PERSONAL NARRATIVE 



OF 



Travels in Virginia^ Jllarylandy 

 T^ennsylvania^ Ohioy Indiana y 

 t\entucky* and of a Residence in 

 the Illinois Territory: iSij-iSiS 



BY 



ELIAS PYM FORDHAM 



With facsimiles of the author's sketches and plans 



Edited with Notes, Introduction, Index, etc, by 

 FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG, A.M. 



Author of " The Opening of the 3\4ississippi" 



USHEDMS' ^^^^ hitherto unpublished MS., which is a 

 real literary and historical find, was written 

 in 1 8 17-18 by a young Englishman of excellent education 

 who assisted Morris Birkbeck in establishing his Illinois 

 settlement. The author writes anonymously, but by a 

 careful study of various allusions in the Narrative and 

 from information furnished by the family in possession 

 of the MS., has been identified as Elias Pym Fordham. 

 Landing at Baltimore, he reached the West by way of 

 Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and the Ohio River to Cincinnati, 

 describing the people and the country as he went along. 

 THE MIDDLE Fordham was an especially well-qualified 

 WEST IN 1817 observer of the Middle West because of 

 the numerous journeys he undertook, on land-hunting 

 trips for new emigrants, in the service of Mr. Birkbeck. 

 These journeys led him into Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky; 



