Old Tales

We are indebted to Mr. Walter Evans of Altoona, a native of Hopewell for the following two stories. He told me that these came to him by way of his parents and grandparents, who lived beyond Everett.

The first was about an incident that took place years ago when P.T. Barnum's circus was traveling through this county (we must remember Phineas Taylor Barnum died in 1891).

All animals and his tent equipment had to be transported by wagons. One of the animals which helped to make his circus world famous, was an elephant which he called 'Jumbo'. Barnum's claims were that Jumbo was the world's largest elephant.

When the circus reached the large double covered bridge at the Juniata Crossings, the wagon hauling Jumbo was too high to pass through. The trainer removed Jumbo from his wagon, but old Jumbo refused to be led through the bridge. They then tried to lead the old fellow through the shallowest part of the river, but again he balked.

After spending hours in their attempts, Mr. Barnum had to hire local carpenters to help his employees to remove the wood pegs, raise the entire roof of the bridge so that Jumbo and his wagon could be pulled through. The bridge roof had to be lowered back to its original state

Mr. Evans assured me that the story of this incident was printed ;n an adjoining County's newspaper.

His second Story was about a horse. A proprietor of a famous tavern east of Everett had the honor of having General Lafayette stop at his place for the night. The General's coach and four contained one beautiful horse that was entirely white. The proprietor fell madly in love with this horse and was determined he had to own it. After considerable bargaining he finally obtained the animal. Because of its color, it was named 'Snowball'.

The new owner was so proud of Snowball that every time a dignatary stopped at the tavern, Snowball was paraded for the visitor's delight and admiration.

On one occasion, a western traveler who was on his way to Washington, D.C., spent the night here. Snowball was not paraded before this man because the proprietor did not think this person was important or great enough to have this honor to see the horse. This traveler was Abraham Lincoln.

Another story I heard many times was about a popular Tavern, located near Bedford. Frequently large banquets would be held. Couples from nearby villages would arrive in their horse and buggies or sleighs in great numbers. After a delicious meal was eaten, they would then hold dances. The wall separating two rooms was suspended from the ceiling by large hinges. The proprietor would pull up the wall to the ceiling by means of pulleys and ropes, thus making the two rooms into one large ballroom. Local musicians would provide the music for dancing.

Another incident which happened in a county tavern was the apprehension of a suspected murderer by several wagon drivers. A kangaroo court was held in the hall of the tavern. The verdict was guilty. They then placed a rope about the neck of the man and hung him in the hallway. Tales were told that at certain times of the year footsteps could be heard on the stairway. They were supposed to be the deceased man's girlfriend seeking her lover.

The Old Shot Factory; at the foot of the Allegheny mountain once had quite a reputation for harboring ghosts. Only the uninformed traveler would pass this place after dark. Many a solitary traveler had his wits scared out of him as he passed. The weird moans and groans and screeches that came out of the building were terrifying. Once in a while a movement or light could be seen about the rooms.

Years later the mystery was solved, when one of the local 'yokels' finally admitted to being a part of the ghost gang.

Bedford County had many taverns in the past two-hundred years. All were important to the traveler. Its too bad many of the tales about the incidents that happened at many of them were never recorded and passed down to us and for future generations to come.