FIRST STAGE LINE

The first stage line through Mansfield was established in the late twenties by MARSH & BARNEY. Mr. MARSH kept the first hotel in Sandusky and Mr. BARNEY lived in Mt. Vernon. They ran road wagons with canvas covers and carried all kinds of merchandise and passengers. They ran from Sandusky through Norwalk, New Haven, Plymouth, Shelby, Mansfield, Mt. Vernon, to Delaware and made a round trip once a week. About 1831 NEAL, MOORE & Company established a daily line of stages from Columbus through Mt. Vernon, Mansfield, Norwalk to Sandusky. About two years later a line of stages was established from Pittsburgh through New Lisbon, Canton, Wooster to Mansfield and a year or two later was extended to Bucyrus. The old main line of stages to the east was through Pittsburgh, Bedford, Carlisle, Harrisburg, Lancaster to Philadelphia. On the National Road, stages ran to Baltimore, Philadelphia and from there to Boston and Albany. These main line stages ran day and night and the driver carried a way bill with the names of every passenger. In those days the only mode of travel was by water, stage and horseback. There were no commercial travelers and merchants were compelled to go to eastern cities to buy their goods. Such articles as iron, nails and glass were bought in Pittsburgh. John T. CREIGH and Jerry JAQUES each ran a regular line of big wagons of six horses between Mansfield and Pittsburgh and supplied all the towns on their route. It was necessary at this time to take the state to Philadelphia and buy goods, load them up in big Pennsylvania wagons, six horses to the wagon and have them hauled to Mansfield. It cost from five to six dollars for every hundred pounds. The return trip was made profitable by the shipment east of consignments of cranberries, ginseng, beeswax, butter, flaxseed and furs, in fact payments were largely made in these commodities. The opening of the Erie Canal provided cheaper transportation, when goods were shipped to New York by water thence up the Hudson to Albany, from Albany to Buffalo by canal and by steamer to Sandusky, where the Pennsylvania wagon completed the journey.