A Journey by Carriage from Newport, Rhode Island, to Smithfield, Ohio, 1811.—I

90BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY. A JOURNEY BY CARRIAGE FROM NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, TO SMITHFIELD, OHIO, 1811.—I. BY ROWSE TAYLOR. [The following account of a journey by carriage from Rhode Island to Ohio, in 1811, is taken from the original lent by the owners of the manuscript, and offered to the Bulletin through the courtesy of Rayner W. Kelsey. It is a simple account of a long and somewhat arduous trip by a family intending to settle in what was then the far West. Considerable light is thrown on manners and customs, and the comments of one who was evidently a shrewd New Englander are informing. With a few unimportant changes in spelling, chiefly where the same word is spelled differently at different places, and in punctuation, which is somewhat wild, the manuscript is printed exactly as written, with no omissions. An itinerary, so far as it has been possible to make one out, has been added.— Editor.] Smithfield, [Ohio]. 8th mo., 18th, 181 1. Beloved Relatives and Friends on and near Rhode Island. Now for the first time since we crossed the Ohio River, I take up my pen to address you; the innumerable kindness, and unbounded attention, which we received from you, forbids us to believe that you are unmindful of our welfare, or that a line from us would be unacceptable; neither is our strong attachment to you diminished by the distance we are from you, but on the contrary , as saith the poet, " at each remove we drag a lengthening chain." I apprehend that our leaving Newport, without saying to our friends farewell! seemed rather strange to some of them; I may observe that it was rather on my wife's account than my own, that I proposed this, fearing that the word farewell! farewell ! so often repeated would overcome her fortitude, not doubting my own firmness ; I therefore chose to avoid a parting interview but when the destin'd moment came, in which I must bid adieu to Newport, my imagined firmness vanished—my nerves were unstrung ; the separation—perhaps the final separation from such a circle of friends, produced sensations, of which I can give you no adequate description—neither can you form any just con- BY CARRIAGE—NEWPORT, R. L, TO SMITHFIELD, O. 91 ceptions, it required no small degree of exertion to ascend the carriage, say farewell to those about us and set off—when we were in Broad Street, Henry Williams came running along with a countenance, as cheerful as the morning, and called, farewell ! —my heart replied thou little knowst the pang conveyed in that drear word ; We rode that evening as far as cousin Asa Sherman's, where no attention was wanting, that could in any way tend to make our short stay agreeable ; the next morning, he, and Eliza accompanied us to the ferry, and staid with us, untili the boat removed us from the garden of America; this separation produced no small degree of sensibility in them, and us, and even my boasted firmness stood not unmoved. We reached Bristol, at late dinner time, and our old friend, Phebe Sylvester, with her usual dexterity, provided us an excellent dinner. The sight of the little town of Bristol, (which had indeed a pretty appearance, being much improved since I saw it before) occasion'd painful sensations , when I reflected that it was built with Mens Bones.1 We arrived at Cousin Peter Grinnel's, in Providence, just before sunset , he and his wife were both from home but their amiable children treated us with great politeness and attention and' spared no pains to make their house completely agreeable to us. The next morning 5th Mo. 16th, when about to take leave of our dear young cousins, Obadiah Brown,2 and wife, very kindly called upon us, offered us any assistance in their power, rode with us a few miles to put us in the right road, and would have gone farther, but it was meeting day. This flattering attention, was the more pleasing, as it was wholly unexpected. At parting, Oba1 " Built with men's bones." The reference may be to the Indian Wars of King Philip...