Stage-Coach Days In The Bluegrass 1800-1900 - Taschenbuch

Kentucky 1935 STAGE TRAVEL IN THE SEVENTIES To Tke mory of My Father JOHN w. COLEMAN 1852-1929 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. PIONEER ROADS AND TRAVEL 15 II. THE FIRST STAGE LINE 26 III. IMPROVEMENTS OF STAGE TRAVEL 37 IV. EARLY TAVERNS 53 V. PALMY DAYS OF STAGE TRAVEL 73 VI. OPPOSITION LINES AND DRIVERS 95 VII. THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD 115 VIII. INCIDENTS OF STAGE TRAVEL 127 IX. EXPERIENCES OF TRAVELERS 149 X. OTHER USERS OF THE ROAD 162 XI. TAVERNS OF A LATER TIME 177 XII. ANTE-BELLUM DAYS 196 XIII. THE STAGE AS A MAIL CARRIER 212 XIV. TURNPIKES AND TOLL-GATES 230 XV. LAST DAYS OF THE STAGE 247 APPENDIX 261 BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 INDEX 28 1 ILLUSTRATIONS STAGE TRAVEL IN THE SEVENTIES Frontispiece Facing Page EARLY TAVERN NOTICE 56 How TO REACH LEXINGTON, KY. 57 STAGE MAP or THE BLUEGRASS, 1834 .. 76 POSTLETHWAITS TAVERN, 1830 77 STAGE TICKET AND BULLETIN BOARD 92 HENRY CLAYS TRAVELING COACH.... 93 EARLY COMPETITION 1 10 STAGE-COACH NOTICE, 1837 Ill TIME TABLE OF 1839--. 130 STAGE RULES 131 MILE POSTS 142 WAY-BILL OF 1836 143 FORREST RETREAT AND BURNT TAVERN 182 BLUE LICKS SPRINGS HOTEL 183 JOHNSONS AND BRIGHTS INNS 192 CROSS KEYS TAVERN 193 SCHEDULE OF E. M. MUNFORD Co 228 STAGE ON FERRY AND SIGN OF BRIGHTS INN 229 ILLUSTRATIONS-Continued Facing Page TOLL-GATE SCENES IN THE BLUEGRASS 240 TURNPIKE STOCK CERTIFICATE 241 CONCORD COACH AND MONTICELLO-BURNSIDE STAGE 256 LEXINGTON AND VERSAILLES STAGE, 1882 257 TOLL-GATE, HARRODSBURG ROAD 258 LAST STAGE-COACH IN KENTUCKY 259 PREFACE LEXINGTON was early the commercial mart and cultural center of the western country, the Athens of the West situated in the heart of the beautiful Blue grass region of Kentucky. Splendid taverns and inns afforded thetraveler the most desirable stopping places, and Lexington soon became the concentration point for numerous stage-coach routes and lines. The first regular stage-coach line was established in central Kentucky shortly after the beginning of the nine teenth century. This mode of travel served the people of the Bluegrass as an adequate means of conveyance, reach ing its greatest height from 1835 to 1852. After that, railroads gradually crept in, destroying the usefulness of the stage-coach and the romance of travel, until the year 1889 saw the last stage line operating out of Lexington. Much of the success of the old stage-coaches, their re markable speeds and long schedules, was due to the fine system of artificial roads, or macadamized turnpikes, which came into existence in the Bluegrass in the thirties and forties. These were privately owned and operated, and were financed through the medium of the toll-gates. Taverns and inns being closely associated with stage coach travel are discussed, but, excepting the more promi nent, no attempt is made to cover them in their entirety. Much valuable information on the early stages and taverns was gained from the files of the old Kentucky 10 Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass newspapers at the Lexington Public Library, from the county and circuit court records of Fayette and surround ing counties, and by personal interviews with many of the oldest and best informed citizens of this and other counties. A great many sources have been examined, in cluding those in the attached bibliography. To those who have aided him, with personal recollections, valuable family papers, pictures, or letters, the author makes grate ful acknowledgments, his thanksbeing especially due the late Fred K. Irvine, of Chicago, for a series of valuable recollections, incidents, and anecdotes of the old stage coaches, and of his father Thomas H. Irvine, for over forty years the principal stage proprietor of the Bluegrass. To the authors of Six Horses, Captain William Banning and George H. Banning, the author is grateful for co operation and assistance, and for the use of photographs. To Charles R. Staples, William H. Townsend, Dr. Thomas D. Clark, John Wilson Townsend, James M. Roche, and Dr. John S...