Harriet Sherril Ward - Culture on the Westward Trail

A fifty year old woman of education and wealth, Harriet Ward, traveled west with her husband, her son, Willie who was 11 or 12, and her 17 year old daughter Francis.  The journey, to her educated taste, was full of artists' scenic views.  She described Independence Rock by writing, "Cold chills came over me and tears would flow in spite of all my efforts to suppress them."

Harriet's journal is written on blue vellum paper.  She wrote of extravagances such as when her husband "brought me beautiful flowers.  The form and color resembles the snowball and the perfume the night blooming Jassamine." 

Her daughter Frankie played guitar along the journey.  Another family friend and guitarist, Amelia White, joined their party with her sister Sarah.  Harriet records the evening with evident upper class values:  "Frankie and Amelia amused us with the 'Mansion of Happiness' and it was indeed pleasant to see Frankie again in the enjoyment of young ladies' society whose tastes and feelings are in union with her own." 

Next time - Fashion of the Trail

Note: Amazon has a book on Harriet, Prairie Schooner Lady

_____________________________________

Today in Pioneer History:  December 3, 1818, Illinois achieves full statehood. Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state.