History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
towards the curve at the foot of the hill, their anticipations were soon fulfilled. Here it came, ahead of time, swaying and pitching perilously, the horses at full gallop, and the driver swinging his whip with a pistol-like snap over their heads. No sooner did mine host at the table hear it than, with a parting admonition to the kitchen, he hastened to the porch, and stood there with a smiling face, the picture of welcome, as the coach rounded up under the elms and chestnuts, and the driver threw his reins to the waiting hostlers.
Most of the travelers were the farmers, stock-raisers, and " merchandisers" of the West, dressed in homespun cloth and buckskin; but a few indicated familiarity with the usages of polite society by their costumes; and in the case of the statesmen bound to Washington, it was the custom to blend urbanity of speech with loftiness of manner in such discreetly measured proportions that the combination preserved the dignity of the representative, and satisfied the self-esteem of the constituent with a degree of success that might excite the emulation of politicians in our own time.
Although there was no unreasonable haste, ten miles an hour, including delays, was not an unusual degree of speed in the days of stage-coaches. According to John B. Reeside, of Washington, who drove over the road, four kinds of coaches were used on the " pike" at different periods. The first was built at Cumberland by Abraham Russell, and carried sixteen passengers; and when this was found too cumbrous, a lighter vehicle, almost egg-shaped, and built at Trenton, was adopted. The latter was succeeded by the Troy coach, carrying nine passengers inside and two outside, which was finally superseded by the familiar Concord.
The traffic seemed like a frieze with an endless procession of figures. There were sometimes sixteen gayly-painted coaches each way a day; the cattle and sheep were never out of sight; the canvas-covered wagons were drawn by six or twelve horses, with bows of bells over their collars; the families of statesmen and merchants went by in private vehicles; and, while most of the travelers were unostentatious, a few had splendid equipages and employed outriders. Some of the passes through the Alleghanies were as precipitous as any in the Sierra Nevada, and the mountains were as wild. Within a mile of the road the country was a wilderness; but on the highway the traffic was as dense and as continuous as in the main street of a large town.
The National road proper was built from Cumberland, Md., to Wheeling, Va., by the United States government, the intention being to establish it as far as St. Louis. It was excellently macadamized; the rivers and creeks were spanned by stone bridges; the distances were indexed by iron mile-posts, and the toll-houses supplied with strong iron gates. Its projector and chief supporter was Henry Clay, whose services in its behalf are commemorated by a monument near Wheeling. Henry Beeson, a former congressman, was also an advocate of it, and on one occasion he made a public speech, in which he showed the audience — so flexible are arithmetic and imagination combined — that from the number of horse-shoes it would necessitate, and the number of nails, it was better adapted to promote trade than any railway could be. This road, which was completed in 1821, is one hundred and twenty-one miles long. From Cumberland to Baltimore the road, or a large part of it, was built by certain banks of Maryland, which were rechartered in 1816, on condition that they should complete the work. So far from being a burden to them, it proved to be their most lucrative property for many years, yielding as much as twenty per cent.; and it is only of late years that it has yielded no more than two or three per cent. The part built by the Federal government was transferred to Maryland some years ago, and the tolls became a political perquisite; but within the past three years it has been acquired by the counties of Allegany and Garrett, which have made it free.
Before Braddock's road had been passed over by his expedition it was a mere pathway, by which the footman and an occasional horseman could reach the frontier in trafficking with the Indians. This now historic road when made was of sufficient capacity to pass vehicles; but it was simply a removal of timbers and rocks; there was no engineering, grading, or smoothing. Scarcely a wagon passed over it for the first thirty years. Such heavy articles as salt, iron, etc., were carried from the East to the West over the mountains on pack-horses.
As the eastern part of the country increased in wealth and population, its accretions moved to the opposite direction over this route, and in time it became the most important thoroughfare in the country to the inviting West. Its lines in many places, upon inspection, can still be identified. A full-grown cherry-tree stood a few years ago in the center of Braddock's road, on the farm of Mr. Geo. F. Gephart. It was entirely abandoned over sixty years ago, and every tavern and building that once lined it has entirely disappeared. The Tomlinson Hotel, the most noted of all, built over a hundred years ago, was torn down about fifteen years ago. Its site is now a truck-patch.
After the organization of the general government, in 17811, the tide from the East to the West, mainly over this way, increased steadily, so much so that the road became worn out and utterly inadequate to the public necessities, and this decayed public artery was the first to receive national treatment.
As far back as 1806, the year in which Henry Clay was admitted into the United States Senate, the sum of $30,000 was appropriated to open and make the " Cumberland road" from Cumberland to the Ohio River. From this time on it was known as the " Cumberland" road. In 1810, 860,000 were appropriated to be spent between Cumberland and Brownsville, Pa. In 1811, $50,000 were appropriated to be applied between the same points; in 1812, $30,000, to be used within the same limits; and in 1815, $30,000; in 1818, the sums of $52,984 and $260,000 were appropriated for the Cumberland road generally.
In 1820, $10,000 were appropriated preliminary to its extension from Wheeling west. In 1823, $250,000 were appropriated for the road between Cumberland and Wheeling. This law for the first time authorized a superintendent to be appointed by the President. In 1825, $150,000 were given to be used between Canton and Zanesville, Ohio; in 1827, $30,000 between Cumberland and Wheeling; in 1829, $100,000 to extend the road beyond Zanesville, Ohio; in 1831, the aggregate sum of $244,915.85 was appropriated for the same object in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. In 1832, $150,000 were appropriated to be used east of the Ohio River. The law of 1833, ch. 79, is an assent to the act of Virginia, taking control of her part of the road. The act of 1834 appropriated $450,000 to be applied in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and $300,000 east of the Ohio River. In 1835, $200,000 in Ohio, $100,000 in Indiana, and $346,186.58 were appropriated for the road east of the Ohio. This was the last money voted by Congress for the road east of the Ohio River. In 1836, $200,000 were given to Ohio's part, $250,000 to Indiana, and $150,000 to Illinois, and in 1838 the sum of $150,000 was appropriated to each of these rising States, — that is, for the road within the limits of each State, this being the last money voted by Congress for the National road.
Most of the sums spent east of the Ohio River came from the general funds of the government, but the money applied on the road in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois was taken entirely from the proceeds of the sales of the public lands within these States.
The " Cumberland road" began on the west side of Will's Creek. Crossing Will's Mountain at Sandy Gap, it followed the general route of Braddock, rarely, however, using that road as a bed. It appears that Brownsville was the first objective point to be reached. The manner of construction was first to clear and grade the bed and then to closely overlay it with strong flat rock, and upon this face or foundation was placed a covering of well-broken stone and earth. It was officially styled the " Cumberland road," but popularly it was known as the National road, because built by the government, and no man did as much for it as its great friend Henry Clay. He was affectionately called its father, and he passed over it many times in his forty-five years of public service. Its costly stone bridges and culverts are all to-day as sound and safe as when built, except the parapet walls, which have been thrown down by maliciously disposed persons. Although much repaired, these structures still have a despoiled appearance from such vandalism. Two of these, the Little and Big Crossings, about twenty miles apart, are quite different from the bridges now in use. The former, with its immense semicircular arch of great width and height, is a never-failing source of admiration to the engineer of to-day. Such a work can be built now with one-half the labor and cost, but in 1815 it was a triumph of engineering skill. In after-years the superintendent and engineer, David Shriver, told of the anxiety which consumed him. The great arch rested upon a strong wooden structure, which was so arranged as to be thrown down by taking away a key, somewhat after the manner of launching a vessel. The general