Existing comment:
Life in the 1830s:
New Salem was a commercial village, not an isolated frontier outpost. It was linked by waterways to eastern and even European sources of goods, which were available in New Salem's stores. Items for central Illinois trade came up the Mississippi River to the Illinois River and then up the Illinois to Beardstown. Money was scarce, so local farmers bought on credit or bartered with their produce.
Many of the items on display belonged to Samuel Hill, who was New Salem's most prosperous merchant. Later in life, his wife, Parthena Nance Hill, became a source of information about the village. |