Customer Reviews

A Journey to Ohio in 1810

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This relatively short (64 pages) account of a trip made between Milford, Connecticut and Warren, Ohio, in 1810, is fascinating in its depiction of conditions and people met along the way. The route taken follows pretty much the old Forbes Road across central Pennsylvania, which by 1810 was the main "highway" across the Allegheny Mountains to the West. It was chiefly a waggoners road, used to transport freight from the eastern states to Pittsburgh and beyond (and vice-versa). Conditions of both the road and accommodations along the way were crude and, in many instances, downright appalling to Ms. Dwight. They (she was traveling with the Wolcott family of Milford) averaged about 10 miles a day, most of it on foot to spare the horses. It was November and much of the weather was rainy with streams running high (there were snow showers in the higher elevations). I was particularly interested in her description of central Pennsylvania; she refers to the three mountains crossed west of Shippensburg along the Three Mountain Road as "Brother 1" and "Brother 2," names I've never heard used before (or since). Her itinerary is easy to follow, however.

Taverns and residences they stay at are invariably dirty and crowded, though once beyond Bedford, PA conditions improve somewhat on occasion. Pittsburgh makes little impression on the party and they are through it in the course of a day. Her views of the people encountered on her trip are perhaps the most intriguing thing about the book: she is sometimes shocked by their behavior or manners and sometimes just outright amused. She's a good observer, though, and we get a good feel for what any traveler across PA could expect to find and experience in 1810. One thing that would have made this book even better is annotations by the editor explaining Dwight's references; this absence leaves the reader wondering at times. But there is plenty to savor here in this fascinating little journal.

It was a very very boring book that put me to sleep every time I picked it up to read. Yes it did have some interesting things in it, it was more boring than it was interesting.