Duplin County, NC - William Grimes Papers Jany 1st 1858 William you will cross Chickasaha at Desoto thence by Paulding, Raleigh, Westville, Raymond. Grand Gulf (the Mississippi), Macon, Shreveport, Marshall, Gilmer, Quitman in Wood. Co. Texas. This route is very direct but I think you may do better by crossing Pearl river lower down and the Miss. at Rodney where there is plank road & turnpike. It will be best to enquire far in advance the condition, of the Miss. swamp and be governed by the information you will get from intelligent men. If you are certain that it will be impossible to get through the swamp you had then better turn down to Woodville and cross at the mouth of Red river & ship your things to Shreveport, this will be very expensive & must be avoided if possible, Write back at the Miss. leave a letter for me at Shreveport. When I get to Shrevesport, I will go to Marshall if the R. R. is in opperation, if not I may run up the lake to Jefferson which will be much nearer to you. I think of settling in Wood County but Cass or Upsher may be the place. Try to get some house to stay in till we all get together. When we get there I will send myself or a letter to Marshall or some other place you may direct so that you can find our location. Take good care of teams and negroes for they are your dependence for success. Wm. Grimes. Note On the back of this letter is a sample of note as follows On or before the first day of December 1858 we or either of us promise to William Grimes or bearer ___ for value rec^ this December 15th This note form was evidently for the use in the sale of the property in Washington County, Alabama. Page 1 J. F. Everitt and Wm. S. Grimes Trawla from Washington County, Alabama to Harrison County, Texas. January 1, 1958 Cloudy, fairs off at night. Camped at Frost Bridge. Traveled 16 miles. Jan. 2 Cloudy & warm, light rain at night. Camped at the John Everitt's. Traveled 10 miles. Jan. 3 Stayed at Everitt*a. Cloudy and cold Sunday. Jan. 4 Rained all day & night. Camped at DeSoto on R. R. Traveled 10 miles. Jan. 5 Fair off. Pleasant day. Traveled 12 miles of bad road. Jan. 6 Fair & fine. Camped at Paulding. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 7 Fair & warm. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 8 Fair & warm. Camped at Tallahala. Traveled 12 miles. Jan. 9 Cloudy & warm. Crossed Leaf river. Camped at Raleigh. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 10 Sunday cloudy & warm. Storm in evening. Saw Phlllis, belongs to Bill Clarke, Simpson Co., Miss. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 11 Stopped on account of high water Traveled 5 miles. Jan. 12 Cloudy & warm, heavy rain in evening. Camped at West- ville, SimpBon Cp., Miss. Traveled 13 miles. Jan. 13 Rained all night and day. Stopped on account of high water. Traveled 11 miles. Jan. 14 Rained all night. Crossed Pearl River at Oseola. Had to surround back water. Wagon ran over Sally & broke her leg. Traveled 6 miles. Jan. 15 Rained all day & night. Stopped on account of high water. Traveled 1 mile. Jan. 16 Faired off cool. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 17 Sunday fair and pleasant. Passed Gallatin, Copiah Co., Miss., a pretty place with half dozen stores. Traveled 11 miles. Page 2 Jan. 18 Fair & pleasant. Saw some fine farms and good road. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 19 Fair & fine, good road. Traveled 18 miles. Jan. 20 Fair & fine, good road. Camped on the bank of Mississippi river at Rodney. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 21 Fair & warm. Crossed the river, camped on the west bank. Jan. 22 Cloudy & warm. Passed Waterproof. 3 miles plank road. Traveled 15 miles. Jan. 23 Cloudy & warm. Camped at Tensas River. Traveled 12 miles. Jan. 24 Sunday cloudy & warm, rained at night. Crossed Tensas at Kirks ferry. Stoped in the swamp on account of back water. Traveled 4 miles. Jan. 25 Cloudy & warm. Made raft to cross a biough. Jan. 26 Rainy day, cut roads, swam bious. Traveled 1 mile. Jan. 27 Fair & warm. Traveled 8 miles. Jan. 28 Fair & cool, crossed Biou Licuic and Wachita river. Camped at Harrisonburg. Traveled 8 miles. Jan. 29 Fair & cool. Saw some pretty creeks with Catherwood growing upon them. Long straw pine country. Traveled 16 miles. Jan. 30 Cool & cloudy, good pine woods road, passed Copenhagen. Traveled 20 miles. Jan. 31 Cold rainy day, pine country. Traveled 16 miles Sunday. Feb. 1 Cold rain & sleet, bad roads. Traveled 15 miles. Feb. 2 Fair A Cool. Pine country, passed Vernon, a pretty place. Traveled 15 miles. Feb. 3 Heavy snow all day. Moll took staggers, stoped in an old house at Woodville. Traveled 4 miles. Feb. 4 Raining & snowing all day, camped at Arcadia. Traveled 15 miles. Page 3 Feb. 5 Fair & cold. Ice, bad road. Passed Judge Harris' plantation. Traveled 16 miles. Feb. 6 Cold rainy day. Passed Minden, a very pretty place. Crossed Biou Dorchete. Traveled 14 miles. Feb. 7 Sunday, fair & cool. Flat black jack country, the worst road In the world. Camped at Belview. Traveled 15 miles. Feb. 8 Fair & warm, crossed Lake Bodcough, 5/4 mile wide. Traveled 9 miles. Feb. 9 Cold rainy day, camped at Red River. Traveled 9 miles. Feb. 10 Went down Red River 40 miles on steamferry boat Larkin Edwards. Camped at Shreveport.Cold & windy day. Feb. 11 Cold rainy day and night. Traveled 10 miles. Feb. 12 Cold rain & sleet, bad roads, passed Greenwood, camped in Texas. Traveled 14 miles. Feb. 13 Fair & cold, leave the wagons. Found our folks at John Hall's, 2-1/2 miles west of Marshall. Traveled 20 miles. Distance 523 miles. Note:- The above wss copied from a ledger first used by William Grimes in Washington County, Alabama in the year 1819 and later used by his son, William Sampson Grimes, including the year 1869. This information is contained in the ledger itself. I find that the mileage record is very accurate. The John Hall house was built of logs and was located about 2-1/2 miles out of Marshall, Texas, on the old Longview Road (West Houston Ave.). The Mont Hall house is built of brick and is still standing in good condition (1959). It is about 1/2 mile west at the top of Hall's hill. L.E.G P. S. A loose sheet of paper showing mileage was also found in said ledger. Reads as follows:- 36 De Soto, 25 Paulding, 40 Raleigh, 33 Westvllle, 37 Gallatin, 53 Rodney, 12 Waterproof, 36 Harrisonburg, 30 Copenhagan, 40 Vernon, 14 Woodvllle, 15 Arcadia, 24 Minden, 21 Belview, 58 Shreveport, 40 Marshall. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Sharon Timmons ___________________________________________________________________