THE STAGE COACH ROAD THROUGH CAROLINE
The road which passes through the entire length of Caroline
county, and which is commonly called the Bowling Green-Hanover
Highway, is one of the oldest roads in Virginia. Just when it was
first surveyed cannot be definitely determined, but it is certain
that this road was used by through traffic from North to South
before the end of the seventeenth century.
The stage coaches which passed over this road over two
hundred years ago ran on a fixed schedule and many notables
passed this way in the colonial times. Over this road passed
John Penn, en-route from the Province of North Carolina to the
Continental Congress in Philadelphia; Edmund Pendleton,
General William Woodford, George Washington, LaFayette and
a host of others, whose names are writ large in the nation's life.
Of course, there were other and less frequented roads between
the North and South, but the stages on such routes were irregular
and the inns or taverns along the way were often kept by disreputable
and vicious persons. Many of them indeed were
veritable robber's dens. It was in one of these frontier taverns
that Meriwether Lewis, of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition,
was robbed and murdered. He was enroute to Philadelphia at
the time to arrange for the publication of his Journal of the
great expedition.
The taverns along the road through Caroline were at intervals
of from five to ten miles and were also relay stations where the
tired horses were replaced by fresh ones, thus giving to travel
both uniform and rapid speed. These taverns were rude structures
at first, but were kept by reputable persons and as time passed
the log structure gave way to commodious brick or frame buildings
which gave to the traveler many comforts. As a rule the
main door opened into a large room corresponding to the lobby
or foyer of our modern hotels and here the travelers and others
gathered during the long evenings and recounted the experiences
of travel, discussed politics and religion—mainly politics—and
played cards. The taverns were the resorts of the social element
of the surrounding community and here the people assembled on
Saturdays to spend the time in scientific, literary and political
discussion, wrestling, racing, target practice, shooting-matches,
"raffles" and other amusements. Near these taverns the petit
musters were held, as were the barbecues, beef-shootings, etc.
The prices charged by the taverns in Caroline and other counties
were regulated by the county courts every year and thus we
find among the old records of Caroline, Orange, Hanover and
adjoining counties, that as early as 1735 such orders as the following
were entered:
"The Court doth set and rate liquors: Rum, the gallon, eight
shillings; Virginia brandy, six shillings; Punch, or Flipp, the
quart, with white sugar, one and three pence, with brown sugar,
one shilling; French brandy, sixteen shillings; Punch of same,
two and six pence; Frill or Maderia wine, quart, two shillings;
a hot dyet one shilling; a cold dyet six pence; a lodging with
clean sheets six pence; Oats, the gallon, six pence; Pasturage,
the day, six pence per head."
"Ordered that the several tavern keepers in this county sell
and retail liquors at the above rates and that they presume not
to sell at any other rates, and that if any person do not pay
immediately that he pay for the same at the Fall in tobacco
at ten shillings the hundred weight."
A bar was always kept in connection with the taverns and,
if we may believe the stories which have been handed down to us,
they were liberally patronized. Perhaps the bar contributed
something to the warmth of the political discussions of the time.
Traveling showmen frequently came to the taverns and gave
their plays. Bishop Meade, in his "Old Churches and Families
of Virginia," relates that several of these strolling players came
to "White Chimneys" in Caroline, and there arranged for an
exhibition. The neighbors came in and joined the guests to
witness the performance. For some reason one of the troupe
could not fill his role and a clergyman stopping there, one Rev.
Mr. Weems, better known to history as "Parson Weems,"
volunteered to take the part and so the play went on very satisfactorily.
This versatile clergyman was at the time a traveling
book-seller for Matthew Carey, of Philadelphia, and later
wrote a "Life of Washington." Bishop Meade's characterizes
Weems as "one of nature's oddities," and says of him that he
never preached or prayed but that he created uproarious merriment,
many of his prayers being entirely broken up by the uproar
created.
There were five taverns in colonial times and long afterward,
on this historic Caroline road. The first one approached by the
traveler coming from the North was called Tod's Tavern, afterward
Vilboro, and was located about six miles from the Caroline-Spotsylvania
line. A school was maintained in the old building
after it ceased to be used as a tavern. Part of the building still
stands. Mrs. W. R. W. Garrett relates that she attended a
school here taught by Prof. Moore Boulware. Eight miles South
of Vilboro stood New Hope tavern on the site now occupied by
the Lawn Hotel, of Bowling Green. Ten miles South of Bowling
Green stood Union tavern, at the junction of the Penola road
with the Bowling Green-Hanover Highway, and four miles to
the South of Union tavern was White Chimneys tavern. Two
miles to the South of White Chimneys and five miles North of
Page's Bridge, the Southern boundary of the county, stood
Needwood tavern. This was a large three-story brick building
and the best tavern on the road. The building stood until 1920
and was occupied for many years by an old woman and her
hogs. The people for the most part called her "the Witch."
When Mr. J. C. Haley razed the old building, that he might use
the material in erecting his garage and other out-buildings, the
names of many men well-known to history were found carved
in the bricks.
Mr. Jourdan Woolfolk, of Caroline, operated the stage coach
line over this road as late as 1836, for a time table of the Richmond,
Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad of that year, which
is reproduced elsewhere in this volume, states that, "The stage
traveling (in connection with this road) is conducted by J.
Woolfolk & Co., in the handsomest manner." The old stage
line records are still in the possession of his descendants who
reside at "Mulberry Place" in Caroline.
