Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER S 1022 a-b
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE April 27, 1806
AUTHOR William Sawyer (brother)
RECIPIENT Mary Anna Sawyer Schuyler
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Thomas Sawyer, Judge Washington family, Thomas Jefferson,
Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee, Thomas Coffin,
PLACES Harper’s Ferry, Washington DC, Alexandria, Mt Vernon, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Ellicott Mills, Maryland, Virginia, the Shenandoah River, the Potomac River (“Pataumak”), Maryland, Pennsylvania, Blue Ridge mountains, Shepherdstown, Hagerstown, Carlisle, Susquehanna, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Valley, the North Mountains, Pittsburgh, the Ohio River, Chambersburg, Laurel Ridge, Allegheny mountains, Ohio, Niagara, Boston, Germantown, Schuylkill river,
KEYWORDS “The circuit” (courts), growth of Baltimore (formerly a “Tobacco &
Wheat Plantation”), beauty of Virginia, arsenal and manufacture of
arms, topics suitable for “Ladies”, Hannah’s “botanical knowledge”, whisky, farming, versus NE farmers, wheat, description of “ square” and market of Chambersburg, pairs of doves, “the red bird”, description of “western inhabitants”, “Goiters or swelling of the glands” at Pittsburg (fever?), [“flitters?” - type of wagon train of families], “creals” (horses or mules) with “Bakers panniers”, western exploration, Westward expansion, description of Lancaster and eastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia vs. Boston,
NOTE: publication by William Sawyer of 1806 “Travels in America” https://ia600306.us.archive.org/23/items/travelsinamerica00ashe/travelsinamerica00ashe.pdf
[LATER NOTATION in blue]
# A3
[ORIGINAL]
Harpers Ferry at the Blue Ridge in Jefferson Co.
Virginia Apr. 27th 1806
Dear Sister
I have not many materials for a letter, but distance / sometimes colours what is barren with interest. Through / Tho’s, perhaps you may have heard of [^me] at Washington, I / believe the day after I wrote him, on the 18th I made an / excursion to Alexandria & Mt Vernon, and it so happened / that every circumstance conspired to render it pleasant. I / had letters, and dined with Judge Washington's family. / he was absent on the Circuit. A day passed as you / may suppose rapidly, in visiting a spot, on which / a thousand recollections dear to an american arrest / & detain the attention . Alexandria is a handsome/ town . on the 22nd inst I returned from wash’tn to / Baltimore, were I found some friends and passed four / days agreeably . Its growth has been surprising, / and already it rivals Philadelphia in commerce altho' / Sixty years since it was a Tobacco & Wheat Plantation. / Having a strong inclination to see a little of the / interieur[sic] of the country here, I left Baltimore on / the 22nd in the afternoon and lodged at a romantic / situation called Ellicott Mills about 12 Miles distance. / These things however delightful to the traveller, fatigue / in description , I pass over that therefore , to Frederic[.T.] / an Inland place of considerable note in Maryland
[END OF PAGE 1]
~ I passed last night there, and arrived this ev’g at / sunset where you find my letter dated. ~~ This / place was particularly an object of my curiosity, the / for description of it called forth the pen of our Pres’t / Mr J. in its most vivid colours, as you will see / if you will look at his notes on Virginia . To that / description I refer you for the best idea that you can / form of it. If this man's political promises [ ^his inaugural speeches & presidential messages] had / accorded as nearly with truth, as has his historical nar- / -rative in this instance, we should not have to accuse / him of "Pattering with us in a double sense, to keep" /
"The word of promise to the ear but buck it to the sense," /
some visitors are disappointed in this spot, it is not so with myself. /I wish you & Hannah here to ramble a few hours on the / banks of the Shenandoah & the Pataumak[sic], the objects / are grand, and not unworthy the Philosophers attention, / or the Painter's pencil._ as I am addressing Ladies I / will not talk of the arsenal and a large manufacture / of arms at this place, although, gent’n devote as much / time to these as in viewing the surrounding mountains, / and abrupt precipices overhanging that ?? of ??I / those s-??- rivers at their point of junction . I / have for a companion in this jaunt Mr. Tho’s Coffin of Boston /
[END OF PAGE 2]
whom I fell in with at Washington, to morrow we / intend pursuing our route about twelve miles West / in Virginia, and then taking a more northerly direction thro' / a part of Maryland & Pensylvania to the N.West of the / Blue Ridge to Shepherdstown, and then over the Potowmac / to Hagars town , Carlisle, and across the Susquahannah / to Harrisburg, down to Lancaster, & Philadelphia. I / am particular, as I recollect my mother is used to be / fond of tracing out journeys on maps, and 'tis said / this embraces a very fertile country, that contributes / a liberal proportion towards burthening [^with Flour & Tobacco] the storehouses / and shipping of our N.E. States. Every part of the / country here is now bright with [^the] verdure [^of wheat] the season is / about a month in advance of yours . _ I do not find/ any essential change of manners in the country people here. / their habitations are inferior, and I think they class beneath / the N.E. Farmers, & our common country [^folks] people . This is the / land of Whisky, I have drank it with water for a / common beverage this two days,They do not use [^for the want] of cyder or beer . / There is much here to gratify a botanical taste. But / I want some of Hannahs knowledge in this respect. / My paper is done, & it is late your aff’t Brother Wm Sawyer
[END OF PAGE 3]
Chambersburg [^Pensylvania]
April 30th { As I cannot forward this I continue , yesterday / I travelled through a pleasant & cultivated tract of country a / sort of Valley between the Blue Ridge and what are called / the North Mountains. This place is 150 miles West of Philadelphia / and about an equal distance from Pitsburg[sic] on the Ohio, it is / built of neat stone & Brick laid out in squares with a market, and / may serve for a sample of most of these interiour cities, for / it is [^this & many are] incorporated._ The In riding we continually start Doves / on the road, always inseparable, and never more than one / pair together, meeting them at every few rods distance~ / In Maryland & Virginia the Red bird was frequent~ / I m-[^e]-t with some travellers from the west who they mention experiencing / a considerable snowstorm in crossing the Laurel Ridge & Alleghaney / on the day before yesterday . We were at the same time ?? / by rod enjoying a May day ._ These western inhabitants seem / as it were from another country, so remote are they from us, they / mention one fact new to me, that they are afflicted at Pittsburg / with Goiters or swelling of the glands of the neck . We have met / to day many what are called [flitters?]. these are waggons of / families with their moveables migrating to the Western territories / over the mountains they often transport themselves with [creals?], / that is with horses or mules and something like Bakers panniers with / three or four children on each side__ Thus you find I have / already imbibed the propensity of relating travellers / stories. I have picked up these by moving along in the Ohio / line of States towards Philadelphia, if this were not so / sister maryanna I should apologise for writing so carelessly_ W.S.
[END OF PAGE 4]
In Cont’n Philadelphia May 4th
you find me at this city , where I am very willing to / rest a few days. The latter part of my excursion west / was through a highly cultivated country . the tenements of stone / chiefly, very large barns of the same materials, in which they aboun[^d] / and some handsome & regular towns & villages . Lancaster / might be considered quite a city . This circuit comprises / in distance about 300 Miles . Some of the roads are bad, / and I doubt whether ladies would find themselves recompensed / for the fatigue in a rout of this kind . For We travellers! you / must know are apt to represent only the alluring parts, [wax seal] / and to pafs over the numerous vexations of expeditions [wax seal] / of this nature . Apropos, of Niagara . I shall be at Boston / about the 20th inst. and if you feel equal to it both, and can / obtain necessary consent, I for my own part if nothing / unforseen prevents, should like it sometime in June~ /
I arrived here the 2nd inst~ yesterday had a pleasant / ride in the environs of the city to Germantown , noted in / in the history of our war , and returned by the Schuyllkill / embellished with handsome country seats. There is much / to admire, but the vicinity of Boston affords finer / situations and a greater variety & extent of prospect- /
My suitable remb’s your Afft Brother
Wm Sawyer
Miss Mary anna Sawyer
[END OF PAGE 5]
[ADDRESS]
Miss Mary Anna Sawyer
At Dr Micaj’h Sawyers
Newburyport
State of MafsachufettsTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
