The Old Pike Part 38

William Hunsucker was a hog drover from Greene county, Pennsylvania, and the boys called him "Suboy Bill." Upon being asked who owned the hogs he was driving, and where they came from, he replied in words that jingled thus:

"Mr. Lindsey is the owner, They call me Suboy Bill, The hogs came out from Greene county, Near the village of Blacksville."

It is said that Joe Williams, a wit, musician, comedian, lawyer, and in his riper years Chief Justice of the Territorial Court of Iowa, once straddled a big black hog in a drove, and rode it through the main street of Uniontown, playing a clarionet. Judge Williams was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and was a brother of Mrs. William Murphy, who lives near Uniontown. Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, of national fame, and Joe Williams were cronies in their boyhood days. Williams visited New York after he became Chief Justice, and it happened that Judge Black was in that city at the same time. A morning paper stated that Judge Black was a guest at the Astor House, and this falling under the eye of Williams, he proceeded hastily to the hotel to see his old friend. He walked into his room, to discover that he was out, and seeing writing material on the table, indited the following lines, which he left in the room for Judge Black's perusal, on his return:

"The salutations of the Chief Justice of Iowa, to the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania:

"Oh, Jerry, dear Jerry, I have found you at last!

How memory, burdened with scenes of the past, Restores me to Somerset's mountains of snow, When you were but Jerry, and I was but Joe."

Morgan Miller kept a tavern on Morgantown street, Uniontown, as early as 1830, and probably before that time. His house was a dingy frame structure, painted red, which time and storm made a dead red. The location was on the hill near the old Baptist church, in that day called "Prospect Hill." At this old tavern many persons of the neighborhood were accustomed to spend their evenings in drinking and gossipping.

Among its patrons were Philip Krishbaum, a stone cutter, and Abram Brown, a farmer. Krishbaum had some apt.i.tude in making rhymes, a talent he found useful in his business of chiseling tomb-stones. After spending an hour or two, one evening, in alternate drinking and gossipping with his friend Brown, he rose from his chair and remarked that he must take a drink and go, as he had to finish some lettering on a tomb-stone.

"Stay awhile," said Brown, "and write an epitaph for my tomb-stone, and I will treat." "Agreed," said Krishbaum, who, taking up a pen, wrote this:

"Here lies the body of Abram Brown, Who lived three miles from Uniontown.

The more he got, the more he craved, Great G.o.d! can such a soul be saved!"

Brown paid for the drinks. Seeing that Krishbaum had made a success of the Brown epitaph, Miller, the landlord, requested him to write one for his tomb-stone, which he did, as follows:

"Here lies the body of Morgan Miller, Who has drunk the whisky of many a 'stiller.

He once lived up on Prospect Hill, And sold his whisky by the gill."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CRAZY BILLY.]

The well known character brought to mind by the name of "Crazy Billy,"

was at no time in his strange life engaged in any pursuit connected with the National Road, but his long stay at Uniontown, covering a period of fifty years and more, ent.i.tles him to a place in this history. He was well known to many of the stage drivers, wagoners and tavern keepers of the road, and to every man, woman and child in Uniontown. His name was William Stanford, and he was horn in England. It was evident that he had been well bred, and had received some education. He was often heard quoting from the liturgy of the Church of England. He was brought to Uniontown about the year 1829, and closely confined in the county jail.

His first appearance in Fayette county was in Springhill township, whither he wandered without any apparent object, and no one knew whence he came. On a certain day of the year above mentioned, he was discovered alone in the house of one Crow, in the said township of Springhill. The Crow family had all been absent during the day, and upon their return in the evening were surprised to find an occupant within, and the doors and windows securely fastened. After reconnoitering the premises the family discovered that it was the manifest intention of the strange intruder to "hold the fort." In this state of the case Mr. Crow proceeded to a neighboring justice of the peace, made complaint, and obtained a warrant, which was placed in the hands of the township constable, who with the aid of the local _posse comitatus_ hastily summoned, entered the beleagured dwelling, arrested the intruder, took him to Uniontown, and lodged him in the county jail, in and around which he remained from that time until the date of his death, which occurred on the 26th day of January, 1883. Soon after his incarceration one John Updergraff was committed to the jail for disorderly conduct on the streets, and after the keys had been turned, "Billy" fell upon the new prisoner, and killed him outright. He was indicted and tried for murder, but acquitted on the plea of insanity, and remanded to jail. Henceforth, and to the time hereafter mentioned, he was heavily ironed and chained fast to the jail floor. William Snyder was elected sheriff in 1847, and a few months after his induction to the office, his wife, who was a good and discerning woman, observed some redeeming qualities in the nature of the chained lunatic, and concluded that it would be wise and safe, as well as humane, to remove his fetters. Accordingly with the aid of her son James, who was a sort of general deputy about the jail and office, she released "Billy" from the chains which had so long bound and chafed him, and permitted him to walk about his dingy cell, untramelled. Gradually he gained the confidence of the sheriff's family and after a season was permitted to enter the official mansion, and move about at pleasure. He showed an inclination to care for the sheriff's horses, and was permitted to feed and clean them, exhibiting much skill in this line.

About this time, James Snyder having occasion to visit Monroe, told "Billy" that he might go with him if he chose. Pleased with the opportunity, "Billy" placed saddles and bridles on two horses, mounted one himself, and Snyder the other, and off they sped to Monroe. It was an agreeable trip to "Billy"; the first time in many years, that he had enjoyed the privilege of seeing the country and snuffing the pure air of liberty. After this, he rode out frequently with the deputy to various parts of the county; but his mind was never fully restored. He was incoherent, and given to unintelligible mutterings. As time wore on, the people of the town became familiar with "Crazy Billy," and as before stated everybody knew him. He carried letters, and performed errands for the county officers, for many years, and up to the date of his last illness, and his fidelity was proverbial. Nothing could divert him from the faithful execution of any little mission he undertook. In addition to his constant mutterings before alluded to, he was a habitual scribbler. He entered any of the offices in the court house at pleasure, and invariably sat down and began to scribble. He wrote a fairly good hand, but there was no intelligence in his writing, or rather no connected thought. One of his favorite lines was this: "I am a bold boy in his prime." He would write this as often as a dozen times a day.

Another of his favorite screeds was this:

"He drew his sword and pistol, And made them for to rattle, And the lady held the horse, While the soldier fought the battle."

The garb in which "Billy" from day to day appeared, was of the shabby order, and he paid little heed as a rule to personal cleanliness. His ablutions were periodical, but when he did indulge in them, they were thorough. He had a habit of rubbing his head with both hands, and would sit engaged in this exercise as long as an hour at a time, with great energy. He never would submit to an interview. He talked much, but always on the run. If approached by anyone with a purpose of conversing with him, he invariably walked off muttering in loud tones as he moved away. He wore a full beard, which in his latter years was quite gray. He had a small foot and hand, and many marks of intellectuality. After his death his body lay in state in the court house at Uniontown, and was viewed by thousands. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, near Uniontown, with the rites of the Episcopal Church, under direction of the late lamented Rev. R. S. Smith. A section of one of the stone columns of the old Uniontown court house is made to serve as a monument over his grave. Maj. Jesse B. Gardner of Uniontown, who attended "Billy"

in his last illness, gives the following pathetic narration of his closing hours. Until the last ebb, he continued to utter the sonorous and unintelligible mutterings so familiar to those who knew him, but in the final throe, he turned his eyes upon his attendant and exclaimed: "Oh, Gardner, if I could only see my mother!" This was not a lucid interval, in the ordinary meaning of that phrase, but an expiring thought, a final flash of affection, a wonderful testimonial to the sweetest of all names, and a most forcible and striking ill.u.s.tration of the ineffaceable impression made by a mother's care and love, and all the more, since at no time before, during his long sojourn at Uniontown, was he ever known to have mentioned his mother, or his father. A poor, unfortunate lunatic, separated for more than a half century from the parental roof, a stranger in a strange land, tossed by the billows of a hard fate, and lying down to die, light flashes upon his long distempered mind, and his last and only thought is "MOTHER."

The year 1823 developed one of the most extraordinary examples of grand larceny that ever occurred on the road, and excited the people all along the line from Baltimore to the farthest point west. During the early spring of the year mentioned a merchant whose name was Abraham Boring, doing business in an Ohio town, took pa.s.sage in a coach of one of the regular stage lines for Baltimore to purchase a stock of fresh goods. At Tomlinson's tavern, west of c.u.mberland, John Keagy and David Crider, merchants, of Salisbury, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, took seats in the same coach that was conveying Boring, destined also for Baltimore, on a like mission. It required considerable time to reach Baltimore, and pa.s.sengers in a stage coach became acquainted, one with another. The three merchants not only became personally acquainted with each other, during their long stage ride, but formed strong friendly relations.

Reaching Baltimore they stopped together at the same hotel and talked over their business, the quality and quant.i.ty of goods required by each, forming the leading topic of their conversation. They went out among the wholesale stores of the city and bought the goods they desired, the stock purchased by Mr. Boring being much larger, finer and more varied than the stock bought by the Somerset county merchants. Upon completing his purchases, Mr. Boring's first thought was to have his goods safely shipped upon the best terms obtainable. Messrs. Keagy and Crider kindly tendered their services to aid him in engaging a trusty wagoner to haul his goods to Ohio, and introduced one Edward Tissue as the right man for that purpose. Tissue was engaged, but one wagon bed would not hold all the goods, and Tissue brought in and introduced another wagoner by the name of Edward Mitch.e.l.l, who was engaged to haul the remnant that could not be handled by Tissue. Mr. Boring having arranged for the transportation of his goods, said good-bye to his friends Keagy and Crider, and left for his home in Ohio. His goods, not arriving when due, he supposed some accident had caused a delay, and that they would be forthcoming as soon as practicable. But days and weeks pa.s.sed and Mr.

Boring began to feel uneasy about the long delay, and wrote the consignors in Baltimore for an explanation. They replied that the goods had been carefully loaded in the wagons of Tissue and Mitch.e.l.l, according to the agreement, and they knew nothing of their destiny beyond that. Boring then took to the road to find his goods. He went first to Baltimore and learned that Tissue and Mitch.e.l.l had left the city with the goods in their wagons, and proceeded westward. He traced them as far as Hagerstown, and at that point lost his clue. He proceeded to c.u.mberland without tidings of his lost goods. From c.u.mberland he went on, making inquiry at every tavern and toll gate, until he reached Somerfield, but heard nothing of Tissue or his companion, Mitch.e.l.l. He put up for the night at a tavern in Somerfield, and while at supper discovered an important clue. The waiting maid at the table wore a tortoise sh.e.l.l comb, resembling very much those in a package he had bought in Baltimore. In polite and delicate terms he inquired of the girl where she obtained so handsome a comb. She replied, "In a store at Salisbury." In an instant Mr. Boring recalled his fellow merchants and recent fellow travelers, Messrs. Keagy and Crider, of Salisbury, but concluding that they had purchased the same quality of combs in Baltimore, went to bed, with a purpose of continuing his researches along the National Road. During the night he changed his purpose, and in the morning returned to Tomlinson's tavern, and thence directly to Salisbury. Reaching Salisbury he entered a store, and to his amazement saw upon the counters and shelves various articles, which he recognized as belonging to his stock. Investigation disclosed a remarkable example of criminal conduct. Keagy, Crider, Tissue and Mitch.e.l.l entered into a conspiracy to steal Boring's goods. The acquaintance formed in the stage coach const.i.tuted the initial point of the scheme, and Keagy and Crider found ready confederates in Tissue and Mitch.e.l.l. There was of course to be a division of the spoils, but in what proportion never was made public. The wagoners to avoid identification changed the color of their wagon beds, and upon reaching Hagerstown diverged from the National Road and took the country by-ways. The goods were placed at first in a large barn in the vicinity of Salisbury, and thence carried in small lots to the store of Keagy & Co. A portion of the goods consisting of fine china ware, thought to be too expensive for the Salisbury trade, was broken up and buried under ground. There was a third owner of the Salisbury store by the name of Markley, who did not accompany his partners on their tour to raise stock. Boring, after thoroughly satisfying himself that he had found his goods, proceeded to Somerset and swore out a warrant against the parties accused. The warrant was placed for execution in the hands of ---- Philson, the sheriff of Somerset county. Keagy was first arrested and promptly gave bail for trial, but goaded by the weight of his offense, soon thereafter committed suicide. Tissue fled the jurisdiction and was never apprehended. Crider also fled and located in some of the wilds of that early day in the State of Ohio, where he married and raised a family, and, it is said, has living descendants to this day. Markley essayed to flee, but made a failure of it. Giving out the impression that he had followed in the wake of Tissue and Crider, he concealed himself in the woods not far from Salisbury, and was supplied with food by a devoted wife. One Sloan, however, happened to fall upon his hiding place and he was arrested. Markley owed Sloan a sum of money and proposed to settle if Sloan would release him from custody. To this Sloan a.s.sented. Markley had no ready money, but owned property and proffered his note, which Sloan agreed to accept. But no means were at hand to prepare a note. After canva.s.sing the situation for a while a pen was made from a stick of wood, ink obtained from stump water, and Sloan producing a sc.r.a.p of paper, a note was prepared and duly signed by Markley for the sum he owed Sloan, and the money subsequently paid by Markley's wife. Sloan promised Markley that he would not make known his hiding place, but it leaked out and he was arrested by the sheriff. He requested permission of the sheriff to go to his house to change his clothes, which was granted him, and taking advantage of the sheriff's indulgence, fled to parts unknown. His wife rejoined him in after years at some point in the West.

Mention was hereinbefore made of the tragical death of Atwell Holland, killed by a fugitive slave on the 4th of July, 1845, at an old tavern in the mountain. In this connection it is proper to state, that fugitive slaves were frequently captured on the National Road, and returned to their masters. Capt. Thomas Endsley, an old tavern keeper, mentioned elsewhere, once had a terrible conflict with three powerful fugitive slaves, at his barn near Somerfield. Without a.s.sistance and against most determined resistance, he succeeded in capturing two of them and returning them to their owner or master. The third escaped and became a free man. Capt. Endsley was himself a slave owner as before stated. He owned and used slaves when he lived at Frostburg, and also during his inc.u.mbency as landlord at the old Tomlinson tavern, and brought eight with him when he located at Somerfield in 1824. Like all other old slave owners, he thought there was no wrong in owning slaves and considered it a conscientious duty to aid in capturing and returning fugitives. His sons, however, probably from witnessing the struggles of the slaves to gain their freedom against the efforts of their father, all grew up to be abolitionists, and abide in the anti-slavery faith to this day.

One of the most untiring and devoted friends of escaping slaves, was William Willey of Somerfield. He was a shoemaker without means, yet it is said that he secreted, fed and otherwise aided more fugitive slaves than any other man on the National Road. He is known to have harbored as many as eight and ten in a single night, in his lowly tenement. He was a native of Baltimore, and reared a Democrat. Those of his friends who survive him regard him as a philanthropist, worthy of a granite monument. The wife of William E. Beall, the well known manager of the Uniontown steel mill, a most excellent lady, is a daughter of William Willey, the old friend of the escaping slaves.

In the year 1829 the postoffice at Somerfield was in the brick house, on the south side of the street, known as the Irvin house. John Blocher was postmaster. The old line of coaches, carrying the mail, stopped at the Endsley House. It was customary for the driver after reaching the tavern to carry the way mail pouch on his shoulders to the postoffice. One evening Charley Kemp drove the mail coach in from the west, and upon going to the office with the mail, found the door locked, and was unable, after repeated efforts, to gain admittance. Going around to a window, he looked through the gla.s.s into the office, and was horrified by seeing Blocher, the postmaster, lying on the floor, weltering in blood, and forcing his way into the room discovered that his throat was cut. Dr. Frey was summoned, and applied agencies first to arrest the flow of blood, and then sewed up the gash, and to the surprise of all, the man recovered and lived for many years thereafter.

In 1834 John Waters, a cattle drover of Ohio, fell sick at Frazer's tavern, in Somerfield, and languished for many weeks. His mind becoming affected by reason of his severe bodily suffering, he rose from his bed one evening when alone, opened his pocketbook and tore into small fragments a number of good bank notes of the aggregate value of $800. He then deliberately cut his throat. When discovered he was lying on his back on the floor, and small pieces of bank notes were seen floating in blood all around his body. Dr. Frey was summoned on this occasion also, and under his treatment the much dejected old drover was restored, and afterward took many droves of cattle over the road to Baltimore. The fragments of notes were gathered up, carefully cleaned, dried and fitted together with mucilage, so that the loss of money was inconsiderable.

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 cl.u.s.ter 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. That man was Tom Marshall, one of the brightest of Kentucky's many bright sons, a brilliant lawyer, orator and statesman, who carried off the palm in every intellectual combat he ever engaged in save one, and that was when he locked horns with Henry Clay.

The horse led by Marshall was a favorite animal which he kept and used in Washington, while attending the sittings of Congress. He frequently pa.s.sed over the road in the manner described, and often tarried several days and nights in Uniontown. Many of the surviving pike boys remember Marshall with distinctness.

CHAPTER XLVI.

_The Arrest, Trial, Conviction and Sentence of Dr. John F. Braddee, the Notorious Mail Robber--George Plitt makes the Information--Bill Corman turns on his Chief--Braddee gives Bail--His Bondsmen--Strayer and Purnell--The Witnesses--The Indictment--The Jury--The Verdict--The Defendant Dies in the Penitentiary._

There is no doubt that Dr. John F. Braddee was the most notorious individual that ever lived in Uniontown. The exact date of his advent to that place seems to be unascertainable, but it was more than fifty years ago. The culmination of his remarkable career occurred in 1841. Of his early life but little is accurately known. It is certain that he came to Uniontown from Virginia. Tradition has it that he was born in Kentucky.

The story goes that when quite a youth he engaged himself as a stable boy, in the service of a gentleman who dealt in horses in the town of Paris, State of Kentucky. His employer was accustomed to drive horses to the eastern market for sale, and on one of these occasions young Braddee was taken along as an a.s.sistant. The horses were driven over what was called the "North Western Pike of Virginia." At some point on this old road Braddee fell sick and was left behind. Alter his recovery he made his way to Uniontown, stopping for a while in, or about Morgantown.

Notwithstanding his robust appearance, which will be remembered by his old acquaintances, it is said that when a boy he was delicate and inclined to consumption. This is the story, whether true or not is immaterial in view of his subsequent history. When he reached Uniontown, he was not known to be the owner of a single dollar, that he might call his own. Without education or professional training, he announced himself a physician, and commenced the practice of medicine. His success was remarkable. He had a commanding personal appearance, a good address, and by these means alone impressed himself upon the confidence of the common mind. He gathered around himself a large circle of friends and admirers, some of doubtful, but not a few of unquestioned reputation.

His fame as a doctor extended far and wide, patients flocked to consult him from all points. Many came hundreds of miles. Fifty horses have been seen hitched around his office at one time.

He possessed and cultivated a fondness for fast horses, probably the result of his early education in the stable at Paris, Kentucky. He always kept a number of race horses in training for the turf, and often matched them against others on the race course. In this line his success was varying, sometimes he won and as often lost, but losses did not diminish his love for the race course. The acc.u.mulations received from his large practice of medicine, and his winnings on the race course did not satisfy his greed for gain, and he conceived and carried into execution an extraordinary scheme for increasing his gains. It was nothing less than a carefully organized plan to rob the United States mail. His success as a physician had enabled him to acquire property, and he had not been living in Uniontown long until he possessed himself of one of the most handsome and valuable properties in the place, viz: the property known as the "Old National House," on Morgantown street. He bought this property from Hon. Thomas Irwin, who afterwards sat as one of his Judges in the famous trial to be hereafter mentioned. When Braddee bought this property, it contained only a single building, the three story brick on the southern side of the lot. He added the wing to the north, and here he established his headquarters, carrying on his business, professional and unprofessional, with a high hand. His office was convenient, in fact immediately adjoining Stockton's stage yard and coach factory. Into this stage yard, coaches were driven every day.

Stockton had the contract for carrying the mails. The old pike was in full blast then, and as many as thirty coaches were driven along it both ways every day. Among the coaches carrying the great and lesser mails, one William Corman was a driver, and Braddee cultivated his acquaintance and secured his confidence. He a.s.sured him that money could be made easily by rifling the mail bags, and promised Corman that if he would hand him the bags, he would "go through them" and divide profits with him. Corman consented. It was of course soon discovered that the mails were tampered with, and United States detectives were set upon the tracks of the offenders. They were not long in ascertaining the guilty parties. Corman was arrested and told the whole story. Braddee had other accomplices, viz: P. Mills Strayer, and Dr. Wm. Purnell. Strayer was a saddler, who carried on a shop in Uniontown, and died only a few years ago. Purnell was a sort of body servant of Braddee, and for many years after Braddee's death peddled Braddee's medicine through Fayette and adjoining counties. Braddee was arrested on information made by Wm.

Corman, and his arrest caused more excitement than any event that ever transpired in Uniontown.

THE INFORMATION.

_Pennsylvania, Fayette County, ss_:

George Plitt, agent of the P. O. Department, being duly sworn, says that the United States mail from Wheeling, Virginia, to New York, traveling on the National Road, has been stolen, to-wit: The mails made up at Wheeling on the 13th, 19th, 23d and 29th of November, 1840, and on the 5th, 12th and 18th of December, 1840, and that he has reason to suspect and does suspect and believe that Wm. Corman, who on those days drove the mail stage containing said mail from Washington to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, is guilty, with others of stealing said mails.

GEO. PLITT, _Agt. P.O. Dept._

Sworn and subscribed this 6th day of January, A. D. 1841, before me.

N. EWING, _Prest. Judge 14th Judicial District, Pennsylvania_.

Same day warrant issued, directed to the Sheriff of Washington county, and to all other Sheriffs and Constables within the Fourteenth Judicial District.

George Plitt, agent of the P. O. Department, being duly sworn, says that the United States Mails from Wheeling, Virginia, to New York, traveling on the National Road, has been stolen, to-wit: The mails made up at Wheeling on the 13th, 19th, 23d and 29th of November, 1840, and on the 5th, 12th, and 18th of December, 1840, and that he has reason to suspect, and does suspect and believe that John F. Braddee, William Purnell, and Peter Mills Strayer, with others, are guilty of stealing the mails.

GEO. PLITT, _Agt. P.O. Dept._

Sworn and subscribed this 7th day of January, A. D. 1841, before

N. EWING, _Prest. Judge 14th Judicial District, Pennsylvania_.

Same day warrant issued to George Meason, Esq., Sheriff of Fayette county, and to all constables.

_The United States of America vs. John F. Braddee, William Purnell, et al._