This series of letters cover the period from September 1854
through the Presidential Election in November 1856. "Expecting no
favors" is a description of the overland journey from Indianapolis to
Kansas Territory. The next several chapters that follow describe James' experience as a
frontier circuit rider on the very large Wakarusa Mission. In "Her destined
Western home," we follow James back to Owego, New York where he marries
Augusta. The final two chapters begin with James' serious illness that prevents
his active work on the circuit during 1856 and ends with the first
Kansas-Nebraska Conference of the Methodist Church in Lawrence, October 1856.
The map below will help to locate some of the places mentioned by James in his
letters.
The Kansas-Missouri Border, 1854-1859
Courtesy of Rootsweb
