Pike to Durham: An American Farmer’s Journal

In this journal, written in 1866-67, Robert Anderson of Griggsville, Illinois records a trip to northern England and return. He and his family emigrated from Durham County, England, to Pike County, Illinois in 1850. They bought land in the Illinois River bottom just east of the town of Griggsville. Robert, John, and sister Jane returned to England in 1866 to transact business, and visit family. While Jane saved items for a scrapbook, John kept a terse farmer's record of trips made and the prices of nearly everything they acquired or saw. But Robert was more expansive, writing a diary of their daily activities and his visit to the Paris Exposition. This diary is here presented with extensive footnotes linking past and present events to families, places, and situations in both countries. Included are pictures of the diary itself, Pike County locations, and a few photos, some taken on the journey and some of England in 1993.