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From: "Gail Kilgore" <>
Subject: [ILHENDER-L] Re: Information
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 10:09:43 -0700


Westward Ho!
Fifty Years Ago

The people of this generation have little idea of travel in the
west 50 years ago; nor how wild and comparitively unsettled the
country was west of Ohio, so I thought I would give an account
of a trip I made as far west as Iowa, 48 years ago.

On May 1st, 1851, I started on my trip for what was then the
"far west". I started from Castle Fin and went to Baltimore
where I got a ticket over the B & O R. R. for Wheeling,
Virginia on the Ohio River. Arriving there I crossed the
river, and went out about 2 miles in Ohio to where my uncle,
GEORGE WISE lived. I remained in the neighborhood till the
15th of November following. In company with three others, I
then concluded to go west to Iowa City, Iowa. We went to
Bellaire, Ohio where we got tickets to Columbus. We arrived
there at ten o'clock that day and had to remain there till 9
o'clock that night on account of a broken bridge.

In our party were PHILLIP WISE, ANDREW KILGORE, JAMES
ALEXANDER, [father of MRS. T. M. CRAWFORD and MRS. CHARLES R.
McCONKEY] and myself. While waiting at Columbus, we all
concluded to visit the penitentiary, so we went to the office
and asked leave. They sent a man with us and we got orders not
to speak to the prisoners. What we saw there was a lesson for
life. If all could see such places of punishment, I don't
think there would be so many criminals in prison.

When our train was ready to pull out, we got tickets for Rock
Island, Ill. on the banks of the Mississippi River. That was
as far as we could go by rail. We crossed the river to
Davenport, Iowa, from which it was still 60 miles to do down
the river bottom.

We started at 8 o'clock at night and placed ourselves in the
care of the driver. He had a quart bottle in his pocket, which
he used too freely, and about half way down he upset the stage
and all that was in it. We helped to lift the old stage back
on the road, but were detained about two hours. When ready to
start, the driver wanted us to drink with him but not feeling
in the best of humor, not one of us touched it. We got to the
end of that route by daylight the next day.

We took another stage out across the prairies 30 miles to Iowa
City. The weather was very cold for that time of year. We got
there about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I don't recollect
setting a house from the time we left the Mississippi River
till we got to Iowa City, and indeed, there were scarcely a
dozen houses in Iowa City, and I know of but one railroad in
the state at that time. It was the C.B. & Q. and crossed the
Mississippi at Burlington.

We all went to Iowa to buy land, and had considerable money
with us for those times--about $3500.00 in all. The talk was
when we left home, that land could be bought for $125.00 per
acre; but the weather was so cold and there were so few
settlers in that part of the country that we got disgusted and
left. We returned to the Mississippi River, where my company
left me for home. I went down the river 90 miles to
Burlington, crossed the river and traveled 12 miles out through
Illinois, to where my sister, MRS. ELLEN DOUGLASS lived near
Biggsville. I remained there all winter and part of the next
summer, and enjoyed myself very much. There were but few
settlers in that part of the country at that time; houses a
long way apart, wild game of all kind was abundant, such as
deer, wild geese, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, wolves, and
rabbits too numerous to mention. I hunted a good deal and
killed all kinds of game.

The native prairie was very beautiful, clear of stone and all
rubbish--no sand and not a stone as big as a chestnut. I think
that country must have been under water at one time. In
digging a well close to Biggsville, the well digger found a log
22 feet down. The land is very black and rich.

Amoung the first settlers in that part of the state was a
Kentuckian. He had broken twenty acres of prairie and put in
corn 20 years in succession and had a good crop last year as
any other. Every thing was plentiful there except wood and
water. Farmers had to haul wood 10 to 15 miles; but there is a
good deal more wood there now than there was then....The
prairies were burned over in the spring to give the little
shoots a chance to grow into timber.

Grist mills were scarce. The nearest woth anything was 30
miles from Biggsville, down the Mississippi River. My
brother-in-law MATTHEW DOUGLASS, and myself went on one trip to
that mill. It was a big one and did a power of grinding; never
stopped day or night, or Sunday. They didn't take toll; but
ground for money. Corn was plentiful that there was little
sale for it--even at 13 cents per bushel; and I was told that
some had been sold for 9 cents.

Not much wheat was raised, and that was of poor quality on
account of the cold winters. The farmers raised big crops of
corn and a great many hogs, which was their main dependence to
money. One man could work 50 acres of corn. They did not cut
it, but drove a team to the field and husked it on the stalk
and put it in large cribs 50 to 100 feet long. They shelled it
by horse power. The farmers carefully saved the cobs for fuel,
and sometimes burned corn, cob and all, when they had no wood.

Some of these things may seem strange to some people who read
these lines but to the best of my knowledge, it is all correct.

May 25, '97 [1897] William K. Kilgore
Castle Fin, Pa.

This was typed from a newspaper clipping [copy] that was sent
to me by Hazel Landreth of Springfield, VA who said this
article was in her great grandmother's scrapbook.

PHILLIP WISE is the son of GEORGE and KESIA KILGORE WISE of
Bellaire, OH. Keziah is the sister of JOSHUA KILGORE and the
aunt of WILLIAM K. KILGORE and ELLEN DOUGLASS. ELLEN DOUGLASS
and WILLIAM K. KILGORE are also the siblings of JOHN L. KILGORE
who moved to Biggsville, Henderson Co., IL in 1878.

ANDREW CUNNINGHAM KILGORE was the son of LEVI KILGORE and
nephew of JOSHUA KILGORE.

JAMES ALEXANDER, father of Margaret Ann and Rachel lived in
Peach Bottom Township, York Co., PA Their mother ELIZABETH
McGREAGOR ALEXANDER is a native of Peach Bottom Township. The
Alexander family are from Blemont Co., OH. James Alexander
sold his land in Fawn Township and moved to OH.

Always, Searching

Gail Kilgore
Casa Grande,AZ
Searching: Kilgore, Alexander, Boone, Lassley
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