Dr. MaryFriend Carter conducted a memorial service of deceased members of the chapter.

Jinanne Parrish, president of the John Lee of Nansemond Chapter, National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century presented a program entitled “The Great American Wagon Road” for the fall meeting of the group. The Great American Wagon Road (of Colonial America) stretched over 700 miles from Pennsylvania to Augusta.

The road began as a dirt path blazed by buffalo and deer 400 hundred years ago, then the Indians followed the path and 300 years ago that path became Colonial America’s “super highway.”

In 1744, the Lancaster Treaty with the Indians pushed them further west, opening the road for settlers. At first the settlers traveled on horseback, used pack horses or walked beside a crude wagon.

German craftsmen in Pennsylvania started making Conestoga wagons, which were 8 feet wide and 11 feet high and could carry 8 tons. The huge wagons were pulled by five or six extremely large horses, 17 hands high (1 hand=4 inches), hybrids from English and Flemish draft horses. The wagon wheels could be removed and the wagons floated across rivers. They could travel 12 to 14 miles per day. Bells were placed around the horses’ necks to make music as they pulled the wagons.

As the road became more traveled, taverns, also called ordinaries or public houses (pubs), sprang up every few miles. Most people could not read so colorful signs were hung out with pictures of foxes, dogs, horses, trees, birds, lions and other familiar things to name the taverns. For entertainment, in addition to eating and drinking, there were horse races and cockfights. Overnight lodging was available at these taverns.

By 1750, stage coaches began using parts of the road and by 1773, southbound travelers numbered in the tens of thousands. The stage could travel 12 to 18 hours per day and cover 25 to 40 miles, depending on the muddiness of the road.

The Colonial Era ended on April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the oath as president. You can still travel the route of the Great Wagon Road today. Take I-20 from Augusta to Columbia, South Carolina, I-77 to Wytheville, Virginia, I-81 to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and I-76 to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Following the program, Dr. MaryFriend Carter, chapter chaplain, conducted a memorial service for two members who died in 2020, Ruth Harvard Salter and Joyce McManus Vanlandingham, both charter members.

The members of Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century can trace their ancestors before 1701 in the original 13 colonies.