<<Hello. What river was it that a ship would be on to go from R.I. to IL.? Could it be the Hudson River?>> I don't think so. I can't imagine that anyone could get to or from Rhode Island and Illinois by the Hudson River. It's possible, but would have been very circuitous. The likely avenue (in my mind) would have been the Ohio River which has its origin in western Pennsylvania. many people migrated to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois via the Ohio River. But it doesn't go all the way to Rhode Island--actually it' be practically impossible for that to happen with the Applachian Mountain range in between. So likely they took some other route across CT and PA to the Ohio River. Patti