| Last week I entered David Shriver into the
American & European Family Forest, and I've
thought of him several times since. As the
Superintendent of U.S. Public Works he is said to
have built the National Road to Columbus, OH, and
laid out the National Road to St. Louis, MO. I
had never stopped to think about how important a
part the National Road has played in my life, but
thanks to having found this information about
David Shriver, I know it was more than just the
main road. I now realize that for more than
twenty years it was the starting point of most of
my adventures.
Within a couple days of my birth I began
traveling on the National Road. At that time my
parents were renting an apartment in a Baltimore
row house a half block off the National Road.
From the age of 3 until 12 we lived in another
Baltimore row house eight blocks off the National
Road. Then we moved to a subdivision in the
country that was only a mile off the National
Road.
So I have walked along the National Road
countless times, including times when the snow
drifts were so high that the road was closed. I
have bicycled on it, ridden public buses on it,
and ridden school buses on it. I have driven
numerous cars, trucks, and motorcycles on it over
its entire length. I have shopped in many of the
stores and eaten in many of the restaurants that
have sprouted up along it.
David Shriver was not one of my ancestors. He
was not even one of my 3rd great-granduncles, as
he was to Maria Shriver who married Arnold
Schwarzenegger. But I have certainly benefited
from and enjoyed the fruits of what David Shriver
accomplished during his life.
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