A Day In The Life With Sarah Rousseau
Excerpts from Sarah J. Rousseau’s wagon train diary.
June 10, 1864
Friday
A pleasant morning. Missed John’s mare. The Dr. went to hunt her. He has returned, bringing the mare along. We passed another grave this morning, it was a man that died last August. We passed the Lone Tree Ranch this morning. We are now about 130 miles from Omaha…
June 12, 1864
Sunday
Some cloudy this morning and very cool and dry. I wish we had enough rain to lay the dust. Mrs. Hays, Mrs. Curtis’s daughter is sick. The Dr. thinks she is taking the fever. Mr. Curtis’s little boy that fell out of the waggon [sic] and got so badly hurt. Is getting better.
Want to read from the beginning?
See: A Day In The Life With Sarah Rousseau (May 1864)
June 13, 1864
Monday
We passed a windmill today. Something new for our children to see. It has been very windy and cool all day, looks like some rain. Mr. Earp had a chill yesterday, took some medicine and is better today.
June 20, 1864
Monday
There was a sad accident occurred this morning. A young man that was driving a team in another train camped close by us, went along with some others to get some wood on an island in the river and got drowned. The poor fellow had no relatives or friend along. Mr. Earp tried to get his body but the current was too swift.
I was cupped in three places on my back. I have suffered considerably with my back the last week or two.
June 24, 1864
Friday
A pleasant morning. It blowed [sic] hard all night and was quite cool. Mattie has had a bad headache for three days. Yesterday she had a chill, took medicine last night. Not up yet, I don’t know how she is…
Meet the Character: James Rousseau
Copyright: Janelle Molony
James Alexander Rousseau, born in 1812, became a jack of all trades out of necessity during the Civil War. Educated as a physician at the School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky, he practiced naturopathy. On the Oregon Trail he was a Good Samaritan to all and readily tended to the medical needs of the Pella Company wagon train, passer-byers, and animals alike. He carried a bag with tinctures and oils able to cure most illnesses. As time passes and supplies drain, the train likely conceals Dr. Rousseau’s occupation in a natural inclination to self-preserve.
During early war initiatives, Dr. Rousseau served the Union Government as a land surveyor, contributing to mapmaking projects. One such errand brought him to the college his future wife and trail diarist, Sarah, taught at. He had a mail route through Pella, Iowa to Knoxville, over the Des Moines River at Red Rock to Otley and back. He even established the nearby town of Rousseau in 1850, which flooded over in 1947, permanently drowning the city under Lake Red Rock.
Though James was a pacifist on all accounts per his Methodist beliefs, his Kentucky family plantation did operate on slave power until just before the war broke out. When Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer needed a stronghold, in the 1862 Battle of Mill Springs, the Rousseau property would have been occupied by cannons aimed at the Cumberland River (before it was a lake).
James’ first cousin, Lovell H. Rousseau, the Kentucky State Senator and Union Major General, prevented the state from seceding. He eventually ran for Vice President in the 1864 elections against Gen. Andrew Jackson. Political pressure on Dr. Rousseau’s family may have enticed him towards a new life in San Bernardino, California, where he continued to work as a land surveyor for the local government. Wagon train companions Hon. Israel Curtis and law clerk John B. Hamilton also found work for the local county government with him.
Researcher Comments
Did you know…? George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were all Land Surveyors before taking office as the President of the United States?
Excerpts come from Across the Plains by Sarah Jane Rousseau, 1864. Interpretative material by Janelle Molony, family researcher and author of the creative narrative based on the Pella Company, From Where I Sat. The original Diary covers May 13, 1864, to December 18, 1864, and includes locations from Pella, Iowa to San Bernardino, California. (NOT available for public resale or distribution.)
For questions, or to interview the historian regarding the novel project, please Contact Me.
Ready for the next month’s “Day In…?” Click here!
Did Sarah really have a blind date with James’ cousin first? Yes – read more about it by clicking here.
To follow along with the development of the story, characters, fashions, and civil war events, please connect with @RousseauProject on Facebook or Instagram.
Author Byline
Janelle Molony is the g-g-g-granddaughter of Dr. James and Sarah Rousseau and current family historian. With the cooperation of other descendants, Molony is authoring a novel based on the 1864 wagon train.
Special thanks to the Pella Historical Society (https://www.pellahistorical.org/) and San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society (http://www.sbhistoricalsociety.com/) for your cooperation and support!