EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
While driving a team of horses as part of a wagon train crossing the American west in 1865, Jeremiah Zeamer, aged 23, kept a diary. Thirty-one years later, Zeamer, now the owner and publisher of the American Volunteer in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, published his diaries in serial form in the newspaper. A chapter was presented each week from November of 1896 to June of 1897. As far as staff at the Cumberland County Historical Society has been able to ascertain this work was published only in serial form.
The newspaper stories are based on the diaries as well as other information he possessed, including the letters he had written home to family and friends during the trip which had been returned to him, and letters between members of the party during the intervening years. The only complete set of the American Volunteer newspapers from this time are on microfilm which was photographed after the paper had been bound. The quality of some of the microfilm photography is very poor and some of the print is very difficult to read where the original print comes very close to the center binding of the volume. In addition, the Society has some of the original bound volumes of the paper. One issue of the paper is missing from one of the volumes and therefore one chapter is missing. Fortunately, a partial set of about twenty-five chapters in the original newsprint has been located. This set belongs to Richard Daggett, the great grand- son of Jennie Cotterill, the daughter of Edwin Cotterill, both of whom were on the trip. Jennie was sent copies of the American Volunteer at the time the story was published in 1896/97. These copies were shared with the transcriber of the stories and significantly enhanced the opportunity to present an accurate transcription of the entire work.
Punctuation appears in the text as published by Zeamer (as far as can be read from the surviving copies). Spelling is also presented as published. The following anomalies occur throughout the text:
The letter "1" is always doubled in travelled and travelling. Canvas is spelled with tvvo "s's" (canvass) or with an "e" (canvase). Coyote is spelled Cayote. Canyon is always spelled with a "k". The word employees is always spelled employes. Eph. is a nickname or an abbreviation for Ephraim. Grammar and capitalization are also presented as written. Zeamer uses a variety of Pennsylvania German idioms as well as words no longer in common usage, particularly ones that apply to the technology of the time. Italicized words are Mr. Zeamer's usage. Words in brackets [ ] are the best guess at a correct word, as they could not be deciphered with complete confidence from the original text. Headings were part of the original publication and are generally helpful in following the story.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The monumental task of transcribing this work has been completed by Jane Long. Her tireless pursuit of this difficult task was completed during the last six months of 2002 into the beginning of 2003. Initially, she worked from the microfilm copies of the original newspaper. Many of these were extremely difficult and at times impossible to read. When other copies of the work became available, the task, though still difficult, became much more manageable. She pursued it with great enthusiasm and has given us a document that provides great insight into events in the mid 19th century.
Mr. Richard Daggett has our thanks for calling this work of Zeamer's to our attention and for providing copies of some of the parts that are missing in the Society's collection. His interest sparked our interest and led to the transcription of the entire work. He also provided assistance by sharing sections of the work that he had transcribed. Without him this fascinating story would still be buried in the microfilm collection at CCHS.
Jeremiah Zeamer, although not here to receive our thanks, had the foresight to keep a journal of events in his young life and then thirty years later to retell the story in a very interesting way. He provides fascinating details about his experiences that could only have been brought back to life by using the diaries in which that story was originally recorded. The work personalizes and amplifies our understanding of the westward movement. In some cases our perceptions regarding these events are changed. The story told here is not necessarily the one many of us learned in history class and through television and film.
What follows are selected excerpts from the story. The full text is available at the Hamilton Library. The excerpts provide insight into the life of "movers", as they called themselves, during the spring and summer of 1865 and on into 1866 (Zeamer extends the trip by remaining in Nevada for a year before completing the trip to California). The use of a series of asterixes following a chapter indicates that one or more chapters of the original text have been skipped in this excerpted version of the narrative. The use of the ellipsis ( ... ) within the text of a chapter indicates that a portion of that chapter has been deleted. The story begins in Illinois where members of the traveling party assemble after leaving various points in the east, including Pennsylvania.
A paper presented to the Carlisle Fortnightly Club on March 13, 1899 In these days of rapid history making, when one important event follows closely upon another, and since our country has expanded her boundaries so that we not only say "our States and Territories", but we can add "our Colonies", we give a little gasp as we glance backward and realize what changes a few years have wrought.
Salem Church on the Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township, the three-span stone bridge at Fisher’s Fording (Houston’s Mill), and many substantial stone houses east of Carlisle were built by William McHose and his brother John between the years 1810 and 1826.