MATT. DAVIS.
MATT. DAVIS.
William McCleary, who died recently near Claysville leaving anestate valued at $50,000; Daniel Dawson, subsequently kept a tavern near Limestone, Marshall county, West Virginia, and died there; Samuel Rowalt, Robert Bell, William Watkins, John Ford, still living in Monongahela city; George Freiger, Barney and Samuel Nunemaker, Thomas Cox, John Ruth, Abram Boyce, Charles Oulitt, James Dean, William (“Boggy”) Moore, when a boy a rider on the pony express; John Schenck, Thomas Hager, Joseph Ruff, Dandy Jack, James Fisk, Joseph Drake, Andrew Ferrell, John Fouch, George Walker, George Banford, Joseph Lewis, Larry Willard, Isaiah Fuller, Davy Crockett, Henry Wagner, John Foster, Henry Smith, James Foster, John Noble, Edward McGinnis, Thomas McGinnis, John Johnson (Old Sandy), John Horrell, William Grim, Elias Johnson, Daniel Boyer, James Bodkin, James Null, William Null, William Clark, David Brower, Richard Frantz, James Rowe, John Seaman, David Brennard, Henry Schuck, George Crow, James Andrews (Dutch Jim), drove in and out from Grantsville; John Huhn, drove in and out from Claysville; Moses Thornburg, Wylie Baily, James McClung, James, Abraham and Robert Devan, brothers; Thomas and George Henderson, Stephen Leggett, James Wilson, Henry Herrick, John Giddings, Ed Washburn, J. S. Beck, Frank White, Jesse Matthews, Robert Fenton, Jesse Hardin, David Johnson, Archy McGregor, Samuel Darby, James Moore, Joseph Drake, James Riley, William Matthews, Edward Hall, James Vancamp, Benjamin Miller, grandson of the old tavern keeper of Uniontown; Samuel Betts, Calvin Springer, ex-sheriff of Fayette county; James Noggle, Martin Stedler, William Wiley, John Wiley, William McGidigen, James McGidigen, Daniel Shriver, Jerome Heck, Frederic Zimmerman, Robert Bennett, Edward Kelley, John Clark, Samuel Blair, Ross Clark, George Butts, Beck Kelley, William Kelley, William Fisher, James and Thomas Bradley, Thomas Johnson, William Brower, Richard Frazee, Isaac Toner (Dumb Ike), Joseph Jenk, Evans Holton, Daniel Dean, Jesse Brennard, George Brennard, John Steep, John Collier, Ben Tracy, George Moore, George Richmire, Charles Richmire, Thomas McMillen, Samuel Porter, Isaac Flagle, William and Ross Clark, Richard Butts, Garret and West Crawford, John Brown, subsequently a clerk in the Wheeling postoffice; Joseph Matthews, John Waugh, William Hickman, a circus man; George Robbins, Abram Boyce, Oliver Jackson, Joseph Bishop, Thomas McClelland, Elisha Stockwell, Isaac Denny, subsequently tavern keeper at the old Griffin house in the mountain, west of Somerfield; John Harris, drove on the Good Intent line, and died in Uniontown; Charles and Robert Marquis, James Moore, son-in-law of James Sampey, of Mount Washington; Perry Sheets, drove west of Washington; Elmer Budd, drove from Uniontown to Brownsville; Frank Watson, Bate Smith, Sam Jerome, James Downer, son of William, of the big water trough on Laurel Hill, when a boy a rider for the pony express; William Stewart, Caleb Crossland, of Uniontown; William Bogardus, who lost an eye by coming in contact with a pump handleon Morgantown street, Uniontown, on a dark night; John Robinson, a very large man; Samuel Youman, mentioned under the head of old wagoners, next to “Old Mount” the largest man on the road; Thomas Milligan, Joshua Boyd, Stephen Leonard, David Johnson, James McCauley, Thomas Boyd, Garret Clark, Henry Miller, Thomas Moore, William Wilkinson, Galloway Crawford, Samuel Jaco, Robert Wright, Fred. Buckingham, Jacob Rapp, killed at Brownsville about 1840 by his team running off; John Rush, Samuel Holsted, Sandy Connor, living as late as 1882, and carrying the mail in a two-horse vehicle from Frostburg to Grantsville; John Farrell, farming near Grantsville in 1882 and at that date eighty-five years old; Jacob Shock, Eph. Benjamin, William Bergoman, Upton Marlow, subsequently proprietor of the American and other leading hotels in Denver, Colorado; Archie McVicker, James Cameron, Charles Enox, Robert Amos, James Finnegan, drove a bob-tailed team from Somerfield to Keyser’s Ridge; Squire Binch, of Brownsville, well remembered by the old folks of that place; Richard Harris, Joseph and David Strong, the former for many years a prominent citizen of Cumberland, and frequently honored by public trusts; Abe Walls, —— Bonum, called “Magnum Bonum;” James Gray, Henry Powell, Henry Bergoman, Rock Goodridge, Sherwood Mott, Daniel Boyer, Robert Dennis, David James, Thomas Grace, John Lidy, drove a dun team of bob-tails from Farmington to Somerfield, that formerly belonged to the Pioneer line; Isaac Frazee, James McLean, Thomas and Henry Mahany, Baptist Mullinix, Amariah Bonner, B. W. Earl, subsequently a stage agent, and tavern keeper at the Stone house near Fayette Springs, and at Brownsville; John and Matthias Vanhorn, Daniel Quinn, James Corbin, William Corman, of Braddee mail robbery fame; Atwood Merrill, a fiery partisan of the Good Intent line; William Willis, noted as a fast driver on the Old line. On one occasion Willis passed Peter Burdine, a fast driver as before stated of the Good Intent line, which prompted the partisans of the Old line to get up the little rhyme following to emphasize and signalize the event:
“Said Billy Willis to Peter Burdine,You had better wait for the Oyster line.”
“Said Billy Willis to Peter Burdine,You had better wait for the Oyster line.”
“Said Billy Willis to Peter Burdine,
You had better wait for the Oyster line.”
The fares on the stage lines were as follows:
A paper was prepared by the agent of the line at the starting point of the coach in the nature of a bill of lading, called the “way bill.” This bill was given to the driver, and by him delivered to the landlord at the station immediately upon the arrival of the coach. Itcontained the name and destination of each passenger, and the several sums paid as fare. It also bore the time of departure from the starting point, and contained blanks for noting the time of the arrival and departure at every station. The time was noted by an agent of the line, if one were at the station, and in the absence of an agent, the noting was done by the landlord. If a passenger got on at a way station, and this was of daily occurrence, he paid his fare to the landlord or agent, which was duly noted on the way bill, together with the passenger’s destination.
In addition to the stage lines hereinbefore mentioned, there was a line known as the “Landlords’ Line,” put on the road by tavern keepers, prominent among whom were William Willis (the old driver before mentioned), Joseph Dilly, and Samuel Luman. There was also a “Pilot Line” and a “Pioneer Line.” These lines had but a short run. The railroad managers east of Cumberland favored the older lines, and gave them such advantages in rates that the new lines were compelled to retire from the competition. They sold out their stock to the old companies. James Reeside owned the “Pilot Line,” and the “Pioneer Line” was owned by Peters, Moore & Co.
The compensation paid stage drivers was twelve dollars a month, with boarding and lodging. They took their meals and lodged at the stage houses, except the married men, who lodged in their own dwellings when chance threw them at home.
At Uniontown a number of contiguous frame buildings on Mill and South streets, in the rear of Brownfield’s tavern, known as “Hopwood’s Row,” were occupied almost exclusively by the families of stage drivers. They were erected and owned by the late Rice G. Hopwood, Esquire, and hence the name given them. Two or three of these old houses are all that are left standing, and they are in a dilapidated condition. The spirit of improvement which in late years entered Uniontown, seems to have carefully avoided the neighborhood of “Hopwood’s Row.”
The Good Intent and Stockton lines were taken from the National Road in 1851, and placed on the plank road from Cumberland to West Newton. From the latter point passengers were conveyed by steamboat to Pittsburg by way of the Youghiogheny river, which was made navigable at that date by a system of locks and dams like that of the Monongahela. Upon the withdrawal of the lines mentioned, a line was put on the National Road by Redding Bunting and Joshua Marshe, and ran as far west as Washington, Pennsylvania. William Hall subsequently purchased the interest of Mr. Marshe in this line, which was kept on the road until about the close of the year 1852, when the era of four-horse coaches ended.
JOHN McILREE.
JOHN McILREE.
Mr. Ensley, before quoted, furnishes his juvenile opinion of stages and stage drivers, which was shared in by all the boys of the road, as follows:
“My earliest recollections are intimately associated with coaches, teams and drivers, and like most boys raised in an old stage tavern, Ilonged to be a man when I could aspire to the greatness and dignity of a professional stage driver. In my boyish eyes no position in life had so many attractions as that of driving a stage team. A Judge, a Congressman, even Henry Clay or President Jackson, did not measure up to the character of John Mills and Charley Howell, in my juvenile fancy.”
The picture of the stage coach era herein drawn may be lacking in vigor and perspicuity of style, but it contains no exaggeration. Much more could be written concerning it, and the story would still be incomplete. It is sad to think that nearly all the old drivers, so full of life and hope and promise when pursuing their favorite calling on the nation’s great highway, have answered the summons that awaits the whole human family, and of the vast multitude that witnessed and admired the dashing exploits of the old drivers, but few remain to relate the story. When the old pike was superseded by the railroad, many of the stage drivers went west and continued their calling on stage lines occupying ground in advance of the approaching railway. Others lingered on the confines of the familiar road, and fell into various pursuits of common life. Of these, some achieved success. As drivers they had opportunity for making acquaintances and friends. Hanson Willison was eminently successful as a local politician, and achieved the distinction of being twice elected sheriff of Alleghany county, Maryland.
Distinguished Stage Proprietors, Lucius W. Stockton, James Reeside, Dr. Howard Kennedy, William H. Stelle—Old Stage Agents, Charley Rettig, John Risley, William Biddle, James Coudy, Redding Bunting, Edward Lane, Theodore Granger, Charles Danforth, Jacob Beck, Daniel Brown, “Billy” Scott, “Lem” Cross, and B. W. Earl—The Pony Express.
The most conspicuous of all the old stage proprietors of the National Road was Lucius Witham Stockton. James Reeside was probably an older stage man, and may have owned and operated more stage lines; but Mr. Stockton was longer and more prominently identified with the business on the National Road. He was born at Flemington, New Jersey, September 1, 1799. He was a son of Lucius Stockton, and a grandson of the Rev. Philip Stockton, known in his day and among his countrymen as “The Revolutionary Preacher,” who was a brother of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from the colony of New Jersey. L. W. Stockton appeared in Uniontown as a stage proprietor previous to the year 1824, the exact date not ascertainable. He was twice married. His first marriage occurred on November 24, 1824, and at that date he was a resident of Uniontown, and had been previous thereto. His first wife was Rebecca Moore, a daughter of Daniel Moore, an old stage proprietor who lived in Washington, Pennsylvania. By his first marriage he had six children, viz: Richard C., Daniel Moore, Elizabeth C., Lucius Witham, Margaret, and Rebecca. Richard, Daniel, and Elizabeth, by the first marriage, are dead; the last named died in infancy. Lucius Witham is living in Philadelphia. He married Ellen, the youngest daughter of Dr. John Wishart, an old and distinguished physician of Washington, Pennsylvania, grandfather on the maternal line of Hon. Ernest F. Acheson, late Republican nominee for Congress in the Twenty-fourth district of Pennsylvania. Margaret Stockton became the wife of Dr. Thomas McKennan, a leading physician at this time of Washington, Pennsylvania, and a member of the old and distinguished McKennan family of that place. Rebecca Stockton became the wife of Capt. Alexander Wishart, and is living in Newark, New Jersey, where her husband is executive officer of the Law and Order League. Captain Wishart was a gallant soldier of the Union army in the war between the States.
L. W. STOCKTON.
L. W. STOCKTON.
Mr. Stockton’s second wife was Katharine Stockton, his first cousin. She is still living, making her home with her son-in-law,Gen. Leiper, of Philadelphia. By his second marriage Mr. Stockton had four children, as follows: Katharine, Richard C., Elias Boudinot and Henrietta Maria. Of these all are dead but Henrietta Maria. She is the wife of Gen. Leiper, with whom her mother lives, as before stated, in Philadelphia.
It is related as an incident in the early career of Mr. Stockton that he had a race with a horse and buggy against a locomotive, between the Relay House and Baltimore, in which he came out ahead. The horse he drove on that occasion was a favorite gray. He had a pair of “Winflower” mares, which he drove frequently from Uniontown to Wheeling between breakfast and tea time, tarrying two or three hours at mid-day in Washington. At the watering places he ordered a little whisky to be added to the water given these spirited and fleet animals, and they became so accustomed to it that, it is said, they refused to drink unless the water contained the stimulating element. He would also drive from Uniontown to Cumberland in a day, stopping at the stations to transact business, and from Cumberland to Hagerstown, sixty-six miles, was an ordinary day’s drive for him. His private carriage was a long open vehicle which he called “The Flying Dutchman.” Hanson Willison, who has a vivid recollection of Mr. Stockton and his lively trips over the road, says that the names of his sorrel mares (the “Winflowers”) were “Bet” and “Sal,” and that they once ran off. On that occasion Mr. Stockton was accompanied by his wife and a sister. Miss Stockton was much alarmed, and pulling the coat-tail of her brother cried out piteously, “Hold on, brother William, hold on, or we’ll all be killed!” But Mr. Stockton heeded not the cries of his sister, and having no fear of horses, soon regained control of the runaways without sustaining loss or injury.
Mr. Stockton died at Uniontown on April 25th, 1844, at “Ben Lomond,” the name he gave his residence, now the property of the widow and heirs of the late Judge Gilmore. A few years ago the remains of Mr. Stockton were removed from the old Methodist burying ground in Uniontown, under direction of his loving daughters, Mrs. Wishart and Mrs. Dr. McKennan, and deposited in the beautiful cemetery at Washington, Pa.
Mr. Stockton was of Episcopalian lineage, and active in establishing the services of the church in Uniontown. He brought out Bishop Stone, of Maryland, to baptize his daughter Rebecca, now Mrs. Wishart. He was a vestryman, and besides contributing liberally in money to support the church, donated to the parish of Uniontown the lot on which the new stone edifice of St. Peter’s now stands.
James Reeside, the second son of Edward Reeside and his wife, Janet Alexander, was born near Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland, and was brought, when an infant, to Baltimore county, Md., in 1789, where he was raised. His parents being in humble circumstances, toil was his first estate. Poor in book learning and in earthly goods, he possessed genius, energy, executive ability, and an ambition that fittedhim to be a leader of men. Before the war of 1812 he was a wagoner, hauling merchandise from Baltimore and Philadelphia to Pittsburg and west to Zanesville and Columbus, Ohio. His promptness and sagacity soon enabled him to own his own teams, which were employed in hauling artillery to Canada. Commissioned a forage master under Gen. Winfield Scott, at Lundy’s Lane, his Scottish blood prompted him to seize a musket, as a volunteer, from which hard fought battle he carried honorable scars. On his return he settled at Hagerstown, Md., where, in 1816, he married Mary, the daughter of John Weis, a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Abandoning wagoning, he ran a stage line, in 1816 to 1818, from HagerstownviaGreencastle and Mercersburg to McConnellstown, there connecting with the stage line then in operation from Chambersburg to Pittsburg by Bedford, Somerset, and Mt. Pleasant. In 1818, in connection with Stockton & Stokes, of Baltimore; Joseph Boyd, of Hagerstown; Kincaid, Beck & Evans, of Uniontown; George Dawson, of Brownsville; Stephen Hill, of Hillsboro; and Simms & Pemberton, of Wheeling, he put on the first regular stage line, carrying the mail, between Baltimore and Wheeling, before the construction of the turnpikes between Hagerstown and Cumberland. This division of the route being from Hancock to Frostburg, he removed to Cumberland, where, in conjunction with his stage line, he kept the “McKinley Tavern,” at the corner of Baltimore and Mechanics streets, afterward kept by Jacob Fechtig, James Stoddard, John Edwards, and others, and now known as the “Elberon.” In 1820 he quit tavern keeping, and confined himself to mail contracting and the stage business. In 1827 John McLean, Postmaster General, afterward one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, prevailed on him to take the mail contract between Philadelphia and New York, and he moved from Cumberland to Philadelphia. In the first year he reduced the time for transporting the mail between the two cities from twenty-three to sixteen hours, and soon thereafter to twelve hours. He soon became the owner of most of the lines running out of Philadelphia and New York, and the largest mail contractor in the United States. He employed in this service more than one thousand horses and four hundred men. The wagoner soon became the “Land Admiral,” a title given him by the press in recognition of his energy and ability.
JAMES REESIDE.
JAMES REESIDE.
The Postoffice Department at that time having to rely on its own resources, and under Major W. T. Barry, then Postmaster-General, the service had so increased in thinly settled sections it became deeply in debt. Mr. Reeside raised, on his personal responsibility, large sums of money to relieve it. His efforts were appreciated, and he was the esteemed friend of Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and other distinguished men, without regard to politics, although he was a pronounced Democrat. Of massive frame, six feet five inches in height, yet spare in flesh, clear cut features, sparkling, clear blue-gray eyes, fair complexion, with dark, sandy, curly hair, he was a true Highlander in appearance, genial in disposition, with quick and ready wit.Fond of song and story, kind, yet strict, with all in his employment, and generous to a fault, no words can more appropriately describe him than those of his favorite poet and countryman, Robert Burns:
“For thus the royal mandate ran,When first the human race began,The social, friendly, honest manWhere’er he be,’Tis he fulfills great nature’s plan,An’ none but he.”
“For thus the royal mandate ran,When first the human race began,The social, friendly, honest manWhere’er he be,’Tis he fulfills great nature’s plan,An’ none but he.”
“For thus the royal mandate ran,
When first the human race began,
The social, friendly, honest man
Where’er he be,
’Tis he fulfills great nature’s plan,
An’ none but he.”
Controversies arising between Amos Kendall, the successor of Barry, and all the old mail contractors, their pay was suspended upon frivolous grounds, compelling them to bring suits, among the most celebrated of which were those of Reeside and Stockton & Stokes. The latter’s case was referred to Virgil Maxy, who found in their favor about $140,000. Mr. Reeside’s claim was tried before Justice Baldwin and a jury in 1841, and resulted in a verdict for plaintiff of $196,496.06, which, after seventeen years, was paid, with interest. As soon as his contracts under Kendall expired he quit the mail service, after putting the Philadelphia and New York mail on the Camden & Amboy railroad during the residue of his contract term.
In 1836 he bought the interest of John W. Weaver between Cumberland and Wheeling, then a tri-weekly line; increased it to a daily, then twice daily, and added another tri-weekly line, and named the lines “Good Intent,” which was the name he had previously given the fast mail line between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. In 1839 he sold his entire interest in the National Road lines, and gave his attention to his suit against the United States. His health being impaired, he spent the winter of 1842 in New Orleans. Returning in the ensuing spring, without benefit to his health, he died in Philadelphia on the 3d of September, 1842.
Mr. Reeside attracted attention by reason of the peculiar garb he appeared in. In the winter season he always wore a long drab overcoat and a fur cap. Once in passing along a street in Philadelphia in company with Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Vice-President of the United States, some scarlet cloth was observed in a tailor’s window, which prompted Col. Johnson to say: “Reeside, as your coaches are all red, you ought to wear a red vest.” Mr. Reeside replied: “I will get one if you will.” “Agreed,” said Johnson, and straightway both ordered red vests and red neckties, and from that time as long as they lived continued to wear vests and neckties of scarlet colors. James Reeside aided in an early day to develop the mighty resources of our country, with such agencies as were then available, and his name and good work deserve to be perpetuated in history.
Dr. Howard Kennedy, an owner of stock in the National Road Stage Company, and for a brief period a trustee of the road under the provisions of a Pennsylvania law, enacted in 1848, repealed in 1856, was born in Washington county, Maryland, September 15th, 1809. His father was the Hon. Thomas Kennedy, an illustrious citizen, whofigured conspicuously in the history of Maryland in the olden time. Dr. Kennedy was a graduate of the Medical University of Baltimore, and a thoroughly educated physician, but the practice of medicine not proving congenial to his tastes, he soon abandoned it and embarked in other pursuits. About the year 1840, or a little before that time, he was appointed a special, confidential agent of the general postoffice department, in which relation he achieved distinction by detecting numerous mail robberies, and bringing the perpetrators before the courts for trial and punishment. It was through the vigilance of Dr. Kennedy that the mail robberies of the Haldeman brothers, Pete and Abe, and Pate Sides, at Negro Mountain, were discovered, and the offenders apprehended and punished.
The Haldemans and Sides were stage drivers, and their calling through the dismal shades of death and other dark regions in the mountains with big, tempting, mail bags in their charge, no doubt turned their minds to what they considered a speedy, if not altogether a safe method of getting money. Whispers of suspicion growing out of the vigilance of Dr. Kennedy in pushing his investigations, reached the ears of the suspected ones, and they fled to Canada, but not to be thwarted in his purposes, Dr. Kennedy pursued them thither, had them arrested and brought back to Baltimore for trial. Abe Haldeman was acquitted, but Pete and Pate Sides were convicted and sent to the penitentiary. Dr. Kennedy was also the prime mover in bringing to light the noted mail robberies of Dr. John F. Braddee, of Uniontown, as will be seen by the following affidavits:
Pennsylvania, Fayette County, ss.:
The testimony of Dr. Howard Kennedy taken before N. Ewing, president judge of the 14th Judicial district of Pennsylvania, the 8th day of January, 1841, in reference to the amount of bail to be required of John F. Braddee, Peter Mills Strayer and William Purnell. The said Dr. Howard Kennedy being first by me duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith: “There will be difficulty in ascertaining the amount of money stolen from the mails. There have been six mail pouches or bags stolen, which would average twenty to thirty thousand dollars each. The whole would, I am satisfied, amount to one hundred thousand dollars. I saw the money alleged to have been found in the stable of John F. Braddee. The amount thus found was $10,098.60. The amount of cash stolen is probably about $50,000.
“HOWARD KENNEDY.”Taken and subscribed before me, January 8th, 1841.N. EWING,P. Judge, 14th Judicial District.
WILLIAM H. STELLE.
WILLIAM H. STELLE.
Pittsburg, January 25, 1841.
“Howard Kennedy, special agent of the postoffice department, in addition to the testimony given by him before his Honor, Judge Ewing, further deposes that since that time he has received reportsfrom various persons and places in the West of letters mailed at dates which would have, by due course of mail, been in the bags stolen, containing bank notes, scrip, certificates, drafts, and checks, amounting to $102,000 and upwards; that every mail brings him additional reports of losses, and that he believes the amounts reported will not constitute more than one-half of what has been lost in the mails between the 16th of November and the 18th of December, 1840, on the route from Wheeling to New York.
“HOWARD KENNEDY.”“Special Agent Postoffice Department.”Sworn and subscribed before me the 25th day of January, 1841.T. IRWIN, District Judge.
As before stated, Dr. Kennedy was one of the owners of the line of coaches known as the National Road Stage Company. This was popularly known as the Stockton line, called “the old line,” because it was the oldest on the road. Dr. Kennedy managed all the business of this line relating to the transportation of the mails. He was also one of the original members of the Western Express Company, doing business between Cumberland and Wheeling and Pittsburgviathe Monongahela river. L. W. Stockton dying in the spring of 1844, in the fall of that year Dr. Kennedy brought his family from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Uniontown, and established his residence in the old Stockton mansion, called “Ben Lomond,” now the home of Mrs. Judge Gilmore. Here Dr. Kennedy resided until the year 1851, when he returned to Hagerstown, where he died on the 12th of June, 1855. He was of medium height and delicate form, of pleasant address, and a gentleman by birth, education, association and aspiration; in religion an Episcopalian, and in politics a Democrat. His widow, a sister of the late Alfred Howell, of Uniontown, survives him. She is enjoying the sunset of a gentle life in Hagerstown, the central figure of a remnant of that polite and refined society which in the palmy days of the National Road distinguished all the old towns along its line.
William H. Stelle was born in New Jersey, and it will be noted that many of the stage owners, agents, and drivers came out from that State. Two of Mr. Stelle’s partners in the stage business, John A. Wirt and Mr. Hutchinson, were likewise Jersey men. It is related that Mr. Stelle and Mr. Acheson were both desirous of selling their interests in the stage lines, the former being an owner in the Good Intent, and the latter in the Stockton line. Mr. Stelle one day approached Mr. Acheson in Wheeling, and told him he would give him five hundred dollars, if he would sell or buy at a price to be mutually named. Mr. Acheson named a price which he would give or take, and Mr. Stelle elected to sell, and promptly paid Mr. Acheson five hundred dollars for acceding to his proposition. Mr. Stelle located in Wheeling about the year 1841, and died at Elm Grove, Ohio county, West Virginia, on the 26th of September, 1854, aged about fifty years. He left a son, William H., and a daughter, Mrs. Susan R. Hamilton, both living in Wheeling.
Agents of the stage lines possessed functions somewhat, but not altogether, like those of railroad conductors. Some agents passed constantly over the road, paying bills, providing horses and equipage, and giving general direction to the running of the lines. Others were stationary, attending to local business. These agents were prominent characters of the road, and popularly esteemed as men of high position. One of the earliest agents was Charles Rettig, who subsequently kept the tavern two and one-half miles east of Washington, and referred to in a chapter on taverns and tavern keepers. John Risly, of Frederic, Md., and William Biddle and James Coudy, of Hancock, were old agents of lines east of Cumberland. Redding Bunting, Edward Lane, Theodore Granger and Charles Danforth were agents of the Old line west of Cumberland, with authority extending to Wheeling. Bunting also kept the National House in Uniontown, and Lane kept the National House in Washington, which were headquarters at those points respectively for their line. Charles Danforth was a leading local agent of the Stockton line at Uniontown. He was a large, fine looking man, with florid complexion, heavy black whiskers, and possessed of popular manners. He was a native of New York State, and died at Bedford, Pa., in 1853. His remains were brought to Uniontown, and interred in the old Methodist cemetery, near Beeson’s old mill. His widow is living in Chicago. Edward Lane was a man of average size, of reddish complexion, energetic in motion, and affable in manner. His tavern in Washington, Pa., was one of the best eating houses on the road. Granger was a large, dark complexioned man, not well liked by the people, but a favorite of Mr. Stockton. After the stage lines were taken from the road, Granger went to Cincinnati, procured employment at a livery stable, and died in that city in indigent circumstances. Jacob Beck was an agent for Weaver’s line, which was on the road a short time, and went with that line to Ohio and Kentucky. He returned from the West, and was a bar-keeper for John N. Dagg, of Washington, Pa., and subsequently, as elsewhere stated, kept tavern at Rony’s Point, Va., and died there. He was an old stage driver, a good one, and esteemed as an honest man. Daniel Brown, mentioned among the old tavern keepers, was an agent of the Good Intent line, and a very competent one. He was a native of New Jersey, and his sad ending has been alluded to in another chapter. William Scott, familiarly called “Billy,” was a well-known agent of the Good Intent line. He had been a driver, and was promoted to an agency on account of his competency and fidelity. He was a master of his business, a man of small stature, dark hair and complexion, and a little given to brusqueness of manner, but on the whole rather a popular agent. He remained an agent of the Good Intent line until business ceased on the road, when he went to Iowa, and became an agent of a stage line in that State. From Iowa he went to Texas, and died at Jefferson in that State. It is said that he was descended from a good family on both sides, who were wealthy, and that he engaged in stage driving from choice, rather than necessity, and his friends were disappointed in his career. Lemuel Cross was an agent of the Old line. He also kept tavern at Piny Grove, as elsewhere stated, and is well remembered. His jurisdiction as agent was mainly on the mountain division of the road, and he thoroughly understood his business, and was familiar with all the haunts, hills, and hollows of the mountains. B. W. Earl was likewise an agent for a while of the Good Intent line. He commenced a driver, was advanced to an agency, and ended a tavern keeper. John Foster, Andrew Cable, William F. Cowdery, Levi Rose and William Terry were agents at Wheeling. The latter had charge in part of Neil, Moore & Company’s line in Ohio.
THE PONY EXPRESS.
In the year 1835 or 6, Amos Kendall, being Postmaster-General, placed on the road a line of couriers, called the “Pony Express.” It was intended to carry light mails with more speed than the general mail was carried by the coaches. The Pony Express was a single horse and a boy rider, with a leather mail pouch thrown over the horse’s back, something after the style of the old-fashioned saddlebags. The route for each horse covered a distance of about six miles on the average. The horse was put to his utmost speed, and the rider carried a tin horn which was vigorously blown when approaching a station. William Moore, Thomas Wooley, subsequently stage drivers, William Meredith, Frank Holly and James Neese were among the riders on the Pony Express east of Cumberland, and Sandy Conner, Pate Sides and Thomas A. Wiley, all three afterward stage drivers, and William Conn rode west of Cumberland. Wiley rode from Uniontown to Washington, Pennsylvania, and also between Washington and Wheeling. He went with the log cabin boys from Uniontown to Baltimore in 1840 as a driver of one of the stage teams employed on that occasion. He is still living, an employe of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company at Camden Station, Baltimore, in the service of which he has been employed since 1852. He was an attendant at the bedside of L. W. Stockton during that gentleman’s last illness. Calvin Morris, a son of William Morris, the old tavern keeper on the hill west of Monroe, and William Downer, a son of the old gentleman who lived at and maintained the big water trough on Laurel Hill, were also riders on the Pony Express. William Morris was one of the contractors for carrying this fast mail, and his house was one of the relays of the line. The relay next west was the old toll house near Searights. Luther Morris, a brother of Calvin, the Pony Express rider, went to Iowa previous to the civil war, and was elected State Treasurer on two or three occasions. John Gilfillan, now, or recently, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, was a rider on the Pony Express between West Alexander and Wheeling. Bryant and Craven, of West Alexander, were among the contractors of the Pony Express line. “The Pony Express” did not remain long on the road, but when it was on, old pike boys say “it kicked up a dust.”
Old Taverns and Tavern Keepers from Baltimore to Boonsboro—Pen Picture of an Old Tavern by James G. Blaine—The Maypole—The Hand in Hand—Earlocker’s—Pine Orchard—The Brown Stand—Levi Chambers, the Nullifier—Old Whalen’s Sunfish, Bob Fowler’s Goose and Warfield’s Ham—Poplar Springs—Allen Dorsie, Van McPherson, The Widow Dean, Getzendanner’s, Peter Hagan, Riddlemoser and the McGruder House, Peter Zettle, Emanuel Harr.
“Caldwell’s Tavern: We did not use the high soundinghotel, but the good old Anglo-Saxontavern, with its wide open fire in the cheerful bar room, and the bountiful spread in the dining room, and the long porch for summer loafers, and the immense stabling with its wealth of horse-flesh, and the great open yard for the road wagons. How real and vivid it all seems to me this moment! All the reminiscences of the old pike, for which you are an enthusiast, are heartily shared by me.”—James G. Blaine.
Caldwell’s tavern, mentioned by Mr. Blaine, is seven miles west of Washington, Pennsylvania, and will be referred to hereafter in its proper place. Mr. Blaine’s description is appropriate to nearly all the old taverns of the road.
The outward appearance of an old tavern of the National Road was no index to the quality of the entertainment it afforded. Many of the least pretentious houses furnished the best meals, and paid the most agreeable attention to guests and patrons. It was not unusual to see the wagon yard attached to a small wooden and apparently decaying tavern crowded with teams and wagons, while the inviting grounds of the imposing brick tavern near by were without an occupant.
The May Pole tavern in Baltimore was a favorite stopping place for old wagoners. It is located on the southwest corner of Paca and German streets, and still standing, an object of much interest to the old people of the road. In front of it stands a tall, slim, granite column, representative of a pole, and preservative of the ancient name. The May Pole was kept in 1833 by Henry Clark, and in 1836 by James Adams, who remained in charge until his death. His successor was Isaac Willison, a Virginian, and before assuming control of the May Pole, an agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad company, at Frederic City. George Elliott, subsequently manager forMrs. Adams, at the Mountain City house in Cumberland, was at one time a clerk in the May Pole tavern.
The “Hand in Hand” tavern on Paca, between Lexington and Saratoga streets, and the “White Swan” on Howard street, were likewise old wagon stands in Baltimore, well patronized in the early days of the National Road. Thomas Elliott also kept a wagon stand in Baltimore, and enjoyed a fair share of patronage. He was the father of George Elliott, above mentioned. The May Pole, however, was the favorite tavern of the old wagoners of the National Road. The “Three Ton” and “Gen. Wayne” taverns had each extensive stabling, and furnished accommodations for droves and drovers. The National Road entered the city of Baltimore by way of West Baltimore street.
The first wagon stand west of Baltimore, fifty years ago, was kept by a man whose name was Hawes. It was seven miles from the city, and wagoners often left it in the morning, drove to Baltimore, unloaded, reloaded, and returned to it in the evening of the same day, and the next morning proceeded on the long journey to their western destination. The Hawes tavern ceased to do business after 1840.
At Ellicott’s Mills, ten miles west of Baltimore, there was no wagon stand, but stage houses were located there, where stage teams were kept and exchanged.
One mile west of Ellicott’s, Frank Earlocker kept a wagon stand, that was largely patronized. He was rather of an economical turn of mind, and old wagoners were wont to say of him that he concealed the whisky bottle behind the counter, against the custom of the road, which was to expose it to full view; and it is said that the miserly Earlocker lost more than he gained by his habit, since it induced wagoners to inquire for a drink, more to worry the landlord than to appease the appetite.
A short distance west of Earlocker’s is “Pine Orchard,” where a tavern was kept by one Goslin. He was a goslin only in name. Otherwise, he was a square man, and knew how to treat strangers and travelers, especially wagoners, who largely favored him with their patronage. His house was a brick structure, and stood on the north side of the road, and for aught known to the contrary, is still standing, a monument commemorative of the many good old taverns which studded the road in the days of its glory.
James Dehoff kept a tavern at Pine Orchard as early as 1835. His house was a wagoners’ resort, and stood on the south side of the road.
An old tavern, known as the “Brown Stand,” four miles west of “Pine Orchard,” was a popular stopping place for wagoners in its day. In 1838 Levi Chambers took charge of this house, and continued to conduct it until 1842. He was called “Nullifier” Chambers, because of his adherence to the nullification doctrine, announced and advocated by John C. Calhoun. He, however, knew how to keep atavern, and was a sober and intelligent man. On the first of January, 1841, John Crampton and William Orr, old wagoners before mentioned, drove out from Baltimore with full loads, and put up at the “Brown Stand.” During the night a box of silk goods was stolen from Orr’s wagon. The loss was discovered early in the morning, and Orr and Chambers each mounted a horse and pushed out in the direction of Baltimore, in search of the stolen goods and the thief. There was a light snow on the road, and tracks were visible, indicative of rapid steps toward the east. Reaching Baltimore, Messrs. Orr and Chambers entered the bar room of the May Pole tavern, in which a number of persons were drinking, and among them one, who, from his actions, was suspected as the thief. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary.
Four miles west of the “Nullifier’s,” John Whalen kept a wagon stand, and one of the best on the road. Old wagoners entertain pleasant recollections of John Whalen, and delight in recounting the good cheer that abounded and abided in his old tavern. He kept the tavern at this point up to the year 1842.
One Warfield kept a tavern a short distance west of Whalen’s as early as 1835, and had a good wagon custom. Old wagoners had a rough distich on this section of the road, running something like this:
“Old Wheeler’s sunfish,Bob Fowler’s roast goose,Warfield’s ham,Ain’t that jam!”
“Old Wheeler’s sunfish,Bob Fowler’s roast goose,Warfield’s ham,Ain’t that jam!”
“Old Wheeler’s sunfish,
Bob Fowler’s roast goose,
Warfield’s ham,
Ain’t that jam!”
New Lisbon was an aspiring village, twenty-six miles west of Baltimore, and the first point of note west of Whalen’s. Stages stopped and teams were changed at New Lisbon, but it had no wagon stand.
At Poplar Springs, one mile west of New Lisbon, there was a wagon stand kept by Allen Dorsie. Near the old tavern is a large, gushing spring, in the midst of tall poplar trees, and hence the name “Poplar Springs.” Such was the situation at this point fifty years ago, but alas, fifty years is a long time, and the “Poplar Springs” may present a different appearance now. Allen Dorsie, the old proprietor of the tavern here, was likewise and for many years superintendent of the Maryland division of the road. He was a very large man, six feet in height, and rounded out in proportion. He was besides a man of admitted integrity and good intellect. He ceased keeping tavern at Poplar Springs in 1842.
Seven miles west of Poplar Springs Van McPherson kept a tavern, which did an extensive business. The proprietor was half Dutch and half Irish, as his name imports, and he had the faculty of pleasing everybody. His house was a brick structure on the north side of the road, and is probably still standing. Van McPherson kept this house from 1836 to 1842, and made money in it.
New Market is a village west of McPherson’s old tavern, and in Frederic county, Maryland. Here the stages stopped and changedteams, and an old wagon stand was kept by one Shell. It is said of Shell that his name differed from his table, in that the latter contained no shells, but the best of savory viands.
Three miles west of New Market, Frank Wharton kept a tavern, and a good one. He was rough in manner, and could swear longer and louder than Wilse Clement, but he kept his house in good shape and did an extensive business.
One mile west of Wharton’s the widow Dean kept a tavern. Her house was a brick structure on the south side of the road, and she owned it and the ground whereon it stood, in fee simple. She was largely patronized by wagoners.
Next after passing Mrs. Deans old stand, the city of Frederic is reached, which fifty years ago was the largest town on the road between Wheeling and Baltimore. James Dehoof and John Lambert kept old wagon stands in Frederic City. Lambert died about 1840, and was succeeded by John Miller, who kept the house down to the year 1853.
Four miles west of Frederic City the old wagoners encountered Cotockton mountain, and here was a fine old tavern kept by Getzendanner, a German. His house was a stone building, on the south side of the road, presumably standing to this day. Getzendanner, true to his native traits, was the owner of the property. Old wagoners unite in saying that the old German kept a good house, barring a little too much garlic in his sausages.
Peter Hagan played the part of host at an old tavern, one mile west of Getzendanner’s. His house was a log building, and stood on the south side of the road. As before stated, the outward appearance of an old tavern on the National Road was no index to affairs within; and though Peter Hagan’s house was small and made with logs, the cheer within was exhilarating. His meals were simple and but little varied, yet so manipulated in the kitchen, and spread upon the table so tastefully, and withal so clean, that they were tempting even to an epicure. Peter Hagan’s patrons were for the most part wagoners, and the old wagoners of the National Road knew what good living was, and “put up” only where the fare was inviting. Peter Hagan was an uncle of Robert Hagan, a local politician of South Union township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania.
Proceeding westward from Hagan’s old tavern, the next point is the village of Middletown, which hoped to become a city, and might have succeeded, had not the steam railway eclipsed the glory of the old pike. At Middletown the stages had relays of horses. One of the stage houses at this point was kept by —— Titlow, a relative of F. B. Titlow, of Uniontown. Here also there was a wagon stand, kept by Samuel Riddlemoser. This was in 1840. In the spring of 1841 Riddlemoser moved to the Widow McGruder house, one mile west of Middletown. The McGruder house was well conducted, and enjoyed a large patronage.
South Mountain comes next, and here a tavern was kept by oneMiller. It was a wagon stand, a stone building, on the north side of the road. The battle of South Mountain was fought here, but the roar of the cannon failed to awaken the departed glories of the old Miller tavern.
One mile west of South Mountain, Petter Zettle, a German, kept a tavern. It was a wagon stand, and a popular one. The house was of brick, and stood on the south side of the road. The old landlord was accustomed to join in the merry-making of the old wagoners, and as the jokes went around in the old bar room, the German spice was plainly discernible as well as agreeable, in unison with the familiar notes of the native pike boys.
One mile west of Zettle’s, Robert Fowler kept a wagon stand. Fowler quit in 1839, and was succeeded by Emanuel Harr, who conducted the house for many years. Joe Garver, a noted blacksmith, had a shop at this point. Garver, it is said, could cut and replace as many as a dozen wagon tires in a single night. It was not an uncommon thing for the old blacksmiths of the road to work all night at shoeing horses and repairing wagons.
Old Taverns and Tavern Keepers continued—Boonsboro to Cumberland—Funkstown, Antietam, Hagerstown, Dirty Spigot, Shady Bower, Clear Spring, North Mountain, Indian Spring, Hancock—The House of Nicodemus—Accident on Sideling Hill, the Longest Hill on the Road—Snib Hollow—Town Hill—Green Ridge—Pratt’s Hollow—A Fugitive Slave—Polish Mountain—Flintstone—Martin’s Mountain.