Very often, as your columnist goes through back files of “The Suburban” for information on a particular subject of which she may be writing at the time, her eye is caught by an especially intriguing headline.

So it was, a year or so ago, when she was searching for information on by-gone Christmas times in Wayne. In the December 1922 issue of the paper, a story entitled “Eleven Acres of Diamonds” caught her attention. It proved a fascinating tale indeed, particularly as those eleven acres lay not very far from Wayne. And now, 30 years after the original article appeared some reader of the column may be able to bring us up to date on “what happened next”.

The first paragraph of the story reads: “On a 11-acre farm just half a mile beyond Valley Forge, where Washington and his ragged, barefoot soldiers trod valiantly back and forth so many years ago, a modern Golconda has recently been discovered, with wealth enough to have clothed and armed the entire Continental Army and brought the war to a speedy and successful conclusion.”

Throughout the story, these fabulous 11 acres are given no more definite location. The owner was “a modest and unassuming carpenter, Morris A. Barr” who at that time lived in “a little framed cottage at the end of the property.” One day in July, 1914, while he was walking beside a tiny stream that ran through his land, he noticed a number of “glittering sparks” in the rocks beneath the water. When he showed a jeweler in Ardmore pieces of this rock, the jeweler pronounced the “glittering sparks” to be gold.

Since there had been several such finds in the general vicinity, this news was not so startling as it might have been. However, it was interesting enough for Mr. Barr to show various other pieces of mineral which he had picked to Colonel Henry C. Demming, at that time consulting mineralogist, geologist and chemist of the state of Pennsylvania.

When the latter pronounced them precious stones, Mr. Barr began to realize the possibilities of the value of his property. He then determined to make a study of these specimens for himself and, later on, various lapidists confirmed the interesting discoveries he made in regard to the variety of these specimens.

In a report compiled for the Pennsylvania Railroad by Colonel Demming, in regard to the natural rock and mineral resources of the State, the fact was brought out that 71 of them were to be found on Mr. Barr’s property. These included, according to the report, “veins of platinum, tin, and quicksilver (the first discovered in Pennsylvania), while in the list of gems were also some that had never been found before in the State”. Among these precious stones were, according to the account, “three white sapphires, which were exceedingly rare gems, besides opals, topazes, blue sapphires, jasper, sardonyx, lapis lazuli and many others… although some of these stones are to be found in other parts of Pennsylvania, such a wide variety in such a small space of ground has probably never been discovered.”

A statement from Mr. Barr explains that “all the stones on the property are found only in a so-called placer deposit that forms the surface of the ground, running from eight inches to eight feet deep. The deposit… covers only a portion of the farm, varying from 50 to 400 feet in width and 700 in length.”

A state mineralogist, after he had visited and inspected the property, suggested that the surface soil containing the gems was originally hot lava belched forth by an erupting volcano. This would, of course, account for the irregular boundaries of the gem-filled land. The gold vein, which was of the “vertical variety”, was over 10 feet thick. The owner had never dug deeper than 15 feet, at least up until the time of the writing of the article.

Although he had received various offers from persons who wished either to go into partnership with him, or to purchase his land outright, Mr. Barr had steadfastly refused to do anything about the development of his land.

“It is a curious experience, savoring more or less of the unbelievable,” states the writer of this “Suburban” article of 30 years ago, “to visit this land of gold and silver and precious stones, to be led through thicket and shady copses that abound there, to be taken down to the banks of the merry little stream and have Mr. Barr, suddenly stopping, hold out a handful of quite ordinary pebbles and matter-of-factly announce ‘These are opals and sapphires and lapis lazuli.’ Then, perhaps he will point to the rows of corn and potatoes and onions that he himself has planted, and tell how, as he ploughed the ground, he turned up stone after precious stone, while his wife picked them up and put them in a bucket nearby”.

In spite of the fact that all these metals and gems were assayed and tested by experts from various parts of the United States, Mr. Barr remained more interested in the spring of mineral water that he bottled and sold throughout this section than he did in his potential wealth. He attributed his own good health to the beneficial effects of this water.

However, he did have in his office a small cabinet in which he kept samples of the various stones and metals, some cut and polished, and others in the rough state in which he found them. Some few of the stones he had set in rings, pins and lavellieres, which he sometimes sold to those who came to buy his mineral water. It is said that he never solicited such sales, however.

An interesting little story was told in connection with a large star sapphire on his property. After it was cut and polished he sent it to Marshal Joffre, of France, writing that he thought the latter might like to own “a souvenir of the land on which Washington once walked.”

If, among the readers of this column, any one can give additional information in regard to the exact location of Mr. Barr’s farm, or of any further particulars of what has happened to it during these past 30 years, Mrs. Patterson will be glad to publish this information.

To your columnist, the highlight of Easter Sunday was her afternoon visit to one of the quaint old houses in this vicinity. It is the former Wilds’ homestead, located on Upper Gulph road just at its intersection with Croton road. The original small house was built about 140 years ago by John Wilds and his sister, Sarah Wilds, and is now the property of Mrs. Kathryn L. Stinson.

The house in its original state looked very much as it does in the first picture illustrating today’s column. The second picture is one taken by Mrs. Stinson during a light fall of snow in the winter just past. When a west wing was added in 1927, by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Evans Wells, here was evidence that the original structure had been of logs, at least in part. But by the time the first picture was taken the house gave every appearance of being a stone structure.

The first Wilds to come to this country was another James, the great-great-grandfather of the present James Wilds, who now lives on West Wayne avenue, but who, for some years, lived in the house just to the East of the old homestead, now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Harry R. Tompkins.

An old deed, still in the possession of the present James Wilds, shows that John and Sarah Wilds, a son and daughter of the first James, bought four acres of land in 1814, the purchase price being “150 silver milled dollars”. These four acres were a portion of a large tract of land belonging to Rudolph Huzzard, a blacksmith, that extended as far west as Old Eagle School road.

Although there is no written record of the building of the present little old house, it was presumably done by John and Sarah Wilds soon after they bought the original four acres. Here John and his wife had a family of 15 children, although all did not live to maturity.

It is interesting to speculate on this large family as one goes through the present house, so little changed except for the addition made in 1927. The most used entrance was undoubtedly that under the shed, to the left of the house, which led into the basement kitchen, with its 60-inch wide fireplace. The old iron cranes from which the cooking pots originally hung are still intact, and in this room much of the family living must have gone on.

A narrow stairway leads to a room just above the kitchen and of the same dimensions. It is now Mrs. Stinson’s charming living room, with ruffled curtains at very narrow windows that at the back of the house are from ceiling to floor. By actual measurement the walls are 22 inches thick. In contrast to the basement room fireplace, the one here is so small that Mrs. Stinson has not been able to obtain suitable andirons for it. It is but one of the miniature features of this floor.

At the foot of the stairway, leading to the floor above, is a cupboard that is only 14 inches wide, while the stairway itself is but 22 inches in width.

One of the most charming spots in the present house is the bedroom just above the living room, with mahogany furniture and lavender and white ruffled curtains at the windows which, although they are small, still let in much of the southern sunlight.

The eight feet which the Wells family added to the west end of the house is taken up by a small cheery kitchen at the back of the first floor and an even smaller bathroom in front. Above, on the second floor, is a room which can be used as a bedroom.

Mrs. Stinson is herself responsible for much of the interior decoration, which is as charming as it is simple. The modern oil heating system is adequate for any cold winter day, and certainly far superior to that furnished by the two original fireplaces.

Floors throughout the house have the original very wide boards held in place by “top” nails. Beamed ceilings have become a soft-toned brown with the passing years. The lock on the kitchen door consists of the original wooden slide, still so strong that entrance could not possibly be forced from the outside. At one time water was pumped into the kitchen from a deep well near the door.

This house, which in many ways is a veritable “doll house” in size and charm, is surrounded by about an acre of ground, with several fine old trees and some nice planting. At the back border line is a rock garden, which is being rapidly restored to its original beauty. Mrs. Stinson, a real lover of flowers, was the proprietor for a short time of the flower shop in Paoli.

For more than 100 years this little house remained in the unbroken possession of one generation after another of the Wilds family. The last to be there were Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Wilds, parents of the present James Wilds. The latter sold to Mr. and Mrs. Wells, who made the only building changes the old house has ever known. Among others who have since lived there are the Richard Bards, the James Rices, the Wayne Millers, the Fronefield Crawfords and the Gordon Brooks.

In the 1880’s and early 1890’s, the late James B. Morrison, one of North Wayne’s old-time residents, took a number of pictures of historic spots in Radnor township as well as in the vicinity immediately adjacent to it. For the August 15 issue of “Your Town and My Town”, four of these pictures were shown.

The originals of these pictures were lent to your columnist by F.G.Farrell, of the “Book and Yarn Shop”, Wayne, nephew by marriage of Mr. Morrison. For today’s column Mr. Farrell has lent two pictures of ancient taverns in the neighborhood.

The first is the old West Tavern, in Newtown Square. The second is that of one of the two “Sorrel Horse Inns,” on Conestoga road near the little settlement of Ithan.

According to Henry Graham Ashmead’s “History of Delaware County”, published in 1884, the first record of license to be granted in Newtown township was on the petition in 1727, of one Joseph Hawley, who for several years subsequent to that date operated “Hally’s” (Hawley’s) house. Among the later proprietors was John West, father of the famous American artist, Benjamin West, who in his later years became president of the Royal Academy in London. Although Benjamin West was born in 1738 in a house still standing in Swarthmore – then known as West Dale – he may well have lived at various times during his childhood in the old tavern pictured in today’s article. In August 28, 1744, his father, John West “having obtained license for keeping a public house of entertainment in the County of Chester for one year, which being now expired, your petitioner craves to be continued in the same station in the Township.” He remained in business there for four years, when Jonathan James leased the premises “where John West lately dwelled.”

The again, in 1755, John West became “mine host” at the inn, remaining there for three years in the second venture. The old tavern, which at various times was known by different names, according to ownership, became in 1823 the polling place for the electors of Newtown, Radnor and Marple townships, as well as part of Edgmont, according to the historian, Ashmead. Known as the Newtown Square Inn in the 1850’s, the old tavern had evidently assumed the name of the family made famous by the painter, Benjamin West, when the accompanying picture was taken some years later.

Much confusion has arisen of late years in regard to the name “Sorrel Horse Inn” and to its location. This is probably due to the fact that the original tavern of that name, after it had ceased to function as such, became a farmhouse. It was then that another tavern in the immediate neighborhood, but without its predecessor’s historic background, took over its name.

Amy Oakley, in her charming book, “Our Pennsylvania”, recently published, refers to the first old inn as “the hoary Sorrel Horse, at Ithan, which was built in 1768 and often sheltered Washington and Lafayette.” During a pleasant visit which your columnist made recently to “Woodstock”, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton Oakley’s Villanova home, Mrs. Oakley told the stories of these two taverns, well-known to her because of their proximity to the Ewing farm, her ancestral home. “Woodstock” is indeed the remodeled barn on this farm.

The original Sorrel Horse Inn, which later became Kirk’s farmhouse, was purchased in the later 1800’s by George H. McFadden “for his family home.” The house as it then stood, with a 1769 date stone on the original section and a 1772 one on the slightly later addition, was enlarged by Mr. McFadden’s son. This beautiful home has lately been sold by the son’s widow (Mrs. Alfred H. Geary) to Charles B. Grace, who has restored the old name “Sorrel Horse.” The house stands on the corner of Ithan and Conestoga (Old Lancaster) roads. On the bridge over a small stream east of the house is a tablet bearing this inscription:

“During the encampment at Valley Forge in the darkest days of the revolution, the nearby stone dwelling, then the Sorrel Horse Inn, with warm and patriotic welcome sheltered often as its guests Washington and Lafayette.”

Sorrel Horse Hill extends from Ithan avenue to where once stood the second Sorrel Horse Tavern. At that time the ground it occupied adjoined the farm of J. Hunter Ewing, Mrs. Oakley’s father. As time went on the tavern’s reputation became such that it lost its license. A Number of Radnor township’s older residents remember when the building still stood before it was finally torn down. Its appearance was quite different then from that of the neat edifice with its spacious first and second story porches shown in the illustration accompanying this column. Its approximate site is now occupied by the home of Mrs. George L. Justice.

(Mr. Farrell, to whom your columnist is much indebted for the use of these old pictures, is much interested in making new copies from Mr. Morrison’s old plates, of which he has an interesting variety.)

Illustrating this column in last week’s issue of “The Suburban” was a picture of a typical Conestoga wagon with its six-horse bell team. Wagon and team were the property of Jacob Eby, of Chambersburg, great-grandfather of Mrs. Norman H. Dutton, of North Wayne avenue, who kindly leant your columnist the picture for use in this series on Conestoga wagons. The original of the picture was one taken of Mr. Eby in 1843, as he made one of his many trips between Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Among the appurtenances of such a wagon were the tool box and “lazy Board” which show plainly in the picture. These were described in last week’s column, as were the tar box and wagon jack. Swinging from the back of the wagon was the large feed box for the horses, a very necessary adjunct to a lengthy trip.

These boxes were usually longer than the wagons were wide and had their special place at the rear end. Here one would hang “like a bustle, sheltered by a projecting cover”, to quote John Omwake’s description in his book, “Conestoga Six-Horse Bell Teams.” A travelling farmer usually carried his own feed, while the professional wagoner bought his wherever he stopped.

The water bucket hung at the rear axletree on the pole, or on the side of wagon bed. At night the horses slept outdoors on their bedding of straw, while in the meantime, as Mr. Omwake writes, “their drivers boasted of them in the barroom of the inn.” The wagoners themselves usually slept around the stove in the barroom of the inn, using their own blankets and mattresses.

Of the general construction of these Conestoga wagons, H.K. Landis, of the Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster, who collaborated with Mr. Omwake in the latter’s book, says that “long before the wagon was ordered the wheelwright had gone into the forest and selected trees that would serve his purpose; white oak for the framing, gum for the hubs, hickory for the axletrees and singletrees, and poplar for the boards.

“Since the wooden parts of the wagon were made as light as practicable, the wood had to be strong as possible, and no knots, checks, soft spots or unseasoned wood was permitted. The material and design of the wagon made it unbreakable under the trying conditions met on road full of rocks and ruts, and sometimes stumps and roots; on corduroy and log road, through swamps, and on side hill roads that put a severe strain on the wheels on one side.”

And because “with the wheels, the wagon stands or falls”, these wheels were made even stronger than would appear necessary. Spokes were split from straight white oak and worked down with a hand axe, placed in a vise and further shaped with a draw knife and finished with a spoke shave, according to Mr. Landis. The hub, which was fashioned from black or sour gum, was “turned on a lathe and cored to receive the axle… the mortices were exactly placed and made so that the spokes had to be driven into them with powerful blows of the maul or sledge… wagon tires were made of iron by a hand process that was both tedious and difficult. Axle and axle tree were of white oak or hickory, the strongest wood available.”

When the long and difficult construction of the wagon was completed, it was painted in such a way as to be both picturesque and impressive. Wheels and removable side boards were a bright red, while the running gear was a soft blue with the white of the hempen wagon cover setting both colors. The uniformity of this painting for all Conestoga wagons was perhaps due to the fact that in those days few colors were available.

For their red, the wagon makers dug up the firm red lead, placed it on the rubbing stone with good linseed oil and rubbed it until it was smooth. Prussian blue also came in solid form and had to be ground in oil. “But when put on, these paints stuck”, as Mr. Landis tersely expresses it.

Covers for the wagons were about 24 feet long and made of white homespun. A picture of the inside of one shows the “turn-in” at either end, to allow the draw string to give the right shape to the openings. This cover “fitted over board hickory hoops, fastened into iron sockets or staples on the outside of the body. The lowest bows were midway between the ends, and the others rose gradually in a deep curve to front and rear, so that the ends were of nearly equal height. The cover was corded on the sides and drawn together by draw ropes at the ends, so that the wagon was almost closed in.

Harness or “gears” as it was called by the wagoners, was made of leather that had been bark tanned, the work done by hand, and the process requiring from eight to ten months. Leather cured in this way never lost its life and softness. Bridles were entirely of flat leather, and blinders were made of single pieces of leather and unstiffened. The drivers used only one line to control the lead horse, which in turn controlled the whole team by means of a “jockey” stick, a thin piece of seasoned hickory wood fastened to the hames of the lead horse and to the bit of his mate, the off horse.

In the research for today’s column the writer has made the interesting discovery that Mr. Omwake knew David Eby and consulted him in regard to the trips the latter had made by Conestoga wagon. Mr Omwake writes that “by far the greatest number of stories of the old wagon deal with the later days on the road to the West. Of all of these, none is more vivid and delightful than that written by David Eby.” And it was Mr. Eby’s granddaughter, Mrs. Dutton of Wayne, – until this time a stranger to the writer – who telephoned and offered her the picture of the wagon used by her great-grandfather as well as her grandfather.

Another interesting keepsake in the possession of the Dutton family is a small, hand-bound booklet, containing the specifications for the making of Dearborns. The booklet belonged to Joseph F. Hill, Mr. Dutton’s geat uncle, who was a carriage maker more than 100 years ago, the date in the front of the booklet being June 29, 1841.

Many times during the past few weeks, as your columnist has turned the pages of John Omwake’s book “Conestoga Six-Horse Bell Teams”, which she has used as a reference in this present series of articles, she has wished that she might share its beautiful illustrations with all of her readers, especially the frontispiece, which shows an outstanding example of a large Conestoga wagon, with its six-horse bell team.

From one of the column’s interested Wayne readers has come a picture so like this frontispiece that only a close inspection of the two shows the slight difference between them. The picture has been lent by Mrs. Norman H. Dutton, of North Wayne avenue, for use in this column. The original was one made in 1843 of her great-grandfather, Jacob Eby, as he made one of his many trips between Pittsburgh and Baltimore in his covered wagon.

In 1849, Jacob Eby put his son, Dabid Eby, “on the road to wagon”, which employment he “continued at intervals until the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed in 1853, and then for five years more at ‘piece’ wagoning to intermediate points between Chambersburg and Bedford.”

“Looking back to the years thus employed”, David Eby writes in his booklet, “Retracing of the Famous Old Turnpike”, “I consider them as the palmy days of my life.” And so intense did his longing become in later life to go over the famous old turnpike once more that in 1908, when he was “on the shady side of 77”, he undertook the trip between Chambersburg and Pittsburgh on foot.

This, he decided, was the best way to “relocate old tavern stands, and secure such other information as would help to make a narrative of the days of wagoning.” Not counting the Sunday on which he rested, Mr. Eby made the trip of 150 miles in seven and one-half days, an average of 20 miles per day.

In the 1840’s and early 1850’s when the younger wagoner, David Eby was making regular trips between Chambersburg and Pittsburgh, there was an average of a tavern for each mile. When he retraced his way by foot in 1908, he found that “most of the old taverns not as such, but as dwellings, are to be seen… the old signs are down, the wagon yards are enclosed, and the barrooms where the wagoners congregated are converted to a better use.

“These wagoners were a noisy, jolly set who loved the frolic and dance. To the music of a violin the performer suited its action to whatever was called for, ‘The Virginia Reel’, the ‘French Reel’, ‘Four Square’, ‘Jim Crow’,  or ‘Hoe Down’ being the popular rage. The fun was fast and jolly, especially when they imbibed too much of ‘Monongahela’ at three cents a drink.”

Of the contrast between past and present as he saw it, Mr Eby comments, “In my mind the automobile drivers are not regarded with the same distinction as were the stage drivers whose lordly swing and handling of the ribbons made them – at least in their estimation – the aristocrats of the times. In the barroom they were the center for the admiring crowd, who were always ready when ‘asked up’ with the condescending reply, ‘yes, with a little sugar, please’!”

The picture of the Eby Conestoga wagon, as it looked on the road in the middle 1800’s, illustrates in a striking manner the descriptions Mr. Omwake has given of the vehicles that were sometimes called “Ships of Inland Commerce” as they “cruised with their great white tops between the green Pennsylvania hills.” The long deep wagon beds with the sag in the middle and the white top are indeed somewhat reminiscent of boats with their sails. The six-horse team of dappled grays – always a favorite color with Pennsylvania wagoners – shows the bell hoops on each of the six horses, including that on which the driver rode. In many cases this was not used, since it interfered with the driving of the horses. The lead horses wear hoops of five bells, the middle pair have four and the last pair three. The six horses are obviously of the strong, sleek, heavy-set type, described in last week’s column as typical of the Conestoga horse. Their handmade harness is strong and heavy.

The box on the side contains tools, which were necessary for emergencies along the road. Among the tools were pincers, tongs, wrench, bolts, nails, open links and straps. Much of the “ironing” of the lids of these tool boxes was most ornate, being fashioned by smiths who had learned this trade. Protruding from the wagon, just below the tool box, is seen the “lazy board” on which the driver stood when he was not guiding his team from the back of the saddle horse, or walking beside the wagon.

Not clearly shown in the picture is the “tar pot”, which was as essential to the successful progress of a trip as was the tool box. A tar pot contained the pine tar for lubricating the axles and the green beds. When it became necessary to do this, a heavy wagon jack, made especially for Conestoga wagons, was used.

“A load of three or four tons required that the jack be sturdy and readily handled,” Mr. Omwake writes. Pictures of a number of these jacks are shown in his book, among them one particularly heavy, sturdy one dating back to 1766. “Generally these wagon jacks had two spurs in the base to prevent slipping, a wooden body, a riveted or keyed gear case, a ratchet wheel on the crank, a strong geared pillar with turntable two-spar top,” Mr. Omwake writes, then adds, “as they were very necessary to a team on the road, the owner’s name or initials were put on the top of the pilion, with the date.”

With a description of further details of the picture shown in this week’s column, this series on Conestoga wagons will close next week.

No less interesting than lhe Conestoga wagons of which John Omwake had made such a detalled study in hls book, “Conestoga Six-Horse Teams ot Pennsylvania” are the Conestoga horses which were as distinctive as the wagons themselves.

As these great, heavy vehicles became more common as a means of transportntlon, at first between Lancaster and Philadelphia, and later between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, this particular breed of horse was developed to meet the special demands made upon them,
for strength, enddurance and intelligence. “It was indeed“, to quote Mr. Omwake, “an animating sight to see five or six well-fed horses, half covered with heavy bear skins, or decorated with gaudily fringed housings, surmounted with a set of finely-toned bells, thelr bridles adorned with loops of red trimming, as they moved over the ground. Wlth a brisk, elastic step they snorted disdainfully at surrounding objects, as if half-conscious of their superior appearance.”

Before the days of Conestoga wagons, early Pennsylvania settlers had used small, sure-footed riding horses which had great endurance and could go anywhere. Then as the land was cleared and roads and settlements were made, a large type of horse, capable of farm work and hauling heavy loads, was needed. The exact ancestry of these Conestoga horses, as they came to be called, is not easy to trace. Undoubtedly, the first settlers who arrived in Pennsylvania with William Penn brought with them farm horses from their English homes. Those emigrants who settled in the Conestoga Valley probably obtained their first stock of horses from their neighbors in Chester County and the vicinity of Philadelphia, who had settled there earlier.

Their horses were fed well, stabled comfortably and never overworked or abused, and… as the years went by, their descendants obtained powers seldom found in the horses of any other country and much surpassing the original stock.

Spans that pulled the heavily loaded wagons of merchandise over the Alleghany mountains varied from four to elght horses in length, wlth sometimes a ninth in slngle harness as a leader. They ranged from 16 1/2 to 17 1/2 hands high, with their bodies solid and bulky in proportlon. With the driver seated on the near wheel horse they made a picturesque sight, indeed. Their usual rate of travel was about 12 lo 14 miles a day.

The saddle on the rear left horse is described by Mr. Omwak as ”low, but ample, after the English type, having a rounded pommel and brass-bound cantle with rings to fasten packages. The skirt was quite long and square cornered, while the stirrups were of brass or iron, although later they sometimes had wooden ones with leather guards… The team was guided by a jerk line to the forward, or lead, horse.” The wagoner held his line, giving short jerks to turn the lead horse to the right, and a long pull to turn him to the left.

Of the friendly, almost human relationship between drivers and the horses of whom they were so proud, Mr. Omwake writes, “the wagoner also talked to his horses, and ‘haw’ and ‘gee’ meant ‘left’ and ‘right’ to Conestoga horses, as they have to horses all over the country since those old days.

“One old teamster would stand before his lead horse, ‘Bill’, and tell him what was expected of him, and ‘Bill’ would hang his head, and point his ears, and plainly promise to do his best. But when they stopped for breath at the top of a long hill, and the wagoners told them what good horses they were, they arched their necks and champed their bits proudly.”

A wagoner’s whip was a long, handsome affair which, although it could be cracked fiercely, was seldom, if ever, used to strike a horse. Made of leather, sewed to form a cylinder-like handle, which was filled solidly, the end was tapered and finished with a plaited leather cracker, tipped with a plaited, waxed thread. So perfect was the understanding between a wagoner and his team that he had no use for his showy whip. On the contrary, he could nod in his saddle at the end of a long day, and still find himself at his destination come nightfall.

No story of Conestoga wagons and their horses would be complete without a description of the bells which were suspended from arches above the shoulders of the horses. Usually these bells were of the open type and suspended from flat iron hoops, the round end of which pointed downwards and passed through eyes in the hames. The number and size of these bells varied, just as did the material from which they were made. Some were of welded or brazed iron, while others were of brazed bronze or brass, cast brass and turned brass. There are also many interesting variations in the shape, size and arrangement of these bells. One set, in particular, Mr. Omwake described as “ a chime of bells which consisted of eight bells mounted on a broad double strap or thiong, the bells spherical, varying from three inches in diameter to two inches, and giving a pleasant composite sound together. They are quite loud, and could, I think, have been heard a quarter of a mile away through the woods.”

Originally the purpose of these bells seems to have been to sound a warning to teams coming in opposite directions along the narrow roads. Often one wagoner helped a fellow traveler in distress, for which service the latter had to pay by the gift of his hame bells. It is said that often a wagoner in trouble would turn his teams sharply to the side and break off the tongue rather than to be pulled out of the ditch and thus loose the bells to his rescuer.

Wagoning was at its zenith around 1830, some 36 years after the completion of the Philadelphia-Lancaster turnpike. Then came the railroad, and with it the end of long distance freighting by wagon. For a time these wagoins were still used for shorter hauling, especially that between the farm and thge town. Finally, they were brought out only for election days and other special occasions in the life of the smaller towns. And now they are to be found only in the sheds of a few Lancaster County barns or in an occasional museum. But in their heyday there was no mre thrilling sight than a big white-topped Conestoga wagon, with its team of handsome horses.

(To be continued)

In September and October, 1951, a series of three articles on the old Conestoga wagons appeared in this column. They had been inspired by a study of old roads and taverns along the “Philadelphia – Lancaster turnpike.

The slow moving procession of vehicles along the turnpike is, in retrospect, a most picturesque one to those of us of the present day who envision it. Dominating this procession between 1750 and 1850 was the Conestoga wagon and its six-horse team, with a long history of usefulness before the days of the canal, and later, of the railroad.

“The Suburban” finds its way far beyond the confines of Wayne, and this series came to the attention of Mrs. E. P. Bosworth, of Clnclnnatl, whose father, John Omwake, was the author of “Conestoga Six-Horse Bell Teams, 1750-1850.”

Since his early boyhood, Mr. Omwake had been interested in these old wagons. One of his lest ambitions had been to secure a Conestoga wagon such as his uncle, Wesley Koons, had owned in Franklln County, and to drive such a six-horse bell team. Mr. Koons was one of the few who, “after the Civil War… kept up their Conestoga bell teams, to be brought to town on Election Day and on other public occasions.”

As a consequence o! this youthful interest, Mr. Omwake made an intensive search into “museums, hlstorical societies, and the hidden away places of local history in Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginla, New York, New Jersey, New England, and even England” in order to correlate into book form all that could be learned about these wagons and teams, which are “a unique bit ot Pennsylvania’s early country life.”

Mrs. Bosworth has made your columnist a gift of this book, published by her father in 1930 for private distribution. A carefully written and beautifully illustrated volume, it contains a detailed history of a type of wagon that was as indigenous to the Pennsylvania countryside as its farms and orchards, or its hills themselves.” lt is a comparatively short tlme ago that these wagons, often traveling in long trains, with their big red wheels and their white tops, were the most common sight to be seen along the Lancaster turnpike. As they went westward they usually carried textiles, hardware and other manufactured goods for settlers as far west as Pittsburgh. On the return trip they were loaded with furs, skins and farm products for the East.

In assembling the material for his book, Mr. Omwake found few contemporary records of their construction, or of their travels. “They were”, he writes, “so much a part or every day that they were simply taken for granted. Historians who wrote just after this era was past mention them only casually as they were still such a commonplace.” And so, much of the material for the writing and the pictures for his book have come from a personal search of the Lancaster countryside by one of his collaborators, Mr. H. C. Frey, of Harrisburg.

It was in the Conestoga Valley of Lancaster County that these wagons had their beginnings. Here, Mr. Frey had seen many of these sturdy old vehicles in their dimly lit sheds, and here he had talked to their owners. Another collaborator has been Mr. H. K. Landis, of the Landis Valley Museum, “to whom”, Mr. Omwake writes, “the arts and industries of his country are an unfailing delight”, adding that Mr. Landis “has reconstructed from his treasures something of the spirit of the old Conestoga wagon days, of the excellence of the craftsmanship and the sincerity of effort that went into their making.”

The very first of these Pennsylvania wagons were probably modified English covered wagons as suggested by Engllsh settlers in Chester and Delaware counties. Strong and serviceable though they were, these carters, or farm wagons of England, which were short and wide, were not what one early American farmer wanted. But they had the makings of a good wagon, upon which the local wagon makers in Lancaster County made constant improvements, untll they had “a ponderous four-wheeled vehicle that rumbled behind half a dozen strong draught horses.

In describing these Lancaster County wagons, Mr. Omwake writes that they “were designed and built by local wheelrights out of swamp oak, white oak, hickory, locust gum and poplar from the neighboring woodlands.” They were “ironed” by the village blacksmith and all
the other work was, of course, done by hand.

In describing their appearance. Mr. Omwake writes that these Conestoga wagons “differed from their English prototypes in that the Conestoga wagon bed was long and deep and was given considerable sag in the middle, both lengthwise and crosswise, so that, should the load shift, it would settle towards the center and not press agalnst the end gates. The bed of the English wagon was flat and straight at the ends, and its bows, holdlng the white cover, were vertical. The bows of the American wagon, however, followed the line of the ends of the body, slanting outward, and glving the distinctive and unmistakable silhouette of the Conestoga. Although infinite variations recur, always these characteristics remain.”

Quite aside from their striking contour, Conestoga wagons were imposing because of their sheer bulk. The top of the front hoop was 11 feet from the ground. The white homespun cover was two dozen feet long. The top ends of the wagon bed were 16 feet apart and the rear wheels five or slx feet high. When the six-horse team was pulling, the team and wagon stretched to 60 feet.

The driver of one o.f these Conestoga wagons rode on a “lazy board” when he was not walking beside his team, or astride the saddle horse. This “lazy board”, which was usually made of strong white oak, was pulled out on the left hand side of the wagon and from it the driver could operate the brake and call to his horses. The saddle horse was the wheel horse on the left hand side.

Mr. Omwake makes the interesting comment that “the wagoner was the first driver to drive from the left side. Coaches and all other vehicles of his day were driven trom the right side. But the wagoner, for whom all other trafllc had to make room, sat on the left and inaugurated the American custom of passing approaching traffic to the right instead of following the Engllsh rule.”

(To be concluded)

Before starting today’s column this writer has leafed through the series of scrap books in which she has kept the clippings of “Your Town and My Town” since the first column appeared in the March 11, 1949, issue of “The Suburban.”

So many subjects have been touched upon in the course of these four years, that there seems but one connecting link – local interest – and there is one subject to which she returns at more or less regular intervals. That is the old Lancaster Turnpike, and its evolution from the days when it was a narrow Indian trail through the wilderness down to the present, when it has become part of one of the great automobile highways of America.

More than any one factor, Lancaster Pike seems to make Wayne and all Radnor township part of a great land that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. For “our Pike” is now, indeed, the Eastern link of the great transcontinental Lincoln Highway (U.S. route 30) that stretches from ocean to ocean.

Like most of the early dirt roads, especially in the 13 origlnal states, both the Lancaster highway and the Old Conestoga road followed the route of the old Indian trails through the wilderness. Such trails, worn as they were by soft moccasins, were originally usually only 12 to 18 inches wide. How long these particular trails had served the Indians no one knows. But it was in the closing years of the 17th and the early years of the 18th century that they were first traversed by white men, mostly of hardy farming stock, who had come from strife torn countries overseas at the invitation of William Penn. Over these trails they pushed their way westward into the wilderness that the Indians had named “Conestoga”, meaning “Great Magic Land”.

Although some of these early settlers came to trade with the Indians, the majority came to establish homes and farms in this new land. With a rugged heritage from their forebears they were able to cope with the hardships of a new and uncultivated country in order to establish farms for themselves and their families. Many of these pioneers were Germans who settled in Lancaster County. Others were equally hardy Swedish settlers.

For a time the narrow Indian trails were all the roadways that were required by these first white farmers in Pennsylvania. But as their farms flourished, transportation became an increasingly important factor. Most farmers had one or more horses of their own to carry produce to market, and some had enough teams to specialize in transport work. Soon the Conestoga wagon evolved from the first crude vehicle. And then came the development of a special breed of farm horse, known also as the Conestoga horse. Both wagons and horses were so large and so sturdy that soon after the beginning of the 18th century they doomed the old Indian trails and the pack horses.

The first two highways from Philadelphia to Lancaster County completely by-passed the town of Lancaster itself. These were the Conestoga road and the Paxton road, which were the highways between Lancaster County and the Delaware River until 1733. In that year the Governor and the Provincial Council recognized a petition by the Conestoga farmers for a King’s Highway”. Acting on this petition, the Province ordered that a dirt road 30 feet wide be laid from the courthouse in Center Square, Lancaster, “until it fell in with the highroad in the county of Chester” and so through to the High street Ferry on the Schuylklll. This road was opened in 1741.

Transportation across the Schuylkill was by ferry only until 1805. In January of that year a bridge built of wood, on stone piers, was opened to the public. This structure, which was 1300 feet long and cost $300,000, was the first covered bridge in America. In 1875 it burned and was replaced by a temporary substitute, which in turn gave way to a more permanent one in 1881.

In the meantime, improvements in the road that led from the river toward Lancaster had been keeping pace with the changes in the methods of crossing the Schuylkill. As the country developed and as travel increased, it became evident that a better road was needed. And so, in 1792 the legislature authorized a company to construct a turnpike from Philadelphia to Lancaster, the first road of its kind in the country.

It is said that popular enthusiasm ran so high that the stock offered was heavily oversubscribed, and it became necessary to choose the stockholders by lot from among the many applicants. Begun in 1792, the Lancaster Turnpike was completed in 1794 at a cost of $465,000. Extending the 62 miles between Philadelphia and Lancaster, it was the first stone highway in the country and subsequently became the pattern for those that were to follow it.

The Conestoga wagons that had formerly become mired in the mud of the old highway now found the going along the new highway much easier by comparison.

Picturesque was the scene on the old turnpike in the late 1700’s and the early 1800’s, when the Conestoga wagon, with its broad wheels, rolled along its leisurely way, pulled by its six horse team. And then there was the dray coach swinging upon its leather springs, and the stage wagon and the mail coach, as well as the farm wagon. Interspersed with these vehicles were the large droves of cattle being driven from their inland pastures to the seaboard – and at regular intervals along the stone turnpike were the many old inns of which we have written frequently.

(To be continued)

A Radnor township inn that is still remembered by some of the older residents of this section is the Sorrel Horse Tavern, which once stood on the left-hand side of Conestoga road, just to the east of Sproul road. Built some years earlier, it was first licensed about 1756, and was stilL in operation as the only tavern in the township in 1884, when it was owned and run by heirs of Philip Kirk. When it was torn down some years later, George H. McFadden built his handsome home near the site of the old inn, incorporatlng in its building some of the material from the inn. By calling his place “Sorrel Horse Lodge”, he has even retained the old name in his residence.

Back in the early days of the Sorrel Horse Inn, Conestoga road and the Lancaster turnpike were identical in this section, near Ithan. George Sachse in his book, “Wayside Inns on the Lancaster Highway”, lists the Sorrel Horse as the 14th stop for travelers after crossing the Market Street bridge over the Schuylkill on their journey westward. ln John Faris’ “Old Roads out of Philadelphia”, the latter writes:

“Several miles farther along the old Lancaster road, near the corner of Ithan road, is another inn of the early days, where Washington stopped more than once. This is Sorrel Horse, now occupied as a residence by George H. McFadden. On a bridge over a small stream east of the house is a tablet bearing this message:

‘During the encampment at Valley Forge in the darkest days of the Revolution, the nearby stone dwelling, then the Sorrel Horse Inn, with warm and patriotic welcome sheltered often as its guests Washington and Lafayette.’ ”

Later on in the same chapter, Mr. Faris quotes from a letter written from the Sorrel Horse in 1787, of the roads in this section. This letter says, “In all the times and, seasons I have traveled this road I never found it so bad as at present. From Jesse George’s Hill to this place I could not once get into a trot, but could not compare it to anything but being chin deep in Hasty pudding and obliged to trudge thru it. The Hills, it’s true, are not so slushy but are worn into lopsided ruts so as to be scarcely passable.”

This condition was very much remedied for the traveler, however, only a few years later, when the Lancaster Highway became the first stone turnpike in the country in the mlddle 1790’s.

The next stop to the westwardfor travelers in the early days was orlginally called the ”Signe of the Plow.” Later names were the “Plow and the Harrow” and the “John Wilkes.” Henry Graham Ashmead’s “History of Pennsylvania” tells of many unsuccessful attempts to obtain a license for this tavern, beginning with Michael Atkinson’s in 1732. The latter stated that he “hath rented the house of David Evans, of Radnor, where Evans kept a public house for several years.”

After Atkinson’s petition was refused, one Morgan Hugh, in August, 1734, initiated another petition on which there were 39 signatures, among them those of Frances and Anthony Wayne. He too was refused the first time, but returned later on in the same year with another petition on whlch there were 55 signatures, and “the justice at last yielded to his im- portunity.”

Landlords of this tavem followed each other in quick succession, among them David Evans himself, who stated in his petition that he “liveth at a small place formerly called the Signe of the Plow, which hath been a Publick howse many years”; that he “has wife and children” and wants to sell “Beer and Sider.”

By 1782, one Paul Shannadon informed the court that the title of the old hostelry was then the “John Wilkes”, but formerly it was known as the “Plow and the Harrow.” In 1786 Mary Ring “received license for the ancient stand, after which it no longer appears as a tavern.” For some years this old inn, located only about a mile from the “Sorrel Horse”. must indeed have been much sought after.

The Spread Eagle Inn, which stood just to the west of the present Spread Eagle building, has been described at length in this column about three years ago. Listed by Sachse as the 17th tavern along the turnpike, it is described by him as a few rods above the fourteenth milestone…”

This was a stage stand of the first order and renowned for its cleanliness and good cheer. It was a post tavern and relay station kept for many years by the Slter family. It lay just between the famous old Lamb Tavern described in last week’s column and the almost equally well known “Unicorn Tavern.” It stood just a short distance below the fourteenth milestone “where both the old road and the turnpike cover the same ground”, according to Mr. Sachse.

In discussing their proximity the same author contrasts the two by saying, “At the beginning of the Revolutionary period Spread Eagle was known as the gathering place of the patriots of the vicinity, while Miles’ old tavern, a short distance below, which had been re-christened ‘The Unicorn’ and kept by a local Irishman, was patronized by the citizens who were either Tories or Loyalists.” So strong was the feeling between these two elements that it even expressed itself in fist fights, according to some of the tales of those times.

This old Unicorn Inn, which once stood right in the confines of Wayne, was built by one James Miles, who in 1747 presented his petition that “he has lately built a house on Conestoga (Lancaster) road… and desires that he may have license for a public-house there.”

Some 20 odd years later, after there had been a succession of proprietors for this Inn, Samuel Johnson obtained a license for the ”Unicorn, that ancient and noted tavern.” By 1805, the name had been changed to “The Farmers Inn.” Still later, in 1818, it was designated as the “Commodore Decatur Inn.” A year later its time honored name, “The Unicorn,” was restored, only to be superseded by still another one, the “Black Bear”!

In the 1700’s and 1800’s the Unicorn was as much a part of our community as the famous old Spread Eagle itself. It remained in operation until 1872 when, on St. Valentine’s night, according to the old records, this famous hostelry was completely destroyed by fire. In the heyday of the life of these three well-known taverns, the Unicorn, the Spread Eagle and the Lamb, the yards of all three, in spite of their close proximlty, were filled to their utmost capacity with wagons, stages and teams.

(to be continued)

Following the January 9 issue of this column in which the quaint old “Toast to the Tavern” of a bygone era was quoted, your columnist received a letter from James Dallett, of Wayne, in which he gave some further information in regard to several of the old inns mentioned in the toast. Mr. Dallett, a member of a family which has made its home in and around Wayne since the 1870’s, is much interested in local history in all its aspects. He writes:

“There were many inns in the Radnor tract in Colonial days. The first petition for a license in Radnor which appears on record is dated May 28, 1717, and was presented by Edward Thomas, who informed the court of Chester County that his house was located ‘near ye church called St. David’s Church’ and that he was, because of proximity, ‘obliged to entertain many people come to worship at ye said church’. He was granted a license to sell ‘Beer, Sider, etc.’

Mr. Thomas’ house is, Mr. Dallet believes, “the property presently occupied by Frank C. Strohkarck on Valley Forge road just above the churchyard of Old St. David’s Church.”

This was probably not an inn in the true sense of the word. At least it does not seem to have had an official name. But there are several others that did a thriving business in this vicinity, which Mr. Dallett does designate by name. Among them are the “Sign of the Plow”, subsequently known as the “Plow and the Harrow”, and later as the “John Wilkes”; the “Unicorn”, later the “Farmers Inn”, and later still the “Decatur Inn” in honor of the national hero of that time, after which it went back to its original and best known name, “The Unicorn”. Others in this general neighborhood were the “Sorrel Horse Tavern” and the “Lamb Tavern”.

All of these inns are listed and described by Julius Sachse in his book, “Wayside Inns on the Lancaster Highway”, published in the late 1800’s. Mr. Sachse identifies the location of each one in relation to its proximity to the old milestones. Thus the Lamb Tavern “first inn on the turnpike in Chester County”, stood a short distance east of the 15th milestone, while the Spread Eagle, which was right on the border line of Chester County, stood “a few rods above the 14th milestone on the turnpike.”

In this connection It is interesting to note that the 13th milestone still stands at Wayne’s busiest intersection at the northwest corner of Wayne avenue and Lancaster highway, directly in front of the entrance to the Cobb and Lawless store. It is now protected by a strong iron grill erected by the Wayne Iron Works some years ago. This small white stone with its brief inscription, “13 m. to P”, has stood on this spot since shortly after 1796, the year in which the Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike, the first stone highway in the United States, was completed.

Mr. Sachse’s book contains copies of the old “distance tables” published prior to the building of the turnpike. In these the starting point of measurement was from the courthouse, then located at Second and Market streets in Philadelphia. However, when the present milestones were put in place, the distance noted in them was from the Schuylkill River. “Consequently the location of the old landmarks appears to be two miles less than on the older distance tables.”

The route of the present Lancaster Highway differs slightly in places from that of the original first stone highway. This is shown by the location of the old Lamb Tavern, since in its modernized form it stands on the corner of Old Conestoga road and Valley Forge road in Devon. It is evident from this that at one time both Old Conestoga road and the turnpike were identical in certain sections. The beautiful old white stone residence, which stands close to the road at the present corner of Valley Forge and Old Conestoga roads, is described by Mr. Dallett as follows:

“The Lamb tavern mentioned in the old toast of the roads still stands in altered form at the corner of Conestoga and Valley Forge roads in Devon, and is now known as “Roughwood”. It was built in the middle of the 18th century and its situation on the edge of Valley Forge road (also known as Baptist road) made it a point of refreshment for farmers from near Valley Forge on their way to the Lancaster turnpike and thence to Philadelphia.

“This was the road which started at the fortification called Star Redoubt, west of the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge and moved southwestward towards Berwyn. The original line of the old road has disappeared, but in Washington’s time it crossed the parade ground, passed to the east of General Varruni’s headquarters, and at a curve at the farm of Senator Knox (now the Tindle property) southeast towards the Valley Baptist Church and continued on to what is now Devon. There is a tradition that there was a colonial burial ground near this road, in which graves of soldiers who died at Valley Forge so augmented earlier graves that one might walk hundreds of feet using the graves as stepping stones.

“After turning southwestward at the Knox-Tindle property, the road struck out in direct course past the Valley Baptist Church. Although diversions from the old line now exist, Franklin L. Burns, of Berwyn, a local archaeologist, has reported that it passed Valley Baptist Church, went straight up the hill towards Devon, skirted the northern edge of the G. G. Browning estate, the Cathcart Home, and the Charles Lea estate, until it crossed Conestoga road. Here it continued transversely over the present ‘Roughwood’ property, the old Lamb tavern standing immediately adjacent to the road, and crossed Old Lancaster pike in a straight line. Certain large ash trees standing in a row in the middle of the lanes at ‘Roughwood’ still mark the former course of the old road. The present course of the road necessitates a sharp turn to the left on Old Lancaster pike, which it follows 200 feet before turning southward again.

“During the Revolutionary War, American troops quartered at Valley Forge stopped at the Lamb
tavern, and Washington himself is said to have tarried at the bar for an hour or so! It was within the American picket lines. The Lamb later became a farmhouse and so remained until early in the 1870’s, when it was bought by Michael Dallett (1845-1902), a member of the firm of Dallett and Company, which operated the ‘Red D Line’ in Philadelphia and New York. This had been founded in the 1830’s by Michael’s father, John Dallett, and his uncle, Henry Carpenter Dallett, as the first regular clipper ship line running between Philadelphia and Venezuelan ports in the coffee trade.

“Michael had married, in 1869, Mark Kirkbride Peterson, daughter of Israel Peterson, mayor of Philadelphia. He bought the old Lamb as a summer place for his young bride, while other members of the Dallett family summered at Wayne. Michael Dallett named the house ‘Roughwood’ and beautified the 16 acres of ground. Mrs. Dallett was a niece of Joseph John Gurney, the English Quaker banker, and to ‘Roughwood’ came many prominent Engllsh and Venezuelan visitors as well as American ones.

“In 1890 the Dallett family modernized the old stone house into a more or less Georgian type mansion, retaining the marvelous old hand-carved stairway and interesting fireplaces. After this they spent more and more time at the ‘summer’ place in Devon. It later became the permanent home of Michael Dallett’s daughter, Frances, who became Mrs. Stephen Fuguet, and remained in the possesion of the Fuguet family until a few years ago. It is one of the showplace residences of this area today.”

(The late Frank Dallett, who lived for many years on Windermere avenue and Michael Dallett were double first cousins.)

(To be continued)