North Carolina to Indiana in 1824

NORTH CAROLINA TO INDIANA IN 182491 nothing, yet he pressed very much for me to take some Recompence , but I said it was recompence sufficient for me if he took the Books, being one for his Principle and one for himself, which seemed to please him and He thanked me for the present. 8ber, 3. With the Swedish Ambassador, very Friendly Received and delivered two Books High Dutch, one for the King and one for him with the Letter. He Thanked me saying he would deliver the Book, but he was not satisfyed till I sat down with him. He offered me Coffee or Chocolate asking me further if I brought the Books from England and if I had signed the Letter. I answered no, but it was signed by the Principal men of our Society in London. He said also he had already heard of my affair, to which I said I did not know that there was an ambassador from Sweeden at Aix La Chappelle he being Incognito , otherwise I should have waited on him before, on wh. I took my Leave and he wished me a good Jorney. NORTH CAROLINA TO INDIANA IN 1824. BY CHARLES F. COFFIN. [The following paper, by our friend Charles F. Coffin, is a fitting supplement to his previous papers in the Bulletin, on Friends in Indiana (vol. 2, pp. 2-11; see also vol. 2, p. 24). It is reprinted in full by permission from Western Work, April, 1909, Oskaloosa, Iowa.—Editor.] In the spring of 1818 my father, Elijah Coffin, made a journey on horseback from North Carolina to Indiana and back. During this journey he saw different parts of the state and looked from that time towards removing. He married two years later and continued to reside in Guilford county North Carolina , until 1824, when he says in his journal: "My wife's father, Benjamin Hiatt, having determined to remove to the western country with his family, we set off together, leaving our native state in the Eighth month of 1824. We were favored to reach the neighborhood of Milford, Indiana, in about four weeks, in which we settled, and I took up a school in the village of Milton." 92BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY They left their native state with regret. While the sort in many places had become impoverished it had a delightful climate¦ and beautiful forests and their friends and associates of a life time resided there, but the existence of slavery and the consequent troubles likely to arise, which afterwards did arise, led them to remove to a free state. My father and mother at the time had two children, Miriam Allinson, aged about three and one-half years, and Charles Fisher, aged about eighteen months. When it was found that they had settled on removal, a number of their friends joined the party, which finally increased, including children and grown folks to about forty. There were no public conveyances between the two states and turnpike roads were unknown at that time. In order to perform the journey they procured two-horse wagons, covered with white cotton cloth to protect them from the rain and weather. Such wagons were very familiar in Indiana a few years later, 1830-40 and '50, as there were large numbers of movers passing frequently over the national road from Ohio and Indiana to the western states. They camped out at night and took with them only such bedding, tents, and clothing as seemed essential. They had also to provide articles of food which would supply them through the journey, gathering on the way additional provisions as they needed, for themselves and their horses. No doubt they presented a picturesque and interesting appearance as the large number of wagons passed in procession along the way. They averaged probably twenty to thirty miles a day and when night came usually stopped beside a stream where they could obtain a supply of water, erect their tents and spend the night. They traveled slowly and had frequently to double the teams ; that is, taking four horses upon one wagon and going back for the other. Of course, when able to do so, they...