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Chapter XX
Traveling And Transportation.
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away, leaving his daughter at the house of worship, and that he did not notice that she was not with him until he had gone several miles. The late William Worrall, of Ridley, who was born in Marple in 1730, used to relate that in his youthful days, at marriages, the bride rode to meeting behind her father or next best friend, seated on a pillion; that after the ceremony was over and the wedded couple were ready to return, the pillion was then placed behind the saddle of the husband, and his wife would in that manner be conveyed to her new home. At that time, and until a very recent period, all houses, in the country at least, had high horse-blocks for women to use in mounting behind the men who rode the animals. These blocks were usually three stone steps, and were also located near by all the old churches and meeting-houses. In more modern days they were used to mount into side-saddles.
In the early times all merchandise and freight was transported on pack-horses. Grain was thus carried to market in large sacks, holding between two and three bushels which were placed on pack-saddles, and a lad mounted on one animal would lead three or four in a line behind the one he rode. Mr. Worrall also stated that in his youth "there were no carts, much less carriages. They hauled their grain on sleds to the stacks. He assisted his father to carry on horseback one hundred bushels of wheat to Charles Humphrey's mill, in Haverford township, which he sold for two shillings a bushel." In this statement he was partly correct. We know that by means of pack-horses the most unwieldy articles were then transported, - bars of iron, barrels of whiskey, and other necessaries. Mr. Worrall was not, however, accurate in declaring that there were no carriages in the province in his early manhood, for in 1725 there were eight gentlemen of means, including the Governor, each of whom was reported to own a four-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses, and at that time one of the number was kept in the present county of Delaware by Chief Justice David Lloyd, who lived in the old Porter house, as it was known to the present generation, at the foot of Welsh Street. That they were clumsy vehicles cannot be doubted, for even the chair or old-fashioned sulky, that many of the older people can yet recall, was nothing but a common arm-chair on leather braces, suspended over a pair of wheels. The latter conveyance was exceedingly light in weight, which was only proper at that time, when between the highwaymen, who perchance would bid you "stand and deliver" at any moment, and the miry road, almost hub-deep in winter, which might stall you for half a day, no prudent man was justified in traveling a hundred miles without first making his will and so far as he could winding up his affairs, for he had no assurance that he would ever return alive, hence the lighter the vehicle he rode in the greater would be his chance of getting safely home again. The roads in early times were simply narrow passes for horsemen, and the bridges, as shown by the court records, were built for the passage over the streams of persons traveling in that manner. On Nov. 24, 1708, the justices ordered James Hendrickson to repair the bridge over Chester Creek, and also the same day the court "further agreed that the said James Hendrickson shall build a bridge over Marcus Hook creek in the Queen's Road, where the old bridge now is, and erect it 10 foot broad and so long as is sufficient and necessary for the same to extend, and to build it all of white oak timber completely finished." The roads, too, previous to 1700, were impassable for horsemen, and travel by water was even intercepted in these times. At a court held in Chester, Seventh month 14, 1692, a case was called, and neither party to the suit appearing, the records show this entry, "The Court considering that the weather was so bad that it was impossible for anyone to get down the River they thought fitt to continue the action until the next Court." The people residing near the navigable streams, certainly before the beginning of the eighteenth century, traveled from place to place by water. It was not until about 1720 that any carriages, save that of Penn's family, were used in the province, and they were then so rare that in passing along the road they excited as much attention from the rustics as a circus does at this time. About the middle of the century they had come into fashion among the grandees of our colonial days. We are informed that Col. Harrison, of Virginia, in 1755, passed through Chester in his chaise1 on his way southward, having Mrs. Belchior, of Maryland, under his protection. We know that Gen. Washington rode through the country with a coach and four, with two postilions and an outrider in showy livery. Frequently he passed through Chester in this style, or rather his family would be in the carriage, while he, mounted on a handsome horse, which he rode remarkably well, would follow, the wonder and admiration of the dwellers in the ancient borough, who would gather along the streets to see him pass. He generally stopped at the Washington House, and when his imposing equipage would halt before the door of the old tavern, the entire business of the town would cease, and the people would loiter around until the great man and his coach had rumbled away in the distance. | 1 "Maryland Gossip in 1755," Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. iii. p. 146 | ||
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In 1732 a line of stages ran from Burlington to Amboy, across New Jersey, connecting at each end of the route with sail-boats. These fast stage-coaches, for such they were called, showed at that period remarkable progress in means of passenger transportation. A journey then was no unimportant event, when by the clumsy stage a man could travel about forty miles a day; that is, if the roads were in good condition; while even to do this, if the highway was | |||