In 1853 the family decided to go west to get a home and located at St. Joseph, Missouri. They traveled by wagon, one hundred miles to Charleston, Virginia, on the Kanawha river and from there the entire journey was made by water navigation. They took a steam boat and went up the Ohio river to Cincinnati, Ohio, changed boats there and continued on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to St. Louis, Missouri. There they boarded the “Kate Swinney” boat and went up the muddy Missouri to St. Joseph. One exciting incident, while on the boat was when baby Willie crawled to the edge and it having no banisters, began to fall over board when Grandma caught and pulled him back by the tail of his dress.
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