Travelers Repose

 

Travelers Repose has a rich history, evolving from a pioneer settlement to a popular stagecoach stop and tavern, with significant events occurring during the Civil War. Here's a detailed overview:

• Early Settlement:

  • About 150 years before the writing of the text, John Yeager came from Pennsylvania and settled in the upper Greenbrier Valley near the East Fork of the Greenbrier River at a place known as Travellers Repose.
  • He acquired many thousands of acres in what was known as the German settlement.
  • Neighbors included John Slaven, Abraham Burner, Moses Boughin, and Abraham Arbogast.

• Yeager Family and the Homestead:

  • One of John Yeager's sons, Andrew, married Elizabeth Dilley, and in the 1820s, Andrew came into the homestead at Travellers Repose.
  • Andrew Yeager's son, Peter D. Yeager, was a Confederate soldier who was held as a prisoner of war at Camp Chase, Ohio.
  • Upon returning from prison, Peter D. Yeager restored the pioneer home and tavern.
  • A great-great grandson of John Yeager, Brown B. Beard, added improvements and modern conveniences to the restored house about fifteen years before the writing of the text.

• Stagecoach Stop and Tavern:

  • Travellers Repose was a popular stop for travelers but became a regular stagecoach stop and tavern after the completion of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike in the late 1830s and early 1840s.
  • The turnpike was built by Col. Claude Crozet, a former soldier in Napoleon's army, and was a heavily traveled thoroughfare used by emigrants going west, statesmen, and citizens traveling to and from Washington and Richmond.
  • Travellers Repose was a popular stop due to its food and hospitality.
  • The old tavern register, which would have contained autographs of those who stopped there, was supposedly burned when the house was burned during the war.

• Civil War Period:

  • During the Civil War, the tavern house was burned by Federal troops from Indiana regiments under General Milroy. The troops had been camped on Slavers Chest Mountain.
  • Andrew Yeager died of typhoid fever in Highland County in 1861 after having taken refuge there.
  • The Confederate war camp, Bartow, was located at Travellers Repose.
  • In 1861, General Milroy brought his army down from Slavers Chest Mountain to fight an artillery duel with Camp Bartow before marching them back again.
  • Two months later, General Milroy was defeated when he attacked General Edward Jackson at Camp Allegheny.
  • General Averill passed through Travelers Repose with his army in the fall of 1863 on his way to the Battle of Droop Mountain.
  • Ambrose Bierce, a writer, was a boy soldier with Milroy on Cheat Mountain and wrote about his experiences in the area.

• Other Notable People:

  • Senator Henry Clay was a frequent visitor to the area and a friend of Col. John Slaven, whose plantation was a few miles below Travellers Repose. He maintained a hunting camp nearby.
  • Governor Joe Johnson and Stonewall Jackson also traveled the Staunton & Parkersburg Pike and often stopped at the home of John Slaven.
  • Other writers familiar with Travellers Repose were Porter Craydon and Hergenshetmer.
  • The area is the setting for the movie "Tol'able David".

• Decline:

  • The railroad put the stagecoach out of business, and for a time, the once-well-traveled road by Travellers Repose became a local road. The railroad on the Greenbrier caused industrial centers and towns to grow up and pass by the old stage stop.

• Mail Service:

  • The Post Office Department in 1856 complained to Jim Trotter, a stagecoach driver, about his delays in getting the mail across Cheat Mountain.
  • Trotter's reply noted that not even the fires of hell could melt the snow drifts on Cheat Mountain.
  • Louisa McNeill wrote poems about the incident.

This information provides a comprehensive view of the historical significance of Travelers Repose and its role in the development of the region.