ARCHER ALEXANDER

Had great difficultly ferrying the mouth of Big Sandy. The ferry and ford filled with quick sands and the banks almost impassable for heavy loaded wagons. We here left the state of Virginia, and entered Greenup Co, Kentucky. Went down the river, roads excessively bad, had a heavy gust of rain in the evening. Passed a large steam Iron Furnace just erected and encamped at Powell’s 16 miles. Greenup is a rough broken country. Lands poor, except a few bottoms.*

Imagine yourself hundreds of miles from home, and the only thing you have to rely on is the kindness of strangers and a map. This map from the Library of Congress was first used in 1828, and cost $1. William Campbell most likely was following the map because he is staying on a road that is “laid out” on the map. As roads were blazed in the 1820s they were referred to as “the road to…” and you knew your destination… and followed that road. They were platted by a surveyor, adopted by the counties that they traversed, and often had certain destinations in mind – usually the county Courthouse. This was the most prominent town, and the seat for all business, used by all the locals as well.

It was quite common for the locals to petition for the road to pass their property, so they could benefit with an inn or a mill. This was the forerunner of steamboat stops and railroad stations. There was also a cost to this as you were mandated to blaze which meant to cut down all trees wide enough for the travelers and maintain the road that was your “stretch of the road”. Counties could fine you if you failed to do this. There were no State Highway systems.

Travelers relied on the surveyors and their notes, maps like this one, and published travel diaries often published in the newspapers, to make their journey. Routes followed rivers for watering their cattle and horses, and breaks in the mountainsides, which were called a “pass” meaning you could get through, certain months of the year. There were no GPS, smartphones, or WAZE to alert these travelers to the difficulties that would lay in their pathway. There were no roadside rest stops, or fast food stops for sugar free tea. Every traveler experienced the same heat, hill to climb and hard ground at night. As travelers they were “ALMOST” equal. There were 55 people, of which 25 were enslaved, in this caravan.

*This is the journal of William Campbell, located in the archives at Washington & Lee University, about his journey leading four families from Rockbridge County, Virginia to Saint Charles County Missouri. There are over 50 people in this caravan, with over 25 of them enslaved, and among them is the freedom seeker Archer Alexander born in 1806. In 1863, Archer Alexander would become the “Last Fugitive Slave” in Missouri, when informing Union troops about his owner’s disloyal actions, and having to flee for his life. He is the enslaved man rising with President Lincoln on the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1876. He was buried in 1880 in an unmarked grave at St. Peters UCC Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. The next journal is September 11th…https://archeralexander.blog/2023/09/11/11-september-1829/

Today

Today, one uses the GPS Mapping App on their mobile phone for suggestions of the best route!

This map is located in the Library of Congress, and dates before the beginning of the State of West Virginia (June 20, 1863) . We would like to thank Seth Goodheart with the Library and Archives at Washington and Lee University for sharing this map with us. It was a tremendous resource, as even though we had platted our destinations on a modern day Google Map, we were able to see what they saw with this map. Having an actual map of that day enabled us to better understand their journey. Today, many travelers use Interstate 64, and are able to cut hours of travel time. We highly recommend using what today may be referred to the backroads and see history close up.