Lelteri front BalUtfiore and thejllinoi* Country. 



1821. 



whole country the price is the same. 

 Horse-feed varies as you go westward ; 

 oats, wiiich «ere charged 2s. 8d. per 

 bushel ue.ir Baltimore, we could buy 

 for Is. l^d. further on, and in some 

 markets we bought oats for ^A. the 

 bushel, and sixteen chickens for a dollar. 

 The best meat for three-halfpence per 

 lb. Hay is generally sold on the road 

 for one dollar the hundred weight ; but 

 at Richmond I can have three hundred 

 weight for a dollar. At Zaneville we 

 rested fourteen days, and I delivered a 

 ietter from the Rev. Robert Crosby, of 

 Shoreditch, to his brother, who received 

 us with mucii politeness, and he and 

 his wife visited us twice at our tent. 

 Whenever we stopped at a town, as we 

 ofteadid, most of I he townspeople came 

 out to see us, which made it a sort of 

 levee. We stopped three days at New 

 Lisbon, four at Frederick town, three 

 at Cumberland, fourteen at Zaneville, 

 two at Union town. Thirty-six miles 

 west of Zaneville is New town ; here 

 the country presents a diflFerent api)ear- 

 BBce, it is more level and the land is 

 richer, with good roads, but no turn- 

 pikes to pay. In our progress the peo- 

 ple seemed to marvel at the shape of 

 our waggon, and our three horses draw- 

 ing singly one before the other. My 

 waggon was made as near to the Eng- 

 lish form as possible, which is not com- 

 mon here; all the American waggons 

 iaave a tongue or pole, and draw with 

 four horses ranged double. Hats and 

 shoes are as cheap at Richmond as in 

 London. Good fustian would sell for 

 two dollars per yard ; but hardware of 

 every description is dear. I must con- 

 clude this letter and send you another; 

 so God bless you and send you safe over. 

 Robert Chapman. 



501 



. Richmond, January 10, 1821. 



Dear Friend, — I could not make one 

 sheet of paper hold all I had to inform 

 you of ; 1 have therefore sent you a se- 

 cond, knowing you would not mind 

 the expence of the postage. My rea- 

 sons for not settling in Kentucky, as I 

 first intended, are, that all the best 

 land in that state having been sold, 

 none is to be bought now unless at a 

 great price. I have been in Kentucky 

 and that is all I can say ; but from what 

 I saw of it from the opposite side of 

 Cincinnati, it was not so good as on 

 this side and very hilly. Good water 

 and a healthy climate were the objects 

 of my research, and I trust I have found 

 both. The land is as good as ever was 



Monthly Mag. No. 355. 



turned up by a plough ; the summers 

 are not disagreeably hot, but have a fine 

 clear sky ; nor are the winters long or 

 severely cold, though the present as 

 far as it has gone is as cold as in Lon- 

 don. The present frost has lasted 

 fourteen days and is pretty severe ; but 

 thank God, cold weather is not to be 

 feared here where there is so much 

 wood to burn. We are at present busily 

 employed in felling trees and burning 

 them on the farm ; we burn as much 

 in one day as would serve you for fuel 

 two or three years. It is rather a 

 strange circumstance, that the more we 

 destroy the better we are of!', as it 

 clears the ground, and the ashes serve 

 for manure. 



There are no slaves allowed in this 

 state nor in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or the 

 Illinois ; in fact, the whole of this side 

 the river is exempted from that evil. 

 There is a very fine tract of land, about 

 forty townships, offered for sale last 

 October at Brookville; this land lies 

 about fifteen miles west of Richmond, 

 on the east side of the White river. As 

 little of this land was then sold, of course 

 it is open to any one at the low price of 

 one dollar per acre, ready money. I 

 went to Brookville before the sale day 

 to inspect the map, but seeing I 

 neither attended the sale nor saw the 

 land, I can only report the good charac- 

 ter given of it by my neighbours. I sawa 

 Mr. King and a Mr. Allen, the former 

 from London, the latter from Edin- 

 burgh ; they had travelled over a vast 

 tract of country, and both declared 

 they had not seen finer land in America 

 than this part. There never were such 

 times for emigrants who have money to 

 lay out, as everything as well as land 

 is so cheap that a little money goes far. 

 A dollar is always 4s. 6d. here, and all 

 over the country. DoUai-s are the best 

 money to bring to Baltimore, or any 

 other of the eastern ports ; but be sure 

 you leave them there, that is exchange 

 them for United States Notes, the larger 

 the amount the better, say one hun- 

 dred dollar notes ; these you can change 

 at Cincinnati, and get a premium of 

 two and a half or three per cent. The 

 provincial bank notes are not passable ; 

 they bear a discount of twenty-five per 

 cent, on their orignial value. If ever 

 you come to this countiy be sure you 

 don't overload yourself with English 

 articles, they are cheaper here ; hats, as 

 good as any man need to wear, may be 

 bouglit at three dollars each, shoes from 

 two to four dollars ; at Baltimore I was 

 3 R offered 



