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Log of William E Davies
Journey from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales to the United States
1857


William E Davies mailed the Welsh version of his log to his wife and children in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.  The English version is by the Reverend J. R. Owen of Lisbon, Ohio.

April 13 1857

Dear Wife and Children:

Here is a brief account of our journey for you.  We left Liverpool on the 13th on board the vessel Emma Jane under Captain Jordan who is a very pleasant man.  On board there are 18 sailors, 3 mates, and 1 steward.  We slept on board the first night and on the 14th sailed up (?) the river.  We sailed on and passed by lighthouses and eventually saw the Irish hills.  It turned stormy and most of us were sea sick except the small son of Mr. Nicholas.  By the 19th we were getting better and the sun began to shine.  I read in the morning and at 3 in the afternoon we had a sermon from Mr. Nicholas based on 2 Timothy 2:5.  At the end of the service we saw a fine ship from China in full sails.  On the 20th a good breeze.   Between 6 and 7 in the afternoon we saw a ship approaching us;  it was a steam ship with two engines.  Today we persuaded the cook to bake bread for us for 12s between 12 of us twice a week.  On the 21st at 6 a.m. there was sunshine.  There are 18 sails up and the wind is in them.

On the 22nd we saw three ships, all sailing in the same direction as us.  We travel about 7 or 8 miles an hour.  About 5 p.m. a brig passed us.  On the 23rd we are sailing along fine and saw a ship from Spain.  On the 24th we sailed under 20 sails and seagulls have followed us up to this morning, but they seem to be leaving us now.  On the 25th we arranged for each in turn to light a fire.  We have unending sea around us.  We read in the morning and Mr. Nicholas preached in the afternoon on Acts 11:23.  On the morning of the 27th there was hardly a breeze, but by 6 p.m. we were under full sails.  Today on the 28th we saw sharks.  The sea is calm and the children are playing on the deck.  I kept thinking about you, my dear ones.

We saw 4 or 5 birds.  They are called Mother Carey's Chickens, and also more sharks.  The 30th proved to be a beautiful day, some of the sails were pulled down and around us were dolphins roaring like lions all day long, and at night just the same.  On the 1st of May, 7 or 8 ships in full sail passed us.  Some strange looking large fish appeared periodically today.  On the third we had a violent storm, with the waves beating us on the decks, but gradually it calmed down.  Mr. Nicholas preached from the 23rd chapter (no book mentioned) and the 42nd and 43rd verses.

It is very calm today on the 4th.  On the 5th we saw 5 ships.  On the 6th it was raining all morning.  We saw whales that were spouting streams going way up in the sky.

7th - No wind at all today.  The captain speared one of the large fishes that was six feet long and must have weighed 200 pounds.  There were 403 teeth in its lower jaw and his mouth resembled a steer's mouth.  The passengers were served the front half of it and the rest went to the crew.  His tail was 18 inches wide.

8th - No wind last night again.  The sun is extremely hot.  Some saw sea snakes that were 4 yards in length.

9th - There was a strong North West wind last night and it lasted till noon.  Presently we have fair wind.

10th - The fair wind continued.  We saw two bark ships.  One has the English colors and 14 sails.  B Nicholas preached on the 12th chapter of John, the Evangelist, 32nd verse.

11th - Heavy rain all night and a storm developed and a sail was broken.  Black birds are now following the ship.

12th - The sea is really surging day and night.  We are nearing America; the water is getting warmer.

13th - The North West wind is blowing.  The sailors are painting the ship and making it ready for land.  We saw two ships today.  The bunk broke last night under Dan and Morgan Jenkins.  We really had sport.

14th - We saw 3 vessels.  One came close to us, so that the two captains could converse with each other.  It was an English vessel sailing for Boston.

15th - It was rough all day long.  Rougher than we've had it before, torrential rain and waves like mountains surrounding us.  We saw a brig with all the sails ripped off.  From 11 o'clock last night we had no main sails up, only 3 in an attempt to keep t@4m?XJYkc,ELO)p _#*]WNe*'Q ~^u%(FzuTeFMw9l/._f^;=?}5uWA1$NrrI/_5 >*IK׹Fl݄6R7&໎y EƣZ:6?IݛRv\N4k)ҋW4W:M>nUk;}{٦Cĝ[GS4[HͼeAQ0uf_9.jagFT_+;> S爔KKjBqmMrI %kifҗ] 4ㄧ7{4ݵpWN:]Ry4ˍ}2;i!6Ы "([EV##r{g~!Ѵ6t.XV t Md@TbBKs-RLPZ!f\P8,R5(Q k 1RU"]&,d❦a0UUʔc;EWvEdݜow^Yy?bSQyd8X K;6[,ڲN0ap$Tjʚ*TkiTN-1H㍔F=[ʚ[5ݭz>aqΑIa50"$(0׉:ޓ̋aq\]$n[QBq& FUs(}/F8jܼIt8Z|ɮY +=c$TZVV7h%Z]mn#UD^1 &@VRrW.C@*8 ߄tX, ̎3V;я-AQqOyMr,R`۴moV pvIl۸JM=ڻZ=Rj狮uz'h|P&6l`b0XR {㔽O,bWc\ᜒB%_1~ԢN*TdMj{tPN)A9'enVۻwvka࿈ftD.5x3oX_Z6Ep$u]Fr?$6~t?m3?11M"k; O񝕡) ƕ;nMfH|v}GCSBS{.қjJ)a``Sa#9+Όxw#V1)+i&KHZW7bJѕ\dŕN E E9~aGQ”.HFsJ#Yr{pkKrroG[Z;[]^I,QM$.cp*bJT60-bLįx~¹cQTƑ 9r2 ])я$9ZmۺI^nSi/*\7KXʹS6+,D cy%);FF p~F'46ʩ q2uU\eUl) @'<4ۧVEjRWM̧+%[DiG2yԬuwS}+4O~Gnn+Pbib o,)L,ddcv+kSԇ,Yu ,z?gg ˌ#XYYAQYJSF0y}%3rs$R=|N,2BR ms( N3|̩M9o3$2yW;J~RNUy k>X!Ћ+8{ŶbR9#!m O*2(J>\kݍ~;IiA)98r.]}ةI=}f5\M噥qIE 3!1e 8+&$+NnSɗ,tDk{H]1n\LnW<T$e+.JwMRjn.1SPnJk;4tQ+Y$ڳ.PV,U@27 m#9+cuFVh]!G 3 AeF$܌s\8\yt>ty]5g8ӔS\JM'x`)rM)FN׏Ik&3vm{ZTWÅTL`dRB(hPh?>yCU4H O,6wTP*qr+TpQ+烫.}c'5(Q6*'STPB_RoKhݮݟcW ޔ4j@a\ wFU̮3|@H{+?xHZ#ii,)IJE`̱/ɔ't0hҫ&ҧNgUne)sTj7RYab*s{iIZ4gv^{FO[&iC=gխ?Wsjv䓴4v0QwSjo Wn=BcQ. kxLBBpؒGL&'*1jΜa%I7k*\Ђ\Wt'֌e҅:uJ5'.jMF%nt I7{VoxTS8"C+ !8H?*D*!k3^0xCh!yV$#6eUX1$>O*pьaSVn3N0Z+AN0Nr+&w]Rvm>fՑ 6W?vy]ΰ:n%! 1mG,r=N~YxÚ-ĩVT+uk8ɈtE m 6s(N'V*cf((NM-̬䜱x*IJiJY(?F49^ 8-l{KEWn)smɿb ,S3o"ٲҳ.Wp w,T*r%⬣eh5`Q5;bN6P~+i){jNZMROD.E$D{l$ 7IbP!e/& r P\.$EaȯhNQ2ᢇ3J^Q\ϫM)FOXiuȣnwI'*OWʕKW+tմ[Xwх :JGQ) q/]Gi2RhI o~;C;r-\G!(9ӝhSRU"%8J sze*nj'TN5v$[SI%'ۿ+_k-&pt7/4hH.0ܥCUdsx:da49{wF a.pہ65CV3 B5SI*rIFSctnJx P^e;ͩ=%qzj[O][H,Ճ.d50 0*; O3~.n-L=ipF#pr܍FYC*ӂjǗT58$٨k6)p ,ZynvWեtIn|gkq \ITLO|dįQ'?)!u֌RgxI2,jő[cmP9a oMsE^n|ќԕidž:N5?uhԋVwے/oyym;E'<iK3%>Kr`Uhf<ŋk?O:&L҆XݐopO;$ԣRRGge(ӖNzf-&xR^[i\K*[}Ď4kq VXSNs}O8U)ߥ(BKB#*Wj8ӊ'Y@(,][|*,r"E̒I\X1~'(A{i4=I/%ywv {uM.-D`3ʰ,AHTVj0rܭs;:3{Ea0b-aX.p @|i9M+{ryN:J^4ɻ)уuIiePgf&zev0s$ "CK'j2?~|' 0i[he ship fairly even.

16th - Thunder and lightning and heavy rains.  The sailors tell us we are in the gulf stream since the last three days.

17th - Some thunder and lightning last night and now a head wind.  11 sails are up.  A vessel in full sails passed us.  B. Nicholas preached on the first chapter of St. John, verse 16.

18th - The sun is shining.  We saw a ship that had the letters OHIO on it's flag.

19th - Fair wind all night but head on wind in the morning.  Heavy rains all day.

20th - Strong head wind all day with very little progress made.

21st - A little better today with the sea not so rough.  Some land birds are now seen.

22nd - Last night the wind turned favorable.  We heard a seagull crying last night.

23rd - Some rain in the morning.  Favorable wind all day and also in the night.

24th - Hardly any wind all day.  B Nicholas preached in Welsh at the request of the captain and a little in English, two times.

25th - A little wind in the morning and by 3 in the afternoon we were under full sails.  We saw all kinds of fish, two dolphins and flying fish.

26th - More wind and strong for the last 3 days.  The sailors went about doing work that would have cost 10 pounds in Liverpool.

27th - Fine day with favorable wind.  23 sails up.  We saw porpoise fish swimming by us all day, following our vessel.

28th - At 8 in the morning the pilot came on board.  In a short time a lighthouse and Lewis Town were in sight.  They telegraph from this town to Philadelphia to say which vessel is on the way and which way the wind blows.  At 8 we dropped anchor.  In doing this one of the sailors had has arm caught between the chain and the roller.  We are now between the state of New Jersey and the state of Pennsylvania.   The land is within sight of both sides.  New Jersey on our right and the other on our left and remains so to the port for 100 to 120 miles.

29th - We raised anchor at 11 in the morning.  Many vessels in view.  At 20 minutes before 2, a steam boat came to lead us in by the name of Jacob and  (?). 75 dollars was paid.  Castle town is on our left.  We heard her bells ringing.  The town of Wellington on the same side.  Between 8 and 9 we dropped anchor with a steam ship by our side.

30th - We raised anchor at break of day.  From 8 to 10 a man from the customs house was on board and the doctor and Benjamin Thomas, the son of Thomas Phillips Rees; commonly cool was the first treatment we had from him.  We received a couple of cigars.  At 12 we got our luggage and our feet were on the land of Columbia.  We arranged to have our boxes taken to the station in Philadelphia for 6 pence each.  We went to the home of David Thomas for dinner, Mary Lewis, Margaret Evans the daughter of John from Wern.  David is finding rooms for many in this town.  At 20 minutes before 4 the train left for Pottsville.  We paid the equivalent of 9 shillings 4 pence of your money for the journey.  We were there at 8.  David, my brother, William Rees, Henry Lewis, William Roderick and many others were there waiting for us.  We were in Mount Taffy by 11.  No more now.  I have seen all my relatives and they are well and send their regards.  I am also well and all who sailed with me.  I send my love to my dear wife and children.  I remain faithful to you till my grave.  Give my regards to all the relatives.  My dear wife an early reply will please me.



End of letter.

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