A JOURNEY TO OHIO IN 1810 AS RECORDED IN THE JOURNAL OF MARGARET
VAN HORN DWIGHT EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MAX FARRAND NEW
HAVEN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXX COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY VALE
UNIVERSITY PRE S First published, 1912 Second printing, 1912 Third
printing, 1913 Fourth priming, 1920 INTRODUCTION If it be true that
good wine needs no bush, tis true that a good play needs no
epilogue and Rosa lind might well have added that a good story
needs no prologue. The present journal is complete in it self, and
it is such a perfect gem, that it seems a pity to mar its beauty by
giving it any but the simplest setting. There are many readers,
however, with enough human interest to wish to know who Rosa lind
really was, and to be assured that she married and lived happily
ever after. That Is the reason for this introduction. Margaret Van
Horn Dwight was born on Decem ber 29, 1790. She was the daughter of
Doctor Maurice William Dwight, a brother of President Timothy
Dwight of Yale, and Margaret DeWitt Dwight. The death of her father
in 1796, and the subsequent marriage of her mother, was probably
the reason for Margaret Dwight being taken by her grandmother, Mary
Edwards Dwight, a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, who trained her as
her own child in her family in Northampton. The death of her
grandmother, February 7, 1807, was the occasion of her going to
live in New Haven in the family of her aunt, Elizabeth Dwight, who
had married William Walton Woolsey, and whose son was President
Theodore Woolsey. Three years later, in 1810, Margaret Dwight left
New Haven to go to her cousins in Warren, Ohio. v INTRODUCTION It
was dotitbless there that she met Mr. Bell, whom she married,
December 17, 1811, ayear after her arrival. William Bell, Jr., was
born in Ireland, February n, 1781, and after 1815 he was a whole
sale merchant in Pittsburgh. The family genealogy formally records
that Mar garet Dwight Bell became the mother of thirteen children,
that she died on October 9, 1834, and that she was a lady of
remarkable sweetness and excel lence, and devotedly religious.
Family tradition adds a personal touch in relating that her home
was a center of hospitality and that she herself was active and
very vivacious. The journal of the rough wagon trip to Ohio in 1810
was evidently kept by Margaret Dwight in fulfilment of a promise to
her cousin, Elizabeth Woolsey, to whom it was sent as soon as the
journey was over. A good many years later the journal was given to
a son of the author, and the original is now in the possession of a
granddaughter, Miss Kath arine Reynolds Wishart of Waterford,
Pennsyl vania. It has been well cared for and is in excellent
condition, except that the first two pages are missing. This is of
less importance from the fact that two independent copies had been
made. The text of the journal here printed is taken from the
original manu script, and is reproduced as accurately as typographi
cal devices permit. MAX FARRAND. vi A JOURNEY TO OHIO A JOURNEY TO
OHIO Milford Friday Eve. at Capt Ponds. Shall I commence my
journal, my dear Elizabeth, with a description of the pain I felt
at taking leave of all my friends, or shall I leave you to imagine
The afternoon has been spent by me in the most painful reflections
in almost total silence by my companions-I have thought of a
thousand things unsaid, a thousand kindnesses unpaid with thanks
that I ought to have remembered moreseasonably and the neglect of
which causes me many uneasy feelings-my neglecting to take leave of
Sally, has had the same effect-I hope she did not feel hurt by it,
for it proceeded from no want of gratitude for her kindness to me.
I did not imagine parting with any friend could be so distressing
as I found leaving your Mama...
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