Two Noted Old Tavern Keepers—Thomas Endsley and William Sheets—The Latter the Driver of the First Mail Coach Out from Cumberland—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 Cumberland 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 pass 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 Cumberland. 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 grass 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 assiduous 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 passed and repassed 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 Cumberland 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 Cumberland 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 Cox. 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 accumulations 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 Cumberland that ever passed 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 passed 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.

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 Cumberland, 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 participated 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 pronounced 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 Cumberland 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 Butting as Commissioner of the Cumberland 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 passed. 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 circumstances.