I wanted to break up the "black and white" aspect of these posts and give you some everyday adventures of our forefathers(and mothers) here in New England. This will be the first post of many more to come regarding the old taverns/inns that doted our landscape and provided us with such a rich culture that stays with us today.
We couldn't begin to talk about the old taverns of New England without, first, relating as to why they were needed to begin with.
When New England, and elsewhere, was first settled, the only way to getting from one place to another was by horseback, waterways or, more commonly, by foot because of the never ending wilderness that choked our surroundings.
In winter, snowshoes were worn by every traveler on foot, along with a type of ski pole as we know them today, even right down to the wooden, circular disk to prevent it from sinking into the snow.
Most of the time, the trails that were already in use by the Natives were used and expanded as the years, and number of people traversing, increased.
As we have mile markers today, these were in use in the 17th century as well. See photos of the earliest mile markers still in extant today.
These so called roads in the very early days were just paths and were seldom, if at all, maintained. Stone "mile markers" were erected, though, allowing for those traveling to gauge distance.
Some of these earliest paths are still in existence. The Old Connecticut Path, that runs westward from Massachusetts to the Connecticut River Valley, is now(in part) Route 9 and 126.
The Old Bay Path, through Kingston, Mass., which is referred to now, in part, as the Boston Post Road is one of the earliest, if not the earliest.
It wasn't long before the domestic horse and oxen were used for something other than hauling felled trees from the forest. The "trodden paths" of old would still be used by those on foot for the most part, but these animals became the conveyance for those who needed to travel further distances. In short time, crude, horse-drawn coaches were built.
The earliest forms of these coaches were simple, covered wagons with 3 rudimentary benches(without backs) affixed in a wooden "box" with a leather cover. Passengers had only one way on and off-board, through a narrow opening in the side of this "box" and climbing over one another. The rear seats were generally given to the women and children so that they could at least have the support of the wall of the wagon.
It wasn't until the early 1800s, that more elaborate, egg-shaped, sturdy coaches were being built for the comfort of the passengers.
Of course rainstorms and floods created perilous journeys, but forest fires were the most dreaded natural fear on the "road". There have been countless journal entries of passengers sitting with their backs to the front so that they wouldn't become aware of these dangers.
"We travelled all night. The rain and snow descending through the roof, our hats were frozen to our capes, and our cloaks to one another. In the morning we looked like some mountain of ice moving down the gulf stream..."
One amusing story that has been related by historians for generations perfectly sums up the lack of empathy between passengers and coach drivers.
"A stage sometimes got stuck in the mud and on one occasion, the driver asked his passengers to alight and help extricate the vehicle, which they refused to do. The driver, thereupon, got out and sat by the roadside, calmly smoking. Words followed in quick succession, whereupon the driver remarked: "Since them horses can't pull the 'kerrige out o' that mud-hole, an' ye won't help, I'm a-goin' to wait till th' mud-hole dried up."
As early as 1693, the mail service began delivering post by horseback and coach. Yankee frugality was obvious at this early stage as well, with the post driver acting as a town crier of sorts. He would carry the news, orally, from town to town, collected bills for individuals and local governments, acted as a guide for the foreign observer and collected taxes, just to name a few.
Sundays were the one day that travel was NOT permitted, except for emergencies and charity. This law was not repealed in New England until 1887, believe it or not.
Another well known, and often repeated, story of these early days is attributed to Andover, Massachusetts.
"Once of the Deacons of the church, there, was appointed to see that the officers in charge of making sure this law was enforced was doing their job. The officer was stationed just outside of town at a toll gate and the Deacon spent the day with him. A gentleman traveling in a carriage was stopped by the officer and told that he could go no further. He very courteously congratulated the guardians on their desire to enforce the law which was familiar to him but asked that he be permitted to pass as his mother was lying dead in Boston. The Deacon and the officer conferred on this and decided that the traveler was within his rights and allowed him to continue on his journey. When he had reached a safe distance, he called back, 'Don't forget to tell the good people of Andover that you permitted me to pass because my mother is lying dead in Boston. You may add, also, if you please , that she has been lying dead there for some twenty years.' "
Within just a few years of the settlement of New England, and the paths laid out for commerce from one town or plantation to another, it was noticed that "stay-overs" were needed for the weary traveler. That is where the tavern comes in.
Taverns were built to accommodate these travelers and ease this uncomfortable journey. May of these wayside stops remained as historic landmarks long after travel had ceased along these particular routes. During the early years, it was a rule that taverns were located near a church, the complete opposite of today's statutes. There were even regulations that landlords were to provide liquor to their respective patrons. On one hand, a landlord was subject to a fine if he sold any person an "immoderate quantity" of liquor, and, on the other hand, he could be fined if he refused to sell the quantity allowed by law to be drunk on his premises.
In 1634, our Puritan fathers regulated prices for just about everything, including food prices to be charged at taverns and inns. Truly a move to prevent gouging and unfairness, it was a godsend for patrons and a boon to landlords.
A sixpence was the legal charge for a meal, and a penny for a quart of ale or beer. The landlord was liable to be fined ten shillings if he charged more.
So proliferate had taverns become that by 1675, even Cotton Mather is said to have remarked that every other house in Boston was one of those "public houses."
The year 1634 was also the year of the first tavern in Boston, owned by Samuel Cole. He opened it on the old Cornhill Street, now known as Washington Street, 239 Washington Street to be precise. This place is still visible with a plaque erected in 1924 by the City of Boston reading;
Other tavern rules, albeit comical now, are fun to read. The use of tobacco was considered to be more sinful and harmful than intoxicating liquors and many landlords forbade it to be brought into their buildings. There were also restrictions as to its' use in private homes as well. Even in Boston streets, smoking as forbidden.
Along with smoking, coffee was prohibited, with one tavern keeper being punished for making and selling it because it "annoyed his neighbors by evil smells."
Even some games, at the very beginning, were denied to travelers. "They have a vile practice here, which is peculiar to this city; I mean that of playing back-gammon(a noise I detest)which is going forward in the public coffee-houses from morning till night. frequently ten or a dozen tables at a time."
The popularity of serving "refreshments" created a type of "road-side poetry".
Coaches usually traveled at the rate of four or five miles an hour, changing horses every ten miles or so. This gave passengers the opportunity to refresh themselves at the taverns along the way. It was customary for the stage to arrive at an inn at the hour of noon when a hearty dinner, the biggest meal of the day, was ready for the them.
When it came to overnight lodging, there was no such thing as a private room. All beds were big enough to accommodate at least two people and frequently there were as many as three people to a bed and three beds to a room. The tavern keeper did not consider this house filled until every bed was filled.
One would frequently go to bed by themselves, only to wake up with someone else in their bed, for the landlords of these taverns squeezed as many lodgers in as possible in order to make as much money as possible.
If a guest wanted a bath or a fire in the room, there was an extra charge. The fire was kindled to order in the fireplace, or stove, and the bath was taken in a wooden tub which the porter filled with hot water carried up from the kitchen.
"The early bird catches the worm" seemed to be the motto for all those who traveled by coach and had to spend the night at an inn or tavern, only to be woken up for an early start in the coach.
And there is no lack of disgust written in early diaries. Everyone from Alice Morse Earle, a New England historian and author who had a particular distaste of these "early rises" as late as the last quarter(as repeated in her A Wet Start at Daybreak) of the 19th century to Longfellow, who described it :
"The stage left Boston about three o'clock in the morning, reaching the Sudbury Tavern for breakfast, a considerable portion of the route being traveled in total darkness, and without your having the least idea who your companion might be."
The owners/landlords of taverns, were generally characterized as "disagreeable". Edward Field, in his The Colonial Tavern, is quoted as saying, "....some landlords were so full of sunshine that it was June all the year round; others had minds so frost-bitten that there was no hope for you except in the January thaw. "
Field goes on the explain the duties of the landlords; "He led the singing in the meeting house on Sunday; ran the ferry if his tavern was situated beside a stream; acted as schoolmaster for the children of those who frequented his house; served his fellow men in the legislature, town council, selectman, and other minor offices; ruled with solemn dignity over the local courts; headed the Train Band on training or squadron days; kept order in the meeting house on Sunday..."
As for the food served at these taverns;
"The eating was the cream of the earth. I dined last week at Delmonico's and my dinner was nothing to the cutlets, the ham and eggs, and johnny-cakes of the old Tavern days."
Frederick Currier of the Fitchburg Historical Society.
On the other hand, the well known lady of Boston, Sarah Knight, related her experience as she stopped at an inn in Rye, New York;
"Being shew'd the way up a pair of Stairs which had such a narrow passage that I had almost stopt by the Bulk of my Body; But arriving at my Apartment found it to be a little lento Chamber furnisht among other Rubbish with a High Bedd and a Low one, a Long Table, a Bench and a Bottomless Chair. Little Miss went to scratch up my Kennell which Ruselled as if shee'd bin in a Barn among the husks and supose such was the contents of the Tickin-nevertheless being exceedingly weary, down I laid my poor Carkes never more tired and found my Covering as scanty as my bed was hard. Anon I heard another Russelling noice in the room-called to know the matter-Little Miss said she was making a bed for the men; who when they were in Bed complain'd their Leggs lay out of it by reason of its shortness-my poor bones complained bitterly not being used to such Lodgings, and so did the man who was with us; and poor I made but one Grone which was from time I went to bed to the time I riss which was about three in the morning Setting up by the fire till light."
And one quick reference to the old tavern signs. I love the looks of these, and many can still be purchased online. They are a symbol of our past and truly sums up our lives during the colonial era in New England. Many road-side signs were merely symbols and simple paintings, denoting the name of the inn/tavern because many could not read. See if you can figure out the name of this tavern. The answer is at the end of this post.
It would soon to be that these taverns of old were to fade into history, along with the stages. One old "sermon" relating to the life of a stage was circulated in the 19th century:
Answer to the tavern sign above.
The Crows Foot Tavern
 |
| A 1773 rendering of The Green Dragon Tavern, Boston, Mass.. |
We couldn't begin to talk about the old taverns of New England without, first, relating as to why they were needed to begin with.
When New England, and elsewhere, was first settled, the only way to getting from one place to another was by horseback, waterways or, more commonly, by foot because of the never ending wilderness that choked our surroundings.
Most of the time, the trails that were already in use by the Natives were used and expanded as the years, and number of people traversing, increased.
As we have mile markers today, these were in use in the 17th century as well. See photos of the earliest mile markers still in extant today.
These so called roads in the very early days were just paths and were seldom, if at all, maintained. Stone "mile markers" were erected, though, allowing for those traveling to gauge distance.
Some of these earliest paths are still in existence. The Old Connecticut Path, that runs westward from Massachusetts to the Connecticut River Valley, is now(in part) Route 9 and 126.
The Old Bay Path, through Kingston, Mass., which is referred to now, in part, as the Boston Post Road is one of the earliest, if not the earliest.
It wasn't long before the domestic horse and oxen were used for something other than hauling felled trees from the forest. The "trodden paths" of old would still be used by those on foot for the most part, but these animals became the conveyance for those who needed to travel further distances. In short time, crude, horse-drawn coaches were built.
The earliest forms of these coaches were simple, covered wagons with 3 rudimentary benches(without backs) affixed in a wooden "box" with a leather cover. Passengers had only one way on and off-board, through a narrow opening in the side of this "box" and climbing over one another. The rear seats were generally given to the women and children so that they could at least have the support of the wall of the wagon.
It wasn't until the early 1800s, that more elaborate, egg-shaped, sturdy coaches were being built for the comfort of the passengers.
 |
| Courtesy of connecticuthistory.org |
Of course rainstorms and floods created perilous journeys, but forest fires were the most dreaded natural fear on the "road". There have been countless journal entries of passengers sitting with their backs to the front so that they wouldn't become aware of these dangers.
"We travelled all night. The rain and snow descending through the roof, our hats were frozen to our capes, and our cloaks to one another. In the morning we looked like some mountain of ice moving down the gulf stream..."
 |
| The route of the old Boston Post Road |
"A stage sometimes got stuck in the mud and on one occasion, the driver asked his passengers to alight and help extricate the vehicle, which they refused to do. The driver, thereupon, got out and sat by the roadside, calmly smoking. Words followed in quick succession, whereupon the driver remarked: "Since them horses can't pull the 'kerrige out o' that mud-hole, an' ye won't help, I'm a-goin' to wait till th' mud-hole dried up."
As early as 1693, the mail service began delivering post by horseback and coach. Yankee frugality was obvious at this early stage as well, with the post driver acting as a town crier of sorts. He would carry the news, orally, from town to town, collected bills for individuals and local governments, acted as a guide for the foreign observer and collected taxes, just to name a few.
Sundays were the one day that travel was NOT permitted, except for emergencies and charity. This law was not repealed in New England until 1887, believe it or not.
 |
| An 18th century stagecoach |
Another well known, and often repeated, story of these early days is attributed to Andover, Massachusetts.
"Once of the Deacons of the church, there, was appointed to see that the officers in charge of making sure this law was enforced was doing their job. The officer was stationed just outside of town at a toll gate and the Deacon spent the day with him. A gentleman traveling in a carriage was stopped by the officer and told that he could go no further. He very courteously congratulated the guardians on their desire to enforce the law which was familiar to him but asked that he be permitted to pass as his mother was lying dead in Boston. The Deacon and the officer conferred on this and decided that the traveler was within his rights and allowed him to continue on his journey. When he had reached a safe distance, he called back, 'Don't forget to tell the good people of Andover that you permitted me to pass because my mother is lying dead in Boston. You may add, also, if you please , that she has been lying dead there for some twenty years.' "
Within just a few years of the settlement of New England, and the paths laid out for commerce from one town or plantation to another, it was noticed that "stay-overs" were needed for the weary traveler. That is where the tavern comes in.
 |
| An old stereoscopic view of the famous Old Bay Path |
 |
| An Easton, Massachusetts Tavern picture taken in the 1800s |
A sixpence was the legal charge for a meal, and a penny for a quart of ale or beer. The landlord was liable to be fined ten shillings if he charged more.
So proliferate had taverns become that by 1675, even Cotton Mather is said to have remarked that every other house in Boston was one of those "public houses."
The year 1634 was also the year of the first tavern in Boston, owned by Samuel Cole. He opened it on the old Cornhill Street, now known as Washington Street, 239 Washington Street to be precise. This place is still visible with a plaque erected in 1924 by the City of Boston reading;
Site of
Samuel Cole's Inn
The first Tavern
in Boston 1634
Later known as
The Ship Tavern
The great Fire of 1711
started in the rear
of the tavern.
Along with smoking, coffee was prohibited, with one tavern keeper being punished for making and selling it because it "annoyed his neighbors by evil smells."
Even some games, at the very beginning, were denied to travelers. "They have a vile practice here, which is peculiar to this city; I mean that of playing back-gammon(a noise I detest)which is going forward in the public coffee-houses from morning till night. frequently ten or a dozen tables at a time."
The popularity of serving "refreshments" created a type of "road-side poetry".
"The days are short, the weather's cold,
By tavern fires tales are told.
Some as for dram when first come in,
Others with flip and bounce begin."
"My liquor's good,
My measure's just;
Excuse me, sirs!
I cannot trust."
Coaches usually traveled at the rate of four or five miles an hour, changing horses every ten miles or so. This gave passengers the opportunity to refresh themselves at the taverns along the way. It was customary for the stage to arrive at an inn at the hour of noon when a hearty dinner, the biggest meal of the day, was ready for the them.
When it came to overnight lodging, there was no such thing as a private room. All beds were big enough to accommodate at least two people and frequently there were as many as three people to a bed and three beds to a room. The tavern keeper did not consider this house filled until every bed was filled.
One would frequently go to bed by themselves, only to wake up with someone else in their bed, for the landlords of these taverns squeezed as many lodgers in as possible in order to make as much money as possible.
If a guest wanted a bath or a fire in the room, there was an extra charge. The fire was kindled to order in the fireplace, or stove, and the bath was taken in a wooden tub which the porter filled with hot water carried up from the kitchen.
"The early bird catches the worm" seemed to be the motto for all those who traveled by coach and had to spend the night at an inn or tavern, only to be woken up for an early start in the coach.
And there is no lack of disgust written in early diaries. Everyone from Alice Morse Earle, a New England historian and author who had a particular distaste of these "early rises" as late as the last quarter(as repeated in her A Wet Start at Daybreak) of the 19th century to Longfellow, who described it :
"The stage left Boston about three o'clock in the morning, reaching the Sudbury Tavern for breakfast, a considerable portion of the route being traveled in total darkness, and without your having the least idea who your companion might be."
The owners/landlords of taverns, were generally characterized as "disagreeable". Edward Field, in his The Colonial Tavern, is quoted as saying, "....some landlords were so full of sunshine that it was June all the year round; others had minds so frost-bitten that there was no hope for you except in the January thaw. "
Field goes on the explain the duties of the landlords; "He led the singing in the meeting house on Sunday; ran the ferry if his tavern was situated beside a stream; acted as schoolmaster for the children of those who frequented his house; served his fellow men in the legislature, town council, selectman, and other minor offices; ruled with solemn dignity over the local courts; headed the Train Band on training or squadron days; kept order in the meeting house on Sunday..."
As for the food served at these taverns;
"The eating was the cream of the earth. I dined last week at Delmonico's and my dinner was nothing to the cutlets, the ham and eggs, and johnny-cakes of the old Tavern days."
Frederick Currier of the Fitchburg Historical Society.
On the other hand, the well known lady of Boston, Sarah Knight, related her experience as she stopped at an inn in Rye, New York;
"Being shew'd the way up a pair of Stairs which had such a narrow passage that I had almost stopt by the Bulk of my Body; But arriving at my Apartment found it to be a little lento Chamber furnisht among other Rubbish with a High Bedd and a Low one, a Long Table, a Bench and a Bottomless Chair. Little Miss went to scratch up my Kennell which Ruselled as if shee'd bin in a Barn among the husks and supose such was the contents of the Tickin-nevertheless being exceedingly weary, down I laid my poor Carkes never more tired and found my Covering as scanty as my bed was hard. Anon I heard another Russelling noice in the room-called to know the matter-Little Miss said she was making a bed for the men; who when they were in Bed complain'd their Leggs lay out of it by reason of its shortness-my poor bones complained bitterly not being used to such Lodgings, and so did the man who was with us; and poor I made but one Grone which was from time I went to bed to the time I riss which was about three in the morning Setting up by the fire till light."
And one quick reference to the old tavern signs. I love the looks of these, and many can still be purchased online. They are a symbol of our past and truly sums up our lives during the colonial era in New England. Many road-side signs were merely symbols and simple paintings, denoting the name of the inn/tavern because many could not read. See if you can figure out the name of this tavern. The answer is at the end of this post.
It would soon to be that these taverns of old were to fade into history, along with the stages. One old "sermon" relating to the life of a stage was circulated in the 19th century:
" We hear no more the clanging hoof
And the stage coach rattling by;
For the steam king rules the troubled world,
And the old pike's left to die."
Answer to the tavern sign above.
The Crows Foot Tavern
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