William Moore (aged fourteen) made the trip around the lakes alone and met his brother George at Milwaukee.

The evidence

• “Moore, came west by lake to Chicago, where they purchased the present site of the Tremont House, going thence to Belvidere for a short time. George's father, being wealthy, sent money to him and to the boy's uncle to invest in western property, and in 1837 himself came West and joined them. William, being then fourteen years old and having just recovered from scarlet fever, was advised by the family doctor to go also. In May, 1837, he made the trip around the lakes alone and met his brother George on the wharf at Milwaukee, whence both went to Chicago.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/06-history-of-beloit.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 176 / book p. 159

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources