Memoranda Made by Thomas R. Joynes: On a Journey to the States of Ohio and Kentucky, 1810 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Memoranda Made by Thomas R. Joynes: On a Journey to the States of Ohio and Kentucky, 1810. Thomas R. Joynes William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 4, (Apr., 1902), pp. 221-232. MEMORANDA MADE BY THOMAS R. JOYNES ON A JOURNEY TO THE STATES OF OHIO AND KENTUCKY, 1810. (Continued from page 158). I left General Hopkins' for Eddy Grove Sunday, the 17th, at 8, and arrived at Suggs' at 1 P. M. - twenty miles. Left Suggs' at 3, and about four miles from there my horse was taken sick, and I endeavored to push him on until I could reach a house. He however gave out in the midst of a wilderness, and I had to shoulder my saddle-bags, and after walking about four miles I arrived about sunset at a Mr. H-----'s, having left my horse very sick in the woods. After finding a house, I returned after my horse, and after considerable difficulty I at last got him to the house. Here I was initiated into a novel species of politeness. I called for supper, and after it was prepared in the kitchen, I was invited in there with the family, where I partook of a miserable repast. When bedtime came, about a dozen men, women, children, and dogs had to sleep in a filthy little room. The situation assigned to me was in the midst of the crowd on a stinking straw bed, with coarse sheets. Here I passed a night sufficient to make a man envy the felicity of the inhabitants of the Plutonian regions. The bed was filled with chinches and other bugs, which prevented my repose; and the disagreeable re- flections arising from the prospect of losing my horse combined to render me truly miserable. In the morning I found my horse alive, but with very little prospect of his recovery. I re- mained here until nearly night, and not liking my fare, I determined to shift my quarters, as I might possibly be bettered, but could not be worsted. I with great difficulty got my horse to Col. Landers', who lived about a mile off. Here I became acquainted with a peculiar custom among the people in this part of the country. I found Col. Landers' daughters busily engaged in spinning cotton, which was to be finished by a certain day, on which there was to be a frolic in the neighborhood. I was informed that when a frolic was contemplated, the lady of the house furnished every Page 222. lass of the neighborhood with some kind of work which was to be done by her previous to the festivity, and on carrying it with her she was welcomed to the feast. Seeing no prospect of my horse's recovering in a short time, I was compelled to swap him for one of not one-third his value. I left Col. Landers' Wednesday 20th, and arrived that evening at Judge Prince's, about twenty-eight miles. Left Prince's Thursday morning, and arrived at 11 at Squire Mercer's on Eddy Creek. Friday, the 22d, the 'Squire showed me my land, 1,000 acres, near his house. The land was of good quality, and had a tolerable cabin, and about twenty acres under cultivation. The land on the banks of Eddy Creek is as handsome as any I have seen in Kentucky, and is very well watered. From the creek springs are very scarce, and many people have to haul the water two or three miles. In some places very good water may be obtained by digging wells, but in others wells have been dug sixty feet, a great part of the distance through a rock, without being able to find a drop of water. The climate in this part of the country is tolerably salubrious, and the soil is very fertile, and well adapted for the cultivation of wheat, corn, hemp, and tobacco. The inhabitants in this part of the country generally live in miserable log huts, and are extremely poor. This poverty arises principally from their indolence, which is extreme. From the fertility of the land, very little labor is required to raise an abundant supply of corn, and hogs require very little attention, so that the men are not generally employed in labor more than one-fourth of their time; the balance they employ in hunting and drinking whiskey. Amongst the poorer class throughout this country, the women apear to be less satisfied than the men. This may easily be accounted for from the very laborious tasks which the women have to perform. The women have to cook the food, attend to the cows, and manufacture all the clothing of the family, which keeps them continually employed, while the men are not employed more than one-fourth of their time. However fertile the land is south of Green River, and well suited for lazy men, yet a great many are dissatisfied, and wish to emigrate west of the Ohio, and south of Tennessee River, where they say the land is much better, and where they want, I suppose, to find land that will produce loaves of bread already baked, and hams of bacon already boiled. The county of Caldwell is very thickly Page 223. inhabited, and the inhabitants in some parts of the country, in their manners and way of living, approximate nearer to the aborigines of the country than any I have ever seen. Tuesday, the 26th, I swapped horses with a man from Louisiana, and went that evening to Eddyville, the seat of justice for Caldwell county, in order to get my horse shod. Seeing not even a remote prospect of selling my land in this county, I started Wednesday morning for Warren county. The rain prevented me from getting farther that evening than Bosier's - twenty miles. Left there at 5, and arrived to breakfast at Hopkinsville at 9 - ten miles. Left there at ten, and arrived that evening at McLean's - twenty-five miles. Left McLean's Friday, the 29th, at 5, and arrived to breakfast at Russelville at 8 - nine miles. Left there at ten, and arrived at Warren Court-house at 7 P.M. - twenty-eight miles. Nearly the whole distance from Eddyville to Bowling Green (Warren C.H.) the road goes through Barrens, which are very fertile, and in which there are some very handsome farms. About thirteen miles from Bowling Green I stopped at Shaker Town, alias New Jerusalem. There are about 150 Shakers in this neighborhood, who live principally in log cabins at this place. The peculiarities of this sect of religionists are equally absurd and astonishing. Anna Lee, of England, was the first member of their church, and embraced the true religion in 1747, at which time, they say, the millennium commenced. When a man becomes a member of their church he gives up all his property for the general benefit of the church, and confesses all his sins to their priests and elders, and God, through the mediation of those priests, im- mediately forgives them. They then continue for some time in a probationary state, until at last they arrive at such perfection that they are perfect saints, and cannot possibly sin. They live together as one great family and the products of their joint labors are delivered to the Steward, who distributes it for their common good. Their mode of worship is peculiar, and consists princiapply of devotional dances which they term labours. They gain but few proselytes, and the greater part of their members are men who were heretofore of the vilest characters. On joining their church the members boast of divesting themselves of every filial, paternal, and conjugal affection for persons who are not of their church. They say that if the Page 224. souls of persons who are now dead and in hell will return to them and confess the sins com- mitted in their lifetimes to their elders, they will immediately be forgiven and they will be transferred into heaven. They say that General Washington and a number of others who were in torment, have returned to them, confessed their sins, and thereupon have been removed to the regions of bliss. They prohibit, professedly, all intercourse with the female sex, which they say tends to corrupt and demoralize them. They say that Shakerism will continue gradually to progress until all the inhabitants of the earth will embrace it, and as the propagation of the human species is forbidden by their canons, the human race will become extinct 1,000 years from the time Anna Lee first embraced the faith. From Bowling Green I went to see a subterranean mill which is worked by a subterranean stream, and is a very great curiosity. There is a small sink-hole, in which the water first bursts up out of the ground, and after running a short distance in this sink-hole, and turning a mill which is in the sink-hole, it then enters the mouth of a cave, and after running about two miles underground, through a passage impenetrable to man, it bursts up in another sink- hole, and runs about three hundred yards in that sink-hole, turning another mill in its course; it then enters the mouth of another cave, which at the entrance is about 100 feet wide and 50 feet high, and gradually lessens until it is so small a man cannot crawl through it, and after a subterranean course of two miles it again bursts out and forms Gasper Creek. The mills are about 75 feet below the surface of the earth. I sold 300 acres of land on Trammel's Creek in Warren county for $600, and 140 acres I sold for two horses. I was detained in Warren County until Monday, the 9th of July, when at 3 P.M. I started for Frankfort, and arrived that evening at the Dripping Spring - fifteen miles. Left there 10th, and dined at Blumford's on Green River, and lay at Bacon Creek - thirty-three miles. Left Bacon Creek 11th, and arrived to dinner at Elizabethtown at 2 P.M. - twenty-five miles. Left there at 4 P.M., and arrived at the Rolling Fork of Salt River at 7 - ten miles. Left there 12th at 4:30 A.M., and breakfasted at Bairdstown - fifteen miles, and arrived that evening at Duel's - twenty four miles. Left Duel's at 4:30 A.M., 13th, and arrived to break- fast at Shelbyville, the seat of justice for Shelby County - Page 225. twelve miles. Left there at 11 A.M., and arrived at Frankfort at 7 - twenty-two miles. From Bairdstown to Shelbyville, and from there for several miles toward Frankfort, the land is very good, thickly settled, and tolerably improved; large quantities of hemp are made. I left Frankfort Sunday, 15th, and arrived that evening at Lexington - twenty-two miles. Lexington is a beautiful town, situated in the county of Fayette, containing about 500 houses and 4,000 inhabitants. The town is regularly built, has sone very handsome buildings in it, and increases in size with unexampled rapidity. There are a number of machines for carding and spinning cotton yarn, several rope walks, and an extensive factory for making sail duck and cotton bagging. The said duck manufactured here is of very excellent quality and nearly equal to the best Russian duck. The manufacturers have contracted with the government for 500 bolts at $24. This town is now the second inland town in the United States, both in size and in domestic manufactories. For a considerable distance around Lexington there is the finest tract of country I ever saw, and it is indisputably the largest body of good land in the United States. This part of the country is in a very high state of cultivation, and is elegantly improved. In the vicinity of Lexington, particularly, there are some superb country seats. It is a remarkable fact that when this country was first settled, springs were very small and scarce, and as improvement and settlement have progressed and the annual quantity of vegetable putrefaction diminished, the springs have considerably increased both in number and size. This part of htthe country is now plentifully supplied with very excellent water, and the climate is very salubrious. The inhabitants now turn their attention almost entirely to the cultivation of hemp, for which they find their soil adapted, and which is more profitable than anything else they can cultivate. In speaking of Kentucky in general terms, it may be remarked that the soil is very fertile, and the climate tolerably salubrious, but the country is badly watered. I do not mean that the water is of bad quality, but that mill-ponds are scarce, and in some places water is scarce for answering the ordinary purposes of life. Horse mills are generally used in the greater part of the State. In and about Lexington and Frankfort there are a num- Page 226. ber of men of very handsome talents, and extensive literary acquirements, particularly the gentlemen of the bar; but in the country the mass of people are extremely ignorant and illit- erate. In hospitality and politeness the inhabitants are greatly superior to the citizens of their mother State. I left Lexington Wednesday, the 18th, at 6 A.M., and arrived at Georgetown - twelve miles - at 9. Left there at ten, and arrived at Eagle Creek - fifteen miles - at 3 P.M. A short time before I got to Eagle Creek it commenced raining, and I got very wet, and the continuance of the rain prevented my proceeding farther that evening. I left Eagle Creek Thursday at 5 A.M., and arrived at Gouge's to breakfast at 9 - thirteen miles. Left there at ten, and arrived at Thrailhill's at 1 P.M. - thirteen miles. Left there at 2 and arrived at Gaines' at 7 P.M. - sixteen miles. Left Gaines' Friday, the 20th, at 6 A.M., and arrived at Cincinnati at 2 P.M. Here I was detained by General Lytle (with whom I had made a contract for the sale of Col. Darby's land) until August the 1st. Left Cincinnati at 3 P.M. on that day, and arrived that evening at 6 P.M. at New Town. Left New Town 2d, at 5, and arrived to breakfast at Townesley's at 9 - ten miles. Left there at 10, and arrived at 1 P.M. at Wil- liamsburg - nine miles. Left Williamsburg Friday, 3d, and arrived to breakfast at noon, five and a half miles beyond Eagle Creek - nineteen miles. Left there at 1:30 P.M., and arrived that eveing at Wills' - twenty-one miles. Left Willis' Saturday at 6 A.M., and arrived to breakfast at Turner's - fifteen miles. From Turner's I went, in company with Mr. Cadwallader Wallace of Chillicothe, to examine some wells in Paint Creek, about one mile from Turner's. Those wells are eight in number, and are dug through a solid rock, in Paint Creek, some of them near its centre. They are all perfectly circular, and one of them has been opened and was found to be about three feet deep. Each one is covered by a circular stone slab, on the most perfect of which, about nine inches from the periphery, a moulding is raised about four inches in diameter, and near the periphery there is a groove cut all around about eleven inches deep and nine wide. After removing to top stone they are filled in with stones of a different kind from the bed of the creek, and are very nicely hewn, so as to fit with perfect accuracy, and are connected by a very tenacious cement, which is nearly has hard as the rock. They Page 227. are from five to seven feet in diameter. It is difficult to imagine by whom those wells were dug and for what purpose, and there are no circumstances connected with them which will lead to a solution of the difficulty. In many places there are very plain markes of the instruments with which they were carved. Immediately above those wells on the bank of Paint Creek, which is here about 300 feet high, there are the remains of a very extensive fortification built of stone. The forti- fication is circular and contains about 150 acres. The stones must have been brought a considerable distance, as there are no quarries near at hand from which they could have been brought. Within the walls there are very evident remains of a number of forges, and cinders are to be seen in many parts of it. The State of Ohio abounds with fortifications of this kind, the largest of which is on the Little Miami, and contains nearly 200 acres of land. There are likewise a large number of circular mounds, some of which are on the summits of the highest hills, and are generally about 20 feet high and 150 in diameter. These appear to have been burying places for the dead, as great numbers of bones have been found upon opening them. In the month of January, 1809, the river Ohio was unusally high, and near Cincinnati the bank caved in for 20 or 30 feet, and where it had caved in, about 15 feet below the surface, a lime kiln was discovered about half burnt. In digging a well a short time since on a high hill in that town a stump was found 80 feet below the surface, on which there were evident marks of the axe. These circumstances are singular, and a multitude of reflections are produced by them. I think that they indisputably prove that this country was formerly inhabited by a race of beings more civilized than the Indians found here at the discovery of this country by the whites; but whence they came and when they came, and whither they have gone, I will leave to be investigated by some person better qualified than I am. After examining those wells, we started to Chillicothe, and arrived there about 7 P.M. Chillicothe is a handsome town situated on the west bank of the Scioto, and containing an academy, a Presbyterian church, two Methodist churches, a courthouse, about 260 dwelling houses, and 2,200 inhabitants. The growth of this town has been very astonishing. In 1798 the first cabin was built here. On Paint Creek and on Scioto for a con- Page 228. siderable distance around Chillicothe the land is extremely fertile, and well adapted for the raising of corn, wheat and hemp. Left Chillicothe Saturday, August 25th, and arrived that evening at Tarleton, in Pickaway County - eighteen miles. About six miles from Chillicothe I stopped at the Sulphur Spring, the waters of which are strongly impregnated with that substance, and are considered very salutary in many complaints. In the State of Ohio there are great numbers of plains, or, as they are called by the French, prairies. They are uniformly of a fertile soil, and covered with luxuriant grass (which I have seen on them nine feet high) and without the least ap- pearance, in their natural state, of a tree or bush. A plain in Pickaway County, called the Pickaway Plain, is the largest in the State, and is about eight miles in length, and from two to three in breadth. There was a field of wheat on this plain this year of upwards of 200 acres, which averaged 40 bushels to the acre. Those plains were perfectly barren of timber at the first discovery of this country by the whites, and the cause of it is difficult to conjecture. Left Tarleton Sunday morning at 5 o'clock, and arrived to breakfast at 9 at Lancaster - fifteen miles. Lancaster is a market town containing about 100 houses, unpleasantly situated onthe edge of a large muddy prairie or marsh. From Chillicothe to Tarleton the land is tolerably good, but from there to Lancaster it is very thin, being for several miles woody barrens, and on the sides of the road large rocky hills. Left Lancaster at 10:30, and arrived at the Sign of the Swan at 2 P.M. - twelve miles. Left there at 4, and arrived at Hall's at 7 P.M. - twelve miles. Left Hall's Monday morning at 5, and arrived at Zanesville at 8 - twelve miles. Zanesville is the present seat of government for Ohio, and is pleasantly situated on the Muskingum River, and contains about 200 houses. The land from Lancaster to Zaensville is very hilly (though not mountainous) and the soil thin, and produced good wheat, but not very good corn. There are almost as many taverns as miles betwixt Lancaster and Zanesville. Left Zanesville at noon, and arrived at 7 P.M. at Speer's - eighteen miles. Left Speer's Tuesday morning at 5, and arrived at Beymer's to breakfast at 9 - thirteen miles. Five miles before I reached Beymer's I passed through Cambridge, a small town containing about fifty houses, on the banks of Wills Creek. Page 229. Left Beymer's at 10, and arrived at 1 P.M. at Moore's - ten miles. Left Moore's at 2:30, and arrived at Bradshaw's at 5 P.M. - ten miles. Here I was detained by rain until Wednesday 29th, on which day at 5 A.M. I left, and arrived to breakfast at 8 at Morristown - ten miles. The land from Zanesville to Morristown is very hilly, and the soil is thin; in some places the roads are very bad. Left Morristown at 10, and arrived at half past 12 near St. Clairsville, the justice-seat for Belmont County, which is a neat little town containing about eighty houses. Left there at 1:30 P.M., and arrived at 4:30 at Wheeling, the seat of justice for Ohio County, Virginia. Wheeling is a pleasant town situated on the east bank of the Ohio, containing about eighty houses, arranged principally on one street running parallel with the river. There is a very fertile island in the Ohio opposite Wheeling called Zanes Island, containing about 400 acres. The road from Morristown to Wheeling is much more level than it is west of Morristown, and the land is much more fertile. The whole distance from Chillicothe to Wheeling the country is thickly settled, and the accommodations for travellers very good. Left Wheeling at 5 P.M., and arrived at Beal's at 6 - four miles. Left Beal's Thursday morning at 5, and arrived to breakfast at 9 at Alexandria, in Washington County, Pennsylvania, having crossed the line about half a mile before arriving at that place - twelve miles. Left there at 10:30, and arrived at 2:30 at Washington - sixteen miles - the justice seat of that county, which is a handsome town containing about 150 houses. Left there at 4 P.M., and arrived at 6 at Hunter's - seven miles. Left there Friday at 5, and arrived at 10 at Browns- ville alias Redstone - eighteen miles - situated on the east bank of Monongalhela, where Fort Redstone formerly stood. Left there at 11, and arrived at Union Town, in Fayette County, at 3 P.M. - twelve miles. Union Town is a very handsome town containing about 200 houses. Arrived at 6 P.M. at Price's at the eastern foot of Laurel Hill - eight miles. The road on Laurel Hill for five miles is intolerably bad. Left Price's Saturday, September 1st, at 5 A.M., and arrived at 10 at Smith's - fifteen miles - at the great crossings of Yonghogeny River, a branch of the Alleghany, which is here about 200 yards wide, and the fording very bad. Left Smith's at 11, and arrived at 1:30 P.M. at Simpkins', in Allegheny County, Maryland - ten miles. About two miles before I Page 230. arrived at Simpkins' I crossed the line betwixt Pennsylvania and Maryland. From Alexandria (where I first entered Pennsylvania) to Woodstock, at the eastern foot of Laurel Hill, a distance of fifty-seven miles, the country is very thickly inhabited, and in a high state of cultivation. From there until I left Pennsylvania, there are but few inhabitants, and the country is extremely hilly and the roads very bad. Left Simpkins' at 2:30, and arrived at 6:30 at Tomlinson's - fifteen miles - having crossed Negro mountain a few miles before arriv- ing there. Left Tomlinson's Sunday, 2d, at 5:30, and arrived at 8:30 to breakfast at Musselman's - eleven miles. Left there at 9:30, and arrived at Stewart's, in Hampshire County, Virginia, at 1:30 - fourteen miles. About seven miles from Mussleman's, at the east foot of the Alleghany, the road forks, the left going by Hagerstown to Baltimore, and the right by Wnchester to Alexandria, and about five miles from the forks the Virginia road crosses the north branch of Potomac, which divides Virginia from Maryland. Left Stewart's at 2:30, and arrived at 5 at Springfield - thirteen miles. Left Springfield Monday, 3d, at 5, and arrived to breakfast at Somebody's at 10 - fourteen miles. About three miles from Springfield I crossed the south branch of Potomac, about six miles above its confluence with the north branch, and about half a mile after crossing the branch I arrived at the foot of the South Branch mountain, the ascent of which for about fourteen miles is extremely stony and difficult. Left Somebody's at 11, and arrived at 1:30 at Stewart's - eleven miles. Left there at 3, and arrived at 6 P.M. at Davis' - eleven miles. Left Davis' at 5, Tuesday, the 4th, and arrived to breakfast at Crane's at 8:30 - fourteen miles. Eight miles from Davis' I passed through Winchester, a well-built town, the seat of justice for Frederick County, containing about 400 houses. Left Crane's at 9:30 A.M., and arrived at 1:30 P.M. at Pumpkin Town, at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge - sixteen miles. Four miles before I arrived at Pumpkin Town, I crossed the Shenandoah River at Snigger's Ferry, and immediately after, I befan the ascent of the Blue Ridge, through Snigger's Gap, the road through which, over the mountain, is very good, except about one mile, which is intolerably stony. Left Pumpkin Town at 3 P.M., and arrived at 7:30 at Ker's - eighteen miles. I was this day, Page 231. for the fist time in my life, refused admittance into a man's house. On this road taverns are very scarce, and I was advised to stop at the house of a Mr. T----, who I was informed kept private entertainment for travellers. I arrived there about sunset, my horses and my- self being very much fatigued, having travelled to-day forty-two miles, and he positively refused me admittance, and I had to ride on six miles farther. About three miles from Ker's is Leesburgh, a handsome town containing about 150 houses, and the seat of justice for Loudoun County. From Pumpkin Town to Leesburgh, a distance of twenty-one miles, the land is very good, and in a high state of cultivation. Left Ker's Wednesday, 5th, at 5:30, and arrived to breakfast at Douglas' at 9:15 - fifteen miles. Left there at 10, and arrived at 2 at Hodgkins' in Fairfax County - fifteen miles. Left there at 3 P.M., and arrived at 5:30 at Potomac Bridge - eight miles - at at 6:30 arrived at Washing- ton City - four miles. From Leesburg to Georgetown the land is generally poor. The City of Washington is now very rapidly improving. Left there Thursday, the 6th, at 1 P.M., and arrived at 5:30 at Marlborough, the seat of justice for King George County, Maryland - eighteen miles. It being court time, and the tavery much crowded, I had to sleep on the floor, and the accommodations were very bad otherwise, and I had, notwithstanding, to pay the highest bill I every paid in my life. The charge was as follows: supper and bed, 5/7 1/2; 1 bushel oats, 8/; stabling two horses 3/9; total 17/4 1/2. Left there Friday morning at 5 A.M., and arrived to breakfast at 7:30 at Queen Anne's - nine miles. Left there at 9, and arrived at 12 at Annapolis - thirteen miles. The land from Washington to Annapolis was generally very poor and sandy. Saturday, the 8th, at 8 A.M., embarked at Annapolis, and after an agreeable passage of four hours, arrived at Haddaway's in Talbot County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Left there at 3 P.M., and arrived at 8 at Easton, which is situated on the waters of Choptank River, and contains about 150 houses. Left there the 9th at 5:30, and arrived to breakfast at 9 at Hunting Creek - twelve miles. Left there at 10, and arrived at 2:30 P.M. at Viennna, on Nanticoke River, in Dorchester County. Immediately after crossing Nanticoke into Summerset County, the road goes over a very wet marsh for one-half mile, which would be completely impassable were it not for a Page 232. causeway, which is made the whole distance thereof. Left Vienna at 4, and arrived at the Barren Creek Spings. The country for a considerable distance around Barren Creek is very sandy and poor. Left Barren Creek Monday, the 9th, at 6, and arrived at 8:30 at Quantico Mills - ten miles. Left there at 9, and arrived at 1 at Princess Anne, having crossed Wicomico River about eleven miles before arriving there. Left princess Anne at 2, and arrived at 6 at New Town in Worcester County, on the south bank of Pocomoke River. The crops of corn throughout the Eastern Shore are unusually good this year. At every place at which I stopped on the Eastern Shore I found the people to be remarkably sickly, almost every one being confined with the ague and fever. Left New Town on the morning of the 10th, and reached home in the afternoon, having been gone on the journey to Ohio and Kentucky three days less than five months.