Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-09-18
Early Stage And Mail Routes OF
Maryland.
WRITTEN AND READ BY M. GERTRUDE Hos.
NNsoN AT The WoMAN's CLUB OF
PooLESvILLE.

started his carriage at y O'Clock from Bal
timore to Harfordtown, where he rename,
over night and proceeded next morning {,
Susquehanna for breakfast, connecting
there with the stage from Philadelphia anC
exchanging passengers, returning by tn,
,, same route to Baltimore. The fare, fou
dollars specie, and the same price for one
hundred and fifty pounds of baggage.
The stage from Philadelphia was run by
Twinine & Johnson. and they assured the
passengers leaving Baltimore on Monday
morning of completing their journey tC
Elizabethtown by Friday afternoon. Letters
were carried by this line, and for each let.
ter an eighth of hard dollar was paid
by the person sending the letter.
A bi-weekly line of stage coaches ran in
1888 between Baltimore and Frederick
Davey & ShOebel proprietors. They always
stopped at different houses for the enter
tainment of passengers, where they could
get good fare for fifteen shllines.
Aweekly passenger stage was announced
in 1897. leaving Elzabethtown, which is
now Hagerstown, on Tuesday. passing
through Frederick and New Market, arriv-
ing in Baltimore on Wednesday, remaining
there one day and returning to Elizabeth
town by the same route on Saturday.
We can see by this that postage and
travelling were much more expensive and
took longer time to 90 to places than it
does now.
John Raglan, in 1897. ran a stage three
times a week from Baltimore to Hagers-
town. Announcements for carrying the
public mails would be received by the
General PostOffice on the following routes
Once week from Yorktown, Pa. to Fred
erick. Mail from Baltimore by Frederick
to Pennsylvania once week. The stage
left Baltimore on Friday at II o'clock ar
irving in Frederick at 10 o'clock Saturday
morning. Mail from Pennsylvania by Han
cock, to Cumberland, once week, leaving
Cumberland at 6 O'Clock on Saturday and
arriving at Elizabethtown, which is now
HagerstOwn, on Monday morning at 8
o'clock
Mr.. Winemiller announced on May 10th,
1893, that the Frederick and Georgetown
mail stage would start Thursday morning
at O'Clock and arrive at Georgetown the
same evening. Then starting the next
morning at 3 O'Clock and returning to Fred
erck, arriving there in the evening. The
announcement of these lines was to the
effect that passengers going to Georgetown,
Baltimore, Hagerstown. or Lancaster, Pa,
might, by taking the Georgetown stage on
any one of these routes, arrive at their
destination without being detained on the
road only for short while necessary to
feed and change horses. The fares charged
were SD from Georgetown to Frederick /.
$3.50 from Frederick to Lancaster Four
teen pounds of BAGGAGE allowed to be car
ried by each passenger free One hundred
pounds weight was considered equivalent
to an additional passenger and charged
accordingly. This was in 1893.
Announcement was made in 1902 by
Mr.. 0rndorf informing the public that
having one stage and mail once week
between Baltimore and Hagerstown was
very announcement, and he at once went to
the expense of running two STAGES week
In 1903. Mr.. Crissinger of Hagerstown,
and Mr.. Geyer. of Frederick, established
line of mail stages from Hagerstown to
Baltimore. The stage which left Hagers-
town Tuesday and Saturday arrived mt
Frederick the same evening and at Balt-
more the next evening. returning over the
same route. Fare charged was So to Fred
erick, and from Frederick to Baltimore
$3.50
In 1903, Crissinger & Boyd informed the
public that they had started line of
mail coaches from Frederick to Mddletown,
Boonsboro. Haeerstown, Greencastle and
Chambersbure twice week to and from
these places.
In 1922 the Hagerstown and Gettysburg
line of stages had commenced running
three times a week, connecting with the
Philadelphia mail line.
In 1928 the United States mail stage for
Wheeling by Frederick. Hagerstown and
Cumberland, left the Office adjoining Bar
NUNS Hotel. Sunday, Tuesday and Thurs
day, arriving at Wheeling in three and
half days, where boats were ready to con-
vey passengers down the river.
In 1926 the extra mail left Baltimore on
Monday. Wednesday and Friday at 4
O'Clock in the morning and reached Wheel
ing on the fourth afternoon. except the
Fridays stage. which arrived on the fifth
day after leaving Baltimore.
The old mail lines ran as usual on Sun
day, Tuesday and Thursday The fare
charged from Baltimore to Hagerstown was
$3.50; from Hagerstown to Cumberland.
SIS from Cumberland to UniOntown. 81 /;
from UniOntOwn to Wheeling, $425; max
ing the total charge for the trip from Bati-
more to Wheeling $l8.75.
The new line in 1927 was started be-
tween Boonsboro. Md. and Winchester. Va
In our ancestral days these were the
fast lines. but they have passed away
forever, leaving behind them only their
! ioi hihNNitto, W biiOW WIN
were the men Of energy and enterprise that
preceded the railway kings Of the present
time.
have given description of early mail
stage routes and will now proceed with
mails The first protection to public and
private letters in Maryland was given by
an Act of Assembly passed at the Session
of 1907. by which the opening Of letters
by unauthorized persons was made a penal
offense. Letters at that time were gener-
ally deposited in public houses to be sent
by the first conveyance Of which the land
lord could avail. There was very little cor
respondence at that time between the
towns, as most of the trade was direct with
| England from each port. Letters on busi-