The Stage Coach

Source: Morton Montgomery's History of Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1909 edition, pp. 33-34.

Contributed by Bonnie Blau.

The first coach in New England began its trips in 1744. The first stage line between New York and Philadelphia (then the two most populous cities in the Colonies) was established in 1756. The trip was made in three days. When the Revolution began, most of these public conveyances ceased to run , and they did not take the road till the return of peace.

The first public conveyance at Reading was a two-horse coach. It was instituted by Martin HAUSMAN in 1789, and traveled weekly between Reading and Philadelphia for the transportation of passengers and letters. The distance was about fifty-one miles, and the passage was made in two days. The fare was two dollars, and letter carriage three pence. During that year, he transferred the established business to Alexander EISENBEIS, who operated it two years, and sold it to William COLEMAN. From that time onward, for nearly seventy years without intermission, the COLEMAN family were prominent throughout eastern Pennsylvania for their connection with this great enterprise.

Soon after COLEMAN had obtained possession of this stage line, he extended it westwardly, by way of Womelsdorf and Lebanon, to Harrisburg; and northwardly, by way of Hamburg, Orwigsburg, Sharp Mountain Gap and over the Broad Mountains, to Sunbury. They left Philadelphia on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 3 a.m.; arrived at Reading at 5 p.m., and lodged at Hamburg on the same days; and on the following mornings left at 3 a.m. and arrived at Sunbury on the succeeding days at 10 a.m. And they ran thrice a week from Philadelphia to Harrisburg ­ Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; leaving Philadelphia at 4 a.m., lodging at Reading, and arriving at Harrisburg the next evening. The same order was observed in returning.

In 1820 William COLEMAN died. His widow carried on the stage lines for a year, when their sons John and Nicholas purchased and conducted them. In 1823, they ran weekly stages to the Southwest to Lancaster, over a natural road, in length thirty-two miles; and to the northeast to Easton, over a natural road, in length fifty miles.

In 1825, COLDER and WILSON ran the "mail stage" between Reading and Harrisburg three times a week. The passenger fare was 50 cents to Womelsdorf; $1 to Lebanon, and $2 to Harrisburg.

In 1826, a combination was made between the COLEMANS, Jacob PETERS, and COLDER & Co, to run a daily line of stages between Philadelphia and Harrisburg via Reading. The stages left Philadelphia daily except Monday at 4 a.m., dined at Reading, lodged at Lebanon, and proceeded to Harrisburg next morning. Returning, they left Harrisburg daily, except Tuesday, in the afternoon, lodged at Lebanon, took breakfast at Reading next morning and arrived at Philadelphia at 8 p.m. Through fare, $6; to Reading, $3.

From the beginning till 1826, the stage-coach in use was called a "steamboat" ­ an uncovered wagon, capable of holding twenty passengers. Then a sharp competition arose between three lines; first the "Old Line" (COLEMAN’s), which conveyed the mails; second, REESIDE & PLATT’s; and third, MILTIMORE & MINTZER’s. A new and improved stagecoach was introduced as a consequence, called the "Troy Coach. It held eleven passengers, with room for five or more on top. In 1830, the competition was full of life. The rates were reduced one-half. But the "Old Line" forced the others to withdraw. Its mail contracts were a great support and enabled it to bear the pressure. It had a hundred horses always on hand.

DECLINE OF STAGES. The stage business continued active and profitable in the several directions from Reading till the introduction of the railways, which it was discontinued. The stage-coach could not compete with the railway train, or horse-power with steam-power; and in this respect, as in others, the fittest and strongest survived. The discontinuance on the several lines was as follows" from Philadelphia, 1838; from Pottsville, 1842; from Harrisburg, 1858; from Allentown, 1859; from Lancaster, 1864.

The following stage lines (all carrying merchandise and passengers, and several also ran mail) are still operated to and from Reading to accommodate the public: