Newberry Library - Extracts from letters written, on a journey to the western parts of the United States and during a residence in the Illinois Territory

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Title Extracts from letters written, on a journey to the western parts of the United States and during a residence in the Illinois Territory

Creator Fordham, Elias Pym

Date 1818

Place East United States, Illinois, Illinois--Edwards County, Illinois--English Prairie, Ohio River Valley

Language English

Subjects Frontier and pioneer life, Pioneers, Travelers

Description For more information, consult the Special Collections Info. File.

Summary Volume containing extracts of seventeen letters, May 18, 1817-Oct. 30, 1818, and a journal, Dec. 7, 1817-Feb. 26, 1818, sent by Pym to unnamed English correspondents, regarding his journey from Richmond, Va., to southeastern Illinois, via Pittsburgh and Cincinnati; the settlement of the Birkbeck colony at English Prairie; and travels in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. In addition to full descriptions of the Illinois colony, there are observations on the land and people of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois; the cities of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, travel down the Ohio by flat-boat; the Rappite settlement at New Harmony, Indiana; frontier social classes; prices, wages, and labor in the west; and the outlook for English emigrants to the frontier. Also mounted maps of Pittsburgh, English Prairie, and Cincinnati; and a mounted sketch of a flatboat and keelboat.

Biographical/Historical Note English civil engineer who at age twenty-nine (1817) emigrated to the new Birbeck colony at English Prairie in Edwards County, Illinois. A nephew by marriage to George Flower, a co-founder with Morris Birkbeck of the agricultural settlement, Fordham surveyed colony lands and assisted in the construction of dwellings, mills, etc. He later returned to England and engaged in a successful career as a civil engineer.

Extent 1 v. ([2], iii, [1], 127 p.) : ill., maps ; 25 cm

Format Correspondence, Diaries, Manuscripts, Travel literature

Archival Collection Title Edward E. Ayer Collection, Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number VAULT Ayer MS 289

BibID 991404758805867

Rights Status No Copyright - United States

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 2461px × 3189px 22.47 MB

File Created 06/07/2024

Filename 991404758805867_Ayer_MS_289_00001.tif

Unique Identifier NL12C9NB

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