Letters from America : containing observations on the climate and agriculture of the western states, the manners of the people, the prospects of emigrants, &c

Front matter

^Darlington Memorial Library

aiiaH0r..ft..i%

LETTERS

Letter I

Voyage from Greenock to New York—Circumstances of Passengers— Arrival^ &c 1

LETTER IL

Observations on New York — Removal to Long Island — Miscellaneous Remarks — Return to New York — Farther Observations on the City 6

LETTER IIL

Journey from New York to Philadelphia — Observations on Philadelphia— Institutions — Manufactures— People 23

LETTER IV.

Journey from Philadelphia to Pittsburg — Remarks on the Country— Notices of Emigrants/ and occurrences by the way 41

LETTER V.

Pittsburg — Situation — Manufactures — Occui-rences — People 5g

LETTER VI.

Descend the Ohio from Pittsburg to Beaver — Occurrences and Remarks there 66"

VI CONTENTS.

LETTER VII.

Pags

Descend the Ohio from Beaver to Portsmouth— Occurrences and Remarks Interspersed 16

LETTER VIIL

Leave Portsmouth — Digression on Economical Travelling— Chillicothe — Progress of a Scotch Family— Game — Trees and Shrubs — Rolled Pieces of Primitive Rocks — Implements — Antiquities — Organic Remains —Missouri and Illinois— Paper Currency 90

LETTER IX.

Lexington — Paper Currency — Bankers— Menials— Habits— Prices of Live Stock — Provisions, &c. — Slavery, and its Effects — Recrimination against Illiberal Reflections — Descend the Ohio to Cincinnati — Occurrences and Reflections. , 107

LETTER X.

Cincinnati — Weather — Descend the Ohio to the Falls of the Ohio — Taverns and Accommodation 124<

LETTER XL

Morals and Manners — Education -— Generosity — The President of the United States 140

LETTER XII.

On Emigration— The Prospects of Emigrants— Inconveniencies — The IMethod of Laying out and Disposing of Public Lands 148

LETTER XIII.

Comparative Advantages of different Parts of the United States — Temperature at Philadelphia and Cincinnati—Reflections on Slave-Keeping.,.. 1.^6

liETTER XIV.

Lawyers — Doctors — Clergy — Blechanics — Justices of the Peace — Anecdotes — Punishments— Reflections 16?

CONTENTS. Vli

LETTER XV.

Page

Outline of the American Constitution — From the Frequency of Revolutions in Europe, the Instability of the American Republic is not to be inferred 179

LETTER XVL

State Legislatures— Predilection for Dividing Counties, Laying out New Towns and Roads — The Influence of Slavery on the Habits of the People — Banking 188

LETTER XVII.

Depreciated Paper Money — Want of Employment- State Expenses — The Progress of New Settlements.... 198

LETTER XVIII.

Passage to Cincinnati — Trade — Manufactures — Institutions — Banks — Climate — Notice of three Indian Chiefs — Remarks on the Indian People 210

LETTER XIX.

Descend the Ohio from Cincinnati to Madison — Notices of a Scotch Settlement — Excess of Male Population— Roads— Harvest — Crops — Orchards — Timber- Elections— Methodist Camp JVIeeting 2 24<

LETTER XX.

Circumstances that Retard Manufacturing Industry,

and Causes of its Prosperity 238

LETTER XXI.

Circuit Court of Indiana — Lands — Crops — Salt springs — Corydon — Barrens — Caves — Tornado — Alluvial Lands — Large Trees— Wild Vines — Steam boats— the Falls of the Ohio — Bilious and Intermitting Fevers— Taciturnity — Americanisms 251

LETTER XXIL

Miscellaneous Remarks on the Manners and Habits of the People, 264 viii CONTENTS,

LETTER XXIII.

Page

Passage from the Falls of the Ohio to Cincinnati — Journey to Lake Erie — the Great Sciota — Pickaway Plains Prairies-^Sickly State of the Country— Indians — People 270

LETTER XXIV.

Passage on Lake Erie — The Falls of Niagara — Passage on Lake Ontario — Descend the River St. Lawrence — Falls — Montreal — Quebec — Indians — Remarks on the People — Timber Trade — Government — Climate, 287

ERRATA.

*^* In consequence of the mitfior''s absence, •when the folloxclng sheets passed through the press, the number of mistakes in the printing is considerable. Some of them, he is sorry to find, viaterially affect the sense of the passages in "which they occur.

Page 8. line 7. for removed read occasioned.

13. line Ifi. after liberation insert it is to be feared that.

32. line 22. for picture read pictures.

41, line 4. for luniata read Juniata.

48. line 29. for this insert the State of Ohio.

54. line 23. for rice read rue.

.54. line 34. for rise read vise.

.56. line 11. for State read States.

58. line 12. for inequality read declivity.

60. line 22. for extensively read extensive that are

63. line 7. for derived read derives.

69. line 33. for piled up read peeled

74. line 16. after hostess insert here.

79. line 28. for rivers read river.

97. line 5. for Falipifera read Tiilipefera. 101. line 15. for their read then. 121. line 30. for Castilians read Castiliau. 137. line 12. for rivers read river. 148. line 14. for improved read unimproved.

152. line 2. for explanatory examples, read an explanatory example. 160. line 27. for Pleiro read Plein.

175. line 10. for ministerialist read ministerialists.

176. last line, /or Burton's 7Ta(^ Buxton's. ^ 226. line 10. dckte himself.

232. second line from the bottom delete then 236. line 18. for P. M. read A. M. 240. line 32. for these rend that.

257. line 7. for fall read falls.

258. line 25. after this insert together with.

265. last line for Alabana read Alabama.

266. line second delete by

266. line 33. for come read coming.

274. line 28. for ditch read wall.

274. line 29. for deep read high.

299. last line, for Cachewaga read Cnchnewaga.

LETTERS

AMEBIC A,

LETTER I.

Voyage Ji-om Greenock to New York — Circumstances of Passengers — Arrival, S^-c.

New York, July 10, 1818.

As I have already informed you, I sailed from Greenock on the 24th of May last, in the American ship Glenthorn, Stillman Master, bound for this place.

I observed that my fellow emigrants were much affected when about to take a final leave of their native land : some regretting the separation from their native soil, while others, mute and thoughtful, seemed to suffer under feelings of a more tender kind.

To some it may appear inconsistent in people to regret leaving their homes and their friends, while the emigration is voluntarily undertaken ; but on this occasion, the paradox will be explained, when their circumstances and views are taken into consideration.

Of our party were three farmers, with their families, whose leases were expired ; all of them having declined engaging for a new term of years,

B under the apprehension of seeing their paternal stock, and the savings of many years* industry, divided between the landholder and the collector of taxes. A native of Scotland, who had resided several years in America, returned with the intention of resuming business in the town where he was born, but the thick ranks of a necessitous and half employed population, had closed on the place he had left. There was a widow, with two children, on her way to put herself under the protection of a brother in America. With us also were several of the labouring class, whose utmost exertions could only procure the bare support of existence ; and ploughmen, who prudently refrained from marrying with fourteen pounds a-year. In short, there was scarcely one of our number whose condition might not perhaps be bettered, or whose prospects could be rendered worse, by the change of country.

In a voyage from Europe to America, most passengers may expect to be sea-sick. Nearly all of them on board the Glenthorn, on this occasion, suffered more or less. For my own part, I never was entirely free from it for more than three-fourths of the passage. This disease is dispiriting while it continues, but as it is believed to produce no permanent injury, but, on the contrary, is thought conducive to future health, the attack is not at all dreaded. People unaccustomed to the seafaring life ought to carry with them those kinds of provisions to which they have been previously accustomed, as the stores of the ship soon become loathsome to the sick. Potatoes will be found acceptable, when the caprice of taste rejects almost every other food ; and walking on deck is of service, as the air is better, and the pitching of the ship is considerably less felt, than below.

It is very improper to go to sea in crowded vessels ; as epidemic diseases are engendered, and the most dreadful mortality is the consequence. That law of Britain which allows only one passenger for every five tons of burden in American ships (including seamen) is a most beneficial regulation ; and while, in American bottoms, the cabin passenger pays L.21, and the steerage passenger L.12, the expense cannot be complained of, while health and comfort are taken into consideration. It is much to be regretted that the government of England does not extend its humane restriction to its own Canadian settlers, and to emigrants who sail for the United States in British ships.

The 4th of July is celebrated by Americans as the anniversary of their independence, declared in I77G. The captain and seamen were disposed to be joyful in commemoration of this great event. The striped flag was displayed, guns and pistols were fired, accompanied with loud cheers. The passengers, no less enthusiastic, joined in the strongest expressions of their devotedness to the democratic form of government. They indulged in such sentiments as, a sincere wish that the United States may long continue exempt from that excessive corruption, as they thought, which has so long and so much degraded a large portion of the human race ; — and their avowed satisfaction at the near prospect of becoming people of the Republic.

On the 8th we came in sight of Long Island, and the high lands of New Jersey ; a welcome occurrence to people who had been so long at sea. In the afternoon a pilot came on board. He informed us that the city was in great bustle, as the inhabitants were assembled to deposit the bones of General Montgomery, who fell at Quebec, on the 31st of December, 1775. The remains of the pa-

B 2 triotic leader were buried by the ministerialists without the fort, and were to-day interred by his grateful countrymen under the portico of St. Paul's church, New York. We were sorry that it was not in our power to witness the solemnity.

In the evening we were off the point Sandyhook. The smell of the new hay on the adjacent fields regaled us very agreeably. All seemed elated with joy. A bagpipe and tv/o violins played by turns, and our young people danced on deck till a late hour. During this season of mirth, we were entertained by a sight, perhaps unequalled in the phenomena of an European climate. Some dense black clouds which hung over Long Island, were frequently illuminated by flashes of lightning. It is in vain to attempt a description. About midnight we passed through the Narrows, and soon afterwards anchored on the quarantine ground, about seven miles from New York.

On the morning of the 9th of July, the inspecting surgeon visited us, and allowed the anchor to be weighed. In this situation we had a full view of the shores of Staten and Long Islands. The wooden houses are neat, and the orchards and natural woods have a thriving appearance. It would seem that the people here have a partiality to the Lombardy poplar, which grows to a great height, shooting up its branches nearly perpendicularly ; assuming something of the appearance of a spire. The straight rows of these trees, so common here, have an insipid regularity and sameness, more like a file of armed soldiery than an ornamental grove.

Some of the frame houses are painted red, those of the finer sort, v»^hite j ornamental railings are also painted white. To an European eye, these colours appear too glaring. The lands ^een from the bay are sandy and poor.

LETTERS FROM AMERICA.

The first glimpse of the city of New York is by no means a distinct one. The buildings are much obscured by the forest of masts in front of them ; and as the site of the town rises but gently inland, the houses in front conceal, in a great measure, those in the rear, so that the shipping and the numerous spires are the objects most distinctly seen.

Before entering the port we were twice boarded by agents from the Newspaper offices. They inquired for British newspapers, and generally for the news of Europe ; they noted down the names of several of our passengers, which they intended to publish in the papers of the afternoon. There are no less than seven newspapers printed in New York daily ; the competition of these Journalists is keen, and their industry seems to be great.

We have experienced much good treatment from Captain Stillman. Every passenger is so sensible of this, that a committee of their number was requested to make public testimony of their esteem for him.

We landed yesterday about noon, all in good health and spirits. During the voyage, passengers have experienced no kind of sickness, except that peculiarly incident to the sea,

This letter cannot come immediately into the hands of all my friends ; most of them, I hope, will hear that I am arrived in' this place in good health. Should you adopt any way of making this and any subsequent communications generally known to them, it will be very gratifying to me, and, besides, will relieve me of the labour of writing many letters j a labour, dictated by the strongest ties of gratitude and affection, but one which it is doubtful if I can accomplish to the satisfaction of piy own mind.

j3

LETTERS FROM AMERICA.

Letter II

Observations on Nczo York' — Removal to Long Island — Miscellaneous Remarks — Returji to Nexv York — Farther Observations on the City.

New York, August 4, 1818.

On entering New York, I was struck with its appearance. Streets lined with lofty trees, most of them the Lombardy poplar, which affords a very agreeable shade in hot weather ; indeed, they are so numerous, that the new comer, when he looks before him, is apt to suppose himself in the midst of a wood. The streets, with a few exceptions, are too narrow, and are deficient in sewers. Many parts of the town prevent me from thinking that it deserves the character of extreme cleanliness bestowed upon it. The greater part of the houses are of brick, neatly built j but, to eyes accustomed to towns of hewn stone, New York has, on the whole, what (for want of a more descrip. j live word) may be called a gingerbread appearance.

The markets here are amply supplied with fine vegetables, and an immense variety of excellent fish, a great proportion of which are sold alive. Beef and pork are good, but the mutton and veal that I have seen are of inferior quality. Marketing is carried on more after the manner in some English country towns. No servants, but masters, attend and carry home the provisions.

Beggars do not abound here as in some countries of Europe. I am told that every man who is able to work can earn a dollar per day, and that his board costs two or three dollars per week; thus it is in his power to banish every appearance of poverty, and to save some money, provided he is disposed to economy. Mechanics have good encouragement. Joiners one and three quarters, and masons two dollars a-day. They usually pay three dollars, or upwards, a-week, for their board.

Many of the necessaries of life are here purchased at high prices. Woollen cloths, and most articles of wearing apparel imported, pay duties, varying, in different cases, from 25 to S3 per cent. In transacting with the merchant and the tailor, farther American enhancements may be calculated upon. Washing and dressing of shirts, neckcloths, &c. costs a dollar and a half per dozen. Every thing that an American does, must be liberally paid for. This tends to render living dear, even where provisions are cheap.

Some imported articles, as silks, wines, foreign spirituous liquors, teas, sugar, and coffee, are much cheaper than in Britain. The difference of custom-house duties is the cause of this.

The condition of animals bespeak the great plenty of food that falls to their share. The horses employed in removing goods to and from the wharfs, and in stage coaches, are fat, and in high spirits. They are not so rough-legged, so broad, or so strong-limbed, as the draught horses of Britain ; but they are better adapted for speed. Hogs, running in the streets, are numerous, but they are not starvelings. I have seen several of them that would yield upwards of 800 lbs. of pork without special feeding. Speaking of hogs, I would mention by the way, that they are allowed to run at large for the purpose of cleaning the streets. An economical way of procuring scaveno LETTERS FROM AMERICA,

gers, but one that leads to a commutation of nuisance ratlier than a final removal of it.

July 12. Last night the heat was excessive, and not accompanied with a breath of wind. It was in vain that I thrust my head out at an open window to be cooled. The effluvia arising from the streets is, in a great measure, removed by a high temperature. I imagine that a copious evolution of phosphorized hydrogen gas goes on in such weather. 1 could not sleep till three or four o'clock. This morning I heard that some people who had suffered from the heat and stillness of the air, had stretched themselves on carpets, or sat by open room doors, or in passages. Nights so very oppressive are said to occur rarely. In high and inland parts of the country they do not occur at all.

This is not the most proper season of the year for Europeans arriving here. Yesterday and to-day the heat has been excessive, the thermometer in the shade stood at 972°- In such a degree of heat it is imprudent to take much exercise. The temperature of the human body being lower than that of the air, the former is deprived of the cooling process usually produced by evaporation. Should the heat of the blood be increased in such a case, fever commences. We had an example of this, in a young man, one of the emigrants on board the Glenthorn, who exerted himself too much in getting baggage ashore. He was this day removed to Brooklyn, a high-lying village on Long Island, about a mile from New York. Transitions from heat to cold are, perhaps, still more dangerous ; of late, eleven persons have died in the city by drinking cold water. Several of them were strangers newly landed. Water should not be drunk immediately from the well, but should be allowed previously to stand for a few minutes in the air. It should be taken in small mouthfuls, and these heated in the mouth for two or three seconds before swallowing. Precautions of this kind ought to be strictly attended to, while heated by exercise or the sun's rays. Spirits are often mixed with water, to prevent the injurious effects of the latter. This corrective, however much extolled, ought to be taken in very small quantities. Here, as in Britain, there are many who resort to spirituous liquors as the sovereign medicine, both in hot and in cold weather.

Strangers lodge in boarding houses, and are charged from three dollars to twenty a-week. I have got lodgings in a good one, where 1 find interesting company. Previous to our meals a servant rings a small hand-bell, summoning every lodger to the public room, where we all eat together. A polite, well-dressed, hostess presides.

Servants are not here so attentive to their duty as elsewhere ; many of them are free blacks, slow in their motions, and often treating the most reasonable commands with neglect. Master is not a word in the vocabulary of hired people. Bos, a Dutch one of similar import, is substituted. The former is used by Negroes, and is by firee people considered as synonymous with slave- keeper.

This afternoon much thunder was heard. After twilight the lightning flashed incessantly, so that the illumination was almost permanent. Thunder storms in America are more frequent, more severe, and often accompanied with greater rains than in Europe. A respectable gentleman of Delaware county, in this State, told me, that during a thunder storm there, he laid his watch on the table, and found that an hour and forty-eight minutes elapsed without one cessation of sound. He thinks it probable that the peal lasted about two hours, as a few minutes must have passed before the idea of noting the time suggested itself.

July 13. This evening, after dark, I was surprised to see a large object standing in the centre of one of the principal streets ; on approaching it, I discovered that it was a frame-house, with a wheel affixed to each corner. Its length was about twenty-two feet, breadth about sixteen feet, and two stories high. I am just told that much larger buildings than this are often dragged off by horses, with their roofs, floors, plaster, doors, and windows, entire ; furniture sometimes included. This sort of removal happens at the expiry of leases of small lots, where the occupier is not bound to leave the buildings.

July 16. For two days past, the skin of my face has been spotted, accompanied with blotches, and with partial swelling. This is called the prickly heat, from the pungent feeling that attends it. A medical gentleman has told me, that this has been occasioned by a sudden cooling, which has put a stop to perspiration. He congratulated rne on having escaped a fever, prescribed a hot bath, and subsequent sea-bathing. I am about to set out for Long Island, in obedience to the latter part of the Doctor's prescription.

Afternoon. Arrived at New- Utrecht, a village near the south-western extremity of Long Island, On leaving New York, I crossed the ferry to Brooklyn, by a steam-boat of singular construction : this vessel is composed of two hulls, at a little distance from, and parallel to, one another j they are connected by a deck common to both. The water-wheel, turned by a steam-engine, is placed between the keels of the boats. There is a rudder at each end, so that she can cross and re-cross, without putting about.

A stage coach runs from Brooklyn to New Utrecht. The distance is nine miles ; and the fare for one person, half a dollar. This coach, like the other public ones of the country, has no glass windows in the front or the sides of it, these parts are furnished with curtains, which are let down in bad weather. The coach is long, containing four seats that run across ; and travellers sit with their faces forward, as in the pews of a church.

I have agreed to stop a few days at New Utrecht. My host is an intelligent man, obliging, but not fawning ; he and his wife take the principal drudgery of the house upon themselves, as the slaves are extremely slow in the execution of their work. Sometimes the landlord presides at the head of the table, and at other times he acts as servant. At dinner we were joined by the coach-driver who brought us from Brooklyn ; he is very unlike the drivers of some other coaches, is well dressed, active, and attentive to his business, by no means obsequious, answers every question with propriety, and without embarrassment. He does not depend on the gratuities of travellers for his wages. That system, which so universally prevails in Britain, is unknown here.

At the inn there were three-boarders, all Scotsmen. One of them, a young gentleman from Edinburgh, who was confined to bed by a broken thigh bone, occasioned by a horse running away with a gig, from which he fell while attempting to disengage himself; he was occasionally attended by a younglady, whose visits were frequent, although she lived at the distance of ten miles. The people of the neighbourhood were also very attentive to this

12 J.ETTEKS FROM AMERICA.

person, often calling for him ; and several of the young men sat with him all night by rotation. It was pleasing to see so creditable a display of the benevolent affections.

The good people here are the descendants of the original Dutch settlers. They are placed in comfortable circumstances, their style of living somewhat resembling that of farmers in the more fertile and improved parts of Scotland. If the situations of farmers in the two countries were compared, it would appear that the advantage of the Long Islanders consists in a climate highly conducive to vegetation, their freedom from rent, being owners of the soil, and the total absence of any heavy taxes ; and that their comparative disadvantage is, the want of such active domestic and jagricultural servants as the farmer of the other country employs.

Mr. Cobbet is now farming about nine miles from this place. His people (it is said) could not bear the opprobrious name servant and, with the exception of one person, left him *.

The fishermen here drag ashore many fishes in their seines. Without other evidence than the vast quantities of smaller ones left on the shore, the abundant supply of the New York market might be inferred. I bathe twice a-day, on the spot where General Howe first effected the landing of his army. A farmer very obligingly gives me the key of his fishing house on the beach, that I may dress and undress In it. The farmers here catch great quantities of fish, with which they manure their land.

There are still a considerable number of slaves in Long Island ; they are treated with a degree of

* This person was English.

humanity that slaves in some other parts of the world never experience ; they are well fed, and the whip is very seldom resorted to. Notwithstanding their comparative advantages, they detest the unnatural yoke, and frequently run off. It often happens that the master neither pursues nor inquires after the fugitive. What becomes of the self-emancipated is not here well understood. I have heard that many of them get to Boston, or some other of the northern ports, from whence they are carried to the Southern States, sold, and placed under a harsher treatment.

A great part of the slaves of the State of New York are to be emancipated in the year 1827 *• It is difficult to predict the consequences of this liberation. People who have been compelled to work, will, of their own choice, become banditti rather than adopt industrious habits. Arrangements must necessarily be made before the arrival of this revolution ; but many satisfy themselves by saying, that the legislature will devise some plan that will enable them to get over the difficulty. Some suggest that the Negroes shall be returned to Africa. On this measure, the African Association, so much talked of in America, proceeds. The expense of transporting, settling, supporting, and governing a new colony, must be immense. The design is as benevolent as the difficulties to be encountered are great. The support it meets with in slave-keeping states, looks like a pledge of sincerity, and an omen that forebodes success to the undertaking.

* By act of legislation, 31st IMarch, 1817j " Every Negro, Mulatto, or Mustee, within this State, born before the 4th day of July, 1799, shall, from and after the 4th day of July, 1827, be free."

The project of removing blacks to the hackwoods of" America seems to be altogether objectionable. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to prevent their return from exile ; their previous habits and disposition render them ill calculated to the work of subduing the forests. Besides, they would commit depredations on the neighbouring settlers, and on the Indian people.

Long Island being composed of alluvial soil, surrounded by a high beach, its surface is necessarily what is called a table land : for the most part the surface is somewhat flat, the soil is dry^ and at this season, without streams of water. Near the surface I have observed a substratum that is intermixed with clay. If a part of this was raised above the ground, it would be made to approach to a loam, more productive, and less liable to be injured by drought, than the present sandy coating that covers the surflice. A trenching, performed by the spade or by the plough, would no doubt produce the good effect.

A labourer in Long Island receives half a dollar a-day, with his board, and a dollar in harvest.

The weather, which is said to be hotter at present than it has been for several years, begins to scorch the surface of the ground. The stubble from which the hay has recently been removed, retains the appearance of a newly mown field; pasture grass is withering. In some fields a rank crop of weeds continues green ; amongst these the cattle are straying nearly two feet deep, but are in reality almost starving ; water is drawn from deep wells, and served out to them in rather too small quantities. The cows are small, as may be expected. Good crops of wheat, rye, and Indian corn, are raised. These require manure. Indian corn is considered a good crop, when at the rate of 40 bushels per acre. Oats do not ripen well from the excessive heat, and are used only for the food of horses. Potatoes are small ; their tops grow high and slender, as when shaded by trees in your country; their leaves are small and shrivelled. The greatest luxuriance to be met with in Long Island is in the orchards, the branches of apple and pear trees are bent down, and not unfrequently broken by the weight of the fruit. Peach trees were lately productive, but are now falling into decay. I have met with no one able to assign the cause. The woods are thriving, but few of the trees are large ; they are evidently a new growth, and not contemporary with the thick trunks that opposed the first settlers. The owners frequently spare their own timber, and purchase from other parts of the State, or from New Jersey. In consequence of paying for timber and carriage, building in Long Island is rendered more expensive than in more late settlements.