Such a man was William Hopkins, once a commissioner of the National Road, familiar with every mile along its line, and in daily touch with its moving ma.s.ses. The writer of these pages had the honor of knowing Col. Hopkins personally and well, and can and does testify that no word of eulogy herein quoted concerning him is in the least overwrought.
An act of the Pennsylvania Legislature, approved April 4, 1831, named William F. Coplan and David Downer of Fayette county, Stephen Hill and Benjamin Anderson of Washington county, and Thomas Endsley of Somerset county, to be Commissioners of the c.u.mberland Road for the term of three years from the pa.s.sage of the said act, after which time the right to appoint said Commissioners shall vest in the Governor of the Commonwealth. In 1834 the Governor appointed these same gentlemen Commissioners for another term of three years. In 1835 an act was pa.s.sed reducing the number of Commissioners to two, and under this act Stephen Hill of Washington, and Hugh Keys of Fayette county, were appointed on May 7th, 1835, until their appointments were suspended or annulled. On the 9th of January, 1836, the Governor appointed George Craft of Fayette county, and Benjamin Leonard of Washington county, to act in conjunction with the other Commissioners appointed in pursuance of an act approved April 1, 1835. Thompson McKean of Fayette county, and Robert Quail of Washington county, were appointed Commissioners by the Governor on the 29th day of January, 1839, until appointments were suspended or annulled. Robert Quail"s appointment was suspended by an act of 1840. An act was approved March 28th, 1840, reducing the number of Commissioners to one, and William Hopkins was appointed for a term of three years, but served less than two years, and resigned, to take the position of secretary of the land office. William Searight was appointed by the Governor on May 3, 1842, for a term of three years, and on April 19th, 1845, William Hopkins was again appointed. On the 8th of April, 1848, an act was approved authorizing the courts of Somerset, Fayette and Washington counties to appoint trustees for the road, with power to appoint Commissioners. Under this act William Searight was again appointed, with jurisdiction limited to the line through the counties of Fayette and Somerset, and served until 1851, when David Hartzell of Somerset county was appointed. William Roddy of the same county succeeded Hartzell in 1852. James Marlow succeeded Roddy and died in commission. Robert McDowell was appointed in 1856. Under the act of 1848, above quoted, Joseph Lawson was appointed for Washington county, and was succeeded in 1852 by Mark Mitch.e.l.l, in 1856 by Alexander Frasher, and in 1858 by John Long. In 1861 the act of 1848 was repealed in so far as it related to the appointment of Commissioners in Fayette and Somerset counties, but continued in force as to Washington county, stripped of the intervention of trustees. In 1862 John Long was appointed Commissioner for Washington county by the court. In 1864 G. W.
Botkins was appointed; in 1866 John Long was restored, and continued until 1871, when T. W. Beatty was appointed. In 1872 Joseph Doak was appointed, and was succeeded in 1876 by George W. Smith. In 1877 the appointing power, as to Washington county, was restored to the Governor, and Samuel Kelley was appointed. In 1881 Peter Hickman was appointed, in 1887 James W. Hendrix, in 1890 Marshall c.o.x, in 1891 John McDowell, present inc.u.mbent. In 1862 the Governor of the State appointed Redding Bunting Commissioner for the counties of Fayette and Somerset. Bunting was the famous old stage driver and stage agent, mentioned in previous chapters. He served as Commissioner until 1864, when the Governor appointed Sebastian Rush, the old tavern keeper before referred to. Rush served until 1870, when Solomon Crumrine was appointed, and served until 1872, when Rush was restored. In 1875 Charles H. Rush, a son of Sebastian, was appointed, and served until 1881, when William Endsley was appointed. In 1883 George W. Daniels was appointed. In 1887 David Johnson was appointed, and in 1891 Ewing Searight was appointed.
As before stated the road east of c.u.mberland was owned by a.s.sociations or companies. Allen Darsie was one of the leading stockholders and general superintendent as early as 1835. He lived at Poplar Springs, twenty-six miles west of Baltimore, was the proprietor of a large and fertile tract of land, and a slave owner. Allen Darsie, jr., succeeded his father in the superintendency of the road, and remained in charge down to the date of the civil war. Thomas Bevins of Hanc.o.c.k succeeded the younger Darsie, and Denton Oliver succeeded Bevins. West of c.u.mberland, in the State of Maryland, the superintendents were: Thomas Thistle, the old tavern keeper near Grantsville; Jonathan Huddleson, another old tavern keeper, Nathan Dudley, John Swan, Benjamin B.
Edwards, George Cady, Henry Atkinson, Robert Welsh, Edward Doneho and William Hall. William Otterson was an old Commissioner in charge of the road through Virginia, and among his successors appear the familiar names of Moses Thornburg, Lewis Lunsford and Abram Bedillion.
In the year 1888 the court of quarter sessions of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, condemned that portion of the road lying within the borders of said county, decreed it exempt from tolls, confiscated all its belongings, and turned it over to the tender care of the township supervisors, under authority supposed to be conferred by an act of a.s.sembly, approved June 2d, 1887.
CHAPTER XLIII.
_Old Contractors--Cost of the Road--Contractors for Repairs--Stone Breakers--An Old Stone Breaker Convicted of Murder--The Measuring Ring--The Napping Hammer--An Old Stone Breaking Machine--A Second Table Showing Heights of Mountains and Hills._
The first contracts in sections for the first ten miles of the road west of c.u.mberland were signed April 16th and May 8th, 1811, and were finished in the fall of 1812. The next letting was in August, 1812, of eleven miles, extending west as far as Tomlinson"s, and these contracts were completed early in 1815. The work was let from Tomlinson"s to Smithfield, eighteen miles, in August, 1813, and completed in 1817. The delay was caused by the scarcity of laborers during the war, war prices, and apprehension of failure of some of the contractors. The next letting was in September, 1815, embracing the work six miles and a half westward from Smithfield. This was awarded in sections to John Hagen, Doherty, McLaughlin and Bradley, and Charles McKinney. In May, 1817, the work was let to Uniontown, the successful bidders being Hagan and McCann, Mordecai and James Cochran, Thompson McKean, and Thomas and Matthew Blakely. From Uniontown to Brownsville, portions were let in September, 1815, to Kinkead, Beck & Evans, who soon thereafter undertook the residue to Brubaker"s. This firm sub-let many sections of the work. Bond and Gormley had the contract from Brubaker"s to Brownsville, and their work was completed in 1818. George Dawson had the contract for the heavy stone walls in Brownsville. John Miller and John Kennedy, of Uniontown, took contracts in the mountains. Miller was a son-in-law of Jacob Beeson, one of the founders of Uniontown. Mr. Kennedy was the grandfather of Hon. John K. Ewing, of Uniontown, and after his experience as a contractor, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The whole line of the road, for purposes of construction, was laid off in two divisions, called Eastern and Western. David Shriver was superintendent of the eastern, and Josias Thompson of the western division. The dividing line between the two divisions was Brubaker"s, near, and east of, Brownsville. Mr. Shriver lived in c.u.mberland, and was the father-in-law of Hon. Andrew Stewart. Mr. Thompson was a Virginian.
In March, 1817, the greater part of the work, from a point two miles east of Washington to the Virginia line, was let to Thomas McGiffin, Thomas H. Baird and Parker Campbell, the latter one of the foremost lawyers of his time. In 1819 the same gentlemen contracted to do the work, from the point first above named, to a point two miles west of Brownsville. The work east of Hillsboro was turned over by the contractors above named, to William and John H. Ewing, who were returned to the authorities at Washington City as original contractors, and they finished the work for $6,000 per mile. The remainder of the work west of Hillsboro was sub-let by McGiffin, Baird and Campbell, to a number of small contractors.
The road was completed from c.u.mberland to Uniontown at a cost, including all expenses of survey and location, salaries, bridges, and some repairs, of $9,745 per mile. The average cost of the entire road to Wheeling was nearly $13,000 per mile, showing the Eastern division much less costly than the Western. This was charged to some prodigality of work and too liberal contracts, for which Superintendent Thompson was "investigated" and superseded.
Daniel Steenrod, the old tavern keeper, and Col. Moses Shepherd, were extensive contractors for construction on the Virginia line of the road.
Colonel Shepherd built Feay"s bridge, near Wheeling, one of the best on the road, and also the bridge over Wheeling creek, near Mrs. Gooding"s old tavern. Capt. Valentine Giesey, a veteran of Brownsville, who is well remembered by the old citizens of that place, was a large contractor on the work of taking up the original road bed.
The foregoing were all contractors for work on the original construction of the road. Among the contractors for repairs, after the road was completed, and during its prosperous era, the following familiar names are recalled: Abram Beagle, James McIntyre, William Hastings, John Whitmire, James Dennison, Henry Masterson, Hiram Freeman, Thomas Egan, John Robinson, William Paull, Charles Stillwagon, Jacob Stillwagon, Jacob Dougherty, Anthony Rentz, Henry Murray, James Thompson, Thomas D.
Miller, Daniel Canon, Hugh Graham, Morris Whalen, Perry White, Anthony Yarnell, John Whollery, Thomas McKean, John Risler, Isaac Nixon, Robert Brown, Thomas McGrath, Matthew McNeil, Edward Kerven, John Bennington, William H. Graham, Henry Showalter, John d.i.c.key, John McDonough, Morris Purcell, Daniel Ward, Daniel Valentine, Jacob Probasco, John Bradfield, William Reynolds, Thomas Brownfield, Peter Lenhart, James Marlow, John W. McCollough, Nicholas McCartney, John W. McDowell, Robert McDowell, James Snyder, Lewis M. Snyder, Samuel Shipley, Elias Gilmore, Samuel Rush, German D. Hair, Jackson Brown, William C. Stevens, John Gadd, Robert S. Henderson, Joseph Lawson, Michael Thomas, Charles Rush, Nicholas Bradley, John Bradley, Daniel Bradley, Henry Show, William Griffin, Robert McDowell, esq., Adam Speers, James Speers, William Hatfield, Thomas Brown, Thomas Moxley, Hiram Miller, Matthias Fry, John Wallace, John Hardin, William Hardin, John G. Burnworth, Henry Sampey, Henry Clay Rush, Alex. McDowell, Benjamin Miller, Jefferson Miller, John Worthington, E. W. Clement, John Snider, Hiram Mitch.e.l.l, John Mitch.e.l.l, William Endsley, Daniel Augustine, John M. Oliver, and many others, some of whose names appear in the accounts of the old Commissioners in the Appendix to this volume.
[Ill.u.s.tration: DANIEL STEENROD.]
The average result of a stone breaker in a single day was eight perches, and the price paid was twelve and a half cents per perch. Tradition has it that Robert S. McDowell, still living in Dunbar, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, was the speediest stone breaker on the road. He is the eldest son of "Gate Bob," elsewhere mentioned. In the year 1848, when Colonel Hopkins was commissioner, Robert S. McDowell broke in one day sixteen perches and two feet. This was done on a bet, and in a contest with Capt. Elias Gilmore. A string of stones one rod in length made two perches, under the gauge in use, and McDowell"s string measured eight rods and two feet. Captain Gilmore, who was one of the most vigorous men on the road, gave up the contest about the middle of the afternoon, and yielded the palm to McDowell. Peter Kelley, who lived at Searights, was one of the best and speediest stone breakers on the road. His occupation, for many years, was breaking stone on the pike, and near the close of his life he became an actor in a tragedy, which lost him his liberty, as well as his former good name. He was not a vicious man, but on occasions would indulge in immoderate drinking. On one of these occasions he killed William Thornton, father of the Hon. J. Russell Thornton, member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania for the county of Fayette. Kelley and Thornton were returning from Brownsville after nightfall, and quarrelled. When near the old Brubaker tavern, Thornton was struck by Kelley, and killed. Kelley was tried, convicted and sent to the penitentiary for a long term, and never thereafter returned to the familiar scenes of the old pike. Alexander Campbell, of Somerfield, was one of the fastest stone breakers on the road, and Robert Hogsett, the well known millionaire of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, broke stones on the road when a boy.
In the early work on the road, there was a requirement that stone for the lower stratum or bed should be broken so that the pieces would pa.s.s through a seven-inch ring, and for the upper stratum, which was six inches in thickness, would pa.s.s through a three-inch ring. Old contractors provided rings of these dimensions, respectively, and enforced a strict compliance with the regulation mentioned. Subsequently the rings fell into disuse, and were ultimately abandoned, but the stones spread over the surface of the road were always broken to small pieces. The hammer of the stone breaker was a very simple contrivance.
It was of iron, round as an apple, weighing probably one pound, with a hole through the center for the insertion of a handle. The handle was of hickory wood, slender in the middle, with a thick end for the grasp of the hand. There was also a larger hammer, with a longer and stouter handle, used for breaking stones thrown into holes. In using this hammer the breaker stood on his feet, and in using the smaller one, sat on the stone pile, moving his position as his work advanced. In hot weather the stone breaker, in many instances, used a ready-made, movable bower, to ward off the scorching rays of the sun. About the year 1848, some person whose name is forgotten, supposing himself endowed with inventive genius, constructed a machine for breaking stones. It was operated by horse power, proved a failure, and was laid aside to rot on the summit of Laurel Hill.
The following table showing the heights of mountains and hills on the road is copied from the sketch by Mr. Veech, accompanying the map of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, before mentioned. It will be seen that it differs somewhat from the measurement of the Commissioners who ran the original lines of the road, but it will be remembered that their measurement was from a point in the Potomac, near c.u.mberland, whereas the table below gives heights above the Atlantic and above c.u.mberland.
This table also gives heights of hills, west of Uniontown, and the heights furnished by the old Commissioners, are of mountains and hills between c.u.mberland and Uniontown. As to the accuracy of, and authority for, this table, the author of this volume is not informed, but it seems to have been sanctioned and adopted by Mr. Veech, whose reputation as a local historian is unimpeachable.
THE TABLE.
Above the Atlantic. Above c.u.mberland.
c.u.mberland 537 feet Wills Mountain 1003 " 466 Frostburg 1792 " 1255 Big Savage Mountain 2580 " 2043 Little Savage Mountain 2480 " 1943 Red Hill 2437 " 1900 Meadow Mountain 2550 " 2013 Little Crossings 2000 " 1463 Negro Mountain 2825 " 2288 Keyser"s Ridge 2843 " 2306 Winding Ridge 2534 " 1997 Smithfield 1405 " 868 Barren Hill 2450 " 1813 Woodc.o.c.k Hill 2500 " 1963 Laurel Hill 2412 " 1875 Monroe 1065 " 528 Uniontown Court House 952 " 415 Colley"s Hill 1274 " 737 Brownsville 833 " 296 Krepps" k.n.o.b 1040 " 503 Beallsville 1010 " 473 Hillsboro 1770 " 1233 Egg Nog Hill 1532 " 995 Washington 1406 " 869 West Alexander 1792 " 1255 Wheeling Hill 850 " 313 Wheeling City 748 " 211
CHAPTER XLIV.
_Two Noted Old Tavern Keepers--Thomas Endsley and William Sheets--The Latter the Driver of the First Mail Coach Out from c.u.mberland--A Wedding Party Surprised, and a Marriage Prevented--William M. F.
Magraw, a well known Man of the Road._
A prominent and widely known man of the road was Thomas Endsley. He was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1787. He was the only child of parents who came from Switzerland and settled in Virginia at an early day. His mother was of an old family of Gilberts, who were Quakers, well known and much respected in their day and generation. His wife was Mary McCloy, to whom he was wedded in the year 1805. The offspring of his marriage consisted of eight children, five sons and three daughters. The sons were John, Thomas, James, William and Andrew Jackson. The three last named are still living, James and William in Somerfield, and Andrew Jackson in Somerset. The daughters were Mary Ann, who became the wife of Redding Bunting, the noted old pike boy heretofore mentioned; Nancy, who was the wife of J. Squire Hagan, another old pike boy; and Julia, who in 1842, married P. R. Sides, and is now living with a son in New Mexico.
Her husband died in Missouri in 1877, or thereabout. Mrs. Hagan died in Uniontown in 1849, and Mrs. Bunting died in the same place about five years ago. Nancy Endsley and Squire Hagan were married in 1834. Mrs.
Endsley, wife of Thomas, the subject of this sketch, died in the stone tavern at Somerfield in 1832, and her husband died in the same house in 1852.
Thomas Endsley was an old wagoner before the c.u.mberland Road was constructed. In the years 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817 and 1818, he hauled goods and merchandise from Baltimore to Nashville, Tennesse, to points in Ohio and to Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He owned two six-horse teams, one of which he drove himself, and placed the other in charge of a hired driver. In spring and fall he was frequently compelled to remain with his teams at the old Smith tavern, near the present town of Somerfield, for several days awaiting the subsidence of freshets in the Youghiogheny river, so that he could ford that stream, there being no other means of crossing at that time. The road was frequently in such condition by reason of mud, deep cuts, and other obstacles, that a whole day"s progress did not cover a greater distance than three or four miles. To pa.s.s through Jockey Hollow it was often found necessary to attach twelve horses to one wagon.
In the year 1819 Thomas Endsley moved from Virginia to Frostburg, Maryland, and at that place commenced a career of tavern keeping, which terminated only with his death. He leased the old Frost House in Frostburg, and conducted it for three years. In 1822 he went to the Tomlinson House, a prominent old landmark twenty-one miles west of c.u.mberland. He occupied the Tomlinson House for two years, and while there enjoyed the patronage of one of the stage lines. In December, 1823, he bought the old Smith farm at Somerfield, lying on both sides of the road. On this farm was erected the large stone tavern house, at the eastern end of the big stone bridge which spans the Youghiogheny river.
For this property he paid $8,000 cash down, which shows the enhanced value of the property at that day by reason of contiguity with the National Road. He took possession of this property on the first day of April, 1824. The land was poor, the fences were dilapidated, and the general outlook unpromising. But Mr. Endsley was a man of great energy and good judgment, and going to work with determination, soon changed the aspect of things, and had flowers blooming and gra.s.s and grain growing, where before the eye had rested on nothing but briars, weeds and rocks, with here and there a scant appearance of sickly oats and buckwheat. It is said that he was the first man who ever attempted to raise corn and wheat in the neighborhood of Somerfield, and old settlers jeered him for trying it. It was not long under his judicious management until his farm yielded thirty-five and forty bushels of wheat to the acre, and crops of corn equal to the best of the adjoining county of Fayette. This farm continues in the possession of the descendants of Thomas Endsley. The northern portion of it is owned and occupied by the heirs of Thomas Endsley, jr., deceased, except the stone tavern, which with the southern portion of the farm, is owned and occupied by William Endsley.
While a.s.siduous in bringing up his farm, Thomas Endsley was by no means neglectful of his tavern. He was always attentive and courteous to guests. His table was spread with well cooked victuals, and his rooms were clean and neat, so that altogether his house was one of the most inviting on the whole line of the road. The Stockton line of coaches stopped at the Endsley House during its entire career on the road, with the exception of a short time, when it was withdrawn by reason of a temporary estrangement between Mr. Stockton and Mr. Endsley. Stockton was of a fiery temper, while Mr. Endsley was not slack in resenting a supposed wrong, and at one time in going over their accounts they disagreed, and each gave utterance to expressions not taught in the Sunday schools. As a result, Mr. Stockton removed his stock from Endsley"s tavern and pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed the house thereafter for awhile without casting a glance of recognition toward it. It was not long, however, until Mr. Endsley was surprised to see Mr. Stockton enter his house, extend his hand, and hear him say: "This foolishness has lasted long enough; my coaches must stop at this house." "When?" calmly queried Mr. Endsley. "To-morrow," said Mr. Stockton, and the old terms of friendship between them were restored, and continued as long as Mr.
Stockton lived. As stated in another chapter Mr. Endsley was a slave owner, and frequently aided in the capture and return of fugitives. Two of his slaves, Peter and Phebe Butler, after acquiring their freedom, settled in Brownsville, and died there. They were well known by the old people of Brownsville, and held in high esteem. Thomas Endsley, in 1834-"35, in connection with James Black, of Somerfield, had contracts for taking up the original road bed on Winding Ridge and Negro Mountain, and proved himself as efficient in this line as in every other line of business he engaged in. He was imposing in personal appearance, well up to six feet in height, and weighed about two hundred pounds. He was an habitual reader, and a subscriber for the _c.u.mberland Civilian_ and the _National Intelligencer_, from the time he lived in Frostburg to the date of his death. He carefully and studiously read the long and prosy editorials of the _Intelligencer_, as well as the speeches it published of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton, and other noted statesmen of that era.
In 1828 a military company called "The Addison Blues," was organized, drawing its members from Somerfield, Petersburg and the surrounding neighborhood, of which Thomas Endsley was elected captain, and ever thereafter known and hailed as Captain Endsley. At all the old battalion parades in Somerset, Bedford and Uniontown the "Addison Blues" bore off the palm for soldierly bearing, and especially for the stalwart size of its rank and file, all of whom were hardy mountaineers, and known and honored as "frosty sons of thunder."
WILLIAM SHEETS was a prominent character of the road, more widely known as a tavern keeper, than in any other relation. He was a remarkable man in many respects, and in none more than relates to his extreme longevity. He was born February 2d, 1798, near Martinsburg, Berkeley county, Virginia, and died May 4th, 1892, in Jefferson county, Iowa. He was a wagoner before the c.u.mberland Road was made, and hauled goods from Baltimore to points west, over the old Braddock road. He also had some experience as a stage driver. His first venture as a tavern keeper was at or near the Little Crossings, where he remained but a short time, and did not do a paying business. Leaving the Little Crossings, he went to Negro Mountain and took a house there. His first experience at Negro Mountain was attended by only limited success, and he abandoned tavern keeping and moved to a small house on Jennings" run, about two miles west of Uniontown, and near the old Moxley tavern, then kept by William c.o.x. In that vicinity he engaged in various pursuits, mostly of a precarious nature, with a downward tendency, accelerated by too much indulgence in drinking. This was between the years 1835 and 1840, and probably a little earlier. He seemed to realize that his fortune was on the wane, and resolved to retrieve himself. He accordingly, by some means not ascertainable, secured a new lease on the Negro Mountain house which he had left, and returned to it. Beginning life anew, as it were, he quit drinking and devoted himself energetically to business. It was not long until he established a good reputation and did a large and profitable business. His house was a favorite stopping place for hog drovers, and in the latter part of his career on Negro Mountain, the number of barrels of corn he bought and sold would count up to hundreds of thousands. The weary and hungry hog drover (pig pelter the pike boys termed him), as he trudged along the road in snow and slush, urging forward the lagging, grunting porkers, apparently reluctant to move on to the sure slaughter awaiting them, would cry out at intervals, and in despairing tones: "Suboy, suboy, forty cents a day and no dinner; how far is it to Sheets"?" For many years William Sheets fed the hungry hogs, and their no less hungry owners and drivers, and while his profits were small, his business was so large that his acc.u.mulations in a few years aggregated a sum which made him a comfortable fortune. William G.
Beck, the old stage driver living in Fairfield, Iowa, before referred to, avers that William Sheets drove the first mail coach out from c.u.mberland that ever pa.s.sed over the National Road west of that place.
This was in the year 1818, and on Kinkead"s line of coaches. Kinkead was an uncle of William G. Beck, and a member of the old bridge building firm of Kinkead, Beck & Evans, and an owner of the first stage line on the road, as before stated. The wife of William Sheets was Sarah Wiggins, a sister of Isaac Wiggins, late of South Union township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, deceased, and an aunt of James H. Wiggins, a prosperous and well known farmer of that township. She was an attractive girl, and had many suitors. One of her lovers was a man by the name of Bradley, an employe of Kinkead, before mentioned. She gave her hand to Bradley, and consented to become his wife, and went so far as to appear upon the floor with Bradley to have the knot tied by the Rev. William Brownfield. The relatives and friends of Miss Sarah were stoutly opposed to her alliance with Bradley, and a moment before the old and renowned Baptist parson began the ceremony of marriage, Col.
Cuthbert Wiggins, an uncle of the would-be-bride, and father of Harrison Wiggins, the old fox hunter of the mountains, appeared on the scene and carried Miss Sarah from the floor, thus abruptly terminating the pending nuptials, to the great astonishment of those in attendance, and causing much comment and town gossip. This unusual incident happened in a house on Morgantown street, in Uniontown, about the year 1821. No subsequent effort was made by the parties most interested, to consummate the forbidden marriage, and the fair Sarah, in a short time thereafter, forgetting her affection for Bradley, became the wife of William Sheets.
The after career of Bradley is unknown. He seems to have pa.s.sed from the memory of men without making a sign. In the year 1855 William Sheets took final leave of Negro Mountain and the scenes of the National Road, and moved to Jefferson county, Iowa, where he made his last settlement, and died at the date above given. At his death he was the possessor of a large estate, chiefly in lands, which descends to his two surviving sons, Isaac and Joseph, and to the heirs of deceased sons and a deceased daughter. He had six sons and one daughter. Bazil Sheets, one of his sons, was an old wagoner, well remembered by the old citizens along the line of the road.
[Ill.u.s.tration: W. M. F. MAGRAW]
One of the smartest, best known and most picturesque men of the road forty years ago was WILLIAM M. F. MAGRAW. He was probably little known west of Brownsville, as his business was for the most part on the line east of that point. He was a native of Maryland, and belonged to an old and influential family of that State. His brother, Harry, practiced law for several years in Pittsburg, and served a term as State Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1856 to 1859. The Magraws were intimate friends of James Buchanan, and Harry was a leader in the movements that led up to the nomination and election of that old time statesman to the Presidency. W. M. F. Magraw became identified with the National Road as many others did, through a matrimonial alliance. His wife was a daughter of Jacob Sides, who owned the Tomlinson tavern. His first business engagement in the vicinity of Uniontown was with F. H. Oliphant, the old iron master of Fairchance. Soon after engaging with Mr. Oliphant that gentleman put on a line of teams and wagons hereinbefore mentioned, to haul freights between Brownsville and c.u.mberland, and Magraw was placed in charge of the line as its general road agent. This put him in communication with the people along the road, and established him in the ranks of the pike boys. He was a large, fine looking man, always well dressed, attracting attention wherever he appeared, and making friends by reason of his agreeable manners. He was not fleshy, but broad shouldered, tall and erect, of ruddy complexion, light hair, and habitually wore gold rimmed spectacles on account of some defect of vision. He was generous almost to a fault, and lavish in his personal expenditures. He spent much of his time in Uniontown, making his headquarters with his friend Joshua Marsh, of the National House. His habits of living were different from the majority of the old pike boys, especially in the matter of eating, and he enjoyed a good supper at midnight, better than any other hour. He brought in game of all kinds from the mountain and had it served in savory style at the National House. He kept a carriage, and often had it ordered out as early as three and four o"clock in the afternoon, to go to the mountain, but lingered about the town, chatting with friends, until nightfall. He seemed to delight in driving over the mountain in the night. Leaving Uniontown about the dusk of the evening, he would reach the Tomlinson tavern about daybreak the next morning. He called up the old tavern keepers along the road, all of whom knew him, chatted a while with them, took a mint julip, or something stiffer, and pushed on, and this was his habit as long as he remained on the road. He was a southern sympathizer during the war, and partic.i.p.ated as a Confederate partisan, in some of the irregular skirmishes in Missouri, in the incipient stages of the long struggle. Notwithstanding his southern sentiments, he was well liked by his northern acquaintances, and had many warm friends among them. There was no bitterness in his heart. He was clever and courteous to all. He had no stauncher friend than Redding Bunting, the good old stage driver, who was a p.r.o.nounced Union man. Sometime near the close of the war, Magraw appeared in Harrisburg. Upon being questioned as to the object of his mission, he said he had come to see the Governor on behalf of the appointment of his old friend, Red Bunting, to the office of Commissioner of the c.u.mberland Road. He knew the Governor (Curtin) personally. In fact, he knew nearly all the public men of his time. He called on the Governor, and was cordially received. "What brought you here," queried the Governor. "I came," said Magraw, "to solicit the appointment of Redding b.u.t.ting as Commissioner of the c.u.mberland Road."
"How does it come," further queried the Governor, "that all you copperheads are for Bunting?" "Oh!" said Magraw, "Bunting is a good man, the right man for the place, and a good Republican." "Well," said the Governor, "I guess I"ll appoint him," and he did. Mr. Bunting was not aware that Magraw intended to go to Harrisburg in his behalf, which shows the disposition of the man. During the administration of President Pierce, Magraw had a contract for carrying the mails from the Missouri boundary to western points beyond the plains. He suffered much loss by reason of Indian invasions, and preferred a claim to Congress for a large sum of money to reimburse him. While his bill was undergoing consideration by the committee, he appeared before it and emptied upon the floor a number of bags of mules ears, as evidence of his losses. His bill was pa.s.sed. Magraw died suddenly, in Baltimore, a number of years ago, much lamented. His wife is also dead. He had a daughter, Miss Sallie, well remembered by the older citizens of Uniontown, who is living in Kansas City, a widow, in affluent circ.u.mstances.
CHAPTER XLV.
_Dumb Ike--Reminiscences of Uniontown--Isaac Johnson--Squire Hagan--A Musician Astride of a Hog--Anecdote of Judges Black and Williams--Morgan Miller, an Old Tavern Keeper--Philip Krishbaum, an Old Stone Cutter--Crazy Billy--Highway Robbery--Slaves Struggling for Liberty--William Willey, an old Friend of the Slaves--Unsuccessful Attempts at Suicide by an old Postmaster and an old Drover--Tom Marshall, of Kentucky, appears on the Road and amuses the boys._
The National Road had its variety, as all the ways of life have, and this variety added spice to it, and gave it much if not all of its flavor. There were high types, and low types, and queer types of life on the road. Every section of the road had its noted character. There was Marion Smith (Logan), who made his headquarters, for the most part, at Searights, but a familiar figure all along the line between Uniontown and Brownsville. He stood ever ready to fetch the gear pole and insert it between the spokes of the hind wheels of the big wagon, the moment it was driven upon the yard at the old tavern in the evening, to rest for the night. He was likewise prompt in carrying the hay and grain to feed the big six horses that stood with their heads to the long, strong trough supported by the wagon tongue, and when this little job was done, his compensation was replete, and his topmost ambition realized in the big drink he took with the driver at the bar. And Logan was further noted as an imitator of the rooster, and gave many a long, loud crow over Democratic victories in the olden time. Bill Hickman will be readily recalled by the reader who is familiar with the history and traditions of the road, as an eccentric character. He gravitated between Chalk Hill and Jockey Hollow, and Billy Brubaker afforded amus.e.m.e.nt for the men of the road near Brownsville. It would scarcely be doing justice to the nomenclature of the old road, without writing this name "Bluebaker." There were many others of this cla.s.s, but time and s.p.a.ce will not permit a reference to them, and besides, this sketch is devoted especially to "Dumb Ike." His name was Isaac Griffin, or Toner, and he belonged to the queer type in the above enumeration. He was not in fact dumb, but everybody called him "Dumb Ike." He was opaque and bright by turns. Dr. Hugh Campbell once asked him why they called him dumb, and he said "he didn"t know, unless because they were dumb themselves."
Isaac was born and reared in Springhill township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. The sound of the glories of the old pike reached his ears at his rural home, and he resolved to cast his lot upon it. It was previous to the year 1840 that he made his appearance in Uniontown, and for the first time beheld the National Road. When he shook the dust of Springhill from his feet, it was with a high resolve to never engage in hard labor, a resolution he never thereafter broke. His ambition was to become a stage driver and it was irrepressible. He reached his goal. He obtained employment as a driver on one of the stage lines and approved himself a good one. Not given to absolute steadiness of habit, his employment was not continuous, but he was held in reserve, as it were, to take the place of regular drivers in cases of accident or emergency.
He could handle the reins and crack the whip equal to the best of drivers, and took good care of his team. He not only drove stage but was a driver on the express line, and perched on the high front seat of an express wagon, drawing the reins over four stout horses, was the personification of a proud and happy man. A little incident in the old National House on Morgantown street, when that popular old hostelry was kept by the kind-hearted and gentle Joshua Marsh, goes to ill.u.s.trate the eccentric ways of Isaac. It was in the bar room. Samuel McDonald, a prominent citizen of the town, had occasion to call there, and among those in the room at the time was "Dumb Ike," with whom McDonald was well acquainted, as was every other citizen. McDonald invited Isaac to take a drink, a proposition quite agreeable to him, and which he promptly accepted. Standing at the bar with gla.s.s in hand, well filled, Isaac felt it a duty to compliment his entertainer, and said: "McDonald, I respect you," and hesitating, continued, "and probably I am the only man in town that does." Isaac intended to be complimentary, and McDonald knowing this, joined in the loud laughter of the bystanders over Isaac"s bull.
During the prevalence of Asiatic cholera in Uniontown in 1850, some one was speaking to Isaac in reference to the fatality of the epidemic, and was much astounded to hear Isaac say it was not cholera. "What then is it?" queried the other party. "It is death," retorted Isaac. When Isaac wished to express indignation against a person he thought was putting on airs, he called him "The Great Nates," and of conceited persons he said they were "great in their own _estimashing_." The writer has in his possession a boot jack made and given to him by "Dumb Ike" in 1852. It is a clumsy specimen of mechanism, but prized on account of the maker and donor. Isaac"s patriotism was accelerated by a drink, and often under its influence he exclaimed with emphasis of voice and violent gesticulation of his right arm, "I am going to the District of Columbia to see the G.o.ddess of Liberty." When the war against the South a.s.sumed the shape of open and active hostilities, "Dumb Ike" volunteered as a soldier, and proudly marched to the front under the flag of the stars and stripes. He was a.s.signed to duty in the transportation service, for which his experience eminently fitted him, and he died in the faithful discharge of duty, and was buried where he died, near the capitol of the Republic beneath the shadow of the G.o.ddess of Liberty, at whose shrine he was a devoted worshipper. At his death a small sum of money was on deposit to his credit in the old bank of Fayette county, which was absorbed by claims for nursing and other services in his last illness. He left neither widow or heirs to survive him. His administrator was Nathaniel Brownfield, his old friend of the Swan tavern in Uniontown, where he made his headquarters for many years, and where he was living when he enlisted as a soldier. There were worse men and better men than "Dumb Ike," but no one who knew him will begrudge a good, kind word for his memory.
Isaac Johnson, a former well known and respected citizen, who died at his residence near Uniontown a number of years since, had occasion to visit the East in the year 1833, and on his return home walked the entire distance from Baltimore over the National Road. His mission carried him as far east as New Castle, Delaware, and from that point to Frenchtown he rode on the first pa.s.senger cars propelled by steam in the United States. He was a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania, and the father of David D. Johnson, of Fayette Springs, who was Commissioner of the road during the administration of Governor Beaver.
Squire Hagan, who died in Uniontown a few years ago, much lamented, father of Miss Maggie, the popular clerk in the Uniontown postoffice, was a "Green Mountain Boy," born in Vermont, near Montpelier, the capital of that State. The fame of the old National Road was carried on the wings of the wind to the snow-capped hills of his native land, and he yearned for a share of its glories. His first appearance on the road was at Somerfield, where, in the year 1834, he owned and conducted a general store. The leading trait in the character of Squire Hagan was amiability, and the trend of his mind was toward philosophy. He was widely known along the line of the road, and highly respected.