We worked during that fall and next spring, marking two experimental lines, and for our work we each received a silver half-dollar for each day's actual work, the first money any of us had ever earned.
In June, 1835, one of our school-fellows, William Irvin, was appointed a cadet to West Point, and, as it required sixteen years of age for admission, I had to wait another year.

During the autumn of 1835 and spring of 1836 I devoted myself chiefly to mathematics and French, which were known to be the chief requisites for admission to West Point.
Some time in the spring of 1836 I received through Mr.Ewing, then at Washington, from the Secretary of War, Mr.Poinsett, the letter of appointment as a cadet, with a list of the articles of clothing necessary to be taken along, all of which were liberally provided by Mrs.Ewing; and with orders to report to Mr.Ewing, at Washington, by a certain date, I left Lancaster about the 20th of May in the stage-coach for Zanesville.

There we transferred to the coaches of the Great National Road, the highway of travel from the West to the East.

The stages generally travelled in gangs of from one to six coaches, each drawn by four good horses, carrying nine passengers inside and three or four outside.
In about three days, travelling day and night, we reached Frederick, Maryland.

There we were told that we could take rail-cars to Baltimore, and thence to Washington; but there was also a two-horse hack ready to start for Washington direct.