Land • Sea • References
This page is about travel in Colonial America, primarily New England, in approximately 1700. It exists primarily so I don’t lose my research notes. I am not a scholar; this is not an extensive discussion of the topic and the sources given at the bottom are by no means a comprehensive list. (I’m aiming for a plausible pseudo-colonial background.) Feel free to notify me of glaring errors and bad sources.
By Land
The first milestones between Boston and Philadelphia were placed by Benjamin Franklin.[1]
The usual choices for land travel were walking or riding a horse. In 1672, there were only six stage coaches in Great Britain, and one private coach in Boston. In 1767, there was a summer stagecoach between Boston and Providence.[1]
It took 26 hours to go 80 miles from Boston to Newport in a carriage (no date given). Carriages made many stops. In 1796, the stagecoach from Philadelphia to Baltimore took five days.[1]
Sleighs raced in New York, 1707. Sedan chairs were around from 1646 to 1789.[1]
On a horse, women and children rode on a pillion, a padded cushion.[1]
Indians burned away the underbrush in forests, which left them clear enough for riding through. [1]
Inland freight used pack horses. They’d start with 200 pounds, which included provisions for the trip, and drop off parts along the way out to pick up on the way back. Two men could handle 15 horses tied together.[1]
Boston to Providence was a long two days’ ride.[6]
The Post
The first mail service between Boston and New York began in 1673, about a month round-trip. The postman changed horses at Hartford. British law forbade private mail carrying.[1]
The postman carried two portmantles crammed with letters and parcels. Other duties included assisting anyone who journeyed in his company and reporting the condition of ferries, fords, and roads. One man is reported to have changed money, carried merchandise, returned horses, fetched oxen, and knitted mittens and stockings while traveling.[1]
In 1760, there were only about eight mails a year from Philadelphia to the Potomac River. The postman need not make the journey if there wasn’t enough mail to pay his expenses – it was COD.[1]
Ferries, Fords, and Bridges
In 1636, the Cambridge ferryman charged half a penny.[1]
Horses often had to swim.[1]
Bridges were often a “horse-bridge” with a railing on one side.[1]
Taverns
Other words for an inn or tavern: ordinary, victualling, cook-shop.[1]
Inns were regulated, both in number per town and in price. In Salem in 1633, a meal cost 6 pence at the Anchor Tavern. At the Ship Tavern, board, lodging, wine, and beer were 3 shillings a day.[1]
There were no games, singing, or dancing. (Is that true? Puritans?)[1]
Rooms had names, such as the Star, Rose and Sun, Blue, Jerusalem chambers.[1]
In the south (Virginia to Carolinas), taverns were fewer. Travelers would stay with planters.[1]
By Sea
The first vessel built by English settlers was the Virginia in 1608, built at the Kennebec River in Maine. It had two masts, was 50-60 feet long. Weight given as 30 tons[2], which means it displaced 30 tons of water.[5]
More early ships:
- in 1610-1616, at New Amsterdam. 16 tons, 30 feet long at the keel, 44 feet 6 inches on deck[2]
- Blessings of the Bay built on the Mystic River in 1631. 30 tons[2]
By 1640, interest in West Indies trade required: 400 tons, 90-100 foot long, 20-26 feet wide.[2]
Ships were often laid down in the fall, away from water, finished during the winter and hauled by oxen to the water’s edge over the snow. Most settlements built fewer than one ship a year. Most built one about every three years.[2]
The use of oars (“sweeps”) was common.[2]
Types of ships
Types of ships built up to 1717: sloops, pinks, brigantines, shallops, ketches, barks.[2]
Most were sloops, with one mast, 25-70 tons. Next most common were brigantines, with two masts, 30-150 tons. Ketches (two masts, 80-20?? tons) were used in offshore fishing a lot until about 1700. [2]
Brig and snow started around early 18th century.[2]
By 1790, the schooner, with triangular sails, was the most popular style.[4]
Armament
Guns, about 3 – 6 caliber, were mounted through ports in the sides.[2]
Speed
Other things being equal, the largest ship is the fastest. The highest speed is reached when the wind is “about abeam or on the quarter”.[3] “Wind on the beam means directly behind it, as the beam of the ship is the width. On the quarter is, IIRC, when you are tacking — a triangular sail is actually more efficient at angles off of 90 degrees.”[5]
Merchant ships were slow because of their large cargo space.[4]
Speed is expressed by a numerical factor: (highest recorded rate of travel) / sqrt(waterline length). The larger the number, the faster the ship. A very fast ship has a speed factor of at least 1.250. This seems to me to be a very circular definition.[3]
Examples (note these are too late):
- In 1867, the schooner yacht Sappho (121 feet long) ran 316 miles in 24 hours. The best rate of speed was 16 knots. Speed factor: 1.455.[3]
- In 1854, the clipper James Baines (240 feet long) did 423 miles in 24 hours, with the best rate being 21 knots. Speed factor 1.355.[3]
References
1. Earle, Alice Morse. Home Life in Colonial Days. Chapter 14.
2. Chapelle. History of American Sailing Ships. Chapter 1. – contains detailed descriptions and some figures showing sail arrangements of various types of ships
3. Chapelle. History of American Sailing Ships. Chapter 2.
4. Chapelle. History of American Sailing Ships. Chapter ??.
5. Email from Jesse Emspak.
6. Lost citation.
