TO AZARIAH C. FLAGG,

NOVEMBER 12, 1816

Springfield Champaign County, Nov. 12th, 1816

Dear Brother,

I left Richmond the 23rd day of sept. and after traveling Eight Hundred and ninety Eight miles arrived at this place the 8th inst in company Celah Coleman.  I shall stay in this vicinity probably til next Aptil and I wish you would forward your papers to me until that time and be sure & write to me as soon as you receive this letter.

In comeing to this place we have had very good luck, although since we came into the state of Ohio we have not traveled more than 20 miles a day the roads being very bad-the South East part of the State is very rough it is nothing but one continued range of hills from where we came into the state of Muskingum r{i}ver and from thence we found it very level and so muddy that it was as bad as the hills.  We came a round about way I suppose but I think we took the best road. We first came to Troy then to Schenectady up the Mohawk river to Utica throught Canadaigua crossed the Gennessee river at Rochester villiage through Lewiston up Niagara River by the falls to Buffalo from thence we had a bad road all the way through Erie, Meadville, Mercer, New Castle & Greersburg in Pennsylvania; through New Lisbon, Cadiz, Cambridge, Zanesville, New Lancaster, Columbus which is the seat of state government, Worthington to this place in Ohio, which is about 60 miles from the East line of Indiana where we calculate to go next spring if we have our healths.

I find the Country as fertile as I expected. Corn grows with once hoeiing and some times with out hoeing at all to 14 feet high and is well filled.  Wheat is sowed where the corn is taken off and the ground plwed onnce over which is sufficient to bring a crop.  Hogs & Cattle run in the woods in summers and in the winter are fed on Corn & prairie hay.  In this vicinity are some as handsome Cattle as ever I have seen.  Some men Milk 40 cows and own from 100 to 400 head of Cattle but these men are few.

Beef & Pork is four dollar a hundred Wheat 75 cents a bushel and Corn & oats 25 cents a bushel.  I am fully of the opinion that a man may live by farming with much less labour here than in the Eastern States but there are many things here which are very inconvenient the roads are very bad although there was never better grounnd for roads there is no Bridges except a few toll ones.  I have crossed one Creek 9 times in going 3 miles which in high water must be impassable.

There is no regulations for educating the youth by common Schools. The inhabitants are from all parts North & East of Kentucky and are the most ignorant people I ever saw. What the New England people call towns and villages they call townships & towns.  I have asked many people what township they lived in & they could not tell.  If you enquire for any place if it is a town they can sometimes tell if a township you get no information about it from one half of the people. One great difficulity in finding any place is the great number of towns and townships of the same name.  There is of towns and townships 3 by the name of Concord, 6 of Fairfield, 4 of Franklin, 9 of Green, 9 of Jefferson 11 of Madison, 7 of Salem, 11 of Union, 7 of Washington, 5 of Harrison & 8 of Springfield, so that great embaressment is attendant on peoples directing letters; there is many more towns beside those i have mentioned of the same names.  You will be careful therefore in sending letters to the state of Ohio to designate the County as well as the town; you will direct your letters to "Springfield Champaign County" if otherwisee I may never get them.  In speaking of the ignorance of the people in this state you will take notice that I have traveled in that part of the state which is inhabited by people from Pennsylvania, Maryland Virginia & Kentucky.  I am pursuaded the people who came from Connecticut who are settled in the north part of the state are more enlightened.

There is one thing that I knew not before I came into this state that is that almost one fourth of it the North West corner belongs to the Indian and is now in their possession except some tracts about the forts of 6 and 12 miless square.

I saw Ulnsted(?) Chamberlain and Joshua Chamberlain his Father & family at Lewistown in N Y where they all live.  I saw Frederick Day at a tavern near Niagara Falls who told me he had a wife & 3 children & lives in the vicinity that his Father was dead and his mother and Harry living at Seneca Co. N Y.  Luther Whitney is in the town of Columbus and is going to commence keeping tavern in a few days he told me.

Tell Mary that I traveled in Company with Eleeta(?) Allen who is Married to Theophilus Randall as far as the town of Murray in Gennessee County N Y where they expect to live.

What I had almost forgotten to tell you is that I am in Good health & Spirrits and have been since I left Richmond.  I have not written to our folks in Richmond yet But shall as soon as I can write the particulars of the Country which I have passed through.  but if you have an opportunity write to them & tell them that " I am pretty well as common" I have not written half what I wish (to) write; & have written some things not worth writing. But I hope you will Pardon my folly & ignorance & give my love to all your family. Your Brother in Friendship & c.

Gershhom Flagg

(Addressed) Capt. A.C. Flagg, Plattsburgh, New York

(Written postmark) Springfield C C Ohio Novr 15th 1816

(endorsed) Missent

(Stamped postmark) Pittsop, Dec 5

Who wrote this letter?

Gershom Flagg

Who was he writing to?

His Brother

Where is he writing from?

Springfield, Ohio

In the second paragraph, he describes his journey. List the names of all the places he passed through. Don’t forget to add the state to each name:

Either plot these locations on a map and connect the dots or go to: http://maps.google.com/ . Cut and paste the list of locations below into the map box.

troy, ny to:Schenectady, ny to:Utica, ny to:canadaigua, ny to:Rochester, ny to:Lewiston, ny to:buffalo, ny to:erie, pa to:Meadville, pa to:mercer, pa to:new castle, pa to:Greensburg, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, United States to:cadiz, oh to:cambridge, oh to:zanesville, oh to:new lancaster, oh to:columbus, oh to:worthington, oh to:springfield, oh

How many miles did he travel?

898

When did he start his trip?

Because Sarah Town was able to take advantage of many new inventions in transportation. She lived during the Industrial Revolution.

When did he end his trip?

November 8, 1816

How many days did he travel?

47

How many miles did he manage per day?

about 19 miles/day

How fast is that if he traveled from 6:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.?

1.5 miles/hr

How long did Google Maps say it would take to make the trip today?

20 hours, 38 minutes

What does he say in paragraph 3 about what the settlers grew?

Wheat, Corn, Milk Cows

Continue with next letter activity >