The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-05
IN We OLDEN VIRGINIA.
INTERESTING RECOLLECTIONS OF
AN OLD STAGER."
Joe sweepy, tho Great Banjoist-A stage
Coach Robbed of Large gu" OIL
Money-Tbe Robber Detected.

Of the events which | remember anu
could easily nsrrate. would be strange ~
very many now among the living. yet
think that some Of the circumstances
shall allude to are not wholly gone OUT
OF memory In the places near which 'hey
occurred. There is probably lao period In
the history OF the Old Dominion FOR the
past sixty years OF more pleasing inter-
est than the days OF stage-coaches, ana
especially along the main line between
Richmond and the West. by way OF Pow
aistan, Cumberland. Buckingham, and
| Lynchburg, and / am not sure but ne
who lived. and was a healthy, mischieV-
Gus boy about the period Of 1885, mas
as much reason dn his own opinion, 10
be proud of 1t as any man has 10 Dc
proud OF living in 1896. The fact Is, there
| Is an inherent something In All Oh ua
| which moves us TO contend LOT the So
of our younger ana better uaSs AM is
magnify the brightness OF the SKIES
! which oyerhung us in the Gays Oh yOu'h-
| 1ul, unminglcd JOY.
There was in 1885 and for several years
thereafter. in Cumberland county, not
ed place Of publl entertainment, known
! as Raines Tavern-hye miles from
| Tarmville, ffty-two miles from Lyqnch-
| burg, and sixty-eight miles from Rlch-
mond Besides local stage which pass
ed to Farmville and returned three times
| a week, daily stages between Iynchburg
| and Richmond met at the Tavern AT
supper-tfe each night, and after few
hours rest went on their respective
ways: the stage for Richmond going TO
| Frazer's In the lower part OF Cumber-
land-twenty-on miieS-for breakfast
and that for Lynchburg. going az far as
| Glover Hill-thrty miles-for breakfast
| But the two stages did not leave simultd-
! neously, for the one for Lynchburg had
10 make Liberty, now Bedford City
| eighty miles-by supper time while the
stage for Richmond went 10 farther than
that city, and could easily reach 1t BY
| Z o'clock +. NJ.
Another line OF stages. from Frede-
ricksburg to Milledgevlle, Ga, intersect-
! ed the Richmond and Lynchburg line
| few miles east Of Cumberland Court
/ house, going South. and ran parallel with
| II as far as Raine's Tavern, where II
! dverged and bore of TO the south via
| Farmvule. Prince Edward Courthouse
| Charlotte and Halifax, Va. Greensboro
and Salisbury, n. c. This was a TIL
| weekly line.
JOE SWEENY.
Raines Tavern, as was conceded IN
| those days was one OF the best feeding
places In the Union, and It's praises were
on the lips OF every traveller and I'm the
notes OF every stage drivers bugle. II
was "A sight" to look in on the supper
Z
ellins men would be seated at a meal that
could not be surpassed for excellence
But after nap of a few short hours the
stage drivers horn would be heard. rOus-
ing the sleeping passengers and hurrying
them off toward their destination. And
What grand man was the stage-driver
In the eyes Of a fifteen year boy and
what transporting music was the horn
with which he made his signals, How
soft and Celightsome those notes COM
or Crf ina fss.Y-
rofing shreks Of the latter day engine
whistle
This was in 1867. About this time
there came down to THE Tavern" from
the upper edge of Buckingham. now APP
pomattoX, rather tail. sparemade
young man, Of ford complexion and
light brown or yellow hair. very plainly
dressed and OF an exceedingly jovial air.
He had evidently never been much
from home-was ultraviolet and some
what uncouth. but he made known the
fact that he had with him a banjo. and
could play on IL. Presently he had drawn
around him small crowd for whom he
discoursed several pieces Of the cOmis or
der This man was he who was after
wards the famous Joe Sweeny, whose
name will be remembered for a long
time as perhaps the most skillful banjoist
Of the age. Possibly some may be inter-
ested in the fact that Sweeny was born
and raised very near AppOmattoX Court
house, where he learned the trade OF
wheelwright and subsequently became
celebrated as comic musician. He was
Withal man OF great gOOd-nature and
was popular among his acquaintance.
He was on duty in some department of
the service on the Confederate side dur
ing the late war, and as 1 learn, died Of
smallpox.
GREAT STAGE ROBBERY.
i will close this with the narration Of
a very important stage event. which
occurred either a short while before. or
quite soon after, the Christmas Of 1881.
one night, on the arrival Of the stage
from Richmond, the report was brought
10 the Tavern and rapidly spread, !
that a terrible loss had occurred that
morning as the stage was passing over !
one OF the hills west of Manchester, some !
robber or robbers had cut the straps TO |
the boot (Which contained the bag
gage, and every trunk had tumbled out. /
one item was that Joe Sweeny had lost |
his banjo and all his clOthes-for which |
all OF us were duly sorry. But this loss !
WAS Insignificant, compared with anOth- /
er: There WAS in the same stage with /
Mr.. Sweeny an old gentleman from /
Lynchburg whose name was Holcomb. |
lie was d fine specimen OF an old Viz |
ginia gentleman, and his age was prOha- /
bly, about sixty. 1t seems that he was
trusted messenger between some bank /
ing houses OF Lynchburg and Richmond, |
respectively. ana had In charge SlZ6QU0. |
which he thought safe in common
Of by the robbers. and for its sake alone
they cut the straps that confined il.
Great efforts were, of course made 10
detect the robbers, but no clew could be
found. After awhile. l do not remember
how long, "A man by the name OF Per
kins. who lived in Chesterfield. visited |
one Of the banks in Richmond and hand
ed in the sum of nine thousand HJ,UUJ) ]
dollars. His account Of II was that he
was hunting in the woods on the pre-
Vious day, and coming across several
men whom he did not know dividing out
a large quantity OF bank bills, he fred on
them. They ran in great haste, leaving
behind them on the ground nine thou
sand go. COO, dollars. This proved idd
find" for Mr.. Perkins. He stated that
the men on whom he fired were In a
dense wood-a thicket OF trees and UNI
dergrowth. He was arrested on the spot, /
and when taken TO the place which he
said the men occupied when he fired on
them, there could not be found any shot
marks on any OF the surrounding trees
or bushes, though / believe some of Per
kins' friends did soon afterwards, but
when II was too late do some shooting
for him in the same locality Perkins
was duly tried for the robbery. I'm Ches-
terrified county, not long afterwards. and
was sentenced to the penientiary for two
years and a half.
THE "OLD TINES"
| am aware of the fact that a person
Is at once at n discount. and Is regard
ed with some degree OF pity. who pre-
sumeS to express the opinion that 'the
former days were better than these"
but / think l will be perfectly safe i'm
saying that the millennium II that epoch
Is 10 be preceded by season OF great
piety and goodness. as many believe.
IAN hardly he regarded as very near at
hand: certainly not in the vicinity OF