BACKGROUND:
Ebenezer Flagg's third son, Gershom, was born at Orwell,, Vermont, November 26, 1792. His early years were spent on the farm with little opportunity for schooling, but later he was enabled to study surveying with a competent engineer in Burlington. During the War of 1812, he joined a company of Vermont militia as drummer and was present at the battle of Plattsburg, across Lake Champlain in New York. Soon after the close of the war he determined to go west, apparently with the idea of securing employment in surveying the public domain, or of purchasing land and developing a farm, or both, as occasion might offer. This was the time when the "Ohio fever" was carrying off thousands of the sons of New England (and other eastern area) and so young Flagg left Richmond September 23, 1816, with Ohio as his intended destination.

Turning westward at Troy, New York, he followed the ancient highway up the valley of the Mohawk to Utica. From there to Canandaigua he traveled on the Genessee road, constructed by the state of New York in the last decade of the preceding century. This road ran straight on to Buffalo but Flagg appears to have left it at Canandaigua and made his way northwestwardly to Rochester where he struck another state road constructed about 1809, which he could follow to Lewistown.From there his route ran south past the falls to Buffalo, around the end of the lake to Erie (Penn.), and then south again to Mercer.

From Mercer in Pennsylvania to Cadiz in Ohio the road could have been but little more than a trail for all the main roads in that part of the country led to or from Pittsburg. At Cadiz, however, he struck the main highway from Pittsburg to the West and from Cambridge to Lancaster he was on a state road following the line of the famous trace which Ebenezer Zane, under authority of Congress, laid out from Wheeling in Virginia to Maysville in Kentucky in 1797. From Lancaster Flagg made his way through Columbus, the new state capital to Champaign county in the west-central part of Ohio, where he arrived November 8, 1816, forty-six days after leaving Richmond.

Here he remained, in Springfield and in Harmony township during the ensuing winter and spring; but it was not long before his "Ohio fever began to turn" and he was seized with the "Missouri and Illinois fever"-induced apparently by the hope of being able to secure work as a surveyor by going to St. Louis where the surveyor-general of Illinois and Missouri resided and by the belief that good land could be secured cheaply in the Military Tract in Illinois. On July 1, therefore, he arrived in Cincinnati, with intention of proceeding at once to St. Louis, but the advice of friends that for reasons of health it was best to arrive in a new country in the fall and the desire for company on the journey induced him to remain in Cincinnati until October. Finally he joined with another Vermonter in the purchase of a flat-boat and on October 19, they started to float down the Ohio. When the mouth of the Mississippi was reached, they put their baggage on a north-bound keel-boat and walked to St. Louis, arriving there the eighteenth of November.

A few days after his arrival in St.Louis, Flagg went prospecting for land in Illinois and made a purchase of 264 acres. Returning to St. Louis, he endeavored to secure a contract for some of the government surveying but without success, and in the spring of 1818 he established himself on a quarter-section of land six miles north of Edwardsville, in Madison county. Illinois. Renting part of the farm for a number of years, he cultivated the remainder himself and boarded with a neighbor. On September 27, 1827, he was married to Mrs. Jane Paddock Richmond, daughter of Gaius Paddock who in 1821 had taken up a quarter-section adjoining Flaggs. the rest of Flagg's life, with the exception of visits to relatives in the East in 1838 and 1855, was passed quietly, running his farm and serving as justice of the peace and as postmaster of Paddock's Grove. He died March 2, 1857.

As an illustration of the influence which the emigration of one individual sometimes had on his relatives and friends, it is interesting to note that of the eight brothers and sisters of Gershom Flagg who were younger than himself, five followed him to Illinois, four going directly to Madison county. of the other three, one died unmarried at the age of twenty-three, the family of another-a sister- moved to Illinois shortly after her death, and the third went as far west as Ohio. To the list might also be added a son of Flagg's oldest brother, who moved to PawPaw, Illinois, in 1850. The descndants of these brotherss and sisters are now scattered all over the United States from Vermont to California and thus the history of this family typifies in a way the spread of the American people across the continent.

In addition to telling the story of one of the leaders of that great stream of emigrants which flowed from New England to Illinois, these letters are of interest for the illustrations which they contain of social, economic and political conditions. Unlike so many of the travelers who wrote for publication, Flagg had no motive for distorting the things which he saw and experienced, and his pictures can be relied upon so far as they go.

Light is shed also upon a number of incidents of interest in state and local history. All the letters except one are addressed to one of the two older brothers or to the parents of the writer. The first four tell of the journey from Vermont to Ohio and give an account of pioneer agriculture and social conditions in that state in 1816 and 1817; the fifth letter is devoted to Cincinnati and contains an interesting picture of the Queen City of the West in 1817; the next letter contains a similar picture of St. Louis, an account of the journey thither, and information about land in Illinois and Missouri; the seventh letter serves as a resume of the writer's experiences since he left Vermont and the eighth is devoted to a description of Madison county and of Illinois in the year in which it became a state. The remaining letters, sixteen in all, of dates running from 1819 to 1836, deal with a variety of subjects; agricultural methods and conditions; state and national politics; the slavery controversy in Illinois; murders, robberies, hangings and duels; the activity of the surveyor-general in feathering the nests of his relatives; Lafayette's visit to the West-in short, they present a picture of society in Illinois (and also Iowa and Missouri) at the time when it was a rapidly growing frontier state

THE MOVE TO AND LIFE IN OHIO, 1816-1817

I find the Country (Ohio) 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 plowed once 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 ground 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 difficulty 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 otherwise 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 persuaded 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 miles square.

The Legislature of this state is now in session at Columbus but their proceedings are not very interesting. The emigration to this Country from New England and New York still continues. There has been several families came into this vicinity since I came here and there is in this township a dozen young men from Vermont. There is as many people moving from York state as from Vermont and more to this state, and people are going from here to Indiana and to the Missouri. The whole movement seems to be to the Westward and when they get there they go on beyond the Westward. I have seen some families of eight or 9 children on the road some with their horses tired others out of Money & c. I believe Many people who come to this Country are greatly disappointed. A Man with a family that comes from Vermont here has to encounter great difficulties. Although Grain is cheap it will take one or two hundred dollars to get here and when he gets here his horses are poor and will not sell for more than half what they cost in Vermont. If a man goes on to timbered Land he will have to buy all his provision for at least one year and there are many things which are worth but little in Vermont that cost considerable here. A Plow fit to plow the Prairie Ground will cost $20. and Rails laid up into a fence on the Prairie cost $2.25 a hundred. Salt is sold at .75 cents or a dollar a bushel and fifty pounds are called a bushel although it is not more than half a bushel and not more than half as strong as the Rock salt. It is sold at the Works for $9.00 a barrel. There {are} other things different from what you may have an idea of. 100 pounds is called a hundred weight. They have no gross weight in any thing. Corn is always sold in the ear in this state which makes it better for those who sell.

If you wish to know whether I like the Country I must tell you that I do although it is not so good in some respects as I expected but in other respects it is better but as I shall have a chance to know more about it I shall write hereafter I am as yet at a loss to know whether it is better for a man that has a farm in Vermont to sell and come here that is if he has a good farm. I think if I had a good farm in Vermont and was there myself I should not come here but I would advise every man who wished to buy a farm especially if he has no family to come here although many things are very inconvenient here. Mechanics of all kinds have a good chance to make money here as Mechanical labour is most intolerable high but a young man to work on a farm will not make one cent more than enough to clothe himself as well as people dress in Vermont. But this Country is settled in many places by a people whose wants are few and easely supplied. But as the Country grows older I expect that Clothing will grow cheaper and also many other things . The weather is warm and pleasant now and has been since I wrote you. We have had no snow. {It} freezes in the night and thaws in the day time. I {am} with Mr. Butler and shall stay here til the f{irs}t ? June I guess.

In my letter of the 18th inst.(sic) in answer to yours of the 11 April I promised to give you some account of this Country. I shall in this letter confine myself to the State of Ohio. I passed through the S.E. part of the State to Zanesville which lies on the Muskingum River from thence through Columbus to this place, from where I crossed the Pennsylvania line to Zanesville the Country is very uneven. We found some of the worst hills to travel up and down that I have ever seen where there was a Road. This part of the State abounds with large mines of Coal near or quite at the surface of the Earth. The soil is good for English grain being a red Clay but not so good for Grass or Corn. Generally speaking from the Muskingum to the Scioto River the land is more level the Soil more rich the timber more Maple and beach which before we came to the Muskingum was mostly Oak and Walnut. Upon the intervales or Bottom as it is called in this country the land is immensely Rich caused by the annual inunndations which are common to this Western Country.
This township (What we call towns the people here call townships and Our villages are called towns) lies upon the head Waters of the little Miami River 70 miles from Cincinnati 50 or 60 from Chiliocotha from Urbanna 40 from Columbus 30 from Dayton and 40 miles from the Indian Boundary. More than on fifth of the N.W. corner of this state is still in possession of the Indians. The Land except what belongs to the Indians is mostly settled that is the best of it. There is a plenty of Land for sale here. There is as many wishing to sell here and go further West as in Vermont but land is very high improved is from 4 to 25 dollars an acre.
In Champaign County the land is very level though sufficiently rolling to permit the Water to run of freely. It lies in small ridges the tops of Which are thinly covered with Black White and Burr Oak hickory and Walnut. the lower ground is Prairie covered with Grass, Shrubs plumb bushes Crab apples thorns different kinds of Lignious plants with a great variety of beautiful flowers. Some of these Prairies are large and level which look like a large body of Water in comparison of levelness. The soil of the land is Red Clay and black mould some poor land and some good. Corn grows best upon the black soil and English rain best upon the higher dryer and more Clayie soil. The soil produces Corn Wheat and most kinds of Veg{et}able &c as well as any Country except Peas which are said to be buggy, so there is none raised here. Corn grows from 10 to 15 feet high one Ear on a stalk. The ears grow very high. I have seen ears so high that I could not hand my hat upon them when standing upon the ground. Hogs will not waste the Corn when turned into it. It troubles them so much to tear down the Corn that they will not tear down more than they wish to eat up clean. After Corn is planted there is no more done to it except to plow among it and cut up the Weeds. They hill it up not at all. 2 men plant 10 acres a day. Corn is always sold in the ear in this state. The ground has to be cleared of the Cornstock in the Spring before it can be ploughed by cutting them down and drawing them togethe{r} with a horse Rake. They are then burnt.
The good thing{s} in this Country are Plenty of Grain which makes large fat horses and Cattle Rich Land ready cleared, some Whiskey plenty of feed for Cattle, Plumbs, Peaches, Mellons,Deer, Wild turkies, Ducks,Rabits, quails &c&c&c, little more Corn. The bad things are, Want of Stone, Want of timber for building, Bad Water, which will not Wash, overflowing of all the streams which makes it very bad building Bridges, especially where the materials are scarce as they are here, Bad Roads, igornant people, Sick Milk, Sick Wheat, a plenty of Ague near the large streams, Bad situation as to trade. The price of dry goods I think is about 50 or 62 1/2 per cent dearer here {than} with you. Hardward Groceries and all kinds of heavy Articles are about 100 per cent dearer Rum & Brandy 4 dollars gallon Iron 14 dollars per 100 pounds there is no grose weight here. I suspect it is different from this upon the Ohio River the prices are current at this place. Swarms of locusts have lately made their appearance.

I send you an extract from the Laws of the U.S. respecting the sale of Publick Lands, Viz.

At the time of application for a quarter section of 160 acres, $16 must be paid, which holds it for 40 days; at the end of 40 days $64 more must be paid, or another person may purchase the same tract. But if no person applies for it at the end of 40 days, or between that and 90 days, the first $16 holds it for 90 days. Within 90 days the first instalment 80 dollars must be paid or it reeverts to the United States: $80 second nstalment must be paid in two years: $80 third instalment must be paid in three years; and $80 fourth instalment must be paid in 4 years from the day of application; without interest if the payments are puncmade, if not draw 6 per cent interest from the date of the purchase. At the end of 5 years if the money is not completely paid the land is advertised and offered at publick sale and if the amount due thereon is not bidden and paid the land reverts to the U.S. and the first purchaser loses what he has paid on it. What ever the land sells for more than enough to satisfy the claims of the U.S. is paid over to the first purchaser. A discount of 8 per cent is allowed on the 2d,3d, & 4th installments if paid down which will bring the cost of 160 acres to $262.40 which is $1.64 per acre. If the payments are let run on interest to the end of 5 years 160 acres amounts to $392. which is $2.45 per acre.

It is to be understood, however, that when a district is first offered for sale it is offered to the highest bider Notice of which sale is given by a Proclamation by the President of the U.S. All that does not sell for over two dollars and acre is offered for sale at the land office at 2 dollars an acre s above stated. I send you this information that you may no upon what conditions land can be obtained in this country for the laws are the same respecting all the lands belonging to the U.S. I tho't probable you might not have seen these Laws. There is not much Congress Land for sale in this state. There is about a Million and a half of Acresin the District of Cincinnati but ther is a plenty in the Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, condition as above.

You {ask the price at which} land first sold for here and the price at {which it now} sells. Thereis some profit in buying new land in this Country but this is not all. There is much to be made in raising cattle in this country. The cattle are now fat fit for Beef. 4 or 5 hundred head lately left this county for Green Bay which lies upon theWest side of Lake Michigan. There is most excellent feed for cattle here I have seen a hundred head together and some men in this country own 4 or 5 hundred head and as good cattle as every you see. Some Milk 30 or 40 cows these are New england people. The country people never make any Cheese which makes cheese in this country the same price as butter. One thing in which I was very much disappointed ought not to be forgotten that is Hogs in this Country are the meanest that I have ever seen. When I first came here I tho't by the looks of the hogs that I had got to the place where roasted pigs run about the lots for they are crumped and are Brown sandy colour-it is true Pork in this country costs nothing and the wayit israied it is good for nothing. I do not believe you ever see half so mean hogs as we have here.

I wrote to you the 17 or 18 Dec last the 10 Jan, the 18 May in answer to yours of the 11 April also 1st June. I have been censured, by those in whose presence I read my letter of the first June, of representing things in a worse light than I ought particularly in my mentioning Sick Wheat and Milk which they say never ought to hender any person from comeing to this country. I think so myself. I did not mentiion this or any thing else to hender or discourage any one from coming here but to make you cautious where you bought land in case you did come. I havenot seen any sick Milk or sic Wheat but I {have} conversed {with several different} gentlemen who tell {me} that s{ick wheat is found in some}places & more particular upon theriver Bottoms orrr intervale. The wheat can be told from other wheat it being of a redish cast. Sick Milk is said to be caused by the cows eating a particular herb or plant but it is not ascertained what this herb is it however grows only in timbered Land.

The climate of this country is not so mild as has been represented. People who have lived in this country however for several years say that this country has grown worse as much as Vermont has. We had three Weeks good sleding last winter. The ground was Frozen from the 10th Jan to the 10 March.Before and after that time we had cold nights which froze considerable and warm days which thawed the ground again. This is not a comfortable place in the Winter it is not very cold but Rain & Mud and high Creeksin the fall and spring makke it worse than it is in the middle of Winter. The time for Pl{n}ting corn here is the month of May if it is planted earlyer it is croped by the May frost generally. We had a severe frost the20 & 21 of May last but it did no injury in this country. If Corn is planted in June it will not get ripe generally.There has been frost here every month the year past.

I recd your letter of the 6th of January on the 8th March but have delayed writing to you {not having any thing in particular to communicate} till the present time. I wrote two letters to Artemas the one in Dec. last and the other in Jan. On the 13th May I recd a letter from him informing me that he had not recd any letter from me. I cannot account for their miscarriage. I recd your Papers very regular during the winter. I have wrote several letters to Artemas since I recd his of the 11th April. I came to this place the 1st of lst month. Cincinnati is an incorporated City. It is situated on the bank of the Ohio river opposite the mouth of Licking river which has Newport on the East and Covington on the West side of the river both towns being in plain sight of Cincinnati. The River Ohio is here about half a mile in width. Cincinnati is 23 miles from the Mouth of the Great Miami river. It contained in 1815, 1,100 buildings of different descriptions among which are above 20 of Stone 250 of brick & 800 of Wood. the population in 1815 was 6,500. There are about 60 Mercantile stores several of which are wholesale. Here are a great share of Mechanics of all kinds. Among the Pulick buildings are three Brick Meeting houses one of Wood a large Lancasterian schoolhouse built of Brick. Within two weeks after opening the school it is said that upwards of 400 schollars were admited. The building is calculated to accommodate 1000. There is an Elegant Brick Court House now building and almost finished. There are two large and elegant Market Houses built of Brick one of which is 300 feet in length.

Here is one Wolen Factory four Cotton factories but not now in operation. A most stupendously large building of Stone is likewise erected immediately on the bank of the River for a steam Mill. It is nine stories high at the Waters edge & is 87 by 62 feet. It drives four pair of Stones besides various other Machinery as Wool caarding & c &c. There is also a valuabl Steam Saw Mill driving four saws also an inclined Wheel ox Saw Mill with two saws,one Glass Factory. The town is Rapidly increasing in Wealth & population. Here is a Branch of the United States Bank and three other banks & two Printing offices. The country around is rich & I think I never saw ass fine crops of Wheat in any other place as between the great & little miami's. We have a planty of good ripe apples pairs {sic} plumbs &c with all kinds of Vegetables in Market. Corn is fit to Roast. The weathe{r} is not warmer here than I have experienced in Vermont but I do not think this is a healthy place the Water is very unwholesome.I shall leave this place in aa few days and do down the river. I calculate to go directly to St. Louis in the Territory of Missouri at which place I wish you would direct your letter. I desire that you would write to me as soon as you receive this. The reason why I have determined on going to St. Louis is because the Land upon the Wabash that belongs to the U.S. is mostly taken up. the greatest part of the State of Indiana is owned by the Indians. I intend to go on to the Military Bounty Lands. I think probable there may be some of these Lands to be bought cheap in New England & New York. I wish you would write if you know of any to be bought and what they can be bought for. I am told that these lands are to be laid out in as good a part of the country as any in the U.S. but of this I shall know better when i see it. Land is much higher in this country than I expected and I think if you have plenty of Money you could not perhaps lay it out to better advantage than buying the Patents of those who wish to sell their lands. I have no doubt there are many who will never think of coming tolook of(sic)their land because they think it is almost out of the world but I am certain the country of the Illinnois & Missouri is well situated and will shortly become a Rich country when it is settled and it isnow settling very fast.

If you know of any to be bought in your vicinity I wish you would wrrite to me what a quarteer Section can be bought for, not however that I would recommend it to you to buy any until I have seen the Land unless you get it very cheap. I am Well at present and have been except 3 or 4 days ever since I left Vermont. I feel myself under the greatest obligation to you for the many favors you have been pleased to bestow upon me and for your offering to forward to me money if I should be in want thereof &c. I have a plenty at present for me.

St. Louis December 8, 1817

Dear Brother,

your letter of the 14 sept. I recd at this place the 18 ultimo, the day I arrived at this place having been detained at Cincinnatti until the 19 oct. longer than I intended to collect money which was due me at that place. I took water at Cincinnati in a small flat boat with a Roof to it. We floated to the mouth of the Ohio then put our trunks on board a keel boat bound to this place & walked 174 miles the distance from the mouth of the Ohio to this place. From Cincinnati to the mouth is 600 miles making a journey of 774 miles.
This town is in lat. 38 39' stiruated on a high bank on the west of the Missisipi fifhteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri & 40 miles below the mouth of the Illinois River. The shore is lined with lime stones and many of the houses are built of this material. The country for several miles back of St. Louis is Prairie handsome & dry & uncultivated. The town contains about 300 (Flagg undoubtedly intended to write 3000) inhabitants one half French the other Americans. it has been settled a long time but did not thrive until lately it is now flourishing about one hundred houses have been built the past season, several of Brick. Here are two printing offices & two Banks a steam saw mill is building on the bank of the River. the country around is settling very fast & I think this will become a place of great business altough it now does not exhibit a very handsome appearance the streets being narrow and the houses inelegant. It contains however about 30 stores. Every thing sells high. Wheat $1.00 per bushel Corn fifty cents & oats the same & Potatoes do Beef from 4 to 6 dollar per hundred Pork do. Board from $3.50 to $6.00 per week horse keeping $4 per week. Labour is 20 dollars per month or one doll per day & boarded. Brick ten dollars a thousand & boards sell quick at the enormous sum of from 60 to 75 dollars per thousand feet house rent from 10 to 30 dollars a month town lots sell from 500 to 3000 dollars.

I should have answered your letter before if I had had an opportunity but the mail did not arive for three weeks past until the 28 Nov. at which time I was absent in the Illinois Territory. The maiil is very Irregular the cuontry below here being often overflowed. At the same time I recd your letter I recd one from Artemas of the same date of yours. I also recd one from my Mother on the 4 inst. dated oct 8 which stated that Artemas was married &c. it gives me a pleasure to ear of your prosperity & I am much pleased with the addition you have made to your Library, I think if I could have an opportunity to peruse your Library it would be time well spent but at present I have no oopportunities of gaining much knowledge of the Sciences except Geography. I am pleased with this Country it is the richest soil and most handsomely situated of any I have ever seen. I have not seen the Military bounty lands nor can I get business of surveying at present. The surveyor Genl. informs me that 3 1/2 million of acres have been surveyed N.W. of the Illinois River & that 1/2 million is to be surveyed N.(ms torn} of the Missouri River & 2 millions between the Rivers Arkansas & St. Francis. If{you sh{ould purchase any Patents let them be in the Illinois Territory for the Missouri is not so good. I know the Laws respecting the Military Bounty lands & you will recollect that when I wrote you on the subject the Patents were not & could not be issued & I did not suppose the Land would be drawn so soon as was advertised the 25 sept. which was the reason I wished you to wait until I had seen the Land For I tho't there was not a good chance to purchase before the Patents were issued. I am told by the Surveyors that the Land is Rich handsome & well watered but poorly timbered I am not anxious about your purchasing any for I do not expect it will be settled soon & if it does not the land will not be so valuable as it otherwise would be.

I am told that one half of the Lands are Prairie and the other timbered. The timbered Land will be very valuable and the Prairie the reverse so that it is like a Lottery you have about an equal chance to draw a great prize & it must be some prize because the Land is to be fit for cultivation. Some say that the Prairie *that has no timber upon it will be returned unfit for cultivation to the General Land Office. But I think this will not be the case. If you should purchase any you will be good enough to let me know the No&c as soon as convenient.

I have located 264 acres of Land in the Illinois Territory 26 miles from this place & about ten from the Mouth of the Missouri River about half of it is Rich dry Prairie & the Remainder timbered with Oak Hickory Elm Walnut &c. I shall stay in St. Louis this winter & how much longer I know not. I am in good health & Remain your affectionate Brother. My love to my sister &c.

I have received too much of your kindess to suppose yu are indifferent as to my welfare. I have the pleasure to inform you that I am in perfect health & have enjoyed my health since I left you most of the the time. I ws sick a few days in Cincinnati & again going down the Ohio River But I enjoy my health better now, than when I left Vermont. I left Vermont you will recollect the 23rd sept. 1816-arrived at Springfield C.C. (O) the 8 of Nov & as Mr. Coleman would not proceede any farther I concluded it would be better not to proceede alone as the season was so far advanced & money not so flush with me as I could have wished. I intended to have proceeded on my journey in April or may but I could get no one to accompany me & people who had been in this country told me that I ought not to come into it in the Spring if I did they said I should be likely to get Sick. Upon these considerations I agreed to stay in Cincnnati until the last of Sept at which time a young man, formerly from Montpelier, Vermont, agreed to go with me. But by some disappointments we did not get off until the 19th of Oct. We bought a flat boat with a covering to it and floated down the river after laying in a sufficient quantity of Provissions. We had a very good pasage But got tossed about some at the falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville about which large boats & Steam Boats cannot pass except in the Spring or fall when the waters rise 30 or 40 feet. It is a very dismal looking place after we pass the mouth of the wabash the banks of the River being generally unsettled & covered with willows, cane breaks & Prodigious large Cotton (wo(o)d, a species of the Poplar. The warter overflows for several weeks at the junction of the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers the depth of 15 or 20 feet. When we got to the mouth of the Ohio we put our trunks & chests on board a keel Boat bound to this place and walked on foot ourselves a distance of 174 miles. A great part of the way we had very wet muddy walking & some of the way had to wade in the water. We arrived at this place the 18th of Nov. I have traveled since I left Vermont 1794 miles from Richmoond to Springfield C.C. Ohio is 900 from thence to Cincinnati 75 thence to the mouth of the Ohio by water 645 thence to St.Louis 174 miles from Cincinnati to the place by land is about 400 miles which would make it by land 1375 miles & I suppose it is about 1300 miles the nearest Road that can be traveled. It is 1250 miles in a direct line as I calculate from the Lat. & Longitude of the places. This being in Lat 38 18 & Long 12 41' W. & Richmnd Vt. in the Lat 44 24'N & Long. 4 13'E from Washington. I have entered 264 acres of Land 25 miles from this place(&) 10 or 12 from (the) mouth of the Missouri River Part Prairie and part timbered land. I have not much to write to you respecting the Counntry but as I hope to see you in a yaer or so I will then tell you all you wish to know. I will only say that it is the handsomest and best country that I have ever seen. In places there is Prairies as far as the eye can reach covered with tall grass higher than a mans head.

The Climate is mild we have had but little snow here this winter the River is not frozen but is full of floating ice. Although the distance between us is lon yet my affections for you & my Brothers & Sisters is stil the same. I hope you will not neglect the education of my two young Brothers as education is the best thing you can give them.

EDWARDSVILLE, MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS TERRITORY, 12 SEPT. 1818

Dear Brother, ( According the the Flagg Famiy records Artemas Flagg was married on Sept. 6, 1817 to Betsey Squires, daughter of Stephen & Bethia (Bishop) Squires)

Your letter of the 31st May mailed June 8, I received, the 23rd of July which informed me that you were all well at the time. May this continue to be your good fortune and may these lines reach you as they leave me in good health. As you may wish to know something of the Country in which I live, I will write a few lines respecting it. The Territory of Illinois contains nearly all that part of the United States Territory east of the Mississippi and N.W. of the Ohio & Wabash Rivers. The late law of Congress enabling the people to form a Constitution & State Government makes the boundaries on the S. & W. Ohio & Mississippi Rivers on the East by Indiana State N by 42 30' N. Lat. The conjunction of the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers is in Lat 37 N so that this Territory is 350 miles in length. The face of the Country is very level without any mountains and but few hills. It is not exceeded by levelness or richness of soil by any in the United States. The prairies are very large while the timbered land is confined almost wholly to the Intervales and low rounds. Where ever the land is high and dry enough for the fire to run in the spring and fall the timber is all destroyed. The Soil is of such an alluvial nature that the water courses cut out deep chanels from 6 to 20 feet deep generally. Where this is the case the streams do not overflow.

We have all kinds of soil from midling poor to the very best. It produces Corn & Wheat better than any other Country I have seen. It also produces hemp, flax, Mellons, Sweet potatoes, Turnips & all kinds of vegetables except Irish Potatoes as good as any other Country. Cotton is raised sufficient for domestic use, a very small piece of ground produces enough for a family.

We have plenty of apples, peaches &c in places. Grapes & of several kinds and several kinds of Wild plumbs & cherries in profusion also Dew Berries, Black berries and Strawberries. The bottom Prairies are covered with Weeds of different kinds and grass about 8 feet high. The high Prairies are also thickly covered with grass but finer & not so tall. The prairies are continually covered (in the summer season) with wild flowers of all colors which gives them a very handsome appearance. These high Prairies are smoother than any intervale & not a stone, log or anything but grass & weeds to be seen for miles except where they border the timber there is generally a thicket of plumb bushes, hazel grape vines &c&c. The Roots of the grass are very tough it generally requires 3 yoke of Oxen or six horses to plough up the prairies & the plough must be kept at a keen edge by filing often, the steel not being hardened, but this is all that is to be done except fencing to raise a crop. After one year the ground is mellow and requires but a light team to plough it. The Timber in this Country is very different from any you have seen. The most Common timber is White, Black, Spanish post, Chincopin, Pin and Burrh Oak, Walnut Black & White, Basswood, Cherry Button wood Ash, Elm Sassafras, Sumach, Elder, Honey locust, Mulberry, Crab Apple, Thorn of different kinds, Redbud, Pecon, Hackberry, Maple, Cotton Wood, Pawpaw which bears a fruit larger than an apple. The timber is not so good as I have seen, generally, the fire kills & checks the growth every year. When the fire gets into high thick grass it goes faster than a horse can Run & burns the Pairie smooth.

The situation of this Territory is good for trade having the advantage of Water carriage on all sides the Missisipi on the West,the Ohio & Wabash S.E. & the Kaskaskia and Illinois in the interior of the Territory. The Illinois which is about 400 miles in length heads near Lake Michigan. A branch of Illinois heads within 4 miles of the head of Chicago a short River which empties into Lake Michgon. In fresh(t)s boats pass this portage the waters being connected . They are made shallow for the purpose. I have seen them at St. Louis landing. I think there will be a canal cut to connect the waters of Illinois & Chicago at no distant period. From information the expense would not be great. One hundred thousand acres of Land is appropriated for this purpose. This done we have a water communication from almost any part of the Territory to the states of Indiana Ohio & Pensylvania on either side of those states. Also with New York by the way of Lake Erie & an easy Communications with Ocean by New Orleans. One steam Boat Run from ST. Louis to Louisville Kentucky the last season and another from St. Louis to NewOrleans. One of them cae up to St. Louis the 1st January last and returned but the Ice generally covers the River in January & Febuary. That is, drifting ice, for the Missisipi was not shut over last winter at St. Louis tho it sometimes is. The Missouri was frozen over last winter. There are 8 or 10 steam boats on the Ohio and Missisipi Rivers and more buildings,there was two built in Cincinnati last summer& one at the Rising Sun and one at New Albany below the falls of Ohio. the Trade from St.Louis to Orleans is very considerable there are in St. Louis between 40 & 50 mercantile Stores.

We have a great plenty of Deer, Turkies, Wolves, Opossoms, Prairie hens, Eagles, Turky Buzzards, Swans, Geese, ducks, Brant, sand hill Cranes, Paokites & with many other small animals & birds. Gray aquirrels are as thick here as I have ever seen stripeld (sic) ones in Vermont. There is more honey here in this Territory I suppose than in any other place in the world. I have heard the Hunters say that they have found 8 or 10 swarms in a day on the St. Gama & Illinois Rivers where there are not settlements (Truly this must be the Land of Milk & Honey) The Climate is not so hot as might be expected there is almost a continual breeze blowing from the large prairies like the breezes on large Lakes & ponds. The country is so open that it is considerable cold in Winter, the ground freezes very hard. There being enerally but little snow. The past summer has been very hot more than common I am told. The Thermonmeter on the hottest day stood at 98. I learn from the News Papers that the Weather has been very hot in different parts of the United States.

The Stock of this Country consists principally of horses, horned Cattle & hogs. Sheep will do very well here if they can be kept from the Wolves but this cannot well be done in the newsettled parts the wolves are so very numerous. Hogs will live & get fat in the Woods and Prairies. I have seen some as fat upon Hickorynuts, Acorns, Pecons & Walnuts, as ever I did those that were fatted upon Corn. All that prevents this country being as full of Wild hogs as of Deer is the Wolves which kill the pigs when the sows are not shut up til the pigs are a few weeks old. There are places in this Territory where Cattle & horses will live all winter & be in good order without feeding, that iis upon the Rivers. Most of the people cut no hay for their Cattle & horses but this is a foolish way of theirs, they either have to feed out their Corn or their Cattle get very poor. Cattle & horses do very well in this Country they get very fat by the middle of June. They do not gain much after this being so harrassed by swarms of flies which prevent their feeding any in the heat of the day. They are so bad upon horses that it is almost impossible to travel from the 15 June til the lst Sept unles a horse is covered with blankets. Where ever a fly lights upon a horse a drop of blood starts. I have seen white horses red with blood that these flies had drawn out of him. As the Country becomes settled these flies disappear.

It appears from the returns to the secretary that there is in this Territory upwards of 40,000 inhabitants. The Convention which met the first mondy(sic) in August have formed a Constitution but it is not yet published, as soon as it is I will send you a Copy. The Gov. is to be Chosen for 4 years as also the senate the members of the lower house are chosen once in two years the Legeslature to set biennally. I have delayed writing for several days to hear whether Simeon Manuel was in St. Louis but can hear nothing of him. P.P. Enos formerly of Woodstock, Vermont now lives i St. Louis and he tells me he knows no such man there.

William S. Wait son of Thomas B. Wait of Boston, Mass was in this Territory last March and bought 2500 Acres of Land & told me he should return to this Country to live.....Jason Chamberlin from Burlington lives at Cape Gerardeau a small Town on the West Bank of Missisipi about 120 miles below St.Louis. I saw his wife when I was coming up the River but he was gone to Arkansaw on business. Charles Peck who once lived with Moses Spencer now lives 18 miles from the Mouth of the Missouri at St. Charles. a small town on the North side of the Missouri, his Brother a blacksmith lives at the same place.

You mention that Stephen Hallock had gone to Darby Creek Ohio. I have also hear that Gideon wright was there. I have been there myself. That part of the country is entirely level very Rich and in the spring covered with water. Darby Creek is a Branch of the Scioto River.

The 26 April I recd a letter from you dated 6July 1817 and post marked Hubbardton July 9th having been 9 months & 17 days on the way having been mislaid as I suppose. You have been very particular in you(r) letters which has given me much satisfaction but you still complainof you(r) inability to write I wish you would not try to excuse your self from writing on that head but write as often as you can get time for I have money enough to pay the Postage and it never goes more freely than to hear from my friends and nothing gives me more satisfaction than reading your Letters.

I have not been able to get any employment in surveying The Lands, having been principally surveyed in the winter of 1816-17. There was then upwards of 80 companies employed upwards of 4 month. They surveyed the Military Bounty Lands and most of the other Lands where the Indian title was extinguished, 3 1/2 millions of acres of bounty lands were survd between the Missisipi and Illinois Rivers. There is now considerable surveying to be done but the Surveyor General, Rector, has so many connections that are surveyors ,that it is not possible for a stranger to get any contract of any importance. Gov. gives 3 dollars a mile for surveying all publick lands. Some who are not Surveyors ( but favorites) make Contracts for surveying and then hire it done. I was offered 25 dollars a month last winter to go with another surveyor but did not choose to go under a man who did not know as much as I did myself.

I entered 420 acres of Land near this place and about 25 mies from St. Louis and 10 or 12 from the Conjunction of the Missisipi and Missouri Rivers and 18 or 20 from the Mouth of Illinois nearly in Lat 38 30' North. I now own only 160 acres haveing sold the remainder for $285. dollars being double what I gave for it. The quarter Section which I now own is on the trail which leads from Edwardsville to Fort Clark which is at the south end of Illinois Lake a dilation of the Illinois River 210 miles from its mouth following its meanderings. This fort was buillt in the time of the Late War. This with forts at Chicago and fox River which empties into green bay, Macinau, Prairie des Chien and fort Edwards on the Missisippi below the mouth of Rock River serve to regulate the Indian trade and protect the Frontiers from the savages. The United States have also garisons upon Red River, Arkansaw and Missouri Rivers.

The people of This Territory are from all parts of the United States & do the least work I believe of any people in the world. Their principal business is hunting deer, horses, hogs and Cattle and raising Corn. they have no pasture but turn every thing out to run at large and when they want to use a horse or oxen they will have to travel half a dozen miles to find them through grass and weeds higher than a man can reach when on horseback and the grass and vines are so rough that nothing but their Leather hunting shirts and trowsers will stand any Chance at all.

These kind of People as soon as the settlements become thick Clear out and go further into the new Country. The method ofRaising Corn here is to plough the ground once then furrow it both ways and plant the Corn 4 feet each way and plough between it 3 or 4 timess in the Summer but never hoe it at all. Wheat is generally sowed among the Corn and ploughed in sometime in August or first sept. there are no barns in this Country people stack all their Wheat and thresh it out with horses on the ground. We have not many good mills in this Country.

the price of Corn last harvest was 33 1/3 cents in the spring 50 cents ,.in the summer, 75 cents .Potatoes are from 50 to 100 cents a bushel, oats 50 cents. Wheat one dollar, Beef from 3 1/2 to 5 dollars perhundred, Pork from 4 to 7 dollars a hundred. Dry goods are getting very Cheap , the country is full of them we have more merchants than any thing else. Boots and Shoes sell the highest here of any place I was ever in, iron is 75 dollardsa hundred, salt 3 dollars a bushel, butter from 12 1/2 to 50 cents a pound cheese generally brings 25 cents and very little to be had at that price, for there is none made except by Eastern people. the price of improved farms here is from 5 to 12 dollars an acre.

Edwardsville, Illinois 25th Jan. 1824

Dear Brother,

I have not heard from you for several months and while reflecting upon your negligence in writing, I happened to think of my own remissness in writing also--and instead of unbraiding you I will begin with excusing my self for not writing oftener. Iif I have any excuse for my negligence it will be found in my being very much engaged in my own business together with the singular situation of affairs in this state which occupies much of the attention of every man who has the future prosperity of the state in view. I have ordered Mr. Warren to send the Edwardsville Spectator to John Johnson Esq. of Burlington Vermont. Thiss paper will give you a very good idea of what is going on here if you can get a peep at it, which you can, I make no doubt, if Mr. Johnson receives it. We have had a very extraordinary wet summer-dry pleasant fall-& so far warm pleasant winter we have had no snow of consequence and very few days but what we could have ploughed if occasion required. The bees have been flying nearly every day this month and the grass has began to grow in the low lands. Pork & beef are selling from $1.50 to $2.00 pr. hundred, Wheat from 50 to 75 cents and Corn from 20 to 25 cents pr.. bushel.

For news-there is a man to be hung on the 12 day of next month at Edwardsville for murder. There was about 8 thousand quarter sections of non resident lands sold at Vandalia in Dec. last, for taxex (sic) which if not redeemed within one year will belong to the purchasers. The sums they were sold for would not exceed 5 dollars upon an average and this sum was received in Illinois State Bank paper which is worth only 30 cents to the dollard which will bring the price of the land if not redeemed at less than one cent pr. acre. We have had an uncommonnly healthy fall in this state more so than since I have lived in the State. I see by the papers that our Brother Azariah is elected a member of the N.Y. Legislature again. I hope if he has any thing to do with the election of the next President of the U.States that John Q. Adams may be the first man and William H. Crawford the last man of all the Candidates which will be supported by him. We have seen and felt too much of the bad management of the Secretary of the Treasury in this western country not to wish any other candidate elected before him who has suffered immense sums of money to be deposited in banks whose credit was so poor that individuals dare not and would not trust their money in those banks. I think that a majority of the people of Illinois are in facor of Mr. Adams for our next President. Mr. Clay, I think would be the next man on the list & the next Mr. Calhoun but Mr. Crawford has but few friends here. I am anxious to hear from you all & hope you will not fail writing as soon as you receive this. I wish you to give my most friendly respects to John Johnson, edqr. of burlington and enquire of him whether he received a letter which I wrote to him in August last and also is he received the Spectator, which I send him weekly.

Edwardsville, Illinois, July 20, 1825

Dear Brother,

I have not written to you for a long time because I intended before this time to have seen you at your own house but my circumstances are sush that I have not been able to accomplish my intentions as yet. I shall not set any time again to see you but as soon as I can shall come and make you a visit. I have been looking every mail to hear from you but not receiving any letter I suppose you expected me there and have therefore neglected writing on that account. Being very anxious to hear from you I hope you will write as soon as you receive this. We have had a very remarkable year so far; the month of Jan. was entirely dry warm weather the ground was hardly frozen at all and we had neither snow or rain during the month. Crops are now 3 or 4 weeks earlierthan usual Cherries were ripe by the middle of May and people commenced harvesting wheat before the 20 June. I saw ripe blackberries the 10 day of June and Corn now is generally ten feet high. For a few days past it has been very hot and the ground is now very dry indeed. Our political squables and quarrels have subsided very much and I am in hopes we shall have better times in this State hereafter. It appears that a majority of the people are opposed to the introduction of Slavery and I think the question is now at rest forever. In my last letter to Eliza I enclosed a three dollar bill for many. I believe it ws on a vermont bank. I have not recd any answer to the letter which makes me suspicious that she did not receive the letter.

Property is now very low here. Corn is worth only about 72 1/2 cents pr. bushel Beef about $1.50 pr Cwt Wheat 50 cents cows are worth from 5 to 7 dollars. Oxen from 20 to 40 dollars a yoke horses all prices from 10 to 80 dollars. Goods have risen some since the speculations in Cotton. Steam Boars are very plenty nowon the Mississippi the first Steam Boat came to St. Louis the year I came there but now sometimes they have 3 or 4 there at a time. They travel up the current of the Mississippi at the rate of about 100 miles per day and some times more.

I wish to know "how wags the world wi'ye"

Lafayette came up the Mississippi as far as St. Louis got his dinner and the next day dined at Kaskaskia in this state almost a hundred miles from the former place. From thence he went up the Ohio and Cumberland rivers as far as Nashvill(e) in Tennessee thenc(e) back to Shawneetown and so up the Ohio like a whirligig and like to have given his last whirl when the steam boat sunk but fortunately at that time two steam boats on the way to Orleans saw the situation of the Nations guest and volunteered their services to help him out of the scrape. You will learn by this circumstance that Steam boats are very plenty on the Ohio river some times I am told there are twenty at a time at Louisville. I am informed also by a Gentleman who had traveled from N. York to Vermont (in) Steam boats on North river and lake C(ham)plain that the Boats on the Ohio & Mississippi rivers are equal if not superior to the boats on north river. New boats are building in great numbers in different places on the Ohio River. You will perceive that I have been scribbling along "till I have but sufficient room to mention that I remain in good health your most affectionate Brother and friend