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Show I I PERSONAL NARRATIVE - - - - - OF - - - - ^ - - Travels in Virginia, { Maryland, Pennsylvaniay Ohio, Indiana, fontucky; and of a Residence in the Illinois Territory: 1817- 1818 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Index, etc., by FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG, A. M. Author § f « Tbi Opening 0/ tbe Mississippi" IJSHSDMMS" ^ k* 8 ^ t* lcrto unpublished MS., which is a real literary and historical find, was written in 1817- 18 by a young Englishman of excellent education who assisted Morris Birkbeck in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 HUDDLE Fordham was an especially well- qualified WEST IN idir 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 |
