Diary of John Gage

Who Settled in Vineland in 1864

Monday May 11th, I started for Messrs. Savage & Thompson's furnace on Trough creek. My way led through woods and over mountains by unfrequented paths difficult to follow. About 2 miles from Mr. Cromwell's I crossed the Aughwick creek in a skiff & 2 miles more brot me to the foot of Jack's mountain which I ascended by a small foot path. It was very steep & about 2 miles long. On the top there lives a family. I this day traveled 16 miles & arrived at Trough creek furnace about 2 o'clock much fatigued. Mr. Thompson was there & showed me all the attention in his power. He is an industrious intelligent man & has been acquainted with most all branches of iron business. He intends to carry it on largely as soon as he has made the necessary experiments about the business. They have bought a large tract of country which contains a sufficiency of ore, wood & he thinks all the coal in that country, or all within many miles. They intend to make iron with coke altogether when they get their business all arranged for it. Here I staid all night and started the next morning at 7 o'clock.

Tuesday, 12th I walked about 4 or 5 miles & crossed the south branch of the Juneatta, then crossing a range of mountains I arrived at Shoenberger's Rebecca Furnace about noon where (12M) I staid till 3 o'clock & then went 8 miles to Mr. Samuel Royer's Springfield furnace where I arrived about 6 o'clock. This furnace has a pleasant situation. The stream which carries the bellows rises about ten rods above the furnace & though he might have 8 or ten feet more of fall then he uses he does not take it but uses it to force water up the bank for the use of the families & cattle. Mr. Royer is a first rate fine fellow, & I felt much at home whilst there. His furnace has been running many years; he makes pigs & then makes them into blooms in a forge & sends them to Pittsburgh to market. He has a very large pile of cinders which has considerable iron in them. They had a small stamping mill built for getting out the cinders but never used it much as it did not succeed, to his mind. I staid over night & till about 2 P. M.

Wednesday May 13th. Mr. Royer took a pair of horses and rode with me over the mountain & had a boy go along to take back the horses & we walked about 2 miles into Holidaysburgh.

Thursday May 14th we started about 6 in the morning. It commenced raining & rained all day. Soon after leaving Holidaysburgh we commence rising the Allegheny mountains & at the same time the face of the country begins to alter; the Allegheny is covered with a heavy growth of timber, a sight I had not seen after leaving the Mohawk river, N. Y. All the timber through the State of N. J. & Pa. till I reached the Allegheny, on the route I traveled, is thinly timbered with short shrubby trees & mostly pitch pine & oak, but as we ascended the mountains the timber grew larger, straight, tall & thick & for many miles on the mountain there is as heavy a growth of timber as I ever saw. There are but few settlements through here. I should think the great growth of timber prevents its being settled, for there is much level land that looks like a good soil, in the state of nature. The timber is mostly maple, hemlock & beech. We travveled all night & at daylight had got within 10 miles of Pittsburgh from which place it appears to be a very fair & well tilled. Vegetation is very backward at the place; now, it is in about the same state it was at Philadelphia a week since. Apple & peach trees are in blossom & the oak has not started. Distance from Pittsburgh to Holidaysburgh about 100 miles.

Friday May 15th, 1835. Before we came in sight of Pittsburgh we could see its location by the dense cloud of smoke which rose from the immense quantities of coal burned here & as we came nearer we could see the fountains from which a large portion of the cloud arose-the iron & glass works whose stacks were sending forth dense columns of smoke & as we entered the city our senses were saluted with exhalations of the same kind. The city has a very dirty, dingy appearance & the smoke penetrates the houses & tinges everything with soot. I called on Mr. Silas Lee who was very assiduous in his attentions. He went with me & showed me many of the great things in the city. The rolling of iron to me was a great curiosity but is now so common an operation as not to need a description; the grinding of glass was also a curiosity but the machinery is not as good here as with us. They have no good small engines for iron turning.

Saturday 16th. Viewed the city today and wrote to Portia intending to send it tomorrow, at night attended the theatre & saw Venice Preserved acted. It was very well done, as well as the after piece The Landlord's Bridegroom & some 3 or 4 comic songs.

Sunday May 17th, 1835. Finished the letter to Portia & went to the office to put it in & received one from her which was very acceptable & made me feel much better as it assured me the friends at home were all well & contained much other interesting intelligence.

I got on board the steamer Paul Jones & at 11 o'clock started down the Ohio. We met with some detentions during the day, once the rope broke which turns the rudder, the boat nearing the shore & there was a fair chance of running aground but they instantly shifted the engine and backed water so much as to ease off the force of the boat & did no other damage than to slightly injure a keel boat she had in tow & break it from its fastenings. We arrived at Wheeling about 11 at night & staid till morning for the stages to arrive 46 miles from Pittsburgh.

Monday May 18th. Staid at Wheeling till 9 in the morning during which time I went most all over the town & to a coal pit & limekiln where they were burning lime with coal. There are many places in this vicinity, in sight of the river, where coal is dug. Had a pleasant day & 16 miles above Marietta came to a boat that had broke the main shaft & took off the passengers. We arrived at Marietta a little after sundown where I staid over night. Here the leaves are all put out & the apple blossoms all off. The town of Marietta is small & thinly settled. 84 miles.

Tuesday, May 19, 1835. Went to Col. Barker's, 6 miles from Marietta & staid all day. Thermometer 88 in shade P.M.

Wednesday, May 20th, Went to McConnelsville, 30 miles, & found Brother Lamson & family well. A warm day with some thundershowers around. Charlotte Barker went with me.

Thursday, 21 Went with James L. to Luther Barker's & a number of the stores & shops in town. Warm & some rain & thunder.

Friday 22nd. Harnessed James L.'s horse into the gig & trained her round to break her into it. P. M. Went with James, Fanny & Charlotte to Francis Barkers & went to his salt well. He has an arch, set with kettles, five rods long, the farthest from the wood of which boils very well.

Distances down the Ohio & Mississippi from Pittsburgh.
To Wheeling 96 miles
Marietta 178 miles
Portsmouth 350 miles
Maysville 403 miles
Cincinnati 451 miles
Louisville 583 miles
Vicksburgh 1594 miles
Natches 1704 miles
N. Orleans 2004 miles

Saturday 23, went to Mr.  Stone's across the river & visited his salt well. The water is raised about thirty feet above the ground by an inflameable gas Which throws it up 2 or 3 gallons  at a time with great force, 2 or 3 times in a minute. Returned &  took tea with Luther Barker.

Sunday 24th went onto a hill above the village where there are 2 ancient mounds 5 or 6 rods apart. These are about 10 or 15 feet high and 3 rods across the base. There are 2 others on the flat in the village 40 rods or so from this.

Monday May 25th, 1835. Started at 8 o'clock from McConnelsville for Stephenses on the stage road 8 1/2 miles, where I took the stage for Zanesville 28 miles & arrived at 9 o'clock & found no means of getting on toward Cleveland next day except taking the steam scow which went twelve miles toward Dresden only & then to be shoved 4 miles with poles up stream to Dresden, when I got on the canal & then, probably, would be 4 days getting to Cleveland, as there is no packet on the canal.

May 26th went all over the village of Zanesville. It is situated mostly on the Muskingum east bank, but a part is on the west shore both above and below Licking river, which comes in here & is dammed across its mouth & drives some mills. Rather rough looking buildings & coarse machinery. There is a bridge which crosses the Muskingum, made by the United States, over which the nation (al) road passes. It commences at the foot of Main street, opposite the mouth of the Licking, & runs to the center of the Muskingum & then branches & 1 branch ends above & 1 below the mouth of the Licking. About 20 rods above this bridge is (a) dam on which there are some mills & might be more; there is also a kind of side dam, a short distance below the bridge, on which there is a mill. The town rises gradually from the river on a rich soil. The houses are mostly of brick & very good buildings. There are a number of steam mills, 2 or 3 saw mills, one of which has 2 saws, a paper mill, & here I bot a horse & gig and went to Mr. Lord's furnace & then 11 miles from Zanesville, where I put up.

Wednesday May 27, 1835. Started at 5 in the morning & drove to Newark 16 miles, a smart village on the canal on Licking flats, to breakfast. About here is a large extent of level rich country; the face of the country from Marietta to Zanesville up the Muskingum is very rough & broken but as you go up the Licking it grows more level & from Newark to Mount Vernon, a distance of about 25 miles, the country is quite level and fertile, a silt soil mostly, & easily tilled. The road would have been good but for late rains. I traveled this day 49 miles & put up at a tavern 8 miles north of Mount Vernon. A warm, fine day with a little rain in the morning.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

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