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Beck's Tavern (site)
Formerly/Also Known As Node's Tavern
National Road
Valley Grove, WV 26060From Searight's The Old Pike (1894):
Two miles further west a large frame tavern on the north side of the road, was kept by Mrs. Sarah Beck as early as 1832. It was a station for the Stockton line of coaches. Mrs. Beck was succeeded in this house by Samuel Node, who retained the good will and patronage extended to his predecessor. Mrs. Beck was the widow of James Beck, of the old bridge building firm of Kinkead, Beck & Evans, frequently mentioned in these pages. Her son, William G. Beck, still living in Fairfield, Iowa, was the hero of the exciting race between two coaches from Cumberland to Piney Grove, mentioned in a previous chapter. James Beck, the husband of Sarah Beck, died in Wheeling in 1829, while keeping a tavern in that place. His widow was of a heroic mold, and resolved to carry on the battle of life on her own account, and continued in the business of tavern keeping. She kept tavern at various points, and finally about the year 1847 bade a last adieu to the scenes of the road, amid which she had been reared, and emigrated to the then far west. Leasing a house in Springfield, Illinois, she resumed the business of tavern keeping. While a member of the Illinois Legislature, Abraham Lincoln was a boarder in Mrs. Beck's house, and Robert T. Lincoln, the late United States minister at London, was born under her roof. Thus an old tavern keeper of the National Road was closely associated with, and enjoyed the confidence of, one of the most illustrious personages of his time or of any time.
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Last updated: 2014-04-26 10:23:13 |
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