Let's say it's 1839 and I'm a young farmer on my way to the newly established village of Waterloo in the Republic of Texas. My transport ship goes down in a storm, and I wash up on the coast of the Florida Territory near present-day Jacksonville. Given my recent experience, I want to avoid ships for a while. What different options would I have to get from my location to Waterloo? Would I be able to use rail for part of the journey, and would there be a reliable route through the swampy areas?
In 1839, rail would have been out of the question. At that time, the only railroad in Florida was the Lake Wimco and St. Joseph in the west. It used wooden rails and only recently upgraded to steam versus mule power, if that puts the state of railroad technology into context.
The only realistic way of making the trip would be by sea and river. If the starvation didn’t get you, the disease probably would, assuming you weren’t robbed and murdered before that could happen.
In fact, in 1838, the US government forced the Cherokee to make a very similar land journey out west, and it’s called the trail of tears. Would not recommend. Just take the boat.
That being said, if you are interesting in the state of roads and transport in the US around that time, here is a pretty need map:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.rr000080/?r=0.483,0.63,0.117,0.173,0