As we all work on our family history, I am sure the migration stories cross our minds. Especially, if your family did a lot of that travelling before 1850 or so.
Prior to this time, many areas west of the Appalachian Mountains were still wilderness. I have read several accounts of how the forests of the southern half of Indiana were so dense as to not see daylight until you came to a clearing. 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
Although my Hoosier ancestors most likely used the Ohio River to reach their Dearborn County destination, my 5th-great grandfather, Elijah Sparks, may have used the following road in his position as a Indiana Territorial Judge. He held this position from 1814, until his death in the spring of 1815. From what I have read in the past, he had to ride quite a distance as he had a large area to cover.
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| The first road to cross Indiana was blazed by Captain Ephraim Kibbey in 1799-1800. This two-hundred mile route ran from Cincinnati to Vincennes, crossing the Greene Ville Treaty Line here. Location: SR 350 on border of Dearborn and Ripley Co., IN. Source: https://www.in.gov/history/markers/4131.htm) |
Recently, I discovered this gem of a description about the origins of "Kibbey's Road". I found it in the book, Early Indiana Trails and Surveys by George R. Wilson. According to following account, it appears that poor Captain Kibbey gave his all to the project!
"There were early trails running east and west through Dearborn County. One went from near Milan toward Cincinnati. The survey records call it 'Kibbey’s Road.' It was the first one crossing the entire state from Cincinnati to Vincinnes, and was laid out early in the nineteenth century. perhaps in 1801-2. The Western Spy, published in Cincinnati July 23, 1799, contained the following item: 'Captain E. Kibbey, who some time since undertook to cut a road from Vincennes to this place, returned on Monday, reduced to a perfect skeleton. He had cut the road 70 miles, when by some means, he was separated from his men. After hunting them some days without success, he steered his course this way. He had undergone great hardships and was obliged to subsist upon roots, etc., which he picked up in the woods.' Twenty years later gazetteers described the line of the road west from Cincinnati as 'Burlington, 15 miles; Rising Sun, 10; Judge Cotton’s, 20; Madison, 20; New Lexington, 17; Salem, 32; French Lick, 34; East Fork White River, 17; North Fork White River, 20; Vincennes, 16; total, 201 miles.' "
As I did some research on the internet regarding this road, I discovered that the above marker is now missing. Also, there appears to be some confusion in regards to what present-day road is the original Kibbey Road.
If anyone has any answers for me, I would love to hear them! I am sure many of our Hoosier ancestors used this road to travel west through Indiana, and it might be of interest to our fellow genealogists and history buffs!
Please comment below and let me know what you think.
Source:
Wilson, George R., C.E., L.L.B.. Early Indiana Trails and Surveys. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press, 1919, 4-5.
IHB: Kibbey's Road. https://www.in.gov/history/markers/4131.htm
IHB: Kibbey's Road. https://www.in.gov/history/markers/4131.htm
I have long been fascinated by transport history and the challenge of how our ancestors got around. Your account of the Indiana Trail made interesting reading. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sue! I agree with you about how our ancestors traveled in the past. It has always fascinated me, too.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any answers but I do like learning about migration trails. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteThank you,Devon!I feel like the more we know about their migration trails, the better we can understand what our ancestors went through in their travels.
DeleteHi Diane, I’ve been researching my x5 grandpa Ephraim for about 10 years. Most of the early roads in Ohio and Indiana followed previous hunting and game trails, and were hacked wider for horses and then carts. I still have a lot of work to do tracking Kibbey’s Road but best I can tell it goes VERY roughly like this - Kibbey’s Road - follows Ohio River to Madison, then Indiana 56 and 356 to Lexington, then probably 356, Leota, New Philadelphia, and Canton Roads and 56 into Salem, then 56 to French Lick, and then probably 150 all the way to Vincennes.
ReplyDeleteGrant, I am so happy that I posted this little tidbit out of that book then! As I looked at the towns listed in the book, that is what I was beginning to think, too. I am so happy to hear from you!
DeleteGrant, I posted this on several different Indiana groups this week. I was just curious how you found it, because I love helping people with their own research also.
DeleteI have a few ancestors that seem to have traveled a lot. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding how the modes of transportation worked back then or imagining how difficult it must of been. Very interesting article. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Figuring out how our ancestors got around when it's not all that obvious to us now, is something that fascinates me.
DeleteDiane
It’s an interesting topic. I have quite a few road builders in my family.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, I’ll have to look into it more. I know in Canada using the Sessional Papers we can often see what roads were built when.
Thank you, Dianne! It is quite an interesting topic.I have researched a little on this topic, but I know there is so much more out there. It is nice that you have a specific place to research this. That makes it sooo much easier!
ReplyDeleteThank you. One of my Indiana Transportation History Facebook group members shared this link in that group.
ReplyDeleteI haven't found any answers yet, but I am seriously looking into this for my Indiana Transportation History blog that I do six days a week.
Looking at other comments, I want to see if I can figure this out. This may be a blog entry at some point. I welcome you to check out if any of the blog posts over there help in your journey.
(I am a genealogist and transportation historian. My genealogy is mostly Pennsylvania, but Indiana is my focus on history.)
intransporthistory.com
Thank you so much! I am glad that your FB group member shared the link with all of you! I just found this one small section in a book, that caught my eye because I have a lot of family ties to Dearborn County. I checked out your website, and you have some very interesting posts!
DeleteIf you are still looking for information, I wonder if you have contacted the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors, Greenville Chapter. Mr. Brad Kramer wrote an article in the Hoosier Surveyor magazine back in in 2017. The article included some images.
ReplyDelete