Miss Margaret Dwight journey took place in the year 1810 from Milford Connecticut to Warren Ohio for six weeks. She is pained by the thought of leaving all her friends, but she has to start the journey. The first day on arrival to Milford she is buried in thoughts of her home. The things she did not say, how kind her friends were but she felt she had not thanked them enough. She was also worried about hurting sally who she appreciated a lot. She really did realize how painful to leave all her friends and even the mother of Elizabeth. At one point of this nostalgia she almost decided to stay back home, but it was too late for that.
October 20 Saturday, 1810
The journey was cold and not sociable as everyone kept thinking of the friends they had left behind. When the young ladies stopped at the Tavern in Fairland they are approached by an old woman and she enquires about their journey. The journey is about 600 miles and will take a long time. The old lady is astonished to find out that the young girls could travel such a long distance without their husbands, and continues to caution them about wild Indians at their destination. When she says she is accompanied by unpleasant, but not uncommon companion, tells us of the journey when she has just encountered people who make her journey difficult.
October 21 Sunday, 1810.
They were invited to a meeting which Margaret reluctantly agreed. The sermon was not striking, according to her. She is very analytical from her conclusion that the minister was the brother to Mr. Fisher. She disapproves the way the voice of the preacher is but somehow commends the way he delivers his sermon. She only thinks boys only notices the girls for their beauty and the way they are dressed. She also negatively judges the sermon and regrets walking the long distance for nothing.
October 22, Monday, 1810
She condemns the deacon in New Connecticut for acting economical and regrets putting up with him. She is not used to such things as cooking for herself, staying in a tavern, carry her things or ride in a wagon. She is very proud and would rather not live in those conditions at all. She is very disrespectful while describing the landlady as a fat, dirty ugly creature. She is very imaginative and depicts a perceptive of many young girls in her description. The exaggerations she brings out are common when girls are facing challenges like she did. The place was small and very dirty and stored a lot of things this made her very uncomfortable. The landlady has a suspicious face and her noise was terrifying. The night was so uneasy and in the morning it was a relief to be alive and find their properties. When they were leaving, she realized she had the wrong opinion of the people in that house, in the contrary they seemed to like them. Despite suspecting the lady and the occupants she regrets it and considers them to be very kind.
October 23, Tuesday, 1810
The journey was difficult, especially for women, it was dusty and cold. The journey is too risky with the tides and she fears she may drown.
October 24, Wednesday, 1810
After waiting for the ferry for hours she is faced with great difficulty moving in the ferry.
October 25, Thursday. 1810
The wagon kept breaking down, making them to set up for the night as early as 3 p.m. She complains and swears to never travel with a deacon since it is cheap and very slow.
October 26 Friday. 1810
She describes travelling with the deacon as too slow such that instead of the usual four weeks they would probably take four times more.
October 27, Saturday, 1810
The roads are very difficult to pass through due to the terrain. They lost their way and she blamed the people responsible for erecting guide boards and directions. During the evening she decides to go to bed earlier since she fears the Dutch men may pull her to dance.
Miss Dwight should not go back home to Connecticut from the roads seem to get better and better as she progresses, she also on the journey she learns a lot about the people. Through the experiences and interactions she makes a lot of prejudices and negative assumptions. On getting to know the individuals better she most of the time regrets, especially after rudely describing them to Elizabeth.
The journey has been very enlightening from that of woman’s view. In the course of such a journey women face some common problems, especially given the fact that it takes a long time due to the old transport system. The journey is long and interactive, hence women find themselves in uncomfortable situations with men. They are harassed and accompanied by men without their will, which is invading their privacy. Standards of hygiene are quite low and the places they spend the night are crowded and also consists of awful smells. They may even end up catching diseases because of the conditions they encounter.
Miss Dwight in her diary captures the journey from a woman’s view and the challenges they encounter. She gives details in humorous and prejudices the individuals she encounters and at one point regrets her judgements. She also describes the old town’s practices and structures on her way. She was very observant and imaginative and this made her diary rich in literary skills.