52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 26 – This Week’s Theme is “Slow”

When I think about my ancestors and the world they lived in, I’m always humbled by the trials and hardships they faced and overcame just to survive.  All my life I have heard the story about how my great grandparents Johnson arrived in Nodaway County in the early 1900’s.  They were married in Tennessee and after their marriage followed Grandpa Floyd’s family to East Texas.  Following the “incident” as my Aunt Adelle described it, Grandma Barbara contacted her family who had settled in Nodaway County for help.  The Cunningham family loaded into a covered wagon and drove to Wills Point, Texas, about 600 miles, to retrieve Grandma and her children then returned those 600 miles to Nodaway County.  A couple of years later the trip was repeated when they returned to Texas to get Grandpa and then returned to Missouri.  Google maps says that trip today is about 9 ½ hours by car.  According to Google, that same trip by covered wagon could take six months or longer as they could only go 8 to 20 miles per day.  That means that they would have spent about 2 years on the road between the 2 trips.  Talk about slow! 

Until Next Time.

Happy Hunting!