Pgs 412-686 - Illinois Ancestors

468 BIOGRAPEY AND REMIXISCERCES
travelers left St. Louis on the ' Swift Sure ()' on Friday morning, and
did not reach Peoria until Taesclay night. They l~assed Alton on
Sunday morning as people were going to churclr, ancl on Monilt~y
morning were still just above tho city tied tc a tree ! as through solnt:
defect in her engine the Swift, Sure could 1:3t sten1 the culblamt ant1
there ~vas danger of herb being tlrifted back during the nlgllt. So
~nucli for the pleasn~es of traveling in lS:3T. I3nt Peoria was fina,ll\~
reached on the night of July 4, ant1 the emigi~nllts learnecl soliletl~in&.
new to tllenl, of the confusfon and disorcle~a followillg r~ celelwation of
Independence (lay. Several (lays passed ere teams co~dtl be secnretl
and drivers soljer enough to manage them, to convey the two fanlilies
and their effects to \Vyolning, their ~~ltiirlate goal being Osceola Chovc.
-Peoria was then but ;L hamlet on the lalre. A half-built 11otel on the
corner of Main and Water streets, ltept 1)v Garrett, affordetl slielter to
strangers. On tile evening of ~uly the ~th, the two I:~niiJies, ant1
Tllolnss Hall, sr., arrivecl at the llo~lse of Gel7eri~1 T~~OIII~LS, :kt W y( )-
ming,. and hntl seen hut one log hut since Ieminq Peoria. Il;nlblv on the
mornln6 of the Dth, the cloctor llired a l~orse ot General ~lloinas, :~rltl
rnacle his way to ' Vanclylie's -t'ortl,' tlie1.e received fresh clirchctlons by
means of which he fo~intl his brother \Villianl's cabin in tlue time.
Soon an ox team and big wagon were on their \ \ T : ~ ~ to ~ Wyoming, ;~ntl
after sundry experiences, novel ;IS trying to tlie obculx~n ts of t Ire big
wagon, home was at last reachetl, ant1 brot.llers an tl sisters. partet l
weary months before in Englantl, weye now re-nnitetl in Illinois. Hot
the c~ngrntula~tions of \vlint \vould otllelawise llzare been sue11 :L 11a ppy
meeting, were tlro wnetl in tears at meli t ion of tliei r hollort3(1 niotl~er
whom they coultL no longer even hope to see t~g~in on eartll.
"We must now go back in the order of time some eigliteen inorrtl~s,
or to Febroary. I S3(i7 when the first instalhllent of this fa,lnily si~iled foia
the new worltl, and, as ~uigl~t he expected, met even grea.telb obst;~cles
and privations in the course of their journey than were encounteretl by
the second group, to \vllicll we liave briefly ;~llocletl, as at this per*io;l
of 1 listory every sr~ bsequent yeala rendered elnigrntiori easier an tl pleasanter;
some one lras said 'a, winter passage of the Atlantic is Inlt :I
sllort cut to a watery gla;~ve,' ant1 too often ~t proves so, even ill t11esc
clays of i~nlwo~~etl nt~vlgation. Let tlrose ~7ho can, inlagine its l~o~*~ors
in 1836, before tllc in ven tio~ 1 of ocean steirlt~el~s, i~ntl ~vl~e~r t11e fil~;t 11cial
ruin that hacl over*talten tJ~is fmn ily collil3elletl the111 to con tent tlleirlselves
wi t 11 c11e:l.l) accoml~~od:,,tic,ns on a sailing. vessel. IIeatl \r i ntls
and roagll seas 111;iie their voyage unr~suttlly ted~ous, alrtl w11en in rrlitl
ocean, they ellcounteretl icebergs dint tllreatenetl certain tlestruction.
I3nt after over seven weelts 1)lrtfeting \vitll tlie \raves, tlley anclrored in
tlhe 11arl)o1* Of New York. Mrs. Williw ln 1Iull 11atl an uncle in
Pennsylra.niw. wl~o ma,& iL quiet resting place for tllem, but aftel*
i~ecrniting- For a little ~rll ile, tllev resualed their journey west \\.a rtl.
crossing the ino~untains by a horse lanll~iray,' .a, nle;\ns of transit'
that hat1 nmr terrors f o the ~ women, at least. At Pittsbnrg thrv
took a boat tlolvn the Ohio. They had reason to fear they hat1
been exposed to stnall-pox, ancl soon tiiscovered that two of their
party (Robert and Mary) had fa.llen victims to this terrible mal-