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blow violently and we had every appearance of a heavy shower, but we hadvery little rain till night. This was the first rain we had had since we left N.Y.During the storm we passed through Little Falls but did not see much of the main fall of the river. The bed of the river was covered with rocks over which the watertumbled along with great rapidity, throwing up spray and foam. It was quitea romantic pretty looking place. About one mile from the village of ValleyFalls the Canal is laid on the bed of the river being 50 ft in depth and muchwider than usual. Here was the most splendid scene I ever witnessed (for youknow i never traveled much in the country) On each side of the canal wererocks 40 or 50 ft in height which were covered with tall trees, to which the stillnessof the water, (though the wind was blowing very hard we did not feel it here) the low black clouds, the sharp lightning and pealing thunder added muchsublimity & grandeur. It continued very fine showery raining all the eveningDuring the night we came into very shallow water so that we were agroundpart of the time. The canal here was so full of boats that it was almost impossible to get along, we were banging and thrashing about all night, firstagains one boat and then another. Our boat was not heavy laden or we could nothave proceeded at all, as it was we did not progress but 6 miles25th I arose quite early having passed a restless night on account of the noise and bustle on deck. The weather was cloudy chilly showery and pleasant by spellsso we were obliged to sit in the cabin all the forenoon. we felt quite homesick and many times wished ourselves back in N.Y. From 10 till 2 we lay in Utica to have our rudder repaired, which had been broken the preceding night. While we were there, we were obliged to keep in the cabinas it rained very hard most of the time, this made us still more lonesome
Title
Mary Sackett papers [box 01], 1841-1945
Creator
Sackett, Mary, 1825-1869
Date
1841-1849
Place
Great Lakes
,
Illinois--Winnebago County
Subjects
Canal-boats
,
Pleasant Valley Reading Circle (Laona, Ill. : Township)
Description
Use the link to the finding aid for a fuller description of collection contents that explains the use of the name and subject terms appearing in this catalog record.
Summary
Six folders of material relating to Mary Sackett and the Sackett family, including Mary Sackett's journal kept on a trip from New York City to Lanoa, Illinois in 1841 and 1842. The journal, kept for her brother, is detailed and informative about such topics as the daily activities while traveling by canal boat and steamship, descriptions of the passing landscape including a stop at Niagara Falls, life in rural Illinois while waiting for a house to be built, and the daily problems and chores of pioneer women in the 1840s. An 1849 manuscript pioneer newspaper, The Prairie Flower, of which Mary Sackett was the editor, consists mainly of original stories, poems, editorials and reports on local doings, sayings and notices relating to the Pleasant Valley Reading Circle. This group was formed to provide amusement "during the coming winter months." Also, a recipe for taffy, some penmanship exercises and two colored drawings, all undated. There is also some genealogical information regarding the Sackett family collected in 1945.
Biographical/Historical Note
New York born woman who emigrated as a teenager with her family to Laona, Winnebago County, Illinois. Mary Sackett was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1825, the eldest of the living children of Isaac Sackett and his wife Mary Johnson. The family was living in Brooklyn, New York, when Isaac decided to move them to the Middle West, where his sister Abigail and her husband Charles Cleveland were already settled. In 1841 and 1842, teenager Mary Sackett kept a lively, detailed journal of the journey from New York City to Laona, a small town in Winnebago County, Illinois. In 1847, when Mary Sackett was twenty-one, she married Hanson C. Pierson, who died a year later. In 1852 she married Samuel Chapman with whom she had six children. Little else is known about Sackett's adult life, and she died at age forty-three in 1869.
Extent
0.2 linear feet (6 folders)
Format
Diaries
,
Genealogy
,
Travel literature
Rights Status
No Copyright - United States
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.
Contributing Institution
Newberry Library
Link to Catalog
View record
Call Number
Midwest MS 38
BibID
835833
Size
3074px × 3691px 32.49 MB
File Created
07/29/2016
Filename
998358338805867_mms_038_box_01_fl_001_005.tif
Unique Identifier
NL1NSVQ
Projects Tag
Chicago and the Midwest
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