Historic Highways of America Volume X Part 3

OPERATION AND CONTROL

The c.u.mberland Road was built by the United States Government under the supervision of the War Department. Of its builders, whose names will ever live in the annals of the Middle West, Brigadier-general Gratiot, Captains Delafield, McKee, Bliss, Bartlett Hartzell, Williams, Colquit, and Ca.s.s, and Lieutenants Mansfield, Vance, and Pickell are best remembered on the eastern division. Nearly all became heroes of the Mexican or Civil Wars, McKee falling at Buena Vista, Williams at Monterey, and Mansfield, then major-general, at Antietam.

Among the best known supervisors in the west were Commissioners C. W.

Weaver, G. Dutton, and Jonathan Knight.

The road had been built across the Ohio River but a short time when it was realized that a revenue must be raised for its support from those who traveled upon it. As we have seen, a law was pa.s.sed in both houses of Congress, in 1824, authorizing the Government to erect tollgates and charge toll on the c.u.mberland Road as the states should surrender this right.[18] This bill was vetoed by President Monroe, on grounds already stated, and the road fell into a very bad condition. But what the national Government could not do the individual states could do, and, consequently, as fast as repairs were completed, the Government surrendered the road to the states through which it pa.s.sed. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia, accepted completed portions of the road between 1831 and 1834.[19] The legislatures of Ohio and Pennsylvania at once pa.s.sed laws concerning the erection of tollgates, Ohio authorizing one gate every twenty miles, February 4, 1831,[20] and Pennsylvania authorizing the erection of six tollgates by an act pa.s.sed April 11, of the same year.[21]

The gates in Pennsylvania were located as follows: Gate No. 1 at the east end of Petersburg, No. 2 near Mt. Was.h.i.+ngton, No. 3 near Searights, No. 4 near Beallsville, No. 5 near Was.h.i.+ngton, and No. 6 near West Alexander.

The c.u.mberland Road was under the control of commissioners appointed by the President of the United States, the state legislatures, or governors.[22] Upon these commissioners lay the task of repairing the road, which included the making of contracts, reviewing the work done, and rendering payment for the same. None of the work of building the road fell on the state officials. Therefore, in Ohio, two great departments were simultaneously in operation, the building of the road by the government officials, and the work of operating and repairing the road, under state officials. Two commissioners were appointed in Pennsylvania, in 1847, one acting east, and the other west, of the Monongahela River.[23] In 1836 Ohio placed all her works of internal improvement under the supervision of a Board of Public Works, into whose hands the c.u.mberland Road pa.s.sed.[24] Special commissioners were appointed from time to time by the state legislatures to perform special duties, such as overseeing work being done, auditing accounts, or settling disputes.[25] Two resident engineers were appointed over the eastern and western divisions of the road in Ohio, thus doing away with the continual employment and dismissal of the most important of all officials. These engineers made quarterly reports concerning the road's condition.[26]

The road was conveniently divided by the several states into departments. East of the Ohio River, the Monongahela River was a division line, the road being divided by it into two divisions.[27] West of the Ohio the eighty-seventh mile post from Wheeling was, at one time, a division line between two departments in Ohio.[28] Later, the road in Ohio was cut up into as many divisions as counties through which it pa.s.sed.[29] The work of repairing was let by contract, for which bids had been previously advertised. Contracts were usually let in one-mile sections, sometimes for a longer s.p.a.ce, notice of the length being given in the advertis.e.m.e.nt for bids. Contractors were compelled to give testimonials of good character and reliability; though one contract, previously quoted, professed to be satisfied with "competent or responsible individuals only." A time limit was usually named in the contract, with penalties for failure to complete the work in time a.s.signed.

The building of the road was hailed with delight by hundreds of contractors and thousands of laborers, who now had employment offered them worthy of their best labor, and the work, when well done, stood as a lasting monument to their skill. Old papers and letters speak frequently of the enthusiasm awakened among the laboring cla.s.ses by the building of the great road, and of the lively scenes witnessed in those busy years. Contractors who early earned a reputation followed the road westward, taking up contract after contract as opportunity offered.

Farmers who lived on the route of the road engaged in the work when not busy in their fields, and for their labor and the use of the teams received good pay. Thus not only in its heyday did the road prove a benefit to the country through which it pa.s.sed, but at the very beginning it became such, and not a little of the money spent upon it by the Government went into the very pockets from which it came by the sale of land.

The great pride taken by the states in the c.u.mberland Road is brought out significantly in the laws pa.s.sed concerning it. Pennsylvania and Ohio legislatures pa.s.sed laws as early as 1828, and within three days of each other (Pennsylvania, April 7,[30] and Ohio, April 11[31]), looking toward the permanent repair and preservation of the road. There were penalties for breaking or defacing the milestones, culverts, parapet walls, and bridges. A person found guilty of such act of vandalism was "fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in a dungeon of the jail of the county, and be fed on bread and water only, not exceeding thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court."[32] There were penalties for allowing the drains to become obstructed, for premature traveling on unfinished portions of the roadbed;[33] for permitting a wagon to stand over night on the roadbed, and for locking wheels, except where ice made this necessary. Local authorities were ordered to build suitable culverts wherever the roads connected with the c.u.mberland Road. "Directors" were ordered to be set up, to warn drivers to turn to the left when pa.s.sing other teams.[34]

The rates of toll were ordered to be posted where the public could see them.[35] "Beacons" were erected along the margin of the roadbed to keep teams from turning aside. Laws were pa.s.sed forbidding the removal of these.[36]

The operation of the c.u.mberland Road included the establishment of the toll system, which provided the revenue for keeping it in repair; and from the tolls the most vital statistics concerning the old road are to be obtained. Immediately upon the pa.s.sing of the road into the control of the individual states, tollgates were authorized, as previously noted. Schedules of tariff were published by the various states. The schedule of 1831 in Pennsylvania was as follows:

TOLLS ON THE c.u.mBERLAND ROAD IN PENNSYLVANIA (1831)

Score of sheep or hogs .06

Score of cattle .12

Led or driven horse .03

Horse and rider .04

Sleigh or sled, for each horse or pair of oxen drawing the same .03

Dearborn, sulky, chair or chaise with one horse .06

Chariot, coach, coachee, stage, wagon, phaeton, chaise, with two horses and four wheels .12

Either of the carriages last mentioned with four horses .18

Every other carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sum, according to the number of wheels, and horses drawing the same.

Cart or wagon whose wheels shall exceed two and one-half inches in breadth, and not exceeding four inches .04

Horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, and every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed four inches, and not exceed five inches in breadth .03

Horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, for every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed six inches, and not more than eight inches .02

Horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, all other carts or wagons whose wheels shall exceed eight inches in breadth free

The tolls established the same year in Ohio (see table, pp. 103-104) were higher than those charged in Pennsylvania.

The philosophy of the toll system is patent. Rates of toll were determined by the wear on the road. Tolls were charged in order to keep the road in repair, and, consequently, each animal or vehicle was taxed in proportion as it damaged the roadbed. Cattle were taxed twice as heavily as sheep or hogs, and, according to the tariff of 1845, hogs were taxed twice as much as sheep. The tariff on vehicles was determined by the width of the tires used, for the narrower the tire the more the roadbed was cut up. Wide tires were encouraged, those over six inches (later eight) went free, serving practically as rollers. The toll-rates in Ohio are exhibited in the following table:

TOLLS ON THE c.u.mBERLAND ROAD IN OHIO (1831-1900)

1831 1832 1836 1837 1845[37] 1900

Score sheep or hogs .10 .05 .06-1/4 .06-1/4 {.05 .12 {.10

Score cattle .20 .10 .12-1/2 .12-1/2 .20 .25

Horse, mule, or a.s.s, led or driven .03 .01-1/2 .02 .03 .03 .05

Horse and rider .06-1/4 .04 .06-1/4 .06-1/4 .05 .06

Sled or sleigh drawn by one horse or ox .12-1/2 .06-1/4 .08 .06 .05 .12

Horse in addition .06-1/4 .04 .04 .04 .05 .06

Dearborn, sulky, chair, or chaise, one horse .12-1/2 .08 .12-1/2 .12-1/2 .10 .12

Horse in addition .06-1/4 .04 .06-1/4 .04 .05 .06

Chariot, coach, coachee, horses .18-3/4 .12-1/2 .18-3/4 .18-3/4 ... .30

Horse in addition .06-1/4 .03 .06-1/4 .06-1/4 ... .12

Vehicle, wheels under two and one-half inches in breadth .12-1/2 ... .12-1/2 .10 ... ...

Vehicle, wheels under four inches in breadth .06-1/4 .06-1/4 .08 .08 ... ...

Horse drawing same .03 .02 .04 .05 ... ...

Vehicle, wheels exceeding four inches and not exceeding five inches .04 ... ... ... ... ...

Vehicle, wheels exceeding four inches and not exceeding six inches ... .02 .04 .06-1/4 ... ...

Horse or ox drawing same .02 .02 .02 .05 ... ...

Vehicle, wheels exceeding six inches ... ... ... .04 ... ...

Person occupying seat in mail stage .04 .03 ... ... ... ...

Estimates differed in various states but averaged up quite evenly. To the rising generation, to whom tollgates are almost unknown, a study of the toll system affords novel entertainment, helping one to realize something of one of the most serious questions of public economics of two generations ago. Tollgates averaged one in eighteen or twenty miles in Pennsylvania, and one in ten miles in Ohio, with tolls a little higher than half the rate in Pennsylvania.

Tollgate-keepers were appointed by the governor in the early days in Ohio,[38] but, later, by the commissioners. These keepers received a salary which was deducted from their collections, the remainder being turned over to the commissioners. The salary established in Ohio in 1832 was one hundred and eighty dollars per annum.[39] In 1836 it was increased to two hundred dollars per annum, and tollgate-keepers were also allowed to retain five per cent of all tolls received above one thousand dollars.[40] In 1845 tollgate-keepers were ordered to make returns on the first Monday in each month, and the allowance of their per cent on receipts over one thousand dollars was cut off, leaving their salary at two hundred dollars per annum.[41] Equally perplexing with the question of just tolls was found to be the question of determining what and who should have free use of the c.u.mberland Road.