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THE BLACK HORSE TAVERN
Many curious stories are told of early roadside inns and taverns, but one of the strangest is the story of the Black Horse Tavern located three miles east of the Twin Cities of Uhrichsville and Dennison, on an important highway leading west from Steubenville into Tuscarawas County and central Ohio. The thrifty Germans who migrated along this road naturally went on and settled in the rich farm and pasture lands further west, about Cambridge, Zanessville and Lancaster. Their principal marketable product was livestock, whose chief market place was 500 miles away, with no practicable means of getting farm products to the market except by driving on foot flocks of pigs and herds of cattle and some sheep and horses. The Scotch-Irish settlers, on the other hand, more interested in scenery and beauty generally stopped along the road among the hills and little valleys within 50 miles or so of Steubenville. So arose a situation and so developed an industry. The German farmers with their saddle horses and also their flocks and herds must be entertained night after night on the way. Fat pigs going to market cannot travel far, hence many overnight stopping places were required. So the Irish hill settlers built log taverns all along the way, with usually a big log barn nearby to house and rest and feed the herds and flocks. A fairly representative example of that string of taverns along the road was the one east of Uhrichsville with the big log house, log barn, and other appurtenances, constructed and operated, it seems, from about the beginning of the nineteenth century by James Boyd and wife, Margaret Boyd. The latter was the sister of Jane Reed, grandmother of the writer. It was she who passed on to me the story which she received directly from Mrs. Boyd when Jane Reed with her husband and her parents arrived from Ireland 74 years ago and were entertained by the Boyds. It seems
that in these wayside taverns it was customary for travelers to find not
only food and lodging but also frontier entertainment
such as strong liquor, gambling games and other
recreations of the frontier. Professional gamblers expected
and received lodging and facilities to entertain
those regular travelers on their way to market and these local gambling
entertainers often found those travelers more profitable
when they were on their way back west, having in
their pockets the
One
evening there arrived at the tavern a well-dressed,
fine looking fellow riding
The young
man drank moderately at the bar but utterlly refused to play the game of
chance with the two smart gamblers who operated the bar and the gambling
games.
Finally
one day when Wentworth started out on one of his daily excursions into
the forest, it was observed that shortly threafter the two gamblers set
out on horses in
Soon
a letter came for Wentworth from his sweetheart in Virginia. Boyd
returned
Ten days later a graceful, slim, young man rode up to the tavern and asked for lodging. He was assigned the room next to the two robbers who had followed Wentworth into the forest. When Boyd stabled the horse he noticed that it, too, was black and a close mate to Wentworth's horse. When the horse was placed beside Wentworth's the two black horses nuzzled each other as longtime mated horses sonetimes do. The newly arrived young man proceeded immediately to play games with the gamblers and to question and discuss with everybody the recent tragedy. He got facts that surely proved the robbery and murder of Wentworth and fixed the crime on the two outlaws in the room next to him. The young man got his traps together and showed Boyd a letter from Wentworth's sweetheart authorizing him to bring the murdered man's horse back with him to Virginia. Then he gave a sealed letter to Boyd, the letter not to be opened for 48 hours after his departure, took the two black horses and rode away. The two notorious gamblers not having appeared for breakfast nor later, Boyd became anxious, and failing to arouse them in their room, forced the door and found both of them slain. At the expiration of 48 hours Boyd opened and read the Virginian's letter. The contents disclosed that the writer was Wentworth's sweetheart disguised as a man, that she had ridden out to Ohio to ascertain the facts as to the disappearance and death of Wentworth, to avenge his death, and to recover from the robbers that which belonged to her. She stated that she had accomplished all her purposes including the execution of the two notorious robbers in the room next to hers. She said partic-cularly that she had taken neither her money nor the murderers' lives until she had established, beyond a doubt, the guilt of the murderers. From
that time until the inn was closed about 1835 it always was known as the
Query JAMES AND BRIDGIT REED BOYD Query I am
looking for information on my ggggreat grandparents. They came to America
between the years 1804-1807. James was born in Fintona, County Tyrone Ireland
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