Kitabı oku: «A Journey to Ohio in 1810, as Recorded in the Journal of Margaret Van Horn Dwight», sayfa 3
Monday morn-October 29-
It rains & we shall have a dismal day I am afraid-Mr W's harness last night was very much injur'd by being chew'd to pieces by a cow- I have broken my parasol handle a little, but it will not much injure it-I have a bad cold to day- which I know not how I have taken- I more than ever wish to reach Warren —
Pennsylvania- Monday-eve- A Dutchman's inn- I dont know where. Palks County-or some thing like it —
We have only pass'd thro' 2 small towns to day, Allenstown & Kluztown- The former is about 3 miles from Hannover, where we spent the sabbath, & 6 from Bethlehem- Before we enter'd the town, we cross'd the Lehi in 2 places- It was not deep, & we forded it to save time & expence – It runs I believe through Bethlehem or at the side of it & is a very small river- Allentown is not a pleasant place-The houses are almost all stone- It contains 2 small stone churches- We went into a store, where I bought me a coarse tooth comb for 15 cents- I should never get accustom'd to the Pensylvania currency- It diverts me to hear them talk of their fippenny bits (as they pronounce it) & their eleven penny bits – Kluztown is but a few miles from Allentown-It has but one short street which is very thickly built with Stone & log houses – It is rather a dirty street & not more pleasant than the others Stone is used for everything in this state- The barns & houses are almost entirely built of it- I imagine the dutch pride themselves on building good barns, for a great many of than are very elegant- they are 3 & 4 stories high, have windows & one or 2. I saw with blinds- They are larger & handsomer than most of the houses- The dutch women are all out as we pass, dressing flax, picking up apples &c. &c-The dress of the women grows worse & worse-We find them now with very short petticoats, no short gown & barefoot – The country is not pleasant, at least does not appear so as we ride thro' it at all- I should think the land must be good as we see large fields of grain very frequently- There does not appear to be as much fruit as in N Y & N J – We saw immense quantities of apples in each of those states, particularly N J- there would be thousands of bushels at the cider presses, & still the trees would be borne down with them – The roads in this state are pretty good, where, dame Nature has not undertaken to pave them- but she has so much other business on hand that she has never learn'd to pave, & makes a wretched hand at it- I wish she could be persuaded to leave it to Art for the future; for we are very great sufferers for her work- It is quite amusing to see the variety of paintings on the innkeeper's signs- I saw one in N J with Thos Jeff'ns head & shoulders & his name above it- to day I saw Gen G Washington- his name underneath- Gen Putnam riding down the steps at Horseneck- one sign was merely 3 little kegs hanging down one after the other- They have the sun rising, setting, & at Meridian, here a full moon, a new moon, the moon & 7 stars around her, the Lion & Unicorn "fighting &c", & every thing else that a dutchman has ever seen or heard of- I do not believe one of them has wit enough to invent any thing, even for a sign – Several of these creatures sit by Jabbering dutch so fast, that my brain is turn'd & my thoughts distracted, & I wonder I have been able to write a word- If you find it unintelligible you must not wonder or blame me- A dozen will talk at once & it is really intolerable- I wish Uncle Porter was here-How can I live among them 3 weeks? We have come about 24 miles to day- it rain'd a very little this morning & the rest of the day has been quite pleasant tho' somewhat cold- Tomorrow we pass thro' Reading —
Wednesday Octber 31st Highdleburg-Penn-
We pass'd through Reading yesterday which is one of the largest & prettiest towns I have seen-We stopt about 2 hours in the town, & I improved my time in walking about to see it- I went into the stores enquiring for a scissor case- Almost every one could talk english- but I believe the greatest part of them were dutch people- As soon as we left Reading, we cross'd the Schuylkill- It was not deeper than the Lehi, & we rode thro' it in our waggon. A bridge was begun over it, but the man broke & was unable to finish it- It would have been an excellent one had it been completed- It is now grown over with grass & serves as a walk for the ladies – We put up for the night at Leonard Shaver's tavern-He is a dutchman, but has one of the most agreeable women for his wife I have seen in this State-I was extremely tir'd when we stopt, & went immediately to bed after tea- & for the first time for a long while, undress'd me & had a comfortable nights rest- We are oblig'd to sleep every & any way- at most of the inns now – My companions were all disturb'd by the waggoners who put up here & were all night in the room below us, eating, drinking, talking, laughing & swearing- Poor Mr W- was so disturb'd that he is not well this morning, & what is more unpleasant to us, is not good natur'd, & Mrs W has been urging him this half hour, to eat some breakfast- he would only answer "I shan't eat any" – but at length swallow'd some in sullen silence- but is in a different way preparing to ride – If I were going to be married I would give my intended, a gentle emetic, or some such thing to see how he would bear being sick a little- for I could not coax a husband as I would a child, only because he was a little sick & a great deal cross- I trust I shall never have the trial- I am sure I should never bear it with temper & patience. Mr W is I believe a very pious good man, but not naturally pleasant temper'd- religion however, has corrected it in a great degree, but not wholly overcome it- Mrs W- is an amiable sweet temper'd woman, as I ever saw; the more I know her, the better I love her- Susan is a charming girl-but Erastus is rather an obstinate boy- he feels superiour to his father & every one else, in wisdom – Mrs Jackson is a clever woman I believe, but I have a prejudice against her which I cannot overcome- She is very inquisitive and very communicative- She resembles Moll Lyman or rather crazy Moll of Northampton in her looks- She has considerable property & feels it very sensibly- Her youngest son is almost eighteen & has his wife with him, who is not quite as old- They have been married 2 months, & are a most loving couple- I cannot help thinking whenever I see them together, of "love I Sophia?" &c – Her name is Eliza & his, John – The other son is a very obliging but not a very polish'd young man- I like them all better than at first —
Wednesday Eve- Miller's town- Penn- Oct-31st
We have come 24 miles to day, & just begin to shorten the distance between Pittsburgh & us, & to increase it between Phildelphy (as the dutchmen call it,) & us- It has for a long time been 250 miles to Pittsg & 60 to Philhia – but is now 218 to one & more than 80 to the other – It began snowing this morning which rendered our ride more unpleasant than before- Mr W has continued just as he was in the morning- scarcely a word has been spoken by any of us- I never felt more low spirited & discouraged in my life- We have pass'd through 2 little towns to day- Moyerstown & the other I don't know the name of- We also pass'd thro Lebanon which appear'd to be a town of considerable size & pleasant- we did not stop at all in it- The other towns were merely one short dirty street- this town is one street only, but a tolerably pretty one- There are a number of good houses in it- We have once more got among people of our own nation & language- & they appear very clever —
Harrisburg- P- Thursday- Eve-November-1st 1810-
It has been snowing fast all the afternoon & we found it very difficult travelling & were oblig'd to put up just in the edge of the town- It was Mr W's intention to cross the Susquehannah which is the other side the town- we shall not pass thro' it- We cross'd the Sweet Arrow, a little river about 8 miles from the Susquehannah – we cross'd it in our waggon-Mr Jeremiah Rees is our landlord- his wife is sick with a fever arising from the Hives at first- He has a sister who seems to take the direction of the female part of the business- She is a strange creature-
Friday morn- I have been very much diverted at hearing some part of her history which she told last night, after drinking a little too much I suppose-She says she has property if she is not married- she had her fortune told a short time since- & was told to think of a certain gentleman living about 300 miles off- which she did, & thought so hard that a drop of blood fell from her nose- She was telling Mrs Jackson of this & ask'd how far she was going- being told about 300 miles- well she said she really believ'd her oldest son was the young man she was to have, for he looks just like the one she thought of- The young man will be quite flatter'd no doubt – We are all in tolerably good spirits notwithstanding we are unable to proceed on our journey- It still continues snowing, & we shall stay here till tomorrow morning & how much longer I do not know – There was a cockfighting in the house last night & a great many of the "finest young men in the town" got so intoxicated as to be unable to get home without assistance – M. V. D.
Sunday eve- East pensboro' township- P-
We left Mr Rees' yesterday ten oclock- & after waiting some time at the ferry house, cross'd the Susquehanna with considerable difficulty- The river is a mile wide & so shallow that the boat would scrape across the large stones so as almost to prevent it from proceeding- We only came 8 miles- the riding was awful- & the weather so cold that I thought I should perish riding 4 miles- This will do well for us, 8 miles in 3 days- We were to have seen the mountains yesterday, but are 50 miles from it – I should like to have staid at Mr Rees' till we reach home if it was possible, notwithstanding we had like to have all lost our characters there- While we were at breakfast, the black wench miss'd nearly 4 dollars of money, & very impudently accused us with taking it, in rather an indirect manner – I felt at first very angry, but anger soon gave place to pity for the poor girls loss- It was money she had been saving for a long time that she might get enough to buy her a dress- but she left it about very carelessly in the closet where any one might have taken it who was so disposed – But had I been inclined to steal, I could not have stolen from a poor black girl- I would rather have given her as much- I never felt so queerly in my life- To be suspected of theft was so new & unexpected to me, that I was wholly unprepar'd for it – We went to Mr Rees & begg'd him to take some method to satisfy the girl we were innocent but we could not prevail on him to, tho' we really wish'd it-He gave the girl a severe scolding & desir'd us not to remember it against them, or to suffer ourselves to be made a moment uneasy by it, & both himself and Mrs Rees were extremely sorry any thing of the kind had happen'd- The girl continued crying & assuring us her money had been safe all summer till then & nobody had been near it but us- I, nor any of us had any doubt that the landlord's sister, whom I before mention'd, had taken it- She had the day before 2 or 3 ninepences in her shoes, & when Mr W ventur'd to ask her if she had not taken it to tease the wench, she swore by every thing she had not touch'd it- She said it was fashionable for ladies to carry money in their shoes- I suppose she had long been eyeing it, & thought then would be a good opperty to take it but did not intend it should be discover'd till we were gone & unable to defend ourselves from the charge which she then meant to make against us – She is so worthless a character in every respect, that I am certain she could be guilty of stealing upon occasion – She was very fond of telling what ladies, like her & me, did & wore – She is between 30 & 40 yrs of age- It was an honour I was not very tenacious of, to be rank'd with her ladyship-The money was not found before we left there & I suppose the poor girl feels as certain some one of us have it, as that she has lost it- Should I ever return this way I would call & enquire about it- I hope it will be found with Babby (for that is the creatures name) —
We put up for the Sabbath at a tavern where none but the servants deign to look at us- When I am with such people, my proud spirit rises & I feel superior to them all – I believe no regard is paid to the sabbath any where in this State- It is only made a holiday of – So much swearing as I have heard amongst the Pensylvanians both men & women I have never heard before during my whole life- I feel afraid I shall become so accustom'd to hearing it, as to feel no uneasiness at it. Harrisburgh is a most dissipated place I am sure- & the small towns seem to partake of the vice & dissipation of the great ones – I believe Mrs Jackson has cast her eyes on Susan or me for a daughter in law- for my part, though I feel very well disposed toward the young man, I had not thought of making a bargain with him, but I have jolted off most of my high notions, & perhaps I may be willing to descend from a judge to a blacksmith- I shall not absolutely determine with respect to him till I get to Warren & have time to look about me & compare him with the judges Dobson & Stephenson- It is clever to have two or three strings to ones bow – But in spite of my prejudices, they are very clever – Among my list of cast offs, I would rank Dutchmen, a Pensylvania waggoner, ditto gentlemen- for their prophanity- & a Slut- The words, Landlord & lady, terrible, – get married, – get a husband-&c. &c – I do not find it as easy to write a journal as I had hoped- for we are seldom favour'd with any more than the barroom, & there is always as many men as the room will hold besides our party, & there is nine of us- so you may judge whether I find it difficult or not- I frequently begin a sentence & forget how to finish it, – for the conversation grows so loud, that I am oblig'd to listen to it & write between whiles- I sometimes get quite discouraged & think I will not try again, but I take too much pleasure in writing, to give it up willingly —
