Travel Tuesday: Wilderness Road Completed

Kentucky Gazette, 29 October 1796, page 5. Kentucky Digital Library.

In 1796, the Kentucky Gazette published a notice that the Wilderness Road had been completed:

   THE WILDERNESS ROAD From the Cumberland Gap to the settlements in Kentucky, is now compleated. Waggons loaded with a ton weight, may pass with ease, with four good horses. –– Travellers will find no difficulty in procuring such necessaries as they may stand in need of on the road ; and the abundant crop now growing in Kentucky, will afford the emigrants a certainty of being supplied with every necessary of life on the most reasonable terms.
                                                                            Joseph Crockett, } Commissioners
                                                                            James Knox        }
   The Printers in the different States are requested to re-publish this notice.

Travel Tuesday: A. T. Anderson's Visit to Sweden

In 1912, my 2nd-great-grandfather Andrew T. Anderson (born Andreas Troedsson) traveled to Sweden to visit his family. He arrived in Sweden in late May 1912. He stayed with his sister Carolina and her husband Nils Andersson on Ollof farm in Grevie, Skåne. He wrote a letter to his wife and children on 7 June 1912. He said that they had had Sunday School there the previous Sunday, and that he was not able to attend church because he only had his old clothes. His trunk of clothing did not arrive until the day before he wrote the letter. Later that Sunday, he, Carolina, and Carolina's son Elof and his family drove to visit Pat Johnson. He planned to buy dress material for his wife the next day.

He was asked to lead Sunday school in the American fashion on the following Sunday. He also planned to visit his brother Johannes that day.

Carolina made a cheese for him to take home to his family, and made another one for him to bring home to to their sister Johanna.

Andrew/Andreas said that he and his brother-in-law Nils went to the forest one evening and heard a nightingale singing in the treetops at 11:00.

Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, near Gordevio, Ticino, Switzerland. 12 May 2010. Photo by Noel Reynolds [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]. Available from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.

He thought that he might go to Helsingborg and Copenhagen the following week. On 28 June 1912, he planned travel on the Göta Canal and go to Stockholm and see museums and art.

Göta kanal (Göta canal) near road E20, Sweden. 7 July 2015. Photo by Pudelek (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

On 20 July 1912, he sailed from Liverpool, England to New York, New York on the Caronia.

RMS Caronia. Cunard Line, 1905-1933. Ancestry.com. Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

He arrived at Ellis Island on 28 July 1912.

Passenger manifest, Caronia. 28 July 1912. Microfilm serial T715, 1897-195, microfilm roll 1904, line 6, page number 24. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.

Passenger manifest, Caronia. 28 July 1912. Microfilm serial T715, 1897-195, microfilm roll 1904, line 6, page number 24. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.

This was probably the last time that he saw his family in Sweden. He died on 24 January 1916.

Travel Tuesday: Susan and Jesse Tarkington Visit Lewisburg, Tennessee

Nashville Tennesseean and Nashville American, 29 July 1915, page 4

In July 1915, Susan (Culley) Tarkington (the widow of my 2nd-great-grandfather's brother Joseph Tarkington) and her son Jesse traveled from Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee to Lewisburg, Marshall County, Tennessee.

While they were there, they visited Susan's daughter and Jesse's sister, Jennie Mae (Tarkington) Hooten. Jennie had married Walter Scott Hooten in 1911, and the couple lived in Lewisburg. Jennie and Walter's first child, Mary Kathryn Hooten, was born on 10 January 1913. At the time of the visit, Mary Kathryn was Susan's only grandchild.

Travel Tuesday: Annie Gatlin and Ida (Gatlin) Andrews' Trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky

Nashville American, 22 August 1909, page 14

On 20 August 1909, my first cousin three times removed Annie Lee Gatlin and her aunt, my 2nd-great-grandfather's sister Ida Lee (Gatlin) Andrews, left Nashville and went to Bowling Green, Kentucky. They spent two weeks there. They were probably visiting my 2nd-great-grandfather's sister Lillie May (Gatlin) Bailey and her daughter Mary Elizabeth Bailey. Although Lillie and Mary were living in Nashville in 1910, they had lived in Bowling Green at least from 1899-1903, and they had returned to Bowling Green by 1912.

Travel Tuesday: The Wilderness Road and the Cumberland Gap

Wilderness Road. Library of Congress. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

For more than fifty years, people traveled to Kentucky via the Wilderness Road. The road began in Virginia, looped south into Tennessee, and then veered north into Kentucky. The route was 200 miles long.

In 1775, Daniel Boone was hired by the Transylvania Company to widen the path through the Cumberland Gap. In less than a month, he and his company of men cut a trail from Long Island, Tennessee (now Kingsport) to Kentucky.

Travel on the road was dangerous, and most people were armed so that they could protect themselves. Native Americans sometimes attacked travelers. In 1784, more than 100 people were killed on the Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap.

More than 200,000 settlers passed through the Cumberland Gap. For the first twenty years, the gap was too narrow for wagons to cross. Travelers had to cross by foot or on horses. In 1796, the road was widened by James Knox and Joseph Crockett. Conestoga wagons were then able to cross the Cumberland Gap. The route became officially known as the Wilderness Road. Around that time, my 6th-great-grandparents Francis Hardgrave and Sarah (Greer) Hardgrave and their family (including my 5th-great-grandmother Hannah Hardgrave) traveled from Wilkes County, North Carolina to Lincoln County, Kentucky.

Course of the Wilderness Road. Nikater. Background map by Demis. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

References
Cumberland Gap
Daniel Boone, 30 Woodsmen Blazed Famed 200-Mile Wilderness Road in Spring, 1775
Longfellow, Rickie.  Back in Time: The Cumberland Gap
Whitaker, Beverly (2006). The Wilderness Road
Wilderness Road

Travel Tuesday: Visiting Relatives in Indiana

Vidette-Messenger, 29 May 1931, page 4

On 27 May 1931, Marie Louise (Borg) Dahlquist, her daughter Juliet (Dahlquist) Gilbert, her son-in-law Fritz Arthur Gilbert, and her granddaughters Lois and Joyce Gilbert traveled from Chicago, Illinois to Porter County, Indiana. They visited Marie's sister Clara Matilda (Borg) Samuelson and brother-in-law Nels A. Samuelson. They also visited Marie's brother Alfred Borg and sister-in-law Emily (Chellberg) Borg.

Travel Tuesday: The Schneiders' Visits to the Nagels in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico was the regular vacation spot of my 2nd-great-grandparents Carl Joseph and Christina (Nagel) Schneider. Christina's brother Mathias Joseph Nagel had moved from Jefferson City, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1891, a year before the Schneiders emigrated from Germany and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. They would bring gifts with them, and would return with gifts from Mathias and his family.

Christina (Nagel) Schneider with Mathias Nagel and his family

The Schneiders would have traveled to Santa Fe by train. They would take a train from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri. They would then take the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to Lamy, New Mexico. Finally, they would take a branch line from Lamy to Santa Fe. The trip would probably take a couple of days.

The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe railroad system, 1899. 

Map available at http://www.loc.gov/item/98688582/.

Photo labeled "Christina Schneider, Grandpa Schneider's mother, in Santa Fe, New Mexico"

Photo labeled "Grandma Schneider & Aunt Anne." Although my great-grandmother Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider had a sister, Anna (Gersbacher) Taschner, "Aunt Anne" is probably Anna (Schneider) Wegman, Christina (Nagel) Schneider's daughter and the sister of Paulina's husband John Schneider. Christina (Nagel) Schneider) may also be in this photo. It looks like it was taken on a visit to Santa Fe.

Image labeled "Grandma Schneider's brother Matt Nagel scenery"

Information on Santa Fe, probably brought back by the family on one of their visits

References
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe railroad system, 1899.
Conant, Michael. Railroad Mergers and Abandonments. University of California Press, 1964.
Missouri Pacific Railway. Rand McNally, 1886.
Railroads and the Making of Modern America. Santa Fe.

Travel Tuesday: Elizabeth (Winters) Mapplebeck and Granddaughter Vivian Visit Toledo, Ohio

In 1907, my 2nd-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth (Winters) Mapplebeck and her granddaughter Vivian briefly visited Alton, Madison County Illinois. They had moved from Alton to St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. They probably visited Elizabeth's friends. They then went to Toledo, Ohio for a few weeks.

Alton Evening Telegraph, 3 June 1907, page 5

Elizabeth's son Garfield Graham was living in Toledo, Ohio in 1907. They must have been going to visit him.

Polk's Toledo Directory for the Year Commencing July 1907, page 646. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Travel Tuesday: Laszlo and Rosa Nagy's Trip to the Kingdom of Hungary

When he was a young child, my maternal grandmother's sister's husband Laszlo James Nagy and his mother Rosa (Koncz) Nagy traveled to the Kingdom of Hungary to visit family. Laszlo's grandfather (and Rosa's father) was listed as the nearest relative on the passenger manifest for their trip back home to New York. He lived in Törökbecse, Torontál County, Kingdom of Hungary (now Novi Bečej, Central Banat District, Vojvodina, Serbia). They sailed home from Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) on the Ivernia and arrived in New York City on 17 May 1913. Laszlo was only four years old.

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Year: 1913; Arrival, New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 2080; Line: 11; Page Number: 132.

Travel Tuesday: Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe's Passport

My maternal grandfather John Boe was Chairman of the Board and President of P. F. Collier, and he frequently traveled. My grandmother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe often traveled with him. My aunt Joan has a copy of her passport, which was issued on 20 December 1966. I have scanned the passport. It is fascinating to see the places that my grandmother visited. She and my grandfather traveled all over the world.

Travel Tuesday: Margaret (Schneider) Boe's Trip to Mexico After the Death of Her Brother, 1974

After her brother Carl died in Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico in 1974, my maternal grandmother Margaret (Schneider) Boe traveled to Mexico. She flew alone to Texas, and then flew to Mexico on a smaller plane which, according to my aunt Joan, she had described as a "Piper Cub." She brought her brother's will with her. She met Guadalupe Sanchez, who said she was Carl's wife, and made a settlement with her. My family is not sure that Carl and Guadalupe were actually married; she was a much younger woman, and may have claimed to be his wife because she wanted to collect his benefits. According to the report of Carl's death, he and his wife were separated and her address was unknown, so there could be some truth to this claim.

One of Carl's few possessions was a gold watch. My grandmother thought it might be the watch that he had inherited from their father, but it turned not to be valuable. My grandparents described it as a "bar watch."

Report of the Death of an American Citizen, 6 November 1975. Carl J. Schneider. Ancestry.com. Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Reports of the Deaths of American Citizens, compiled 01/1835-12/1974. Publication A1 566. ARC ID: 613857. Record Group 59. National Archives at College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

Travel Tuesday: John Boe's Business Trip to Paris, 1956

In 1956, my maternal grandfather John Boe traveled to Paris, France with P. F. Collier and Son. He was Vice President of the company  at the time. He and John G. Ryan, President of P. F. Collier, presented a hand-tooled leather set of the anniversary edition of Collier's Encyclopedia to M. Julien Caen, the administrator general of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He also met Guy Mollet, Prime Minister of France.

He returned to New York on 30 December 1956 on a Crowell Collier charter flight on Pan American World Airways.

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1956; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 8823; Line: 4; Page Number: 114.