Gilmor, Robert, 1774-1848. Notes taken in a tour through the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina... 1806-1807.
Title:
Notes taken in a tour through the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina... 1806-1807.
Travel journal originally begun to assist the future travels of his friends with information re mileage and taverns along various routes; Gilmor's narrative of his journey from Maryland to South Carolina also records detailed observations re the towns, landscapes, people, and Revolutionary War sites that he encountered on his journey. Entries describe his route through Virginia (Richmond and the state Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson, and elsewhere); North Carolina (Roanoke Rapids, Louisburg, Raleigh, Averysborough); and South Carolina, where his route included descriptions of Camden, Stateburg, Manchester, Strawberry Ferry, and elsewhere prior to his arrival in Charleston, as well as features of the landscape, such as the Pee Dee River, various swamps, and the Santee Canal, "I gave up my plan of visiting the Eutaw Springs & the celebrated field of battle where my friend General Williams gained so much honor, and... set out for the Santee Canal, which... connects the Santee & Cooper rivers." Accounts of the rustic log cabins and frontier conditions he encountered in eastern North Carolina and South Carolina change upon his arrival in Camden, S.C., where he visited the comfortable home of Col. John Chesnut and toured his cotton plantation, after which he reflected upon the impact of short staple cotton and the cotton gin on the local economy, "The discovery of the cotton crop is but a new thing in Carolina & Georgia, & has within these fifteen years made the fortune of half the great landholders." In Charleston, he lodged with "Mrs. Smith, the only decent boarding house in the City," although his network of friends included Henry William De Saussure and Adam Gilchrist took him around and made introductions. On Sunday the 11th he went to church with DeSaussure and "heard Dr. Bewst. Dined with Mr. Gilchrist. In the evening came in to Drink wine several gentlemen, among whom were, Wm. Loughton Smith the celebrated member of Congress and Washington's administration & afterwards ambassador to Spain & Mr. Lowndes member of Congress, & very amiable man whose lady had sent me a pot of marmelade on hearing I was indisposed." The following Tuesday, his traveling companion from New York, Mr. Schermerhorn, joined him at the harbor where they viewed a ship of African slaves during what was to be the final year of legal importation, "rode to Ladson's Wharf to see the Guineamen & were shocked with the sight of 400 on board of one ship, all stowed away separately, in places which almost suffocated me." Mileage lists record overland distances between Baltimore and other cities, with names of available taverns and lodgings along the way; routes and cities mentioned include Charleston (S.C.), Savannah (Ga.), Philadelphia (Penn.), Boston (Mass.), and New York City and Albany (N.Y.); Gilmor also recorded mileagege from major cities to various hot springs resorts of the east coast: Ballstown Springs [Ballston Spa] in New York, as well as resorts in Pennsylvania and [West] Virginia; noting the impact of improved transportation routes, he includes a table of distances "From Baltimore to New York by the new turnpike from Trenton." Illustrations include a profile of Robert Gilmor (Imbert's Lithography, New York) pencil sketches of places Gilmor visited, including "View from Wharf's tavern near Baltimore," depicting a pastoral landscape of water and trees; a view of the Susquehanna River; and in Richmond, Va., he recorded both Thomas Jefferson's statehouse in the distance and in the foreground, a large, two-story building, 17 bays wide topped by a cupola, in a "View of the Capitol and Armory," dated 20 Dec. 1806.
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