For our agents and drivers
Are all fully bent,
To go for cold water,
On line Good Intent,
Sing, go it, my hearties,
Cold water for me.’
“Isaac Cleaves was not behind as a caterer to the inner man, and a dinner or supper by the stage passengers, after being rocked and tossed at a six miles per hour rate, was relished even by Tippecanoe and Corwin, too, and Democrats did not starve nor turn up their noses because old Isaac was a Whig. He had a famous recipe for the cure of the ague, which for its queer compound he was often required to give, not so much for the ingredients; they were very simple; but for the first preparation for the compound. This was to boil down a quart of water to a pint. And to the inquiry, ‘What is the water boiled down for, Uncle Isaac?’ he would reply, ‘to make it stronger.’
“A little further, and last, was Major William Bradshaw, just over in Belmont county. He was the soul of wit and humour, and gave out many expressions that have become noted. To all that he did not feel disposed to entertain, he gave the answer, ‘Take the Janesville road.’ His toast drank in honor of the Fairview guards, a military company that had been parading ‘with plumes and banners gay,’ just after the close of the Mexican war, will live in the military history of Guernsey county—‘Soldiers in peace, civilians in war.’”
The Smiths above mentioned all drove stages on the road east of Wheeling, before going to Ohio, and lived in Brownsville. All the male members of the family were drivers, including Samuel, the father. His sons were, Samuel, jr., Gilbert, Quill, Bate and Nat, familiar names in the early history of the road.