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Health & Fitness

LEVI PEASE, FATHER of the TURNPIKE ~ GINERY TWICHELL, PONY EXPRESS RIDER

Levi Pease, Father of the Turnpike

 Colonial America’s first road west from Boston to the interior of central Massachusetts and beyond was laid out around 1673 and became known as the Bay Path, later the Boston Post Road, and in 1932 Route 20. The road meandered through the undeveloped, sparsely populated areas we know today as: Watertown, Weston, Wayland, Sudbury, Marlborough, Northborough and Shrewsbury then to Worcester, Springfield and Hartford, Conn.

 The road became the major route for travelers on foot and horseback, wagon and chaise. Later, the stagecoach, teaming of freight and the pony express were regular users of the road. Fine Federal and Colonial homes as well as churches, business districts evolved, taverns and inns known as baiting places were built along the way. In 1734 Benjamin Franklin, Deputy Postmaster General, traveled the Boston Post Road and directed the placement of  230 mile markers along the road for the pony express riders delivering the mail.

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 Capt. Levi Pease, a veteran of the Revolution and experienced in the techniques of stage coach travel, owned taverns in Connecticut and the Lamb Tavern in Boston. In 1783 Pease partnered with a young blacksmith named Rueban Sykes and established a stage and express line that began at the Lamb Tavern. The tavern, located on Washington Street, was the beginning of the Post Road .

 The new stage line followed the Post Road into Shrewsbury where Farrar’s Tavern became an overnight stop. Then, it continued west to Worcester, Springfield and Hartford Conn. In 1793 Levi Pease bought Farrar’s Tavern and made it the headquarters for his stagecoach line and pony express.  

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 Photo 1...Major John Farrar Tavern 1751 ~ Captain Levi Pease Tavern 1793

 Pease was responsible for the first charter allowed by the Massachusetts Legislature approving the building of the Worcester Turnpike. Upon the opening of the Worcester Turnpike in 1810 later Rt.9, Captain Pease was granted the first stagecoach charter and government contract to carry the U.S. Mail. The headquarters for the new line was located at the Pease Tavern on the Post Road in Shrewsbury. The Pease line became very popular and successful. Levi Pease was recognized as the “Father of the Turnpike.” He died at the Shrewsbury tavern in 1824.

 Ginery Twichell, the Unrivaled Express Rider

 Ginery Twichell was also an accomplished stagecoach and pony express businessman who, in 1830 took control of the Worcester to Barre stage line. After Levi Pease died, Twichell expanded his stage and pony express to include the route from Boston to Worcester to Hartford Conn. and later expanded that line to New York City.

Photo 2...Unrivaled Express Rider

The trip by pony express rider Ginery Twichell from Boston to Worcester then Harford Conn. and New York City was made three times a week and became an instant success.

 However, when the Boston to Worcester Railroad was opened in 1835 the Worcester Turnpike and Boston Post Road stagecoach and express business were greatly impacted. The rail service offered a faster more reliable means of transporting passengers, goods and the mail. Although the stagecoaches and express riders began to disappear, localized livery and surrey travel increased from the railroad depots located in every community along the rail line.

 Although Twichell’s business ventures expanded beyond the railroads impact area, he saw the opportunity to transition into the latest form of mass transportation, the railroad. In 1848 Twichell became the assistant superintendent of the Boston and Worcester Railroad and rose through the management structure until becoming its president in 1857. Under Twichell’s leadership the Boston and Worcester merged with the Western Railroad and became known as the Boston and Albany Railroad. 

   In 1867 Twichell was elected to Congress where he served as a three-term Republican representative for Massachusetts. During his third term in Congress, Twichell became president of the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. In 1873 he returned to Massachusetts to head the Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad and the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railroad. Twichell died in Brookline on July 23, 1883 and was buried in Worcester Rural Cemetery.

 Glenn R. Parker

 

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