Are we there yet?

Preparing for a family vacation, Kathy and Matt explained to their young children that they would be sitting in the car for a very long time. The kids were told they would not be arriving at their destination until after dark, and were warned not to keep saying, "Are we there yet?"

After a few minutes of peaceful driving, four year old Rachel perked up, "Is it dark yet?"

When my kids were young, we used to make trips back to California from Houston, which was a 24 hour trip.  Sometimes we would drive straight through, but usually we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico to visit friends.  And of course we usually got the proverbial question, “Are we there yet?” and “How much longer?”

But think about the trips our ancestors made.  Days, weeks, months – the thought is staggering.  Not only was the actual trip daunting, but the whole idea of leaving family and friends behind, quite possibly never to see them again, had to be a very difficult thing to do.

I want to talk about my great-great grandfather, John Murrish.  John was born in Cornwall, England on Feb 4, 1847.  In April of 1848, his family left England to come to America.  Now at the age of one year, he wasn’t aware of all he left behind.  His sister Elizabeth was 2-1/2 years old and might have noticed that Grandma wasn’t around anymore.  They traveled with their parents and three aunts to America and settled in Wisconsin.  Their trip took two months on a sailing vessel and they never saw their grandmother again.  The heartbreak that Jennie Murrish must have endured as she watched her son and grandchildren sail away to a new life must have been unimaginable.

In this day and age, when we move away, as lots of us are prone to do, it is not a forever thing.  Traveling by car or train is not hard to do nowadays.  But not in those days.

John Murrish grew up in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.  He married Nora Marzolf, had children and lived among his parents and seven siblings.  But in 1876, he made the decision to venture forth again.  This time he traveled by covered wagon to Nebraska.

He left Mineral Point in September of 1876 and traveled 480 miles to Kearney, Nebraska.  Now in those days a wagon train could travel between 10 and 20 miles a day, depending on the terrain and weather.  So it probably took them a little over a month for the trip. 

Traveling by wagon would have been a much harder trip than by sailing vessel.  On the ship they would have been passengers with nothing much to do but be uncomfortable.  But traveling by wagon would entail a lot more work.  The horses had to be cared for each night and the wagon itself had to be kept in top condition.

According to a biography written by John’s niece, Laura Fitzsimmons Mitchell (John’s sister Elizabeth’s daughter), John traveled with the Ashwood family to Nebraska.  This was probably William Ashwood, who was to marry (or had already married) Nora’s sister Keturah Eliza Jane Marzolf.

So of course I had to scrap a page about transportation in the old west.  Here is my page about covered wagons.

All kits used are by Jean Daugherty. The frames and journal scroll are from Heritage Chest Vol. 9 Vintage Word Papers.  Both background papers are from Fireside Comforts and the elements are from Past Remembered.

For more information on John Murrish, go here.