Travels in the United States of America: Commencing in the Year 1793, and Ending in 1797. With the Author's Journals of his Two Voyages Across the Atlantic

In Short

This volume gathers the correspondence and sea journals of William Priest, an English musician who worked in American theaters between 1793 and 1797. Traveling through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, and the mid-Atlantic states, Priest records the daily texture of early American life, from stagecoaches stuck on frozen rivers to the social customs of German settlers and the absurdities of regional laws. His account endures because it offers an unpretentious, eyewitness view of a young republic, capturing its theatrical world, its harsh wilderness realities, its institutional hypocrisies, and the practical details of post-Revolutionary trans-Atlantic travel.

The Story

The narrative opens aboard a ship bound across the Atlantic in the autumn of 1793. Priest records the monotonous routine of the sea, noting the sudden changes in weather, sightings of gulf weed, violent gales, and encounters with marine life like dolphins and flying fish. Upon arriving in the Delaware and landing in New Jersey, he immediately confronts the grim news of a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia, forcing him to head south toward Annapolis before returning to the major urban centers.

Moving through Maryland and Pennsylvania, Priest observes the logistics of American travel. He rides stagecoaches over dangerous frozen rivers like the Susquehanna, dines on local fare such as fried squirrels and heavy breakfasts, and notes the vast differences between European customs and American habits. In Philadelphia, he settles into the theatrical scene, writing about the city's growth, its unique taverns, and its high wages. He pays close attention to the mechanics of frontier expansion, describing how backwoods settlers clear dense forests of hickory and walnut, build log cabins with the help of neighbors, and plant maize amidst rotted stumps.

Priest's professional work takes him north through Baltimore to Boston, allowing him to witness the cultural evolution of the new nation. He notes the tension between traditional puritanical roots—such as New England's historical anti-tobacco and blue laws—and the sudden explosion of public enthusiasm for theatrical performances. Alongside lighthearted observations about winter sleighing parties and local wildlife, he addresses graver topics: the brutal mechanics of the indentured servant trade, the horrors of the yellow fever epidemics that periodically devastate port cities, and the persistent threat of fires burning down wooden towns.

As his three-year stay ends, Priest boards a ship bound for England. The return voyage is plagued by fierce gales, the loss of his wild game specimens to shipboard pets, and the constant fear of French privateers in the English Channel. Upon landing back in Old England in 1797, stripped of his savings but enriched by experience, he concludes his candid record of a nation in its infancy.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Priest sets sail from England, recording shipboard hymns, sudden temperature drops near Newfoundland, and the striking colors of mid-ocean sunsets. The vessel navigates violent gales and countercurrents caused by the Gulf Stream while passengers brace for the long passage across the Atlantic.

First encounters ashore Landing near the Delaware, Priest learns of the terrifying yellow fever epidemic devastating Philadelphia, prompting an immediate detour south toward Annapolis. He gets his first taste of local customs, dining on fried squirrels and coffee at rural roadside inns.

Crossing the frozen wilderness Traveling north by stagecoach in deep winter, Priest watches a slave drive their heavy carriage across the cracked ice of the wide Susquehanna River. He visits historical battlefields at Brandywine and inspects the advanced grist mills powering the regional economy.

Life in the mid-Atlantic In Philadelphia and Lancaster, Priest observes the eccentricities of American society, including wealthy German blacksmiths painting anvils on their carriages and affluent farmers attending concerts without coats or stockings. He detailed the process by which frontier settlers clear wilderness lands to build farms.

The Northern cities and theater Moving on to Boston, Priest notes the city's shift from strict puritanical roots to a state of dramatic mania, where actors command astronomical fees despite historical bans on theater. He also documents urban disasters like citywide fires and recurring outbreaks of yellow fever.

The perilous return home Priest embarks on his voyage back to Britain, battling severe storms that decimate his collected wildlife specimens. He narrowly avoids French warships in the Channel before landing safely in England, penniless but full of firsthand experience.

The People

• William Priest, an English theater musician who travels to the United States seeking professional employment and outdoor sports like hunting and fishing. He approaches his journey with pragmatic humor, keen observation, and an aversion to romanticized exaggerations of American life.
• Tomo-cheeki, an Indian sachem featured in a literary sequence included within the text, who reflects on European trade, philosophy, and the nature of human desire while conversing with white travelers in the wilderness.
• Peter Brown, a prosperous Philadelphia blacksmith who, upon growing wealthy enough to purchase a luxury carriage, proudly paints anvils on its panels with a motto celebrating his honest labor rather than hiding his working-class origins.
• Sambo, an enslaved ferry driver who risks his life to maneuver a heavy four-horse stagecoach across the cracking ice of the mile-wide Susquehanna River for his master's financial gain.

In Its Own Voice

"I slept at an inn, about twenty miles from Annapolis, where we supped in the American fashion on fried squirrels and coffee, the former excellent."

Priest captures the unpretentious, rustic reality of everyday travel along the early American roads.

"As we fixed our admission at a dollar each, (here seven shillings and sixpence,) we expected this circumstance would be sufficient to exclude such characters; but on inquiry, I found (to my very great surprise!) our three sans culottes were german gentlemen of considerable property in the neighbourhood!"

The author dryly highlights the clash between polished European expectations and the raw, democratic informality of wealthy American landowners.

"I found the custom house officers, and their myrmidon porters, exactly as Smollet has described them; two of these gentlemen had the impudence to charge me half a guinea for bringing my trunk seventy yards."

Upon returning to England, Priest closes his journey with a characteristic touch of cynical humor regarding British bureaucracy.

What It's Really About

Underneath its casual epistolary surface, the book examines the practical realities of building a society from scratch. Priest is preoccupied with the tension between old European hierarchies and the raw egalitarianism of the American environment. He explores how abundance of land alters the value of labor, how harsh climates shape daily survival, and how religious idealism sits uneasily alongside economic opportunism. Rather than buying into political idealism, Priest looks at the foundational infrastructure of the nation: its labor systems, its economic exploitation, its fire risks, and its struggle to establish cultural institutions like theaters against a backdrop of puritanical history and rural wilderness.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in early American history, travel literature, and social commentary will find Priest’s accounts refreshing. Unlike political treatises or glossy promotional tracts of the 1790s, this collection feels grounded, plainspoken, and immediately human. Priest writes without grandiosity, offering a granular look at everything from the price of gunpowder to the mechanics of clearing a forest or navigating a winter sleighing party.

The reading experience is swift and episodic, structured as brief letters and diary entries that move quickly across subjects. The main challenge for modern readers lies in the book's eighteenth-century framing, including quoted period texts that contain racial attitudes and pseudo-scientific theories common to the era—particularly extracts regarding slavery and Indigenous populations that reflect the prejudices of the late 1700s. Yet for those willing to navigate these historical artifacts, the book offers an authentic, unvarnished window into an emerging nation, remembered by an observant outsider who lived through its mud, ice, and music.

Would you like to explore a summary of the author's specific theatrical engagements in Philadelphia and Boston next?