One mile west of Mrs. Wooding’s old stand the traveler reaches the Little Crossings, a name given to the locality from the circumstance that here the road crosses the Castleman river; and the prefix “little” is used because the Castleman is a smaller stream than the Youghiogheny, which is crossed a few miles further westward, and called the Big Crossings. There was no tavern at the Little Crossings previous to the year 1836. Subsequent to that date a tavern was established there by Alexander Carlisle, who entertained the traveling public in a satisfactory manner. His house was a large frame structure, on the south side of the road, subsequently kept by John and Samuel McCurdy, and later, at different times, by David Johnson, William Dawson, Elisha Brown, Jacob Conrod and David Mahaney. Although nearly twenty years elapsed from the building of the road before any old landlord at Little Crossings beckoned the weary traveler to rest and refreshment, nevertheless, thereafter, and until business ceased on the line, that locality presented many and rare attractions, as all old pike boys are ready to verify.
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
Old Taverns and Tavern Keepers continued—Little Crossings to Winding Ridge—Grantsville—The Old Shultz, Steiner and Fuller Houses—The Veteran, David Mahaney—Thomas Thistle, Widow Haldeman, Death of Mrs. Recknor, Negro Mountain, Keyser’s Ridge, Log Cabin Boys of 1840, James Stoddard, Dennis Hoblitzell, The Fears, The McCurdys, Adam Yeast, David Johnson, Perry Shultz, Truman Fairall, John Woods, The Bane House, Wooing and Wedding of an Old Tavern Keeper, James Reynolds, Henry Walters.
Next after leaving the Little Crossings on the westward march, comes Grantsville, a romantic little mountain village in Garrett, formerly Alleghany, county, Maryland, named long before the hero of Appomattox was known to fame, and therefore not in his honor. In 1833 Samuel Gillis kept a tavern in the east end of Grantsville, on the south side of the road, the same house that in later years was kept by John Slicer. It was a wagon stand in the time of Gillis, and Slicer did not take charge of it until business had ceased on the road. John Lehman kept a tavern in Grantsville in 1836. He was a son-in-law, as was Peter Yeast, of the good old widow Wooding, before mentioned.
The Lehman House was subsequently kept by Henry Fuller, and after him by George Smouse. It was a frame building near the center of the village, on the south side of the street and road. In 1843 Henry Fuller demolished this old house, and erected a new one in its place. Adam Shultz kept a tavern at the east end of Grantsville back in the forties, and dying in charge, was succeeded by his son Perry, who continued it down to the year 1852, when the ancient glories of the old pike began to weaken and wane. The Shultz House was an imposing brick structure, on the south side of the road, and was kept for a while by the veteran David Mahaney, and at one time by Jesse King. Perry Shultz was subsequently elected sheriff of Alleghany county, Maryland. Solomon Steiner also kept a tavern in Grantsville during a portion of the prosperous era of the road. Grantsville seems to have been a favorite locality for tavern keepers of German names and antecedents. Steiner’s tavern was a brick building, and stood on the opposite side of the road from the old Shultz House. Steiner built it, owned it, and died in it, and his son, Archibald, conducted it for a number of years after his father’s death. It was a wagon stand. The Fuller House was kept at different times by John D. Wrench, Bazil Garletts, Barney Brown, John Slicer, William Slicer, William Beffler, John Millinger, and Nathaniel Slicer. Christian M. Livengood is the present proprietor. Archibald Steiner was succeeded in his father’s old house, first, by William Shaw, and thereafter in turn by John Millinger and Jonas E. Canagy, the present proprietor, and it is now called the Farmer’s House.
David Mahaney, whose name frequently appears in these pages, is a remarkable man. A boy when the National Road was made, he has lived on and near it all his life. His present residence is Dunbar, Fayette county, Pa., but he is a familiar figure on the streets of Uniontown. He is the father of Lloyd Mahaney, the well known enterprising owner and manager of the handsome new Mahaney house in Uniontown, and of George Mahaney, also a popular hotel man, who at one time kept the Dixon house in Greensburg, afterward a hotel in Pittsburg, and at the present time is conducting a house in Latrobe. David Mahaney was born in Washington county, Md., near Hagerstown, in 1807, and is therefore in his eighty-sixth year, while he has the appearance of a man not over sixty. His complexion is swarthy, step elastic, and his memory but slightly impaired by the inroads of time. His father was a native of Culpeper county, Va., who met with a melancholy death by drowning in the Potomac river, on the night of the presidential election of 1856. His polling place was eight miles from his residence, in Maryland, and to reach it and vote involved the crossing of the Potomac. It was late in the evening when he left the polls to return home, and upon reaching the river, by some untoward accident fell into the water and perished. David Mahaney’s first venture in tavern keeping on his own account was at the old Shultz house in Grantsville. He was personally acquainted with Henry Clay, Thomas H. Benton, Lewis Cass, and others of the old time statesmen, and frequently entertained them.
As early as 1836 Thomas Thistle kept a tavern at the foot of Negro Mountain, two miles west of Grantsville. With a name somewhat rasping in its import, Thistle had a smooth tongue, a mild manner, and furnished excellent entertainment for the traveling public. He was one of the oldest and best known tavern keepers on the road. His house was a long, frame wooden building, on the south side of the road, at times a stage station, and throughout its entire existence a wagon stand. Here the National Road crosses the line of the old Braddock road. In 1844 William Dehaven kept the old Thistle tavern, and later it was kept by Levi Dean.
One and a half miles west from the old Thistle house, and on the eastern slope of Negro Mountain, the widow Haldeman kept a tavern as early as 1840, and like all the widows, had a large patronage. While conducting this house, Mrs. Haldeman became the wife of Daniel Smouse, who thereafter took charge of it. The house was a log building, on the south side of the road, and the spacious grounds surrounding it were crowded, night after night, with six-horse teams and big, broad wheeled wagons, covered with canvass, presenting the appearance of a military encampment. This old house was subsequently kept by George Smouse, and later by John Wright. The widow Recknor, of savory memory, before mentioned, died a boarder in this old tavern, much lamented.