In 1832 my ancestor and her 3 children arrived at New York, together with friends and relatives who were also emigrating from Baden. Several months later this group was in Alton, Illinois, apparently joining other German emigrees who were already there. How did they get from NYC to Alton? Via the Great Lakes, inland rivers, overland roads or by coast travel to New Orleans and thence via steamboat (did steamboats exist in 1832?) to Alton/St. Louis? Since some emigrees were already in Alton, the route to that community was obviously well known and must have been imparted to the new group long before their arrival in Illinois. I'm confident that some of the members of this list have successfully researched the travel route from NYC to Alton. Please help - it's been bugging me for years! Dick

Dick, A long round-about way? It was much easier for those who settled in the St Lauis area to have landed at New Orleans and have used the Mississippi River to reach the Alton area. New York to Albany on the Hudson River, the Erie Canal which opened in 1825 to Buffalo, Lake Erie to Toledo and a long walk to the southwest is NOT likely plus the Erie Canal portion was very, very slow. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad may have been chartered with rails laid starting before 1830 but by 1832 that railhead was still somewhere in Maryland, not that far west of Baltimore; another long walk after leaving the train? The National Road aka Cumberland Road aka National Pike (approximately today's U S Route 40) from Cumberland/Baltimore to the west was the easiest route although it really wasn't much farther than Wheeling (now West Virginia), just slightly into Ohio at your 1832 time. However, this did connect with the Ohio River which offered a route to the Mississippi River. Still round-about but better than walking from New York to Alton. This also was probably the safest way as the National Road was a beehive of wagons; much less chance for robbery with such heavy "highway" traffic.. From New York to Baltimore and then wagon and boat the rest of the way to Alton. However, our Germanic ancestors were often of their own mind and your ancestors might have found some other way to reach Alton that we could never guess. djweber [email protected] ------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dick Fischbach" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 1:48 PM Subject: [Ortenau] Getting from NYC to Alton, Illinois? > In 1832 my ancestor and her 3 children arrived at New York, together with > friends and relatives who were also emigrating from Baden. Several > months later this group was in Alton, Illinois, apparently joining other > German emigrees who were already there. > > How did they get from NYC to Alton? Via the Great Lakes, inland rivers, > overland roads or by coast travel to New Orleans and thence via steamboat > (did steamboats exist in 1832?) to Alton/St. Louis? Since some emigrees > were already in Alton, the route to that community was obviously well > known and must have been imparted to the new group long before their > arrival in Illinois. > > I'm confident that some of the members of this list have successfully > researched the travel route from NYC to Alton. Please help - it's been > bugging me for years! > > Dick