Thomas B. Searight

“ Without a market, the people of the West were left without a motive for industry. By denying to this portion of the Union the advantages of internal improvements, you not only deprive them of all the benefits of governmental expenditures, but you also deprive them of the advantages which nature’s God intended for them. Possessing the power, how, he asked, could any representative of the interior or western portions of this Union vote against a policy so essential to the prosperity of the people who sent him here to guard their rights, and advance their interests? ”

“ My earliest recollections are intimately associated with coaches, teams and drivers, and like most boys raised in an old stage tavern, I longed 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. ”

“ This road constitutes we trust, an indissoluble chain of Union, connecting forever as one, the East and the West. As a people directly interested in this great national work, we are glad to have the opportunity of expressing our acknowledgments to you in person. It is a part of that great system which has always received your support, known as the American System, the happy influence of which you have recently had the pleasure of witnessing in the rapid and extraordinary development of the resources of the West. ”

“ Of all the good taverns on the road there were none better than Brown’s. He had his peculiarities, as most men have, but he knew how to keep a hotel. He enjoyed the occupation of entertaining guests, and glowed with good feeling while listening to the praises bestowed upon his savory spreads. This popular old landlord came to a sad and untimely end by being cut to pieces in a mill by a buzz saw, on what was once called the plank road, leading from Washington through Monongahela City, West Newton, Mt. Pleasant, Somerset and Bedford to Cumberland. ”

“ In addition to the custom it gained from the road, this house was a favorite resort of the young rural residents, male and female, of that portion of Old Virginia, and here they were accustomed to go for a night’s festivity, always confining themselves within the bounds of propriety, but within those bounds enjoying themselves in a high degree. There is many a gray-haired veteran living in the vicinity now, of both sexes, whose memories revert with pleasure to the exciting and exhilarating scenes they witnessed and participated in, at John Bentley’s old tavern. ”

“ George Widdle, an old wagoner of the age of eighty and upwards, still living in Wheeling, drew the single line and handled the Loudon whip over a six-horse team for many years, between Wheeling and Baltimore, and accounts the days of those years the happiest of his existence. He was also a stage driver for a time. Nothing affords him so much pleasure as a recital of the incidents of the road. He says there never were such taverns and tavern keepers as those of the National Road in the days of its glory, and of his vigorous manhood. ”

“ When a valuable citizen dies, it is meet that the community of which he was a member, mourn his loss. A public expression of their sorrow at such an event, is due as some solace to the grief of the bereaved family and friends, and as an incentive to others to earn for their death the same distinction. In the death of William Searight, this community has lost such a citizen. Such an event has called this public meeting, into which enter no schemes of political promotion, no partisan purposes of empty eulogy. Against all this, death has shut the door. ”

“ Resolved, That in the death of William Searight, Fayette county and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have lost one of their best and most useful citizens. The people at large may not realize their loss, but the community in which he lived, over whose comforts and interests were diffused the influence of his liberality and enterprise, feel it, while his friends of all classes, parties and professions, to whom he clung, and who clung to him, mourn it. ”

“ To take away life by virtue of the post office power for robbing the mail, is nothing; but to impose a fine of ten dollars for wilfully destroying a road which has cost the government a million of dollars, is a dreadful violation of State rights! ”

“ Nothing worried a sharpshooter more than lying at expense in Cumberland waiting for a load. Two of the “sharps,” unwilling to endure the delay caused by the strike, drove their four-horse rigs to a warehouse to load at the reduction. This excited the “regulars,” and they massed with horns, tin buckets, oyster-cans and the like, and made a descent upon the “sharps,” pelting and guying them unmercifully. An old wagoner named Butler commanded the striking regulars with a pine sword, and marched them back and forth through the streets. ”

“ I could trace you all the way to Washington, at Malden, at Centreville, at Billy Greenfield’s in Beallsville, at Hillsboro (Billy Robinson was a familiar name) , at Dutch Charley Miller’s, at Ward’s, at Pancake, and so on—familiar names, forever endeared to my memory. I cherish the desire of riding over the “Old Pike” with you, but I am afraid we shall contemplate it as a scheme never to be realized. ”

“ The largest town on the line of the road west of Columbus, in the State of Ohio, is Springfield, the capital of Clark county. The distance between Columbus and Springfield is forty-five miles. Springfield enjoyed for a number of years the advantages of the road, and felt a pride in being on its line, but its growth and development, the result of other agencies, have thrown a mantle of oblivion over the time when the rattle of the stage coach and the rumble of road wagons furnished the chief excitement of her streets. ”

“ I am of opinion that Congress do not possess this power—that the States individually cannot grant it; for, although they may assent to the appropriation of money within their limits for such purposes, they can grant no power of jurisdiction of sovereignty, by special compacts with the United States. This power can be granted only by an amendment to the Constitution, and in the mode prescribed by it. If the power exist, it must be either because it has been specifically granted to the United States, or that it is incidental to some power, which has been specifically granted. ”

“ James Noble, the old wagoner, drove a team for the late Hon. Isaac Hodgens, who was at one time a pork salter. He remained on the road as a wagoner until its tide of business ceased, and retired to Taylorstown to take his chances in the on-moving and uncertain affairs of life. He seemed possessed of the idea that there was undeveloped wealth in the vicinity of Taylorstown, and made up his mind to gain a foothold there and wait the coming of events. He managed by the exercise of industry and economy to become the owner of a farm, and the discovery of oil did the rest for him. He is rich. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Some time during the year 1840 or ’41 a rather tall and cadaverous looking individual, presenting the appearance of a man on a protracted spree, was observed coming down the hill into Somerfield from the east, walking and leading a beautiful bay horse, equipped with a handsome saddle and bridle. The quaint looking and quaint moving stranger halted to converse with a cluster of boys, who were sitting on the pavement in front of Endsley’s tavern, near the stone bridge at the Big Crossings. He told the boys so many amusing stories, that they reckoned him to be the clown of a coming circus. ”

“ The National Road served its purpose grandly, was a complete success, the pride and glory of its day and generation, and when it lost its place as a national thoroughfare, the government that made it was all the stronger because it had been made. The average width of the Appian Way was from eighteen to twenty feet, so as to admit of two carriages passing each other, and the expense of constructing the first section of it was so great that it exhausted the public treasury of Rome. ”

“ Leet was a pike boy of no little distinction in his day. His discernment and good taste in wedding the fair daughter of an old tavern keeper were not the only proofs of his wit and worth. He was a lawyer of ability, a major of militia, postmaster of Washington during the presidency of President Polk, and member of the Legislature for Washington county. A large man with prominent features, and somewhat awkward in manner, he was the personification of Mars, when arrayed in the elaborate uniform of the old militia system. ”

“ William Searight, the old proprietor, was superintendent of the road for many years, during its flourishing era.
The National Road had its contingent of quaint characters, eccentric men, philosophers in one sense, and loafers in another. They were indigenous to the road, could not live away from it, and enjoyed the precarious subsistence they obtained on it. The load-stone that attracted them and attached them to the road, probably above all other influences, was the pure whisky, before mentioned. ”

“ The guardsman was a person sent with the coach to superintend its progress, and aid in protecting it from the incursions of robbers, which were not uncommon in the night time on the mountainous sections of the road.
Thomas Poland was in every essential a stage driver, and zealously devoted to his calling. He drove out from Uniontown, east and west, as occasion required. He was a man rather below the average stature, but stoutly built and of swarthy complexion. Many old drivers were moved to grief when business ceased on the road, but no one felt the change more keenly than Thomas Poland. ”

“ He is universally esteemed for his honesty. As a tavern keeper he enjoyed an excellent reputation, and many a weary traveler has found consolation and comfort under his hospitable roof. The best wishes of all his neighbors attend the old gentleman in his declining years, and heaven’s choicest blessings are invoked upon his venerable head.
Near the top of Laurel Hill on the eastern slope, once lived a noted character named Benjamin Price. His house, a log structure, was built near the roadside, but below its surface, so that the upper story was about on a level with the road. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Joseph Hughes, an old stage driver, is still living in Washington, Pennsylvania, vivacious and sprightly despite the weight of years piled upon his back. He was an expert and trusty driver, well known along the road, and cherishes the memory of the stirring times, when the road was the great highway of the Nation and he and his fellow drivers rode on the top wave of the excitement incident thereto. ”

“ As typical of the better class, the reader who is familiar with the old road will readily recall Redding Bunting, Samuel Luman, Elliott Seaburn, Watty Noble, James Carroll, Aquila and Nat Smith, William Scott, David Gordon, James Burr, William Robinson, John Huhn, David Bell, John Guttery, John Ritter, Joseph Henderson and Peter Null. Others will be instantly recognized as their names shall appear on these pages. It is the sincere belief of all old pike boys that the stage lines of the National Road were never equalled in spirit and dash on any road, in any age or country. ”

“ Ward’s tavern is a large frame house, on the north side of the road, with a spacious porch in front, and a large wagon yard conveniently attached, and was a favorite stopping place for old wagoners. The old house is still standing, unused, because not needed as a tavern, but it remains a prominent landmark of the road, carrying the mind back to the period of its enlivening scenes and moving pageants. Daniel Ward was a pronounced type of the old tavern keeper. He was rather a large man, not fleshy, but broad shouldered, with a slight stoop. ”

“ Nathan Hutton is a well remembered old postilion. He was a tall, spare man, and lived in a small log house on the roadside, a short distance west of the old Johnson tavern, and four and a half miles east of Brownsville. At the foot of the hill below his house, he re-enforced the coaches with his postilion both ways, east and west, up Colley’s hill, going west, and the equally long hill, coming east from that point. When he wanted a man or horse to be faithful to duty he exhorted him to “stand by his ’tarnal integrity.” ”

“ A young man would think nothing of getting a girl up behind him on a horse, and hieing away after nightfall, four and five miles to a country dance, and many of the girls of the period considered it but pleasant recreation to walk two or three miles with their lovers, to a spelling match or a revival meeting. A feeling of jealousy always existed between the young men and boys, living along and near the road, and those in the back country, and the occasions before mentioned furnished opportunities from time to time for this feeling to break out, as it often did, in quarrels and fights. ”

“ He was reputed to be a man of great muscular power, but with it all, a man of quiet demeanor. A Cincinnati man, name not given, had achieved the reputation of “licking” everybody in and around Cincinnati, and like Alexander of old, sighed for more victories. Hearing of Jim Burr, he resolved to encounter him, and struck out for Claysville, where he had been informed Burr could be found. He traveled by steamboat to Wheeling, thence by stage coach to Claysville. The Cincinnati man “put up” at the tavern of William Kelley, the stopping place of Burr’s line at Claysville. ”

“ A right to legislate for one of these purposes, is a right to legislate for the others. It is a complete right of jurisdiction and sovereignty for all the purposes of internal improvement, and not merely the right of applying money under the power vested in Congress to make appropriations (under which power, with the consent of the States through which the road passes, the work was originally commenced, and has been so far executed) . ”

“ I was this day informed that the bridge across Wills creek, on the new location of the Cumberland road up Braddock’s run, is to be built of wood. By the act of the Legislature of Maryland, authorizing the President to change the location of the road, it is enacted that the road may be located up Wills creek through the narrows, provided the bridges were all built of stone. I am decidedly of the opinion that, by the provisions of that law, the President had no right to change the location of the road unless he strictly complied with every provision and requisition of said law. ”

“ Many of the most illustrious statesmen and heroes of the early period of our national existence passed over the National Road from their homes to the capital and back, at the opening and closing of the sessions of Congress. Jackson, Harrison, Clay, Sam Houston, Polk, Taylor, Crittenden, Shelby, Allen, Scott, Butler, the eccentric Davy Crockett, and many of their contemporaries in public service, were familiar figures in the eyes of the dwellers by the roadside. ”

“ Its graduates include many of the ablest men of the country, both of the present and the past. Everywhere, at every loading point in our widely extended Republic, the graduates of Washington and Jefferson College are pushing ahead at the front, in all the learned professions, in the judiciary, and in every line of honorable industry. It is not a dude college, as many more pretentious colleges are, but a working college, sending out workers, equipped like men, to run the race set before them. The Female Seminary is another institution of which the citizens of Washington are justly proud. ”

“ However, time, usage and common consent unite in calling it Braddock’s Road, and, as a rule, we hold it to be very unwise, not to say downright foolishness, to undertake to change old and familiar names. It is difficult to do, and ought not to be done.
From the time it was thrown open to the public, in the year 1818, until the coming of railroads west of the Allegheny mountains, in 1852, the National Road was the one great highway, over which passed the bulk of trade and travel, and the mails between the East and the West. ”

“ A power to establish turnpikes, with gates and tolls, and to enforce the collection of the tolls by penalties, implies a power to adopt and execute a complete system of internal improvements. A right to impose duties to be paid by all persons passing a certain road, and on horses and carriages, as is done by this bill, involves the right to take the land from the proprietor on a valuation, and to pass laws for the protection of the road from injuries; and if it exist, as to one road, it exists as to any other, and to as many roads as Congress may think proper to establish. ”

“ Among the best remembered of these are, The Shades of Death, The Narrows, Piney Grove, Big Crossings, Negro Mountain, Keyser’s Ridge, Woodcock Hill, Chalk Hill, Big Savage, Little Savage, Snake Hill, Laurel Hill, The Turkey’s Nest, Egg Nog Hill, Coon Island and Wheeling Hill. Rich memories cluster around every one of these names, and old wagoners and stage drivers delight to linger over the scenes they bring to mind.
The road was justly renowned for the great number and excellence of its inns or taverns. On the mountain division, every mile had its tavern. ”