Crumbs Along the Trail

The Daniel Crumb family settled in Westerly, Rhode Island in 1669. For their service in the Indian war and the one for colonial freedom they were awarded land grants in central New York state. They then moved further west to establish a mill near De Ruyter forming a community known as Crumb Hill. During the War of 1812, family members became acquainted with an old sea captain who had political connections in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and the state capital of New York. These people were seeking to further develop settlements which might support routes to the Northwest Territory. The captain encouraged the Crumbs to travel further west to the area beyond of the Finger Lakes. They did so using early features of the Erie Canal. The Crumb built mills formed new communities in the Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties of New York. Culver Crumb moved to Pennline, Pa. but stayed only ten years. With urgings from the American Settlement Company in early spring of 1857 after passing through the Midwest by train from Pennline to St. Louis, via Chicago, the Crumbs arrived by riverboat in Westport near Kansas City; the final leg of their journey on the Santa Fe Trail was by covered wagon to Council City, Kansas Territory. The dates of these journeys are established fact so the creative aspect of the writing deals with daily happenings in the lives of these people during these journeys and after their arrival in Kansas. G. Crumb