Harriet Noble's 1824 Journey: Pioneer Life in Michigan

Harriet Noble's 1824 Migration Account

As told to Elizabeth F. Ellet (1856)

Author: Harriet Noble | Date of Migration: 1824

The Reality of Pioneer Migration

In 1856, Elizabeth F. Ellet published the book Pioneer Women of the West, a compilation of histories of pioneer women, including the account of Harriet Noble, who emigrated from New York to Michigan in 1824. Like the majority of women undertaking overland migration at that time, Noble had little choice about whether to go or not; her husband made the decision for her.

During the journey, men generally drove the wagons while women and children walked behind in a cloud of dust. Noble expressed that her feet were already so swollen she could not walk anymore. Finally, the family arrived in the new land and started building a house. Despite doing “man’s work,” women pioneers did not receive any special benefits in terms of freedom or status, and most of them badly missed the company of friends and family members back East.

The Journey to Michigan, September 1824

Harriet L. Noble’s account of her migration from New York to Michigan, 1824, as recorded by Elizabeth F. Ellet:

“My husband made preparation to start in January with his brother. They took the Ohio route, coming by the way of Monroe, and thence to Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Mr. John Allen and Walter Rumsey had been there with his wife, as well as two men, for four or five weeks; they had built a small house. They moved when my husband and his brother arrived. They spent a few days, located a farm close to the Huron River, and returned to Canada. They were pleased with the country, and immediately commenced preparing to emigrate.

We started on the 20th of September, 1824, for Michigan. Roads were bad. We waited in Buffalo four days for a boat; the Michigan boat was the only one on the lake, but she had put into Erie for repairs. Then, we took passage in a schooner, which was dangerous. At length, we went on board The Prudence of Cleveland, Captain Johnson. We were seven days on Lake Erie. It was a tedious voyage; the lake was rough.”

Sickness and Survival in the New Land (1826)

Early in the summer, my husband was taken with the ague. He had never suffered from ague or fever before, and it was severe. He would break the ague and work for a few days before it would return. About August, he harvested his wheat and cut his hay, but he was again taken with ague. I had it myself, and both of my children did too.

I sold stacks of hay. The next day, the ague intensified in my husband; I assisted him because the ague didn't affect me as severely. By fall, we were more healthy, and we began to live comfortably through the winter of 1826.

However, in November, my husband had his left hand blown to pieces by the accidental discharge of a gun; he was better by April. I maintained the cattle. In the spring, the ague returned. He went to New York to bring a nephew to work, and he came back in July.