After Isaiah Williamson withdrew from Williamson & Burroughs, in 1837, he began to travel in his own country and abroad. While he enjoyed the novelty of foreign lands, his tremendous belief in the great development of his native land led him far afield in the United States, seeking first-hand opportunities before investing his fortune.
The hardships of travel did not deter him—and there were hardships in those early days of a kind we do not dream of. Where the railroads went he followed them to the railheads. But much of his travel had to be in a stage coach or on a river steamer. Everywhere he studied industrial developments. He knew all of his own state, in a thorough way that few people even today, when travel is so easy, know Pennsylvania. His favorite trips were to the iron, coal and timber lands, where he gathered information that stood him{{left|48}
