Thomas B. Searight

Old Wagoners continued—The Harness they Used—John Morrow a maker of Harness—Capt. Elias Gilmore encounters a Man Eater—Perry Gaddis, William G. Patterson, Alfred Bailes, the Scarboroughs and McLaughlins—Hill, who respected Sunday—James Riley and Oliver Pratt, Robert Carr, Robert Allison, David Herr, William Keefer, Abram Beagle, Samuel Youman, Robert Cosgrove, James Brownlee, John Collier, Darius Grimes, Fielding Montague, James Smith, Elisha Maxon, Jacob Marks, Thomas Starr, Thomas Hastings, Henry Foster, John Smasher, Maj. Jesse B. Gardner, McWilliams, Pixler, Riley and Hankins.

John Morrow, of Petersburg, mentioned herein before as a manufacturer of the wagoner’s whip, was likewise a saddle and harness maker, and had the reputation of making the best harness on the road. He was a man of thin visage and energetic habit.

Gears was the name old wagoners applied to harness. The gears used on the team of the regular wagoner were of immense proportions. The back bands were fifteen and the hip straps ten inches wide, and heavy black housing covered the horses’ shoulders down to the bottom of the hames. The traces used were iron chains with short and thick links. It required a strong man to throw these heavy gears on the back of a big horse. Heavy and broad as they were, these gears were not out of proportion to the large fat horses of the old teams, and looked well on their broad and shining backs. The wagoner’s saddle was unique. It was made over an ordinary wooden model, covered with thick, black leather, and had long and wide skirts or aprons, cut straight on the edges and ends. Daniel P. Gibson, the well known capitalist of Uniontown, learned the trade of saddle and harness making with John Morrow in Petersburg, and worked many a day on the big gears and odd saddle, above described.

Capt. Elias Gilmore was not strictly an old wagoner, but a pike boy to all intents and purposes, yet his home was not immediately on the road. He had a team which he employed for the most part in hauling stones for repairs on the road. He was a contractor, and an energetic one. He was an amiable man, in a general way, but given at times to pugilistic encounters, and it is said that no man along the road could outdo him in a fight. A stage driver once came upon the road who was called “the man eater.” He drove from Uniontown to Mt. Washington on the Good Intent line. Gilmore, hearing of this famous “man eater,” was desirous of meeting him, and calling one day at Mt. Washington, inquired where he was. Upon being introduced, Gilmore said to him: “You are a pretty stout looking man, but I can lick you,” and at it they went, without further ceremony, and Gilmore did lick him. At another time Gilmore was in Uniontown with a load of lumber, and stood his team across the street, which caused John P. Sturgis, who was constable then, to take him to task for obstructing the street, whereupon Gilmore fell upon Sturgis and gave him a tremendous beating, for which he was fined by the burgess. Gilmore was born in Wharton township, Fayette county, Pa., and owned and lived on a farm near “Sugar Loaf,” in the vicinity of Ohiopyle. His wife was a sister of Boss Rush, “the prince of landlords.” Captain Gilmore moved, with his family, to Illinois thirty years ago, and subsequently to York county, Nebraska, where he is still living in comfortable circumstances, a farmer and stock dealer. He long since abandoned the profitless pastime of sowing wild oats, and is esteemed as one of the most respectable and influential citizens of Nebraska. John Rush, a brother of Boss, and brother-in-law of Gilmore, an old wagoner and tavern keeper, went west with Gilmore, and lives near him now, in Nebraska.

Perry Gaddis, who died a few years ago at Dunbar, Pennsylvania, was an old wagoner. His first service on the road as driver was for Isaac Bailey, who kept a tavern near the old red house east of Brownsville, subsequently postmaster at Brownsville, and a member of the Fayette county, Pennsylvania, bar. Gaddis married a daughter of Robert Shaw, an old tavern keeper, and many years ago steward of the county home near Uniontown. She was a schoolmate of the author of these pages, as was also her sister, who became the wife of Robert S. McDowell, another well known pike boy. William D. Beggs, father-in-law of the late Dr. Smith Fuller, blessed be his memory, was our faithful old teacher. Mrs. Gaddis, Perry’s widow, is still living at Dunbar.[C]William G. Patterson, of Jefferson township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, an old wagoner, has a record worthy of special mention. When on the road he was called “Devil Bill,” and this name followed him to his farm, and adhered to him for many years. To see him now at his ancestral home, bending beneath his four score years and more, gentle in manner and intelligent and entertaining in conversation, surrounded by all the needful comforts of this life, one wonders how he ever got the name of “Devil Bill.” His first appearance on the National Road as a driver was in the year 1820, when he assisted in driving a lot of hogs for his father to Baltimore. It required almost a month to drive a lot of hogs from the vicinity of Brownsville to the city of Baltimore. He made his first trip over the road as a wagoner in 1823, going clear through to Baltimore. The first team he drove was his father’s, but it was not long until he became the owner of a team himself. He was on the road many years as a wagoner. The farm on which he now resides descended from his grandfather to his father, and then to himself. His father died on this farm on Christmas day of the year 1827. His grandfather came out from Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, at an early day.

ALFRED BAILES.

Alfred Bailes, of Dunbar, Pennsylvania, is probably the oldest man living who drove a team on the National Road. He was first a wagoner, and subsequently and for many years a stage driver. He was born in Loudon county, Virginia, and came upon the road about the year 1830, at the solicitation of John Bradfield, who was also a native of Virginia, and agent of the first line of wagons on the road. Alfred Bailes was born in 1804, and although closely approaching his ninetieth year, his eye is undimmed and his natural vigor unabated. Samuel Luman, of Cumberland, is two years younger than Bailes, but two years his senior as a stage driver. Bailes was one of the most commanding figures on the road, upwards of six feet in height, with broad chest and shoulders, and long arms. Noted for great strength, he was never quarrelsome. As a driver he performed his functions faithfully and carefully. He is a most interesting relic of the road, and his memory is well stored with interesting reminiscences of its faded glory.

Samuel and William Scarborough were old wagoners. They lived on the old William Elliott farm, in Jefferson township, Fayette county, Pa., and were brothers. William Hogg, the pioneer merchant of Brownsville, was the owner of the William Elliott farm at the time referred to, and the Scarboroughs paid their rent by hauling a load of merchandise for Mr. Hogg once a year, from Baltimore to his store in Brownsville.

George McLaughlin, still living near Uniontown, but now, and for a long time, a sufferer from rheumatism, is an old wagoner. It may be that exposure, when a wagoner, to the snow storms of the mountains, is the source of the rheumatism which now afflicts him. His brother, Abraham, who lives at Mt. Braddock, is also an old wagoner, and, when a boy, broke stone on the pike at a “levy” a perch.

There was an old wagoner whose name was Hill, and he lived at Triadelphia, now West Virginia, then “Old Virginia never tire,” who never drove his team on Sunday. He seems not to have lost anything by resting his team and himself on Sunday, for he made as good time on his trips as any other wagoner, and in the end became rich.

Michael Teeters, a spluttering old wagoner, was noted for his profanity. He was possessed with the fatal delusion that hard swearing was evidence of superior intelligence. He, of course, had some good traits, as the worst of men have; but when age and infirmity came upon him, he exchanged the tramp over the hills of the old pike for a “walk over the hills to the poor house,” and died in the county home of Washington county, Pennsylvania. Had he followed the example of Hill, who rested on Sunday, it may not be said that he would have grown rich, but it is pretty certain that the surroundings of his dying hours would have been different from what they were.

James Riley and Oliver Pratt were among the oldest of the old wagoners—veterans in every sense. Riley was a large man, with florid face and very white hair, and was called “Old Whitey.” He lived and died in Hopwood. Pratt was also a large man, and stout, a steady drinker, with red-rimmed eyes. He was a good driver, and devoted to his calling. He married a Miss Bird, of the old family of that name, in Henry Clay township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and when flush times ended on the road, went west and died, far from the scenes of the grand old highway.

Robert Carr, who died in Uniontown about two years ago, was an old wagoner. He was on the road as early as 1825. He drove first for Benjamin Miller, grandfather of Ben, Sam and Jeff Miller, of Uniontown. He subsequently married a daughter of Abner Springer, of North Union township, Fayette county, who owned a road team which was placed in charge of Carr, and he drove it several years. He was also a stage driver.

Robert Q. Fleming, now residing in Uniontown, is an old wagoner. He hauled whiskey from the old Overholt distillery, near Mt. Pleasant, to Baltimore for many years, and loaded back with merchandise to various points in the west. One of his earliest back loads consisted of oysters for Pittsburg, via Brownsville. The oyster boxes were piled up to the canvass covering, and upon reaching Brownsville he was required to drive down the wharf to the steamboat landing, which was “sidling,” and at the time icy. Some of the top boxes fell out and were broken, whereupon the bystanders helped themselves to fresh shell oysters. They were not carried away, but the eager oyster lovers picked them up, cracked open the shells on the wagon wheels and gulped down the juicy bivalves on the ground. Fleming was “docked,” as they termed the abating of loss, from the freight charges.

Robert Allison, one of the best known of the old wagoners, was a fighting man. He did not seem to be quarrelsome, yet was often, as by some sort of untoward destiny, involved in pugilistic encounters along the road. In one of these at Fear’s tavern, on Keyser’s Ridge, he bit off the nose of a stage driver.

David Harr was a good fiddler, and William Keefer was a good dancer, and these two old wagoners warmed the bar room of many an old tavern between Baltimore and Wheeling, in the good old days when every mile of the National Road bristled with excitement.

Abram Beagle was a widely known old wagoner. He lived with David Moreland in Uniontown as early as 1820, and probably before that time, and subsequently became a tavern keeper. The house he kept was twelve miles east of Wheeling, and he married it. That is to say: The Widow Rhodes owned the tavern stand, and he married her. He kept a good house, and was largely patronized. Old citizens of Uniontown who remember Abram Beagle, and there are not many of them living, speak of him as a good and worthy citizen of the olden time.

Samuel Youman, of Washington county, Pa., was an old wagoner, stage driver and tavern keeper. He drove stage from Hillsboro to Washington, and subsequently kept tavern in Hillsboro. He had the distinction of being next to the largest man on the road, “Old Mount” being admittedly the largest. Youman was a man full of zeal, as to all pursuits and interests relating to the National Road. He understood the art of driving horses to perfection, was kindly in disposition, and attracted attention by reason of his immense size. He had a son, Israel, who was also a stage driver and a lively fellow. Father and son are presumably both dead, but the marks they made on the memories of the old pike are indelible.

Poor old Robert Cosgrove, who once traversed the road with all the pride and pomp of a “regular,” finally succumbed to the adverse tides of life and time, and to avoid “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” took refuge in the “county home,” where he remains, indulging the memories of better days and awaiting the summons to rejoin the companionship of old wagoners who have passed over the dark river.

James Brownlee was one of the old wagoners who suffered the experience of a genuine “upset.” It occurred near Hagen’s tavern, east of Cumberland. He had a high load, and encountered a big snow drift which he thought he could overcome by pulling out and around, but he failed, and his wagon capsized. His main loss was in time, which was “made up” by the good cheer at Hagen’s old tavern.

John Collier, father of Daniel Collier, was a wagoner on the road when it was first opened up for travel. He had been a wagoner on the Braddock road for years before the National Road was made. He lived in Addison, Somerset county, Pa., as early as 1795, and was one of the foremost wagoners of his day. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Amos S. Bowlby, of Fayette street, Uniontown.

Darius Grimes was among the first crop of wagoners, and gave up the whip and line long before the termination of the road’s prosperous era. When the writer first knew him he was living a retired life on the roadside at the foot of Graham’s lane, three miles west of Uniontown. He was one of the earliest tavern keepers on the road, beside being a wagoner. He kept the old Abel Colley house, west of and near Searight’s, before Abel Colley owned that property, and that was a long time ago. William Johnson, farmer and dealer in fruits and vegetables, well known to the people of Uniontown, married a daughter of Darius Grimes.

Fielding Montague, an old wagoner and stage driver, is still living on the road. His residence is in Henry Clay township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where his sleep is undisturbed by the clatter which in other years was heard at all hours of the night as well as day. Montague was not a driver on the old stage lines, but after they were withdrawn from the road, drove the mail hack for a considerable length of time between Uniontown and Somerfield. He was, however, a regular wagoner in the palmy days of the road.[D]James Smith, now living in Wharton township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, well and favorably known, is an old wagoner. He enjoyed the grand march along the old road, and was deeply grieved when stillness took the place of the bustling activity that marked its palmy days. The old veteran is bending to the storms of time, but glows with enthusiasm when recounting the scenes he witnessed on the old highway “in the days of yore.”

Elijah Maxon was an old wagoner. His home was near the Charlestown school house, in Luzerne township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He owned the team he drove, and made money on the road. He moved west many years ago, and in all probability has gone to that bourne whence no traveler returns.

Jacob Marks was an old wagoner, and subsequently, like so many of his fellows, became a tavern keeper. He first kept the stone house at Malden, between Brownsville and Centreville, and afterward the old Workman House at Brownsville. The glory of the old road had departed before he took charge of the Workman House, and business was dull; but the road was flush when he entertained the public at Malden, and he did a thriving business there.

Thomas Starr was an old wagoner, and drove for John Riley, an old tavern keeper of Bridgeport, Fayette county, Pa. The old citizens of Bridgeport and Brownsville will remember Starr and Riley, as they were conspicuous pike boys in their day.

Thomas Hastings was an old wagoner and tavern keeper. He kept the house well known and well patronized in his day about four miles east of Washington.

Henry Foster, late of North Union township, Fayette county, Pa., a well known farmer in his day, was an old wagoner. He drove a six-horse team to Baltimore in 1837, when but nineteen years old. His first load was bacon, consigned to a Baltimore house by Edward Gavin, of Uniontown. His return load was merchandise, consigned to William Bryson, a merchant of that day at Uniontown.

David Blakely was an old wagoner and became a tavern keeper. He kept a tavern in Washington in 1838, and subsequently in Wheeling. He was a prominent man, well known all along the road. He was also an agent of one of the transportation lines, and a very competent man for that business.

John Smasher, an old wagoner, was noted as a nimble and expert dancer, and had many opportunities to display his talent in this line on the old road. It frequently happens that a good dancer makes a ready “smasher.”

Major Jesse B. Gardner, of Uniontown, ex-jury commissioner and ex-soldier of two wars, drove a team several trips on the old road for Archibald Skiles, who kept a tavern at Monroe, and was a thorough pike boy.

Huston McWilliams, Joseph Pixler and John Riley were old wagoners who retired to farms in German township when the steam railway usurped the functions of the old pike.

William Hankins, a well known farmer of North Union township, still living, is an old wagoner, and made many a dollar on the road. He is a son of James Hankins, who owned the farm at Frost’s Station, and was reputed to have a barrel of money. One Hook, P. U., merchant and auctioneer of Uniontown, and member of the Legislature, was accustomed to speak of ready cash as “Hankins’ Castings,” in allusion to the Hankins barrel. He had a small store in an old frame house near the store room and residence of the late Col. Ewing Brownfield, on which he nailed a rough board for a sign, bearing the legend: “Hook and Hankins versus Boyle and Rankin.” Boyle and Rankin kept a rival store further up town. Hook also frequently advertised his business under the firm name of “Hook and Wife.” He was well known and is well remembered by the old citizens of Uniontown.

James Ambrose was a regular. He drove from Baltimore to Wheeling. He was a strong driver, and well known on the road. He married the youngest daughter of Robert Shaw, the old tavern keeper near Braddock’s Grave. After business ceased on the road, he engaged in mining coal in the Connellsville coke district, and died near Vanderbilt, in January, 1892. His wife survives him.

Isaac Hurst was a sharpshooter, and appeared on the road near the close of its prosperous era. He hauled flour from his father’s mill on George’s Creek, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, to Cumberland, and “loaded back” with merchandise to Brownsville. His experience on the road as a wagoner was confined between the points named. He subsequently became first, Treasurer, and afterward, Commissioner of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He is still living in Uniontown, pursuing the calling of a contractor, and taking an active interest in public affairs.