Noble above. Of the career of Ward, how his wife had spun the
material for the sail of his first vessel. How he owns 13 now.
How he builds vessels at Newport, being the nabot of the place,
founds schools, sends boys to em, and employs half the folk. Then
about the Lakes. Of Hennepin the good priest discoverer. How
two frenchmen from Montreal did establish a place for fur-trading
and peltries, now Hudson Bay Fur Company s. How a certain
old governor of that Company now alive hath travelled round the
world 13, times, and essayed another this year, but gave it up. Of
Indians and there ways. Meantime we had stopped at Newport
where the E K Collins was building. Our Chief s place of maturity.
Fellows gambling below, dollar bills lying on table, $200 changing
hands. Swan, Mc Elrath, Wheeler & another playing, though
not for money. I about everywhere. And take the opportunity
of a halt to write this, being almost blind with fatigue. Its 10 or
11, and to bed. Just about turning in, when a whimsical in-
cident takes place. Young Mc Elrath who had been drinking and
playing poker and Euchre in the Bar Saloon nigh all day, hearing
Elevator Swan s voice on the wharf without, leapt out of window
with intent to join him, plunged down into the water t wixt vessel
and dock. Wetted through and hat lost.
12. Friday. All this day crossing Lake Huron. Little
to be seen but a boundless expanse of water unbroken by sail or
sight. A hot, bright day during all the earlier part, but blowing
chill and fresh at night. Much fraternization with everybody.
Talks, literary, historic, geologic and universal with Swan. Much
matter from well informed, good humored Frank Noble, (who tis said,
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Six: page fifty-five |
| Description: | Describes his journey across Lake Huron to Sault Ste. Marie by steamboat. |
| Date: | 1853-08-11 |
| Subject: | Drunkenness; Great Lakes (North America); Gunn, Thomas Butler; Hennepin; McElrath, Thomson; Native Americans; Noble, Frank; Swan; Transportation; Travel; Ward, Sam; Ward, Sam, Mrs.; Wheeler (passenger) |
| Coverage (City/State): | Newport, [Michigan] |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Six |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of Gunn's writing and drawing work in New York, a visit to the Catskill Mountains, attending the wedding of his friend Charles Damoreau (Brown), a visit to the Crystal Palace in New York, his friend Lotty's difficult marriage to John Whytal, a sailing trip around Lake Superior, a visit to Mackinac Island in Michigan, a visit to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and a journey by horseback from Kentucky to Louisiana with friends. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Marriage; Native Americans; Publishers and publishing; Slavery; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Michigan; Wisconsin; Ohio; Kentucky; Mississippi; Alabama; Louisiana |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
