Back in 1968-9 my teacher read our class a book about a boy and his experiences growing up on the American frontier after the American revolution, say 1800-1820 or so. There was later a second book about this boy who was now experiencing the American drive to the west and the beginning of the railroad age as the new technology was developing.
I don’t remember the name of the books or their author but it was a book my local school had purchased.
Could it be Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/977445.Diary_of_an_Early_American_Boy
I’m not sure if there’s a sequel to that one or not. I only have that one myself.
This sounds like one or more books by Stephen W. Meader, especially Buffalo and Beaver (1960) and its sequel Keep “em Rolling (1967), or possibly Jonathan Goes West (1946), Boy With a Pack (1939) or Longshanks (1928).
Maybe something by William O. Steele? I don’t remember any direct sequels, but her wrote many books about life on the frontier at that time perioud.
I think Evelyn Lampman had a couple stories that might fit that description too.
Could it be Singing Wheels and its sequel, Engine Whistles? These were Alice and Jerry readers, written by Mabel O’Donnell.