Mr. Birkbeck's Cabin on Boltenhouse Prairie- The "Barracks "-Sufferings and Discomforts of the Party- Wanborough laid off by Mr. Birkbeck-The next Ship-load of Emigrants sail in the following Month, April, 1818-Mr. Flower's Family with this Party-Other Persons composing it-Mr. Flower Journeys by Carriage from Philadelphia to Chambersburgh with his Family-The last Ship-load of Emigrants proceeding to their Destination-Want of Harmony-A Black Sheep in the Fold- Arrival at Pittsburgh-Preparations to Descend the Ohio River -The Perils of the Voyage-Stop at Shawneetown-The Appear- ance of that Village-Mr. Fordham comes from the "Settlement" to meet Mr. Flower and Party at Shawneetown-His Account of Mr. Birkbeck and condition of Things at the "Settlement"- Preparations to receive the Emigrants-Log-Cabins and Hard Food-The first Meal on their Arrival-The blessing of an Iron Teakettle-No Greetings from the Settlement-Mr. Birkbeck and Mr. Flower at Variance-A short Dialogue between them, and they never Speak to each other afterward-The Cause of the Estrangement-First Experiences A Sickly Season-A Time of Trial-Labor and Self-Sacrifices of Mrs. Flower-A Noble and True Woman-The first building of Cabins-Close run for Pro- visions-Settlement in Village Prairie-Emigrants coming in- Determined to lay out a Town-The spot Selected-The Name Agreed upon.
EARLY in March, 1818, the ship Achilles sailed from
.
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
Bristol, with the first party of emigrants destined for our settlement in Illinois.
Mr. Charles Trimmer of Yeatley, Surrey, a young farmer, and a neighbor and acquaintance of Mr. Birkbeck's, with forty-four men and one married woman, sailed in this ship. The men were chiefly farm-laborers and mechanics from Surrey. Many of them had for years worked for Mr. Birk- beck, others were from his neighborhood, and were either personally acquainted or knew him by reputation. This party was under the especial care and leadership of Mr. Trimmer. Another party, of about equal number, com- posed of London mechanics, and tradesmen from various parts of England, formed another party that sailed in the same ship. These were under the guidance and direction of Mr. James Lawrence, merchant tailor, of Hatton Gar- den, London. Neither Mr. Lawrence nor any one of this party had any personal acquaintance with either Mr. Birk- beck or myself, but received their impulse from our pub- lished expositions. Mr. Lawrence being a man of prop- erty, a resident of the city, and well acquainted with the usages at the docks, custom-house, shipping, etc., became actually the head of the whole party. To him were addressed the various packages belonging to the emigrants, which he saw safely through the custom-house, and placed securely on board ship. His house became the resort of inquirers, in quest of information. His counting-house - became a sort of office for emigration, where I met people of all classes, to be catechised and pumped of all I knew, and everything they thought I ought to know. To such a pitch had this grown, Mr. Lawrence must, I am sure, have
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LETTER OF RICHARD BIRKBECK.
felt a real relief to be on board ship and far away. He . now began to have a taste of what it was to become a leader of a people, although in a fractional way, and on a small scale.
I had previously dispatched to Mr. Birkbeck a special messenger. A young man from London, who wished to try his luck in the new world, was glad of the opportunity of having his expenses paid to a point so far in the interior of America, and then take what might turn up in the lot- tery of life. By Mr. Robert Walford, I sent Mr. Birkbeck funds, of which I knew he stood in need. Mr. Walford, after staying for some time in the Settlement, finding no suitable occupation, went to Louisville, and opened busi- ness as an accountant, in which he succeeded, married, raised a family, and is, I believe, now living.
I here insert a part of a letter from Richard Birkbeck (Mr. Birkbeck's eldest son), who was left in England to wind up his father's affairs at Wanborough. This letter is chiefly interesting to the American reader, as showing the scale on which some English tenants carry on their farms:
"WANBOROUGH, January 18, 1818.
"My dear Father :- George Flower is now here, and has been here for nearly a week. With this you will have a let- ter of credit to the amount of £3000, that is $15,000, and hope, according to the following statement, to send out an- other sum of nearly the same amount, by George Flower, in April. You will know that I have, by this time, given up possession of Wanborough on the first instant, excepting the barn-yard, from that I shall clear everything off by the first of April. I have received the amounts:
7
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
Of the valuation of plowing, £1473
Of the underwoods, - 1001 7s. 6d.
£2474 7s. 6d.
"The above sum is the foundation of the letter of credit you now receive. The money previously received is in two sums, one of a $1000, the other of £700. By the follow- ing account, you may judge in some measure of the proba- ble value of your property :
Sheep, - £ 1200
Horses, 400
Wheat, - 400
Wool, 700
Barley, Oats, Peas, and Beans, - - 1000
Good-will for my quitting the farm, - 2000
Dung to be paid for by James Onslow, - 1000
£8700
"This is the rough estimate; you may consider it nearly what the sum will be. I hope the sum does not fall short · of your expectations. I think it exceeds our estimate."
From this we may form some idea of the manner in which an English farm is conducted. Although Mr. Birk- beck left the farm legally on the first of January, the occupation and tillage was carried on up to the very day the incoming tenant took possession. The item £1473, or $7000, is for ploughing and tilling, in preparation for the next crop. £5000 more, the value of the underbrush of the wood, just ready to be cut and made into faggots and hoop-poles. All the operations of the farm went on from
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RONALDS, LAWRENCE, AND TRIMMER.
hand to hand, uninterrupted by any change. The landlord pay $5000 for dung left in the farm-yard, being so much more than the tenant received when he took possession of the farm, some fifteen years before. The farm may change hands, but the farmer never dies. The system of cultiva- tion is not disturbed by the removal or death of either landlord or tenant. The £11, 174 7s. 6d., or, in round numbers, $55,000, may be considered as his subscription toward laying the foundation of the English Settlement.
In the Bristol ship, besides Mr. Lawrence and Trimmer, was Mr. Hugh Ronalds, gentleman from Hammersmith, near London. Mr. Hugh Ronalds became my brother-in- law, by marrying my second sister, Miss Mary Catherine Flower, and was for many years my near neighbor in Illi- nois, at his pleasant residence of Hazle Hill, about half- a-mile from Park House, and one mile from Albion. Mr. Ronalds, for many years, carried on a tannery near Albion. Several years a widower, his family grown and settled, he now resides comfortably on his income at Grayville, ten miles from his former residence near Albion, enjoying his two favorite pursuits, horticulture and literature.
The Lawrence-and-Trimmer party landed safely at Philadelphia early in June. They made their way some in wagons some on horseback, over the mountains to Pitts- burgh, then descending the Ohio in flat-boats to Shaw- neetown, in August, proceeded without delay on foot, in wagons and on horseback, to Mr. Birkbeck's cabin on the Boltenhouse Prairie. Of this first party Mr. Birkbeck had long notice, and he had made for them the best prepara- tion he could. He had erected a square of rough log-
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ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN EDWARDS COUNTY.
cabins, with two doors in each, and a small sash-window in every door. This rendezvous, afterward called the bar- racks, was for all comers. Into this the first ship's com- pany-eighty-eight in number-went, all men, excepting three women. I must leave to imagination the various feelings of its motly inmates, some used to the refinements of civilized life; all to the comfort of a home however humble; some without money, all for a time without occu- pation ; without vegetables ; corn-bread and salt pork their only diet; whisky their sole luxury and consolation, and some not able to get that. It was for a time a fermenting mass. Strange and conflicting emotions exhibited them- selves in ludicrous succession. Some laughed and joked ; some moped and sulked; some cursed and swore. Things worked right in time. The activity and energy of the national character were soon displayed.
The village of Wanborough was laid off by Mr. Birk- beck in fivé-acre lots. On these were built cabins, rented by some, bought by others. A good ox-mill and black- smith's-shop were soon after added to the village. At this time, almost all the five-acre lots are purchased and thrown together or are attached to adjacent farms.
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