Welcome to Henry's Travel Blog!

Although he kept detailed business papers, Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw left little personal material for biographers to consider in analyzing his life. One of the few items which remain is a series of five journals. Following his retirement from the hardware business in 1840, Shaw traveled abroad and made notes, recollections, and even sketches in these small bound books. Join us as we chart Henry's journey to Europe and beyond.
 
Shaw's variable spellings, punctuation, and grammar, preserved throughout, are typical even for well-educated gentlemen in the 19th Century. Important note (4/14/09): The entries from March 11, 2009 through April 8, 2009, correspond to recently discovered text from Henry Shaw's journal. They will be posted online under the correct dates to preserve chronological accuracy.
 
   
   

Posted Online Friday, December 11, 2009

March 21, 1842: St. Denis

Went with Mr. Laidler to St. Denis, who for economy would go by a small kind of omnibus. Carrying six persons with one horse - a very mean conveyance, which found afterward are called "pot de chambre."

St. Denis a villas two leagues from Paris. The church of the same name contains the monuments of the Kings of France from the time of Clovis to the last of the Bourbons, whose ashes were sacred odiously disturbed in the revolution to efface all remembrance of them and the venerable Gothic edifice turned into a store house. The monuments have been restored and are in the subterranean parts of the church called the caveat -