On May 28, 1816, Christopher and Mary Westcott packed their worldly goods and three children into a wagon (a covered wagon, we presume) and headed west from Rhode Island to a new life in Ohio. Christopher’s diary of the 41-day journey was acquired by his great-great-granddaughter Betty Acker in 1996 when she purchased a collection of pages from her ancestor’s “Siphering Book,” or daybook. These pages are now in the Warwick Historical Society’s Westcott Collection in the John Waterman Arnold House in Warwick, Rhode Island.
The Westcotts’ passage to Ohio was documented on this single page. See the transcription below
Christopher Westcott was born on July 21, 1786, in Cranston, R.I. (then part of Providence), the first of Jonathan and Nancy W. (Casey) Westcott’s eight children. He was a descendant of Stukely and Juliana Westcott in the sixth generation: Christopher6 Westcott, Johnathan5, Samuel4, Benjamin3, Jeremiah2, Stukely1.
In 1808, he married Mary Gorton Briggs (October 8, 1789 to October 7, 1846) also of Cranston, the first of three wives. The couple had eight children, three of them in Rhode Island and five after the family moved to Ohio.
Sometime during or after the journey to Ohio, the Westcotts began a diary of their odyssey, which they managed to fit on a single page (possibly torn from the daybook). Here is Betty Acker’s transcription of the page; for clarity Betty prefaced each entry with a date as done in a diary format; enjoy the creative spelling:
Tuesday May 28, 1816 – We started for the Ohio Stayd at Thomas Watermans the first night Coventry stopt to Palmers inn Plainfield Canterbury is a very Pleasant vilage on a hill
May 29 – stayd to S. Balcoms inn Windham is a very prety vilage some elegant buildings
May 30 – stayed to Olcuts inn east Harford three vilageis in east harford the Last vilage about half a mile before we Come to the Bridg is the pleasantest place that ever I see the streets are Wide and clean and a row of trees in the middle going from Windham to harford. Almy lost her bonnet out the Waggon Harford is a large City Cheafly Brick Buildings in crossing the bridg we like to lost watch he was thron the river west harford farmington havington litchfield
June 2 – we Crosst the fishkill mountain and A dreadful stony hill it is to for about 2 miles but we went over very Chearful without any difficulty Bayton fishkill
June 3 – we crosst the North River I felt a little afraid at first but I soon got over that after I got in to the boat the River is a mile and a quarter Wide Newburg is a pleasant place and quite large cheafly brick buildings goshen florady Newton easton log jal hope
[a later entry summarized the journey] May the 28 AD 1816 started from Lorey Staffords in Warwick Rhode Island for the State of Ohio arived at Zanesville July the 4 from thear we went to Marietta we got thear July the 8 we got into our home the 1 day of September.
The Westcotts did not stay that long in Marietta, but instead moved 30 miles north to settle in Hiramsburg in what would become Noble County, as mentioned in an 1887 History of Noble County, Ohio:
In the spring of the same year [1817] Christopher Westcott, from Rhode Island, settled on the farm now occupied by his son, Lewis C. Westcott. Dexter Brown, also from Rhode Island, settled in 1817.
Christopher’s brother Sylvester (1788-1857) and family also arrived in Noble County in 1817 (whether before or after his older brother is unknown) settling in nearby Belle Valley. The History of Noble County, Ohio has this snippet about his son, Sylvester Westcott, Jr.:
Sylvester Westcott is among the oldest residents of the township. He was born in Providence, R. I., in 1815, and has resided in Noble Township since 1817. He married Mary A. Wheeler in 1840, and is the father of three daughters. He has a vivid recollection of the early days, and of the difficulties under which the early settlers labored.
Christopher’s wife Mary Westcott died on October 7, 1848 and was buried in a family plot in Hiramsburg. Christopher married Hannah McLees on December 6, 1849, and then Jane Archer on September 4, 1854. There are no children from these marriages. Christopher died on April 20, 1857 and was buried next to Mary in what is now called the Christopher Westcott Cemetery in Hiramsburg, Ohio. Photos of the cemetery and a “map” of the headstones can be found under the Cemeteries tab. There is now a new headstone for Christopher and Mary.
Sylvester Westcott died on March 18, 1857; he is buried along with his second wife, Abby Carpenter, in a family plot in Belle Valley. Photos of the cemetery and a “map” of the headstones can be found under the Cemeteries tab.
Christopher Westcott’s Siphering Book
“Christopher Westcott Siphering [sic] Book 1802” is scrawled across in the inside front cover of the daybook. Click the image to view pages scanned from the original pages at the Warwick Historical Society.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. History of Noble County, Ohio: with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men. [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: History of Noble County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men. Chicago: L.H. Watkins & Co., 1887.
Edna Lewis, The Westcott Family Tree, 1999 [see index numbers 317 and 318]
Findagrave.com includes memorials for Christopher, his brother Sylvester, and many other Westcotts and Westcotts-in-law in Noble County, Ohio.