THE ENDSLEY HOUSE.
And now the hills that skirt the Youghiogheny river rise to view, and Somerfield is reached, an ancient little town, which the old metal mile posts on the road persist in calling Smithfield. That this town was once called Smithfield there can be no doubt, and that it now is Somerfield is equally clear. It was originally called Smithfield, because its founder’s name was Smith, but the postoffice department changed it to Somerfield on account of the great multitude of Smiths and Smithfields in all portions of the universe. Somerfield has been the scene of many a lively incident of the old road. Here light feet, impelled by lighter hearts, tripped to the notes of merry music, and the ringing laugh and sprightly jokes of the old stage driver and wagoner, enlivened the now dull halls of the old taverns. The most noted old tavern keeper of Somerfield was Capt. Thomas Endsley. Somerfield was always a stage station, the second relay east of Uniontown. The Endsley House was the headquarters of Stockton’s line. It is a stone building, and stands near the bank of the river at the western end of the town, and was erected in the year 1818 by Kinkead, Beck & Evans, the old bridge builders, and occupied and conducted as a tavern by James Kinkead, the senior member of the firm, from the date of its completion to the year 1822. John Campbell was its next occupant, who kept it for a term of two years, and until 1824. Capt. Endsley then took charge of it, and conducted it down to the year 1829. John Shaffer kept it from 1829 to 1831, when Capt. Endsley again took charge and continued down to 1834, when Redding Bunting was installed, and conducted it down to the year 1837. He was succeeded by John Richards, who remained in charge until 1840. Squire Hagan conducted it from 1840 to 1842, and Aaron Wyatt from 1842 to 1847, when Capt. Endsley, the third time, re-entered, and remained in charge until 1852, when he gave place to his son William, the present incumbent. This old house is as solid as when first constructed. Its foundation walls are not the least impaired, and its mortar pointings are as hard as the stones, while the wood work, and notably the doors, casings and mantel pieces, are in a perfect state of preservation, attesting the skill of the mechanics at the early period in which the house was built. Near the center of the town, on the south side of the street, an old log tavern was kept by John Campbell, as early as the year 1824, and immediately after his retirement from the Endsley House. He was succeeded in turn at this house by L. C. Dunn, Samuel Frazee, Moses Jennings, and John Bradfield. The June Bug line of stages stopped at this house, and for a while the Good Intent line. It went out of business in 1853, was remodeled and improved, and is now the private residence of James Watson. Prior to 1837 and down to 1849 a tavern was kept on the north side of the street in Somerfield, by Daniel Blucher, J. Tantlinger, Capt. Morrow, Aaron Wyatt, Andrew Craig, Samuel Thompson and P. R. Sides, in the order given. This house ceased to do business in 1849, and was pulled down in 1883, and never rebuilt. In 1823 James Kinkead, the old bridge builder, kept a tavern in a brick house on the south side of the street in Somerfield. This house was afterward and successively kept by William Imhoff, James Watson, Lot Watson, John Irvin and Ephraim Vansickle. Vansickle was a blind man and engaged in tavern keeping when the glory of the road was fading away. He had many of the elements of a successful tavern keeper, and furnished satisfactory entertainment to the few travelers and strangers who sought shelter and refreshment under his kindly roof; but he was too late. Tavern keeping on the National Road was but a legend when he embarked in the business, and he was constrained to listen day after day, and night after night to the glowing recitals of the good times in bygone years, and reconcile himself as best he could to the existing situation. At Somerfield the road crosses the Youghiogheny river over a large, handsome and substantial stone bridge, three hundred and seventy-five feet in length, with three symmetrical arches, and appropriately named by old pike boys the Big Crossings. A large dressed stone in the wall of this bridge above the surface of the road, and near the eastern end, bears the inscription; “Kinkead, Beck & Evans, builders, July 4th, 1818.” The day of the month, the anniversary of Independence, is given because on that day the bridge was finished, and the occasion was celebrated with great eclat. The inhabitants of the mountains for miles around, male and female, old and young, with old fashioned banners and old fashioned music, turned out in great numbers, inspired by that genuine patriotism which characterized the early period of our country’s independence, while yet many of the soldiers of the revolution were living, and were addressed in eloquent terms by the Hon. Andrew Stewart, Col. Samuel Evans, Hon. John Dawson and John M. Austin, of Uniontown.
[CHAPTER XXXI.]
Old Taverns and Tavern Keepers continued—Big Crossings to Mt. Washington—Old Shellbark, Jacob Probasco, Jockey Hollow, Old Tom Brown, Mt. Augusta, Marlow’s, the Three Cabins, McCollough’s—A Fugitive Slave Tragedy—A Sermon cut short by the Baying of Hounds—Charley Rush—The Sheep’s Ear—the Bull’s Head, the Old Inks House, Nick McCartney, Boss Rush, Samuel Frazer, John Rush.
The first old tavern west of the “Big Crossings,” and the first in Fayette county, Pa. (for the river here is the boundary line between the counties of Fayette and Somerset), is that which for many years was kept by Peter Lenhart, commonly known as “Shellbark.” This is a two-story house, originally built with logs, but subsequently weather-boarded and painted red. The red, however, has long since disappeared, and it now wears the dingy, dark colored hue that settles upon all ancient buildings. A man named Ebert built this house and occupied it as a private residence. He was a tanner by trade, and a justice of the peace. He sold out to Peter Lenhart’s father, who occupied the house also as a private residence until his death, when his son Peter succeeded him and opened up the house as a tavern, and soon after added a distillery. The house had a good custom and “Shellbark” was prosperous. He was an eccentric man, and like Orator Puff, had two tones to his voice. He had a habit, upon rising every morning, of cutting a large slice from a loaf of bread, spreading it with butter, and eating it in connection with a glass of whiskey. He enjoyed this matutinal habit for many years, and rarely omitted it. Why he was called “Shellbark” is not accurately known. He was in early life an old-line Democrat, but in later years got “mixed up,” and seemed to have lost his political moorings. He died a few years ago, and his widow and daughter remain in the old house, occasionally entertaining strangers and travelers in very satisfactory style.
THE BIG CROSSINGS.