- Vigo
Co GenWeb
- Clay
Co GenWeb
- Owen
Co Genweb
- Furnas
Co NE Genweb
- Gosper
Co NE Genweb
- Red
Willow NE Genweb
- Christian
Co Ill
- Mason
Co Ill
- Tazewell
Co Ill
- Mace/Thelma
Bratt
- T
H Tribune-Star
- MyFamily.com
- Bratt_Fam
OneList
- Ancestry.com
- Map
of England
- StreetMap
of Eng
- Another
Bratt Family
| |
- The
fare from Columbus to Zanesville was $2.00, and from
Zanesville to
- Wheeling
$3.00. By motor bus today the fare from Columbus to
Wheeling is
- only
$2.85. The time from Columbus to Wheeling is about four
and one-half
- hours.
-
- About
1840 special coaches were put on the road to carry the
mail. These were
- operated
at a greater speed than the ones carrying passengers.
They were kept
- so
close to schedule that farmers along the road knew the
time by their
- passing.
In order that there might be the minimum of delay at
stations, fresh
- horses
stood harnessed and waiting for the arrival of the mail
coaches.
-
- Stage
Gives Way to the Railroad Train.-The stage drivers
regretfully
- withdrew
when the railroads came through, affording a speedier
form of
- travel.
Many of them drifted westward and obtained like
employment for a
- time
where the railroad was not known. Some of the "Old Pike
Boys" settled
- down
here in other lines of work. All are now gone, but as
long as they lived
- they
delighted in relating their experiences in the stagecoach
days on the
- National
Road.
-
- Wagoners
on the National Road
-
- At the
coming of the railroad through Guernsey county in 1854
there passed
- out a
class of men familiar to all who lived along the National
Road. These
- were
the wagoners-ruddy-faced through exposure, physically
strong and
- daring.
They helped to develop the western country. They hauled
great loads
- of farm
products, such as tobacco, pork and wheat, to Wheeling,
and "over
- the
mountains," and brought back goods from the eastern
factories and mills,
- to be
sold in the stores.
-
- Classes
of Wagoners.-Wagoners, as a rule, owned their own teams,
and
- worked
independently of each other. In this respect they were
unlike the
- drivers
of stagecoaches which were owned by companies and
operated much
- as bus
lines today. There were two classes of wagoners-regulars
and "sharp-
- shooters."
The regulars followed wagoning year after year, making
regular
- trips
"over the mountains." The "sharp-shooters" were farmers
who, at the
- busiest
season on the road, would leave their farm work and
engage in
- wagoning
because the remuneration was attractive. They were looked
down
- upon by
the regulars who considered themselves professionals.
Guernsey
- county
"sharp-shooters" seldom hauled farther than
Wheeling.
-
- What
the Wagons Were Like.-The beds of the wagons were long
and deep,
- with
curved bottoms higher at the ends than in the middle. In
this form of
- bed a
load could be so distributed as to be carried over the
hills more safely
- than in
one with a straight floor. On top of the bed were wooden
bows over
- which
canvas was stretched to protect the freight. The wheels
were massive,
- having
tires from three to five inches wide and an inch thick.
From the rear
- axle a
kettle of tar, used freely, was suspended. The first
wagon of this type
- was
made at Conestoga, Pennsylvania, hence the name,
Conestoga, by which
- they
were called.
-
- How the
Horses Were Hitched and Driven.-Each freighter was
usually
- drawn
by six horses. The wheel horses were hitched to single-
and double-
- trees
fastened to the tongue and hounds; the middle horses, to
single and
- double-trees
which hung at the end of the tongue. A chain fastened to
the end
- of the
tongue was stretched between the middle span of horses
and received
- the
double-tree of the leaders. A single line fastened to the
bridle rein of the
- near
lead horse was used by the driver who walked by the side
of the near
- wheel
horse, carrying a blacksnake whip over his shoulder. This
near wheel
- horse
carried a saddle upon which the driver would occasionally
ride. To
- guide
the horses, also to attract the attention of people whom
they passed, the drivers, whose lungs were always strong,
gave much volume to
- their
"gees" and "haws."
-
- CONESTOGA
WAGON
- In 1840 freight was hauled over the National Road
in Conestoga wagons, each wagon drawn by six horses.
These wagons carried farmers' products, such as tobacco,
wool, meat and grain, to eastern markets and returned
loaded with manufactured goods to be sold in the western
stores. It required three days to haul a load from
Cambridge to Wheeling; time was taken out for feeding and
resting the horses. Hauling across the mountains was both
dangerous and difficult. It took a teamster two months to
make a trip from Cambridge to Baltimore and return. To
transport goods from Baltimore to Cambridge cost
approximately four dollars per hundredweight. With the
coming of the railroads the wagoners gradually withdrew
from the National Road. They could not compete with ule
steam horse.
-
- Wagoners
used heavy harness on their horses. The breeching was
four or five
- inches
wide, made of double and sometimes triple pieces of
leather sewed
- together.
The better class of wagoners suspended bells from iron
bows
- between
the hames. Their music, as the horses plodded along,
cheered the
- drivers
and attracted attention. A rule of the road was that no
team should
- ever
pass one that had stalled, without rendering assistance.
Having been
- helped,
the owner of the team that could not make the grade,
according to the
- rule,
would give the assisting teamster one of his bells. A bow
full of bells was
- often
proudly displayed by a wagoner as an indication of the
strength of his
- team.
-
- Great
Loads Were Hauled.-As many as nine hogsheads of tobacco,
each
- weighing
one thousand pounds, have been hauled "over the
mountains" in
- a
single load. The charge for hauling goods was based upon
distance and
- number
of hundred-weight. As much of the goods sold in the early
Guernsey
- county
stores came from New York and Philadelphia, the selling
price was
- necessarily
high on account of the transportation
cost.
-
- Life of
a Wagoner.-For the accommodation of the wagoners a
wagonlot was
- provided
at each tavern along the road. The most commodious one of
these
- in
Cambridge adjoined the Hutchison tavern which stood on
the site of the
- present
National hotel. The Jeffersonian building stands on this
lot. A half
- dozen
or more big freighters would often be seen parked for the
night in a
- single
wagon-lot. Feed for the horses could be obtained at the
wagon-stands.
-
- The
wagoners carried their own bedding and during the summer
nights they
- slept
in the open. In winter they spread their bedding on the
floor of the
- tavern,
before the big fireplace, and slept there. For this
privilege one "bit"
- (twelve
and one-half cents) was charged. They ate with the other
guests at the
- table
of the tavern. Their evenings were usually spent in the
barroom where
- they
engaged in some kind of entertainment. Many of the
wagoners were
- fiddlers,
and carried their instruments with them.
-
- As a
rule the wagoners were inveterate users of tobacco. They
liked to smoke
- cigars
better than pipes, as it was considered a mark of
distinction. Their
- wages
were small and cigars were expensive. About 1840, Marsh,
a cigar-
- maker
in Wheeling, began the manufacture of a cheap cigar from
home-
- grown
tobacco, especially for the wagoners. They were called "conestogies"
- after
the Conestoga wagons. This name was soon shortened to
"stogies." A
- colloquialism
was thus coined, which has since become a standard
English
- word,
meaning "cheap cigar."
-
|