A tour through Indiana in 1840

Kate Milner Rabb

23-year-old John Parsons, a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, made a tour of Indiana in 1840 to look into the possibility of purchasing land and settling there. His modes of transport included the stage coach, canal boat, steamboat and one of the early railroads. He carried letters of introduction to the “most respected families” of various Indiana towns, whom he describes. The account also describes the 1840 presidential campaign.