The Stagecoach Driver Who Was Shot for the Mail

In the early 1860s, two stagecoach lines passed through Shelby, one running from Spartanburg to Morganton and the other from Rutherfordton through Shelby to Lincolnton and Salisbury. Both lines stopped at an inn on the corner of Warren and South Washington streets, operated by Martin Roberts and his wife Drusilla, along with Mr. and Mrs. Ansel Hardin. The coaches always changed horses there, and passengers ate their meals at the inn.

It was the custom for the driver coming from Rutherfordton to blow his horn when he reached a certain point between Broad River and Shelby. He gave as many blasts as there were passengers who would be stopping for dinner. This warned the servants to prepare food and have fresh horses ready.

One day, the people at the inn waited, but the horn never sounded and the stage never arrived. After several hours, a search party went out along the road and found the stagecoach standing by the roadside. Inside the coach, they found the driver dead with a bullet through his head. The mail sacks were gone.

It was clear that robbers had stopped the coach, murdered the driver, and stolen the mail, which was believed to contain money and valuables. This became one of the most shocking crimes in early Shelby history, showing how dangerous travel could be even on well-used routes.
Source: Mamie Jones