Two miles west from widow Osford's, Henry Miller kept an old tavern. It was a brick house, on the south side of the road. It will be noted that Miller is the leading name among the old tavern keepers of the road. The Smiths don't figure much in this line. Two miles west of Henry Miller's an old tavern was kept by Slifer, whose first name is lost to memory. It is probable he was of the family of Slifers who kept at Boonsboro. It is said of this Slifer that he was a good, square dealing landlord, kept a good house and enjoyed a fair share of patronage. CHAPTER XXVIII. _Old Taverns and Tavern Keepers continued--Cumberland to Little Crossings--The City of Cumberland--Everstine's--The Six Mile House and Bridge--Clary's--Tragedy in Frostburg--Thomas Beall--Sand Springs--Big Savage--Little Savage--Thomas Johnson--The Shades of Death--John Recknor--Piney Grove--Mortimer Cade--Tomlinson's--Widow Wooding._ The city of Cumberland is the initial point, as before stated, of that portion of the National Road which was constructed by authority of Congress, and paid for with funds drawn from the public treasury of the United States. In 1835 James Black kept the leading tavern in Cumberland. It was a stage house. In 1836 John and Emory Edwards, of Boonsboro, leased the Black House, and conducted it as a tavern for many years thereafter. John Snider, the old pike boy of pleasant memory, hauled a portion of the household goods of the Edwards' from their old home in Boonsboro to their new location at Cumberland. At the date last mentioned there were two wagon stands in Cumberland. One of them was kept by Thomas Plumer. Plumer had teams on the road. The other was kept by George Mattingly. Frederic Shipley kept a tavern in Cumberland previous to the year 1840. It was located on Baltimore street, near the site of the station first established by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. This house was subsequently conducted by George W. Gump, and after him, in 1857, by David Mahaney. One Kaig, of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, succeeded Mahaney in the control of this house. It was called "The American," and entertained wagoners and the traveling public at large. In 1844 and later, the widow Adams kept a wagon stand in Cumberland, on the site of the present rolling mill. George Elliott was manager for Mrs. Adams. The house was a large brick structure, and known in its day as the "Mountain City House." Lewis Smith kept "The Blue Springs House" on Mechanics street, and was largely patronized by old wagoners. Frederic Shipley also kept a tavern on Mechanics street, after he left the American. John Kelso, the old wagoner, kept a tavern for a short time on Mechanics street, and was well patronized; and Otho Barcus, another old wagoner, kept the "Pennsylvania House" on Mechanics street in 1843, and for a period of three years thereafter. The road when first laid out, as seen in a previous chapter, passed over Wills Mountain.