My Pioneering Great Grandmother

When Almira, daughter of Captain Erastus Buckland, married James Vining in East Windsor, Connecticut, September 26, 1832 she was nineteen years old. Never in her most wildest fantasies could this petite, blonde haired woman have dreamed that in the next twenty-five years she would follow her husband across the wilderness territory three times. Almira and James had three small boys when James first heard of the wonderful land available in Iowa in 1838. Edward was almost six years old, Alamanzo was three and Henry, my grandfather, was just barely two when they started the first long trek west with a large group of friends and neighbors.

Almira soon found that living in a covered wagon was no easy matter. Their huge high-sided covered wagon was larger than some of the wagons so they could carry everything they owned with them. Almira managed to find room for all their clothing and her spinning wheel, various eating and cooking equipment as well as supplies for many months ahead.

James’ brother, David, drove a second wagon to help lighten their own load. The second wagon hauled the plow, rakes, hoes, shovels and a supply of ax blades. Bags of all kinds of seeds and grain were included. Some precious fruit-tree seedlings were balled in dirt then wrapped in burlap for the journey. James’ blacksmithing tools and David's box of carpentry tools were strapped to the wooden sides of the wagon. Hundreds of pounds of flour, rice and beans and plenty of bacon, hams, tea, molasses and sugar completed the heavy load.

Almira's mother, Sarah, gave her daughter a fully equipped sewing basket and a small writing desk outfitted with pen, ink and paper in hopes of hearing from them sometime in the future. Almira also planned to keep a journal of their big adventure.

When everything was in place the long journey began. The wagons were arrayed with water barrels, crates of geese and chickens and various boxes for storage of items that might be used a lot while on the trail. Underneath the wagons hung large sheets of canvas to hold sticks of wood the children were expected to pick up along the way.

Pails of grease and tar hanging along the sides rattled a merry tune as the wagons began to roll. Empty pails to be used for milking or fetching wash water added to the racket. Along one side of the wagon was Almira's little churn which would bounce and jounce cream into tasty, golden butter during a day's journey.

Extra oxen, horses and milk cows were tied along behind. Rover, their collie dog, lived up to his name roving far and wide. Returning just long enough to check on everybody. Trying to keep everyone clean while constantly traveling was such a major effort, that Almira soon had to quit worrying about how dirty the boys looked. It was almost impossible to care for her own fair completion and maintain her fly-away blonde hair in a neat and attractive style that she had maintained back in Connecticut..

Traveling day after day, no matter what the weather was like, soon became very monotonous. Once in awhile their guide would find a patch of gooseberries or blackberries along the rivers they were following and everyone stopped to pick the delicious fruit. When David's wagon broke a wheel they all halted until it could be replaced with a spare wheel. With such a large group this type of thing happened often and broke up the boredom of constant travel.

Almira kept her sewing basket handy. She was knitting a shawl for herself to wear when cooler weather arrived. Bouncing around on the seat caused her to lose a stitch here and there. But nobody seemed to notice. There was a constant need to put patches on the boys britches, she stitched together new shirts and sewed quilt blocks to help pass the long, dreary hours.

After months of traveling in primitive conditions through unknown dangers, the Vining family finally arrived at their promised land. They settled in Van Buren County, Iowa with many of the other families from their home state. They lived in the wagon until trees were cut and a log cabin was built.

The women worked together in groups to accomplish the most from their combined energy. Gardens were planted and the surrounding forest was searched for food to help conserve the dwindling supplies they had brought with them.
Wild turkeys and geese were plentiful in the Iowa territory and were most welcome addition to their menus. The boys caught endless amount of fish in the nearby Des Moines River. Soon fish became almost daily fare and the excess was salted down in barrels for winter.

The boys and girls gathered bushels of nuts that autumn. They collected hickory, walnut and pecan. Almira had them gather acorns as well because she wanted to try roasting them, like the chestnuts back home. The women ground the acorns and made a type of flour that was useful and stretched their dwindling supply of flour they had brought with them.

It was a rough winter but they survived better than they had expected. James and his brother furnished fresh meat from their hunts through the winter snows. In the wooded area where they settled, the men found an enormous herd of deer and flocks of wild turkeys. The boys trapped many rabbits. They saved the furs for linings of caps and boots and mittens.

In the fall of 1840 a census taker stopped to take needed information for the Federal Census. Almira was pleased to entertain the gentleman who worked for the government. She was impressed how he wrote her husband's name in a fancy script and she watched closely as he circled the proper ages to coincide with her three children, Edward, seven; Alamanzo, five; and Henry only three years old. She insisted he stay the night and the evening was pleasantly spent with visiting and sharing the latest news from neighbors and friends the census taker had visited recently.

Almira's fourth son was born the next spring following a late and extremely bad blizzard. After the birth of Erastus on June 12, Almira was slow to regain her strength. James seemed to be losing interest in their Iowa home and finally moved the family to Conuty, Missouri a year or so later where Israel was born in 1842 and Charles Augustus in 1844.

Life in the territory was never easy. Almira with six small boys was still doing all the housework herself when her husband decided to tear up their roots once again and go back home to Connecticut. This trip became necessary because James' father, Alvin, was very ill. The two oldest boys stayed out west in the St. Louis, Missouri area with their Uncle David and founded the Vining Broom Factory. The rest of the family arrived back in East Windsor in 1846 in time to share the last days of Alvin's life that ended in early February,1847.

Over the next eight years Almira had two more baby boys and in 1855 she gave birth to her only daughter, Jane Almira. She was thankful the wilderness life was behind her. But Almira soon learned that James Vining had more wandering in mind. The east coast was becoming more involved with the slave problem. Civil war seemed inevitable.

Then a letter came from David, who had drifted into the Kansas territory. He wanted them to join him. So this courageous mother with six boys and baby Jane started the long journey west again. This time their goal was to help settle Kansas Territory for the Union. Arriving in Madison Centre, Madison County, Kansas Territory in the spring of 1857, they started to build a home in south west quarter of Section 15; Township 22; Range 12 containing 45 acres three miles east of town.

Census takers were again a bright spot in Almira life. There was still no school and she taught the boys the best she could. In 1859 a gentleman came from the territorial government in Lawrence to enumerate the inhabitants and Almira had him show the family his way of writing. The census taker also needed to know the day and year they had arrived in the territory.

Almira's courage was to be tested at its fullest in the next five years as the civil war loomed more and more on the horizon. In September of 1861, four of her sons, Henry, Erastus, Israel and Charles rode their horses to Fort Leavenworth and enlisted in the Kansas Cavalry. They were assigned to the 9th. Regiment, Company B.

Letters from Henry disclosed that he was being sent to northwest territory to build Fort Halleck for protection from the Indians. He spent the war years fighting Indians and never came home until the war was over. Erastus became a guide and took remount horses to Fort Halleck. On one trip he was caught in a blizzard and almost froze to death but managed to make it back home to recuperate from frostbite to his face, hands and feet. Charles was like his father and had the wandering urge. After the war he signed up for four more years of service and adventure.

The hazardous travels through the wilderness, living off the land and bearing nine children had taken its toll and Almira's health declined. When Israel was sent home to Madison Centre to recuperate his health June 1, 1862 he found his mother very ill. Almira finally gave up the battle and passed away just before Israel died of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in camp near Sarcoxieville, Kansas in March, 1864. The family believes, James buried them both at the edge of the clearing Almira had helped to make in the wilderness of Kansas.

Almira spent nineteen years in the wilderness raising her family and long enough in Kansas to see it become a state. She died knowing her sons had helped win the fight against slavery and left her young daughter of nine to carry on the struggle of conquering the wilderness of Kansas.

Resources:
History of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut
Federal census 1840, Van Buren County, Iowa.
Federal census 1850, Hartford County, Connecticut.
Territory census 1859, Madison County, Kansas Territory.
Federal census 1860, Madison County, Kansas Territory; Madison Centre, post office.
State census 1865, Coffey County, Kansas; Burlington Township, Leroy, post office.
Military and pension papers for: Henry F. Vining, Erastus C. Vining, Charles A. Vining, and Isreal Vining

Story ID:	443
Written by:	Gail Lee Martin (bio, other stories)
Organization:	Kansas Authors Club
Story type:	Family History
Location:	Madison Centre Kansas Territory USA
Year:	1832
Person:	Almira Vining