USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 20
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The pioneer road from east to west was opened up in September, 1758, by General John Forbes. He commanded an army of about eight thousand men. General Forbes marched in the spring from Philadelphia with his troops to Raystown (now Bedford), but on account of the smallpox in his army he was detained at Carlisle, and failed to reach what is now Bedford until the middle of September. At a consultation of his officers at this point
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it was decided to cut out a new road over the mountains from Raystown to Loyalhanna, now in Westmoreland County, a distance of forty-five miles.
. This new road passed through what is now Bedford, Somerset, and Westmoreland Counties. Colonel Bouquet, with twenty-five hundred men, cut out the road in September and October of that year.
Colonel Washington was at this consultation, and was opposed to the new road. Washington's arguments in favor of the southern route were as follows:
"CAMP AT FORT CUMBERLAND, August 2, 1758.
"SIR,-The matters of which we spoke relative to the roads have, since our parting, been the subject of my closest reflection, and so far am I from altering my opinion that the more time and attention I bestow the more I am confirmed in it, and the reasons for taking Braddock's road appear in a stronger point of view. To enumerate the whole of these reasons would be tedious, and to you, who are become so much master of the subject, unne- cessary. I shall, therefore, briefly mention a few only, which I think so obvious in themselves, that they must effectually remove objections.
"Several years ago the Virginians and Pennsylvanians commenced a trade with the Indians settled on the Ohio, and, to obviate the many inconveniences of a bad road, they, after reiterated and ineffectual efforts to discover where a good one might be made, employed for the purpose several of the most intelligent Indians, who, in the course of many years' hunting, had acquired a perfect knowledge on these mountains. The Indians, having taken the great- est pains to gain the rewards offered for this discovery, declared that the path leading from Will's Creek was infinitely preferable to any that could be made at any other place. Time and experience so clearly demonstrated this truth that the Pennsylvania traders commonly carried out their goods by Will's Creek. Therefore the Ohio Company, in 1753, at a considerable expense, opened the road. In 1754 the troops whom I had the honor to command greatly repaired it, as far as Gist's plantation, and in 1755 it was widened and completed by General Braddock to within six miles of Fort Duquesne. A road that has so long been opened and so well and so often repaired must be much firmer and better than a new one, allowing the ground to be equally good.
" But supposing it were practicable to make a road from Raystown quite as good as General Braddock's, I ask, have we time to do it? Certainly not. To surmount the difficulties to be encountered in making it over such moun- tains, covered with woods and rocks, would require so much time as to blast our otherwise well-grounded hopes of striking the important stroke this season.
" The favorable accounts that some give of the forage on the Raystown road, as being so much better than that on the other, are certainly exaggerated. It is well known that on both routes the rich valleys between the mountains
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abound with good forage, and that those which are stony and bushy are desti- tute of it. Colonel Byrd and the engineer who accompanied him confirm this fact. Surely the meadows on Braddock's road would greatly overbalance the advantage of having grass to the foot of the ridge, on the Raystown road ; and all agree that a more barren road is nowhere to be found than that from Raystown to the inhabitants, which is likewise to be considered.
" Another principal objection made to General Braddock's road is in regard to the waters. But these seldom swell so much as to obstruct the passage. The Youghiogheny River, which is the most rapid and soonest filled, I have crossed with a body of troops after more than thirty days almost continued rain. In fine, any difficulties on this score are so trivial that they really are not worth mentioning. The Monongahela, the largest of all these rivers, may, if necessary, easily be avoided, as Mr. Frazier, the principal guide, informs me, by passing a defile, and even that, he says, may be shunned.
" Again, it is said there are many defiles on this road. I grant that there are some, but I know of none that may not be traversed, and I should be glad to be informed where a road can be had over these mountains not subject to the same inconvenience. The shortness of the distance between Raystown and Loyal Hanna is used as an argument against this road, which bears in it something unaccountable to me, for I must beg leave to ask whether it requires more time or is more difficult and expensive to go one hundred and forty-five miles on a good road already made to our hands than to cut one hundred miles anew, and a great part of the way over impassable mountains.
"That the old road is many miles nearer Winchester in Virginia and Fort Frederick in Maryland than the contemplated one is incontestable, and I will here show the distance from Carlisle by the two routes, fixing the different stages, some of which I have from information only, but others I believe to be exact : From Carlisle to Fort Duquesne by way of Raystown, 193 miles; from Carlisle to Fort Duquesne by way of Fort Frederic and Cumberland, 212 miles.
" From this computation there appears to be a difference of nineteen miles only. Were all the supplies necessarily to come from Carlisle, it is well known that the goodness of the old road is a sufficient compensation for the shortness of the other, as the wrecked and broken wagons there clearly demonstrate."-The Olden Time, vol. i.
For many years all government supplies for western forts, groceries, salt, and goods of every kind, were carried from the East on pack-horses over this Forbes road. One man would sometimes have under his control from fifty to one hundred pack-horses. A panel pack-saddle was on each horse, and the load for a horse was about two hundred pounds. Forts were estab- lished along the line of the road, and guards from the militia accompanied these horse-trains, guarding them by night in their "encampments" and protecting them by day through and over the mountains.
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This Braddock's road and the Raystown road were nothing more than trails or military roads, and it was not until 1784 or 1785 that the State opened a road from the east to the west over Forbes's military trail.
General John Forbes died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 1759.
One hundred years ago this pioneer road was crowded by carriers with their pack-horses going westward, laden with people, salt, iron, and merchan- dise. In fact, the pioneers of Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, Crawford, and Venango came mostly over this road.
" The pack-horses then travelled in divisions of twelve or fifteen, going single-file, each horse carrying about two hundred-weight; one man pre- ceded and one brought up the rear of the file. Later on the carriers, to their bitter indignation, were supplanted by the Conestoga wagons [see p. 195], with their proud six-horse teams, with huge belled collars, the wagon stored with groceries, linens, calico, rum, molasses, and hams, four to five tons of load ; by law none of these wagons had less than four-inch tires on its wheels."
From 1784 to 1834 was the stage-coach era in this country. In the year 1802 the government started a line of coaches between Philadelphia and New York, carrying their own mail. The fare of each passenger, all through, was four dollars. Four pence per mile was charged for way passengers. One hundred and fifty pounds of baggage, equal to one passenger, was sent at the risk of persons who forwarded the same. This was continued for three years, clearing an average yearly profit of four thousand dollars. In 1834 the Postmaster-General and the government preferred railroad transportation where it could be had. The government required from the railroads a sched- ule time of thirteen miles an hour for the mails. I give, as near as I can learn, the pioneer, individual stage-coach mail-lines :
" PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES
" A line of stages being established and now in operation to and from each of the above places. This line will start from John Tomlinson's Market- street, Philadelphia, every Friday morning, via Harrisburgh and Chambers- burgh, to Pittsburgh, and perform the trip in 7 days. It will also start from THOMAS FERREE's the Fountain Inn, Water-street, Pittsburgh, every Wednes- day morning, same rout to Philadelphia, and perform the trip in 7 days ; Fare-Passengers 20 dollars and 20 lb. baggage free; all extra baggage or packages, if of dimentions such as to be admitted for transportation by this line, to pay 12 dollars per 100 lb. the baggage or the packages to be at the owner's own proper risque unless especially receipted for by one of the pro- prietors, which cannot be done if the owner is a passenger in the stage, same trip. These stages are constructed to carry three passengers on a seat, and more never shall be admitted.
" This line will also leave John Tomlinson's as above every Tuesday
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morning for Chambersburgh, making the trip in 21/2 days, and leave Mr. Hetrick's tavern in Chambersburgh, every Wednesday at noon, for Philadel- phia, and make the trip in 21/2 days ; fare 9 dollars and 50 cents, under the same regulations as above.
" The public will perceive by this establishment, that they have a direct conveyance from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh once a week, and from Phila- delphia and Chambersburgh twice a week.
" The proprietors being determined that their conduct shall be such as to merit support in their line.
" JOHN TOMLINSON & Co. " July 3rd, 1804."
PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH MAIL STAGES " The Proprietors
" With pleasure now inform the public that they run their line of stages twice in the week to and from the above places.
" They leave John Tomlinson's Spread Eagle, Market-street, Philadel- phia, every Tuesday and Friday morning, at 4 o'clock, and Thomas Ferry's Fountain Inn, Water-street, Pittsburgh, every Wednesday and Saturday morning, perform the trip in seven days. Fare each passenger 20 dollars; 14 lbs. of baggage free; extra baggage to pay 121/2 cents per lb. This line runs through Lancaster, Elizabeth Town, Middle Town, Harrisburgh, Carlisle, Shippensburgh, Chambersburgh, McConnell's-town, Bedford, Somerset, Greensburgh, &c.
" JOHN TOMLINSON & CO. "Nov. 9th, 1804."
The first cab was used in Paris in 1823; the first omnibus in 1827. From Philadelphia via Harrisburg by road was two hundred and ninety miles; via Yorktown, two hundred and eighty-eight miles.
In the summer of 1835, the usual trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, by canal and the portage railroad, was made in three and one-half days.
PIONEER MAIL-ROUTES AND POST-OFFICES-EARLY MAIL-ROUTES AND POST- OFFICES-TRANSMISSION OF MONEY THROUGH MAILS AND OTHERWISE
The pioneer post-office was established in this State under an act of Assembly, November 27, 1700,-viz. :
"AN ACT FOR ERECTING AND ESTABLISHING A POST OFFICE
" Whereas, The King and the late Queen Mary, by their royal letters patent under the great seal of England, bearing date the seventeenth of Feb- ruary, which was in the year one thousand and six hundred and ninety-and- one. did grant to Thomas Neal, Esquire, his executors, administrators and
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assigns, full power and authority to erect, settle and establish within the King's colonies and plantations in America, one or more office or offices for receiving and dispatching of letters and packets by post, and to receive, send and deliver the same, under such rates and sums of money as shall be agreeable to the rates established by act of parliament in England, or as the planters and others should agree to give on the first settlement, to have, hold and enjoy the same for a term of twenty-one years, with and under such powers, limitations and conditions as in and by the said letters patent may more fully appear ;
" And whereas, The King's Postmaster General of England, at the request, desire and nomination of the said Thomas Neale, hath deputed An- drew Hamilton, Esquire, for such time and under such conditions as in his deputation is for that purpose mentioned, to govern and manage the said General Post Office for and throughout all the King's plantations and colonies in the main land or continent of America and the islands adjacent thereto, and in and by the said deputation may more fully appear :
" And whereas, The said Andrew Hamilton hath, by and with the good liking and approbation of the Postmaster General of England, made applica- tion to the proprietary and governor of this province and territories and freemen thereof convened in general assembly, that they would ascertain and establish such rates and sums of money upon letters and packets going by post as may be an effectual encouragement for carrying on and maintaining a general post, and the proprietary and governor and freemen in general assembly met, considering that the maintaining of mutual and speedy corre- spondencies is very beneficial to the King and his subjects, and a great encour- agement to the trade, and that the same is best carried on and managed by public post, as well as for the preventing of inconveniences which heretofore have happened for want thereof, as for a certain, safe and speedy dispatch, carrying and recarrying of all letters and packets of letters by post to and from all parts and places within the continent of America and several parts of Europe, and that the well ordering thereof is matter of general concernment and of great advantage, and being willing to encourage such a public benefit :
" (SECTION I.) Have therefore enacted, and be it enacted, etc., That there be from henceforth one general letter office erected and established within the town of Philadelphia, from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the neighboring colonies and plantations on the mainland and continent of America, or into any other of the King's kingdoms or dominions, or unto any kingdom or country beyond the seas ; at which said office all returns and answers may likewise be received, etc., etc."
The pioneer mail-route through this wilderness was over the old State Road; it was established in 1805. It was carried on horseback from Belle- fonte to Meadville. The law declared then that " No other than a free white
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person shall be employed to convey the mail. Fifteen minutes shall be allowed for opening and closing the mails at all offices where no particular time is specified. For every thirty minutes' delay (unavoidable accidents excepted) in arriving after the time specified in the contract, the contractor shall forfeit one dollar ; and if the delay continues until the departure of any depending mail, whereby the mails destined for each depending mail lose a trip, an addi- tional forfeiture of five dollars shall be incurred."
The route was over the State Road to what is now the Clarion line; from there over a new road to the Allegheny River or Parker's Ferry, now Parker's City; up the river to Franklin, and from there to Meadville. The pioneer con- tractor's name was James Randolph, from Meadville. The next contractor was Hamilton, from Bellefonte; then by Benjamin Haitshour and others, until the turnpike was completed, when the first stage contract was taken by Clark, of Perry County. He sent on his coaches by John O'Neal, and from that time until the present the mail has been carried through this wilderness ; and in 1812 we got our news from a Meadville paper, edited by Thomas Atkinson, called the Crawford Weekly Messenger. The nearest post-office west was Franklin, and east was Curwinsville. All papers were carried outside the mail and delivered by the mail-carrier. Our nearest post-office south was at Kittanning, Armstrong County, and when any one in the neighborhood would go there they would bring the news for all and distribute the same.
I cannot give the pioneer contractor (route, service, and compensation) for mail service through Butler, Mercer, Crawford, Venango, and Warren Counties, Pennsylvania, because the records of the United States Post-Office were almost entirely destroyed by fire in the year 1836, and the earliest trace of the above service is found in a printed advertisement for proposals for carrying the mails on route No. 161, Pittsburg, by Butler, Mercer, Meadville, Crawford, and Le Bœuf, to Presque Isle, once a week, from April 1, 1809, to March 31, 1811, the advertisement being dated October 31, 1808. In a sub- sequent advertisement this route is shown as having been changed to end at Erie instead of Presque Isle. It is assumed that contracts were awarded for the above service, but owing to the destruction of the records the facts are not known nor can the names of the contractors be given.
The earliest permanent records of the Department show that a contract was made with J. B. Curtis & Co., of Mercer, for service from 1832 to 1836, on route No. 1169, Pittsburg to Erie, one hundred and twenty-eight miles, daily, in four-horse post-chaise, and route No. 1174, Pittsburg to Mercer, fifty-five miles, twice a week, the compensation being two thousand seven hun- dred dollars per annum for both routes, and that a contract was made for the same period with Bradley Winton, of Meadville, for service on route No. 1190, Meadville to Warren, sixty-one miles, once a week, compensation two hundred and thirty dollars per annum.
In 1815 the United States had three thousand post-offices. The postage
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for a single letter, composed of one piece of paper, under forty miles, eight cents ; over forty and under ninety miles, ten cents; under one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents; under three hundred miles, seventeen cents ; under five hundred miles, twenty cents; over five hundred miles, twenty-five cents. The law was remodelled in 1816 and continued until 1845, as follows,-viz. : Letters, thirty miles, six and one-quarter cents; over thirty and under eighty miles, ten cents; over eighty and under one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents; over one hundred and fifty and under four hundred miles, eighteen and three-quarter cents; over four hundred miles, twenty-five cents. If the letter weighed an ounce, four times these rates were charged. Newspaper rates, in the State or under one hundred miles, one cent ; over one hundred miles or out of the State, one and one-half cents. Periodicals, from one and one-half to two, four, and six cents. A por- tion of the records of the Postmaster-General's office at Washington were destroyed by fire in the year 1836; but it has been ascertained that an adver- tisement was issued May 20, 1814, for once-a-week service on route No. 51, Bellefonte to Franklin, Pennsylvania, from January 1, 1815, to December 31, 1817, Jefferson Court-House being mentioned as an intermediate point ; that on May 26, 1817, an advertisement was issued for service between the same points from January 1, 1818, to December 31, 1819; and on May 26, 1819, service as above was again advertised from January 1, 1820, to Decem- ber 31, 1823; the service during these years connecting at Franklin with another route to Meadville.
Owing to the incompleteness of the records of the office at Washington, for the reason above stated, the names of all the contractors prior to 1824 cannot be given ; but under advertisement of June 10, 1823, for once-a-week service on route No. 158, Bellefonte to Meadville, from January 1, 1824, to December 31, 1827, contract was made with Messrs. Hayes and Bennett, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, at the rate of sixteen hundred dollars per annum.
From the best information at hand, it appears that a post-office was established at Port Barnett, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1826, the name changed to Brookville, September 10, 1830; that from the date of the establishment of the post-office to December 31, 1839, the office was supplied by star route from Bellefonte to Meadville, Pennsylvania, Messrs. Bennett and Hayes being the contractors to December 31, 1831, Messrs. J. and B. Bennett to December 31, 1835, and Mr. Benjamin Bennett to December 31, 1839.
From January 1, 1840, Brookville was supplied by route from Curwens- ville to Meadville, Pennsylvania (the service having been divided on Cur- wensville, the eastern route being from Lewistown via Bellefonte and other offices to Curwensville), Mr. Jesse Rupp being the contractor to June 30, 1844, and Mr. John Wightman to June 30, 1848.
Prior to 1826, or the completion of the turnpike, there was no post-office in Jefferson County. Not until Jefferson County had been created for twenty-
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two and the pioneers had been here for twenty-five years was a post-office opened. The second mail-route in Jefferson County commenced at Kit- tanning, Pennsylvania, and ended in Olean, New York. The route was one hundred and ten miles long. It was established in 1826. Roswell P. Alford, of Wellsville, Ohio, was the contractor and proprietor. The mail was to be carried through once a week, and this was done on horseback, and the pay for this service was four hundred dollars a year. The following-named post- offices were created in this county to be supplied by the carrier on his route :
Port Barnett, Pine Creek Township, January 4, 1826; Joseph Barnett, postmaster.
Montmorenci (now Elk County), Ridgway Township, February 14, 1826; Reuben A. Aylesworth, postmaster.
Punxsutawney, Young Township, February 14, 1826; Charles R. Barclay, postmaster.
Hellen (now Elk County), Ridgway Township, April, 1828; Philetus Clarke, postmaster.
Brockwayville, Pine Creek Township, April 13, 1829, Alonzo Brockway, postmaster.
From the information at hand it appears that an advertisement was issued in the year of 1825 for proposals carrying the mails on star route No. 79, from Bellefonte, by Karthaus, Bennett's Creek, Brockway, Gillett's, and Scull's, to Smithport, Pennsylvania, once in two weeks, from January 1, 1826, to December 31, 1827; and that in 1827 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 219, from Bellefonte, by Karthaus, Fox, Bennett's Branch, Ridgway, Gillett's, Scull's, Montmorenci, Sergeant, and Smithport, Pennsylvania, to Olean, New York, once a week, from January 1, 1828, to December 31, 1831.
There is no record showing the contractors during the above terms.
In the year 1831 an advertisement was issued for star route No. 1127, from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Fox, Kersey, Ridgway, Montmorenci, Clermontville, Smithport, Allegheny Bridge, Penn- sylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, once a week, from January 1, 1832, to December 31, 1835, and the contract was awarded to Mr. James L. Gillis, of Montmorenci, with pay at the rate of six hundred and seventy-four dollars per annum.
In 1835 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1206, from Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Bennett's Branch, Caledonia, Fox, Ker- sey, Ridgway, Williamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers Valley, Alle- gheny Bridge, Pennsylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, once a week, from January 1, 1836, to December 31, 1839, and the contract was awarded to Mr. Bernard Duffey (address not given) at six hundred and twenty-eight dollars per annum.
In 1839 an advertisement was issued for service on route No. 1593, from
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Bellefonte, by Milesburg, Karthaus, Caledonia, Fox, Kersey, Ridgway, Wil- liamsville, Clermontville, Smithport, Farmers Valley, Allegheny Bridge, Penn- sylvania, and Mill Grove, New York, to Olean, New York, once a week between Bellefonte and Smithport, and twice a week the residue of route, from January 1, 1840, to June 30, 1844, and the contract was awarded to Mr. Gideon Ions (address not given) at eight hundred and forty-five dollars per annum.
Like every other business in those days, the postmaster trusted his patrons, as the following advertisement exhibits,-viz. :
" All persons indebted to C. J. Dunham for postage on letters or news- papers are notified to call and pay off their bills to James M. Steedman, or they may look for John Smith, as no longer indulgence can or will be given. "February 18, 1834."
Barter was taken in exchange for postage. In those days uncalled-for letters were advertised in the papers. The pioneer advertisement of letters was in the Philadelphia Gazette, March 26, 1783.
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