The post-chaise began to be used as a general means of travel in the beginning of the 18th century. It was a rambling affair, the body hung very high on leather straps, the wheels were far apart, and the postilions rode the °near" horses. This was improved upon until we see the stately chariot with its richly draped coachman's seat, but which, however, was not used except at state functions or at royal receptions. Before the Revolution, very little manufacturing was done in this country, the main business being repairing. The aristocracy of those times living in the large cities Im ported their coaches, carriages and phaetons from England and France, and of course the manufacturing end of the business languished through lack of customers. The number of repair shops grew as the number of vehicles increased and in all the large cities these estab lishments thrived, employing, for the most part, the skilled workmen who came from England, Ireland and Scotland.
The Revolution had left its mark upon the land, and during the times of poverty and dis tress which followed there was little use made of vehicles of any kind except among the wealthier class, and it was fortunate for the mechanics and tradesmen that this class found the means of transportation inadequate and insufficient to cope with the amount of travel made necessary by the foundation of the new republic. The next development was the chaise set upon two wheels, and it became very popu lar and came into greater demand as the prosperity of the country grew. It was known as the shay and became the subject of the well known poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, en titled The One-Horse Shay.) At the begin ning these chaises were built without dashers, had high wheels and the tops were stationary. This style of vehicle grew to be very popular and for some years there were no changes made in construction.
In the early part of the 18th century the stagecoach was introduced into England and in 1745 the first line was established between London and Edinburgh, a distance of 400 miles, and it was stated °that a two-end glass coach machine, hung on steel springs, exceeding light and easy, would go through in 10 days in sum mer and 12 in winter, the passengers lying over during the Sabbath at one of the villages on the route)) They were introduced into the United States some years later and it is a mistaken idea that the stagecoach was unknown in America prior to 1810, for William Brant, attorney for General Hancock, states that in 1776, when Hancock married Dorothy Quincy, he took her by stage coach to Philadelphia on his wedding journey. The roads at this time were little
better than bridle-paths and in them were many ruts or quagmires, making travel uncertain, slow and uncomfortable. In 1770 President Quincy of Harvard College wrote as follows of the stage journey between Boston and New York: ((The carriages were old and shackling and much of the harness made of ropes. One pair of horses carried us 18 miles. We gen erally reached our resting place for the night, if no accident intervened, at 10 o'clock, and after a frugal supper, went to bed, with a notice that we should be called at 3 o'clock next morning, which generally proved to be half past two, and then, whether it snowed or rained, the traveler must rise and make ready by the help of a horn lantern and a farthing candle, and proceed on his way over bad roads, sometimes getting out to help the coachman lift the coach out of a quagmire or rut, and arriving at New York, after a week's travel, wondering at the ease, as well as the expedition, with which our journey was effected?) In 1791, there were only 1,905 miles of post-roads in the United States, and in these roads were many bottom less sloughs, and corduroy bridges which con sisted of logs laid crosswise over swamps sometimes for long distances, but with the im provement of the roads and the advancement of civilization we find the industry of vehicle con struction developing and spreading in America. Military roads and post-roads were built by the government across the mountains of Vir ginia, connecting the East with the valley of Ohio; through the forests of Maine to the town of Houlton on the New Brunswick frontier, and also in other parts of the country. Stage lines were established on these roads and thrived; much capital was invested; the busi ness rapidly grew, and the returns from the in vestments proved enormous. Factories began to spring up here and there. The great Can estoga wagon, with its broad wheels and canvas covered body, and drawn by six or eight horses, came into use in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for the transportation of freight and passengers. Troy, N. Y., became famous for its coaches and wherever used they were sure of patronage; Salem and Worcester, Mass., loomed up as manufacturing centres, but the most famous was undoubtedly the Concord coach, originally made in Concord, N. H., by the house of Abbot, Downing & Company, who later, in 1815, moved to Salem, Mass.