Chapter III: Appendix: Boston Taverns to the Year 1800 (1)

The =Anchor=, or =Blue Anchor=. Robert Turner, vintner, came into possession of the estate (Richard Fairbanks's) in 1652, died in 1664, and was succeeded in the business by his son John, who continued it till his own death in 1681; Turner's widow married George Monck, or Monk, who kept the _Anchor_ until his decease in 1698; his widow carried on the business till 1703, when the estate probably ceased to be a tavern. The house was destroyed in the great fire of 1711. The old and new Globe buildings stand on the site. [See communication of William R. Bagnall in _Boston Daily Globe_ of April 2, 1885.] Committees of the General Court used to meet here. (Hutchinson Coll., 345, 347.)

=Admiral Vernon=, or =Vernon's Head=, corner of State Street and Merchants' Row. In 1743, Peter Faneuil's warehouse was opposite. Richard Smith kept it in 1745, Mary Bean in 1775; its sign was a portrait of the admiral.

=American Coffee-House.= See _British Coffee-House_.

=Black Horse=, in Prince Street, formerly Black Horse Lane, so named from the tavern as early as 1698.

=Brazen-Head.= In Old Cornhill. Though not a tavern, memorable as the place where the Great Fire of 1760 originated.

=Bull=, lower end of Summer Street, north side; demolished 1833 to make room "for the new street from Sea to Broad," formerly Flounder Lane, now Atlantic Avenue. It was then a very old building. Bull's Wharf and Lane named for it.

=British Coffee-House=, mentioned in 1762. John Ballard kept it. Cord Cordis, in 1771.

=Bunch of Grapes.= Kept by Francis Holmes, 1712; William Coffin, 1731-33; Edward Lutwych, 1733; Joshua Barker, 1749; William Wetherhead, 1750; Rebecca Coffin, 1760; Joseph Ingersoll, 1764-72. [In 1768 Ingersoll also had a wine-cellar next door.] Captain John Marston was landlord 1775-78; William Foster, 1782; Colonel Dudley Colman, 1783; James Vila, 1789, in which year he removed to Concert Hall; Thomas Lobdell, 1789. Trinity Church was organized in this house. It was often described as being at the head of Long Wharf.

=Castle Tavern=, afterward the =George Tavern=. Northeast by Wing's Lane (Elm Street), front or southeast by Dock Square. For an account of Hudson's marital troubles, see Winthrop's _New England_, II. 249. Another house of the same name is mentioned in 1675 and 1693. A still earlier name was the "Blew Bell," 1673. It was in Mackerel Lane (Kilby Street), corner of Liberty Square.

=Cole's Inn.= See the referred-to deed in _Proc. Am. Ant. Soc._, VII. p. 51. For the episode of Lord Leigh consult _Old Landmarks of Boston_, p. 109.

=Cromwell's Head=, by Anthony Brackett, 1760; by his widow, 1764-68; later by Joshua Brackett. A two-story wooden house advertised to be sold, 1802.

=Crown Coffee-House.= First house on Long Wharf. Thomas Selby kept it 1718-24; Widow Anna Swords, 1749; then the property of Governor Belcher; Belcher sold to Richard Smith, innholder, who in 1751 sold to Robert Sherlock.

=Crown Tavern.= Widow Day's, head of Clark's Wharf; rendezvous for privateersmen in 1745.

=Cross Tavern=, corner of Cross and Ann Streets, 1732; Samuel Mattocks advertises, 1729, two young bears "very tame" for sale at the _Sign of the Cross_. Cross Street takes its name from the tavern. Perhaps the same as the =Red Cross=, in Ann Street, mentioned in 1746, and then kept by John Osborn. Men who had enlisted for the Canada expedition were ordered to report there.

=Dog and Pot=, at the head of Bartlett's Wharf in Ann (North) Street, or, as then described, Fish Street. Bartlett's Wharf was in 1722 next northeast of Lee's shipyard.

=Concert Hall= was not at first a public house, but was built for, and mostly used as, a place for giving musical entertainments, balls, parties, etc., though refreshments were probably served in it by the lessee. A "concert of musick" was advertised to be given there as early as 1755. (See _Landmarks of Boston_.) Thomas Turner had a dancing and fencing academy there in 1776. As has been mentioned, James Vila took charge of Concert Hall in 1789. The old hall, which formed the second story, was high enough to be divided into two stories when the building was altered by later owners. It was of brick, and had two ornamental scrolls on the front, which were removed when the alterations were made.

=Great Britain Coffee-House=, Ann Street, 1715. The house of Mr. Daniel Stevens, Ann Street, near the drawbridge. There was another house of the same name in Queen (Court) Street, near the Exchange, in 1713, where "superfine bohea, and green tea, chocolate, coffee-powder, etc.," were advertised.

=George=, or =St. George, Tavern=, on the Neck, near Roxbury line. (See _Landmarks of Boston_.) Noted as early as 1721. Simon Rogers kept it 1730-34. In 1769 Edward Bardin took it and changed the name to the =King's Arms=. Thomas Brackett was landlord in 1770. Samuel Mears, later. During the siege of 1775 the tavern was burnt by the British, as it covered our advanced line. It was known at that time by its old name of the _George_.

=Golden Ball.= Loring's Tavern, Merchants' Row, corner of Corn Court, 1777. Kept by Mrs. Loring in 1789.

=General Wolfe=, Town Dock, north side of Faneuil Hall, 1768. Elizabeth Coleman offers for sale utensils of Brew-House, etc., 1773.

=Green Dragon=, also _Freemason's Arms_. By Richard Pullin, 1712; by Mr. Pattoun, 1715; Joseph Kilder, 1734, who came from the =Three Cranes=, Charlestown. John Cary was licensed to keep it in 1769; Benjamin Burdick, 1771, when it became the place of meeting of the Revolutionary Club. St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons bought the building before the Revolution, and continued to own it for more than a century. See p. 46.

=Hancock House=, Corn Court; sign has Governor Hancock's portrait,--a wretched daub; said to have been the house in which Louis Philippe lodged during his short stay in Boston.

=Hat and Helmet=, by Daniel Jones; less than a quarter of a mile south of the Town-House.

=Indian Queen=, =Blue Bell=, and ---- stood on the site of the Parker Block, Washington Street, formerly Marlborough Street. Nathaniel Bishop kept it in 1673. After stages begun running into the country, this house, then kept by Zadock Pomeroy, was a regular starting-place for the Concord, Groton, and Leominster stages. It was succeeded by the =Washington Coffee-House=. The =Indian Queen=, in Bromfield Street, was another noted stage-house, though not of so early date. Isaac Trask, Nabby, his widow, Simeon Boyden, and Preston Shepard kept it. The =Bromfield House= succeeded it, on the Methodist Book Concern site.

_Daniel Jones of Boston_,
Hereby informs his Customers and others that he has
Opened a TAVERN in Newbury-Street,
at the Sign of the HAT and HELMET, which is less
than a Quarter of a Mile South of the Town-House:
Where Gentlemen Travellers and others will be kind-
ly entertained, and good Care taken of their Horses.

He hath Accommodation for private and Fire-
Clubs, and will engage to furnish with good Liquors
and Attendance: Coffee to be had when called for, &c.

The House to be supplied with the News-Papers for
the Amusement of his Customers.

N. B. Knapp'd and plain Bever and Beveret Hats,
in the newest Taste, made and sold by said JONES.

BOSTON NEWS-LETTER, FEB. 15, 1770]

_STAGES._

The public are informed, that the Of-
fice of the New-York Mail, and Old Line Stages, is re-
oved from State-street, to Najor KING'S tavern near the
Market, which they will leave at 8 o'clock, A. M. every
day (Sundays excepted). Also, Albany Stage Office is kept
at the same place. The Stage will leave it every Monday
and Thursday at 8 o'clock, A M.

The apartment in State-Street, lately occupied for the
above purpose, is to be let. Apply to Major KING.

December 11

COLUMBIAN CENTINEL. DEC. 11, 1799]

_New-York_ and _Providence Mail_
STAGES,

Leave Major Hatches, Royal Ex-
change Coffee House, in State-Street, every morning
at 8 o'clock, arrive at Providence at 6 the same day; leave
Providence at 4 o'clock, for New-York, Tuesdays, Thurs-
days and Saturdays. Stage Book kept at the bar for the en-
trance of the names. Expresses forwarded to any part of the
continent at the shortest notice, on reasonable terms; horses
kept ready for that purpose only. All favors gratefully ac-
knowledged by the Public's most humble servant.

_Jan 1._ STEPHEN FULLER, jun.

COLUMBIAN CENTINEL, JAN. 1, 1800]

=Julien's Restorator=, corner of Congress and Milk streets. One of the most ancient buildings in Boston, when taken down in 1824, it having escaped the great fire of 1759. It stood in a grass-plot, fenced in from the street. It was a private dwelling until 1794. Then Jean Baptiste Julien opened in it the first public eating-house to be established in Boston, with the distinctive title of "Restorator,"--a crude attempt to turn the French word _restaurant_ into English. Before this time such places had always been called cook-shops. Julien was a Frenchman, who, like many of his countrymen, took refuge in America during the Reign of Terror. His soups soon became famous among the gourmands of the town, while the novelty of his _cuisine_ attracted custom. He was familiarly nicknamed the "Prince of Soups." At Julien's death, in 1805, his widow succeeded him in the business, she carrying it on successfully for ten years. The following lines were addressed to her successor, Frederick Rouillard:

JULIEN'S RESTORATOR.

I knew by the glow that so rosily shone
Upon Frederick's cheeks, that he lived on good cheer;
And I said, "If there's steaks to be had in the town,
The man who loves venison should look for them here."

'Twas two; and the dinners were smoking around,
The cits hastened home at the savory smell,
And so still was the street that I heard not a sound
But the barkeeper ringing the _Coffee-House_ bell.

"And here in the cosy _Old Club_,"[4] I exclaimed,
"With a steak that was tender, and Frederick's best wine,
While under my platter a spirit-blaze flamed,
How long could I sit, and how well could I dine!

"By the side of my venison a tumbler of beer
Or a bottle of sherry how pleasant to see,
And to know that I dined on the best of the deer,
That never was _dearer_ to any than me!"

=King's Head=, by Scarlet's Wharf (northwest corner Fleet and North streets); burnt 1691, and rebuilt. Fleet Street was formerly Scarlet's Wharf Lane. Kept by James Davenport, 1755, and probably, also, by his widow. "A maiden _dwarf_, fifty-two years old," and only twenty-two inches high, was "to be seen at Widow Bignall's," next door to the =King's Head=, in August, 1771. The old _King's Head_, in Chancery Lane, London, was the rendezvous of Titus Oates' party. Cowley the poet was born in it.

=Lamb.= The sign is mentioned as early as 1746. Colonel Doty kept it in 1760. The first stage-coach to Providence put up at this house. The Adams House is on the same site, named for Laban Adams, who had kept the _Lamb_.

=Lion=, formerly =Grand Turk=. In Newbury, now Washington, Street. (See _Landmarks of Boston_.) Kept by Israel Hatch in 1789.

=Light-House and Anchor=, at the North End, in 1763. Robert Whatley then kept it. A Light-house tavern is noted in King Street, opposite the Town-House, 1718.

=Orange Tree=, head of Hanover Street, 1708. Jonathan Wardwell kept it in 1712; Mrs. Wardwell in 1724; still a tavern in 1785. Wardwell set up here the first hackney-coach stand in Boston.

=Philadelphia=, or =North End Coffee-House=, opposite the head of Hancock's Wharf. Kept by David Porter, father of the old Commodore and grandfather of the present Admiral. "Lodges, clubs, societies, etc., may be provided with dinners and suppers,--small and retired rooms for small company,--oyster suppers in the nicest manner." Formerly kept by Bennet. Occupied, 1789, by Robert Wyre, distiller.

=Punch Bowl=, Dock Square, kept by Mrs. Baker, 1789.

=Queen's Head.= In 1732 Joshua Pierce, innholder, is allowed to remove his license from the sign of the =Logwood Tree=, in Lynn Street, to the _Queen's Head_, near Scarlet's Wharf, where Anthony Young last dwelt.

=Roebuck=, north side of Town Dock (North Market Street). A house of bad repute, in which Henry Phillips killed Gaspard Dennegri, and was hanged for it in 1817. Roebuck passage, the alley-way through to Ann Street, took its name from the tavern. It is now included in the extension northward of Merchants' Row.

=Rose and Crown=, near the fortification at Boston Neck. To be let January 25, 1728: "enquire of Gillam Phillips." This may be the house represented on Bonner's map of 1722.

=Red Lion=, North Street, corner of Richmond. Noticed as early as 1654 and as late as 1766. John Buchanan, baker, kept near it in 1712.

=Royal Exchange=, State Street, corner Exchange. An antique two-story brick building. Noticed under this name, 1711, then kept by Benjamin Johns; in 1727, and also, in 1747, by Luke Vardy. Stone kept it in 1768. Mrs. Mary Clapham boarded many British officers, and had several pretty daughters, one of whom eloped with an officer. The site of the Boston Massacre has been marked by a bronze tablet placed on the wall of the Merchants' Bank, opposite a wheel-line arrangement of the paving, denoting where the first blood of the Revolution was shed. It was the custom to exhibit transparencies on every anniversary of the Massacre from the front of this house. The first stage-coach ever run on the road from Boston to New York was started September 7, 1772, by Nicholas Brown, from this house, "to go once in every fourteen days." Israel Hatch kept it in 1800, as a regular stopping-place for the Providence stages, of which he was proprietor; but upon the completion of the turnpike he removed to Attleborough.

=Salutation=, North Street, corner Salutation. See p. 45. Noticed in 1708; Samuel Green kept it in 1731; William Campbell, who died suddenly in a fit, January 18, 1773.

=Seven Stars=, in Summer Street, gave the name of Seven Star Lane to that street. Said to have stood on part of the old Trinity Church lot. "Near the Haymarket" 1771, then kept by Jonathan Patten.

=Shakespeare=, Water Street, second house below Devonshire; kept by Mrs. Baker.

=Ship=, corner Clark and North streets; kept by John Vyall, 1666-67; frequently called Noah's Ark.

=Ship in Distress=, vicinity of North Square.

=Star=, in Hanover Street, corner Link Alley, 1704. Link Alley was the name given to that part of Union Street west of Hanover. Stephen North kept it in 1712-14. It belonged to Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton.

=State's Arms=, also =King's Arms=. Colonel Henry Shrimpton bequeathed it to his daughter Sarah, 1666. Hugh Gunnison sold it to Shrimpton in 1651, the tavern being then the =King's Arms=.

=Sun.= This seems to have been a favorite emblem, as there were several houses of the name. The _Sun_ in Batterymarch Street was the residence of Benjamin Hallowell, a loyalist, before it became a tavern. The estate was confiscated. General Henry Dearborn occupied it at one time. The sign bore a gilded sun, with rays, with this inscription:

"The best Ale and Porter
Under the Sun."

Upon the conversion of the inn into a store the sign of the sun was transferred to a house in _Moon_ Street. The =Sun= in Dock Square, corner of Corn Court, was earlier, going back to 1724, kept by Samuel Mears, who was "lately deceased" in 1727. It was finally turned into a grocery store, kept first by George Murdock, and then by his successor, Wellington. A third house of this name was in Cornhill (Washington Street), in 1755. Captain James Day kept it. There was still another =Sun=, near Boston Stone, kept by Joseph Jackson in 1785.

=Swan=, in Fish, now North Street, "by Scarlett's Wharf," 1708. There was another at the South End, "nearly opposite Arnold Welles'," in 1784.

=Three Horse-Shoes=, "in the street leading up to the Common," probably Tremont Street. Kept by Mrs. Glover, who died about 1744. William Clears kept it in 1775.

=White Horse=, a few rods south of the _Lamb_. It had a white horse painted on the signboard. Kept by Joseph Morton, 1760, who was still landlord in 1772. Israel Hatch, the ubiquitous, took it in 1787, on his arrival from Attleborough. His announcement is unique. (See _Landmarks of Boston_, pp. 392, 393.)

Jolley Allen,

Advertises all his good old Friends,
Customers and others,

That he has again opened Shop, opposite to the
Three Doves in Marlborough-Street, Boston:
And has for Sale, at the lowest Prices, the fol-
lowing Articles;

Muscovado Sugars of various Sorts
and Prices, single, middle and double refined
English Loaf Sugars, lately imported, Pepper,
Bohea Tea, Coffee, Spices of all Sorts, Indigo,
Raisins, Currants, Starch, Ginger, Copperas,
Allum, Pipes of all Sorts, best Durham Flour
of Mustard, and most other Kinds of Groceries
too many to enumerate, which he will sell from
the largest to the smallest Quantities.--Likewise
a very large and compleat Assortment of Liver-
pool and Staffordshire Ware, which he will
engage to sell by the Crate, or single Piece, as
low as any Store in Town.--Playing Cards,
Wool Cards, Seive Bottoms, a few Pieces of
Oznabrigs and Ticklenburgs, N{o}.4 and N{o}.12.
Pins, a few Pieces of Sooses, Damasks, Sterrets,
Loretto's, Burdetts, Brunswicks, Mozeens,
for Summer Waistcoats, &c. &c. &c.

Also, at said Allen's may be had, genteel
Boarding and Lodging for six or eight Persons
if should be wanted, for a longer or shorter Season,
likewise good Stabling for ten Horses and Car-
riages.

N. B. If any Person inclines to hire the above
Stable, and Place for Carriages, they may have
a Lease of the same for 19 Years or less Time
from the said Allen, and if wanted, on the same
Premises can be spared, Room for forty or fifty
Horses and Carriages: It is as good a Place for
Horse and Chaise Letting as any in Boston.

BOSTON NEWS-LETTER, MAY 27, 1773]

COLE'S INN

THE BAKERS' ARMS

THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN

BY WALTER K. WATKINS

AND

THE HANCOCK TAVERN

BY E. W. McGLENEN

VI.

SAMUEL COLE'S INN.

Samuel Cole came to Boston in the fleet with Governor Winthrop, and he with his wife Ann were the fortieth and forty-first on the list of original members of the First Church. He requested to become a freeman October 19, 1630, and was sworn May 18, 1631. He was the ninth to sign the roll of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1637 and in the same year was disarmed for his religious views. In 1636 he contributed to the maintenance of a free school and in 1656 to the building of the town house. In 1652 he was one of those chosen to receive monies for Harvard College. In 1634 he opened the first ordinary, or inn. It was situated on Washington Street, nearly opposite the head of Water Street. Here, in 1636, Sir Henry Vane, the governor, entertained Miantonomo and two of Canonicus's sons, with other chiefs. While the four sachems dined at the Governor's house, which stood near the entrance to Pemberton Square, the chiefs, some twenty in all, dined at _Cole's Inn_. At this time a treaty of peace was concluded here between the English and the Narragansetts.

In 1637, in the month of June, there sailed into Boston Harbor the ship _Hector_, from London, with the Rev. John Davenport and two London merchants, Theophilus Eaton and Edward Hopkins, his son-in-law, two future governors of Connecticut. On the same vessel was a young man, a ward of King Charles I., James, Lord Ley, a son of the Earl of Marlborough (who had just died). He was also to hold high positions in the future and attain fame as a mathematician and navigator.

The Earl of Marlborough, while in Boston, was at _Cole's Inn_, and while he was here was of sober carriage and observant of the country which he came to view. He consorted frequently with Sir Henry Vane, visiting with him Maverick, at Noddle's Island, and returning to England with Vane in August, 1637.

His estate in England was a small one in Teffont Evias, or Ewyas, Wilts, near Hinton Station, and in the church there may still be seen the tombs of the Leys. He also had a reversion to lands in Heywood, Wilts.

In 1649 he compounded with Parliament for his lands and giving bond was allowed to depart from England to the plantations in America.

On the restoration of Charles II. in 1661, the Earl returned to England and in the next year was assisted by the King to fit out an expedition to the West Indies. In 1665 he commanded "that huge ship," the _Old James_, and in the great victorious sea fight of June 3 with the Dutch was slain, with Rear Admiral Sansum, Lords Portland, Muskerry, and others.

He died without issue and the title went to his uncle, in whom the title became extinct, to be revived later in the more celebrated Duke, of the Churchill family.

It was shortly after the Earl's departure that Cole was disarmed for his sympathy for his neighbor on the south, Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, and he was also fined at the same time for disorders at his house. In the following spring he was given permission to sell his house, to which he had just built an addition, and he disposed of it to Capt. Robert Sedgwick in February, 1638.

Cole then removed to a house erroneously noted by some as the first inn, situated next his son-in-law, Edmund Grosse, near the shore on North Street. This he sold in 1645 to George Halsall and bought other land of Valentine Hill.

VII.

THE BAKERS' ARMS.

PREDECESSOR OF THE GREEN DRAGON.

Thomas Hawkins, biscuit baker, and a brother of James Hawkins, bricklayer, was born in England in 1608. He was a proprietor in Boston in 1636; his wife Hannah was admitted to the church there in 1641, and that year his son Abraham, born in 1637, was baptized. His home lot was on the west side of Washington Street, the second north of Court Street. He also had one quarter of an acre near the Mill Cove, and a house bought in 1645 from John Trotman.

In 1662 James Johnson, glover, sold three quarters of an acre of marsh and upland, bounded on the north and east by the Mill Cove, to Hawkins. The latter was living by the Mill Cove by this time in a house built in 1649, and beside keeping his bake house he kept a cook shop, and also entertained with refreshments his customers by serving beer. A mortgage of the property, in 1663, to Simon Lynde discloses, besides the dwelling and bake house, a stable, brew house, outhouses, and three garden plots on the upland. In 1667 Hawkins was furnished £200 by the Rev. Thomas Thacher to cancel this mortgage. The property extended from the Mill Pond to Hanover Street, and was bounded north by Union Street, and was 280 feet by 104 feet--about two thirds of an acre in area.

Thacher had married Margaret, widow of Jacob Sheafe and daughter of Henry Webb, a wealthy merchant. Mrs. Sheafe had a daughter, Mehitabel, who married her cousin, Sampson Sheafe. Mr. Thacher assigned the mortgage to Sampson Sheafe, and on 31 October, 1670, the time of payment having expired, Sheafe obtained judgment for possession of the property, which had become known as the "Bakers' Arms," which Hawkins had kept since 1665 as a house of entertainment.

Hawkins had married a second wife, and in January, 1671, Rebecca Hawkins deeded her rights in the property to Sheafe. 15 May, 1672, Hawkins petitioned the General Court, and complained that he had been turned out of doors and his household property seized by Sheafe; that his houses and land were worth £800, and that Sheafe had only advanced £175. He asked for an appraisement, and the prayer of the petitioner was allowed.

In 1673 Hawkins sued Sheafe in the County Court for selling some brewing utensils, a pump, sign, ladder, cooler and mash fat (wooden vessel containing eight bushels) taken from the brew house. He also objected to items in Sheafe's account against him, such as "Goodman Drury's shingling the house and Goodman Cooper whitening it." At this time we find two dwelling houses on the lot. The easterly house Sheafe sold in May, 1673, to John Howlet, and this became known as the Star Tavern.

On 10 April, 1673, Sampson Sheafe sold to William Stoughton the west portion of the Hawkins property.

In 1678 Mrs. Hawkins petitioned the General Court in the matter, and also the town to sell wine and strong water, on account of the weak condition of her husband and his necessity. 11 June, 1680, the General Court allowed her eleven pounds in clear of all claims and incumbrances. Hawkins having died, she had married, 4 June, 1680, John Stebbins, a baker. Stebbins died 4 December, 1681, aged 70, and the widow Rebecca Stebbins was licensed as an innkeeper in 1690.

In 1699 the widow Stebbins, then 77 years old, testified as to her husband Thomas Hawkins having the south-east corner or sea end of half a warehouse at the Draw Bridge foot, which he purchased from Joshua Scotto and which Hawkins sold in 1657 to Edward Tyng. That Hawkins had used it for the landing and housing of corn for his trade as a baker. That he had bought the sea end for the convenience of vessels to land. It is probable the portion sold to Stoughton had but a frontage of two hundred and four feet on Union Street. Sheafe had torn down part of the building and made repairs, and had as tenant of the "Bakers' Arms" Nicholas Wilmot. Wilmot came to Boston about 1650. In 1674 he was allowed by the town to sell beer and give entertainment, and in 1682 he was licensed as an innholder.

By his wife Mary he had Elizabeth, who married (1) Caleb Rawlins, an innkeeper, who died in 1693, and (2) Richard Newland; Abigail, who married Abraham Adams, an innkeeper; Hannah, who married Nathaniel Adams of Charlestown, blockmaker; Mary, who married John Alger; and Ann, the youngest, who married Joseph Allen. There were also two sons, Samuel and John Wilmot. Nicholas Wilmot died in 1684, and his widow in a very short time married Abraham Smith, to assist in carrying on the tavern.

The tavern, even at this time, was of some size, and additions had perhaps been built by Stoughton. The rooms were designated by names, as in the taverns of Old England. In the chamber called the "Cross Keys" met the Scots Charitable Society, a benefit society for the residents of Scottish birth and sojourners from Scotland, two of the officers keeping each a key of the money box. The most noted of the chambers was that of the "Green Dragon," which at about this time gave the name of "Green Dragon" to the tavern. There were also the "Anchor," the "Castle," the "Sun," and the "Rose" chambers, which were also the names of other taverns in the town at that period. One cold December night in 1690, just after midnight, a fire occurred in the "Green Dragon," and it was burnt to the ground and very little of its contents saved. Snow on the houses in the vicinity was the means of preventing the spread of the flames, with the fact that there was no wind at the time. Within a year or two the tavern was rebuilt by Stoughton and again occupied by Abraham Smith, who died in 1696, leaving an estate of £273: 19: 5. His widow, Mary Smith, died shortly after her husband. In her will she freed her negro women Sue and Maria, and the deeds of manumission are recorded in the Suffolk Deeds.

VIII.

THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN.

In the manuscript collections of the Bostonian Society is a plan showing the earliest owners of the land bordering on the Corn Market. On the site now the south corner of Faneuil Hall Square and Merchants' Row is noted the possession of Edward Tyng. Another manuscript of the Society, equally unique, is an apprentice indenture of Robert Orchard in 1662. In the account of Orchard, printed in the _Publications of the Society_, Vol. IV, is given the continued history of Tyng's land after it came into the possession of Theodore Atkinson. In the history of the sign of the _Golden Ball Tavern_ we continue the story of the same plot of land.

Originally owned by Edward Tyng, and later by Theodore Atkinson, and then by the purchase of the property by Henry Deering, who married the widow of Atkinson's son Theodore. All this was told in the Orchard article.

It was about 1700 that Henry Deering erected on his land on the north side of a passage leading from Merchants' Row, on its west side, a building which was soon occupied as a tavern. Samuel Tyley, who had kept the _Star_ in 1699, the _Green Dragon_ in 1701, and later the _Salutation_ at the North End, left this last tavern in 1711 to take Mr. Deering's house in Merchants' Row, the _Golden Ball_.

Now in the Masonic Temple]

Now in the possession of the Bostonian Society]

Henry Deering died in 1717, and was buried with his wife on the same day. He had been a man greatly interested in public affairs. In 1707 he had proposed the erection of a building for the custody of the town's records; at the same time he proposed a wharf at the foot of the street, now State Street, then extending only as far as Merchants' Row. This was soon built as "Boston Pier" or "Long Wharf." He also presented a memorial for the "Preventing Disolation by Fire" in the town.

In the division of Deering's estate in 1720 the dwelling house in the occupation of Samuel Tyley, known by the name of the _Golden Ball_, with privilege in the passage on the south and in the well, was given his daughter Mary, the wife of William Wilson. Mrs. Wilson, in her will drawn up in 1729, then a widow, devised the house to her namesake and niece, Mary, daughter of her brother, Capt. Henry Deering. At the time of Mrs. Wilson's death in 1753 her niece was the wife of John Gooch, whom she married in 1736. Samuel Tyley died in 1722, while still the landlord of the _Golden Ball_.

The next landlord of whom we have knowledge was William Patten, who had taken the _Green Dragon_ in 1714. In 1733 he was host at the _Golden Ball_, where he stayed till 1736, when he took the inn on West Street, opposite the schoolhouse, and next to the estate later known as the _Washington Gardens_.

He was succeeded by Humphrey Scarlett, who died January 4, 1739-40, aged forty-six, and is buried on Copp's Hill with his first wife Mehitable (Pierce) Scarlett. He married as a second wife Mary Wentworth. By the first wife he had a daughter Mary (b. 1719), who married Jedediah Lincoln, Jr., and by the second wife a son named Humphrey. When the son was a year old, in 1735, two negro servants of Scarlett, by name Yaw and Caesar, were indicted for attempting to poison the family one morning at breakfast, by putting ratsbane or arsenic in the chocolate. Four months after Scarlett's death his widow married William Ireland.

Richard Gridley, born in Boston in 1710, was apprenticed to Theodore Atkinson, merchant, and later became a gauger. In 1735 he kept a tavern on Common Street, now Tremont Street. Here by order of the General Court he entertained four Indians, chiefs of the Pigwacket tribe, at an expense of £40 "for drinks, tobacco, victuals, and dressing." Five pounds of this was for extra trouble. The Committee thought the charges extravagant and cut him down to £33 for their entertainment from June 28 to July 9. In 1738 he took the _Golden Ball_. His fame in later years, at Louisburg and elsewhere, as an engineer and artillery officer is well known.

Gridley was followed as landlord in 1740 by Increase Blake. He was born in Dorchester in 1699 and married Anne, daughter of Edward and Susanna (Harrison) Gray. Her parents are noted in Boston history for their ownership of the rope-walks at Fort Hill. Blake, a tinplate worker, held the office of sealer of weights and measures, and in 1737 leased a shop of the town at the head of the Town Dock. He later lived near Battery March, and was burned out in the fire of 1760.

In 1715 there was born in Salem John Marston. He married in 1740 Hannah Welland, and by her had three daughters. In 1745, at the first siege of Louisburg, he was a first lieutenant in the fifth company, commanded by Capt. Charles King, in Colonel Jeremiah Moulton's regiment. His wife having died, he married her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth (Welland) Blake. His second wife died, and he married in 1755 Elizabeth Greenwood. He was landlord at the _Golden Ball_ as early as 1757. In 1760 he purchased a house on the southwest corner of Hanover and Cross streets, and later other property on Copp's Hill. He is said to have been a member of the "Boston Tea Party." During the Revolution he was known as "Captain" Marston, and attended to military matters in Boston, supplying muskets to the townspeople as a committeeman of the town. He continued to keep a house of entertainment and went to the _Bunch of Grapes_ in 1775. There he was cautioned in 1778 for allowing gaming in his house, such as playing backgammon. He died in August, 1786, while keeping the _Bunch of Grapes_ on King, now State Street, and there he was succeeded by his widow in retailing liquors. He left an estate valued at £2000.

Benjamin Loring, born in Hingham in 1736, married Sarah Smith in Boston in 1771. During the Revolution he kept the _Golden Ball_. He died in the spring of 1782, and his widow succeeded him and kept the tavern till her death in 1790.

From the inventory of her estate it appears that the house consisted, on the ground floor, of a large front room and small front room, the bar and kitchen, and closets in the entry. A front and a back chamber, front upper chamber, and another upper chamber and garret completed the list of rooms. On the shelves of the bar rested large and small china bowls for punch, decanters for wine, tumblers, wine glasses, and case bottles. There also was found a small sieve and lemon squeezer, with a Bible, Psalm, and Prayer Books. On the wall of the front chamber hung an old Highland sword.

The cash on hand at the widow's death consisted of 4 English shillings, 20 New England shillings, 10 English sixpences, a French crown, a piece of Spanish money, half a guinea, and bank notes to the value of £4: 10. In one of the chambers was 8483 Continental paper money, of no appraised value.

Benjamin Loring, at his death, left his share of one half a house in Hingham to be improved for his wife during her life, then to his sisters, Abigail and Elizabeth, and ultimately to go to Benjamin, the son of his brother Joseph Loring of Hingham. The younger Benjamin became a citizen of Boston, a captain of the "Ancients," and a colonel in the militia. He started in business as a bookbinder and later was a stationer and a manufacturer of blank books, leaving quite a fortune at his death in 1859. His portrait is displayed in the Armory of the Artillery Company. A portrait of the elder Loring (the landlord of the _Golden Ball_) shows him with a comely face and wearing a tie-wig.

The Columbian _Centinel_ of December 3, 1794, had the following advertisement:

For sale, if applied for immediately, The Noted Tavern in the Street
leading from the Market to State street known by the name of the
Golden Ball. It has been improved as a tavern for a number of years,
and is an excellent stand for a store. Inquire of Ebenezer Storer, in
Sudbury Street.

Mr. Storer acted as the agent of Mary, wife of the Rev. Benjamin Gerrish Gray, of Windsor, N. S., who was the heiress of Mary Gooch, who resided at Marshfield, Mass., at the time of her death. Mr. Gray was a son of Joseph Gray of Boston and Halifax, N. S., a loyalist. Mary, the heiress, was a daughter of Nathaniel Ray Thomas, a loyalist of Marshfield, who had married Sally Deering, a sister of Mary Gooch of Marshfield.

The property was sold by Mrs. Gray, June 9, 1795, to James Tisdale, a merchant, who bought also adjoining lots. It was at this time that the _Golden Ball_ disappeared from Merchants' Row, where it had hung as a landmark for about a century. Tisdale soon sold his lots to Joseph Blake, a merchant, who erected warehouses on the site.

There was still an attraction in the _Golden Ball_, however, and in 1799 we find it swinging in Wing's Lane, now Elm Street, for Nathan Winship. He was the son of Jonathan, and born in Cambridge. In 1790 he was living in Roxbury. He died in 1818, leaving a daughter Lucy. He had parted with the _Golden Ball_ long before his death.

In 1805 there was erected in South Boston a building by one Garrett Murphy. It stood on Fourth Street, between Dorchester Avenue and A Street, and here he displayed the _Golden Ball_ for five years, as his hotel sign. Just a century ago, in 1810, for want of patronage, it became a private residence. About 1840 the hotel was reopened as the South Boston Hotel.

From South Boston the _Golden Ball_ rolled back to Elm Street, and in 1811 hung at the entrance of Joseph Bradley's Tavern. From this _Golden Ball_ started the stages for Quebec on Mondays at four in the morning. They arrived at Concord, N. H., at seven in the evening. Leaving there at four Tuesday morning, they reached Hanover, N. H., at two in the afternoon, and continuing on arrived at Haverhill, N. H., near Woodsville, at nine Wednesday evening.

The next appearance of the _Golden Ball_ was on Congress Street, where at No. 13 was the new tavern of Thomas Murphy in 1816.

Henry Cabot, born 1812, was a painter, and first began business at 2 Scollay's Building in 1833. He removed to Blackstone Street in 1835, where he was located at various numbers till 1858, when he went to North Street. He resided in Chelsea from 1846 till his death in 1875. The occupation of this owner of the _Golden Ball_ was that of an ornamental sign and standard painter. His choice of a sign was not according to the traditions of his trade, and did not conform with the painters' arms of the London Guild Company, which were placed on the building in Hanover Street by an earlier member of that craft. It was no worse choice, however, than a sign which some of us may recall as swinging on Washington Street, near Dock Square, fifty years ago, "The Sign of the Dying Warrior, N. M. Phillips, Sign Painter."

The _Golden Ball_ was the sign anciently hung out in London by the silk mercers, and was used by them to the end of the eighteenth century. Mr. Cabot's choice of a location to start his business life was more appropriate than his sign, as in the block of shops, owned by the town, connecting on the west side of the Scollay's Building, had been the paint shop of Samuel, brother of Christopher Gore.

COFFEE URN USED IN THE GREEN DRAGON.

This interesting relic was given to the Bostonian Society during 1915. It is a coffee urn of Sheffield ware, formerly in the _Green Dragon Tavern_, which stood on Union Street from 1697 to 1832, and was a famous meeting place of the Patriots of the Revolution. It is globular in form and rests on a base, and inside is still to be seen the cylindrical piece of iron which, when heated, kept the delectable liquid contents of the urn hot until imbibed by the frequenters of the tavern. The _Green Dragon Tavern_ site, now occupied by a business structure, is owned by the St. Andrew's Lodge of Free Masons of Boston, and at a recent gathering of the Lodge on St. Andrew's Day the urn was exhibited to the assembled brethren.

When the contents of the tavern were sold, the urn was bought by Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington, who then kept a famous boarding house on Pearl Street, in a building owned by the Quincy family. In 1847 the house was razed and replaced by the Quincy Block, and Mrs. Harrington removed to High Street and from there to Chauncey Place. Some of the prominent men of Boston boarded with her for many years. At her death the urn was given to her daughter, Mrs. John R. Bradford, and it has now been presented to the Society by Miss Phebe C. Bradford of Boston, granddaughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington.

Dotted lines indicate the present Williams Court (Pie Alley)]

IX.

THE HANCOCK TAVERN.

"As an old landmark the _Hancock Tavern_ is a failure. There was not an old window in the house; the nails were Bridgewater nails, the timbers were mill-sawed, and the front of it was of face brick, which were not made even in 1800. At the time of the Revolution it was merely a four-room dwelling house of twelve windows, and the first license ever given to it as an inn was in 1790. The building recently demolished was erected during the years 1807 to 1812."

With the above words, Edward W. McGlenen, city registrar, effectually settled the question June 3, 1903, at a meeting of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, as to the widely credited report that it was in the _Hancock Tavern_, which for many years stood on Corn Court, the members of the Boston Tea Party met, disguised themselves as Indians, and from there journeyed to Griffin's Wharf, where they threw overboard the obnoxious tea.

It was a special meeting of the society called to hear the report of a special committee appointed "to consider the question of the circumstances attending the formation and execution of the plans for what is known as the Boston Tea Party." This committee was made up of men who for years had been students of that very subject, and the result of their researches is interesting and conclusive. William C. Bates was chairman, and his associates were Edward W. McGlenen, the Rev. Anson Titus, William T. Eustis, and Herbert G. Briggs. The members of the society were present in large numbers, and Marshall P. Wilder Hall was well filled.

William C. Bates, as chairman of the special committee, spoke of the endeavors of himself and colleagues to avoid ground covered by historians. He said that places of rendezvous for the "Mohawks" are to some extent known, for over half a dozen of the members have left to their descendants the story of where they met and costumed themselves. The four Bradlees met at their sister's house, corner of Hollis and Tremont streets; Joseph Brewer and others at the foot of Summer Street; John Crane in a carpenter shop on Tremont Street opposite Hollis; Joseph Shedd and a small party in his house on Milk Street, where the Equitable Building now stands; and James Swan in his boarding house on Hanover Street. In the testimony of the descendants, down to 1850 at least, there was no mention of the _Hancock Tavern_. The place of origin of the Tea Party and who first proposed it are matters of considerable discussion. Many of the party were members of St. Andrew's Lodge of Masons, which owned the _Green Dragon Inn_, and the lodge records state that the meeting held on the night of the Tea Party had to be adjourned for lack of attendance, "public matters being of greater importance."

Used in the Green Dragon Tavern, now in possession of the Bostonian Society]

It is not surprising that so much secrecy has been maintained, because of the danger of lawsuits by the East Indian Company and others. The members of the St. Andrew's Lodge were all young, many under twenty, the majority under thirty.

Mr. McGlenen's report as to his investigations was especially interesting, settling, as it did, three distinct questions which had been undecided for many years--the location of the inn of Samuel Cole, the location of his residence, and the much mooted point as to whether the "Mohawks" met at the _Hancock Tavern_ for the preparatory steps toward the Boston Tea Party.

All three questions were based on a statement printed in the souvenir of the _Hancock Tavern_, reading as follows:

On the south side of Faneuil Hall is a passageway through which one
may pass into Merchants' row. It is Corn court, a name known to few of
the present day, but in the days gone by as familiar as the Corn
market, with which it was connected. In the center of this court
stands the oldest tavern in New England. It was opened March 4, 1634,
by Samuel Cole. It was surrounded by spacious grounds, which commanded
a view of the harbor and its shipping, for at that time the tide
covered the spot where Faneuil Hall now stands. It was a popular
resort from the beginning, and was frequented by many foreigners of
note.

The seeming authority for these statements and others, connecting it with pre-revolutionary events, said Mr. McGlenen, appears in _Rambles in Old Boston_ by the Rev. E. G. Porter, pages 67 and 68, evidently based on a newspaper article written by William Brazier Duggan, M.D., in the Quincy Patriot for August 28, 1852, and to a novel entitled _The Brigantine_ by one Ingraham, referring to legendary lore. None of these statements can be confirmed. The confusion has been caused by the statement made many years ago and reprinted as a note in the _Book of Possessions_, Vol. II, _Boston Town Records_, that somewhere near the water front Samuel Cole kept an inn; but Letchford's _Note Book_, the _Town Records_, and the _Suffolk Deeds_ prove to the contrary.

Samuel Cole's Inn was kept by him from 1634 to 1638, when he sold out by order of the Colony Court. He purchased a residence near the town dock seven years later. It adjoined the _Hancock Tavern_ lot, and was bounded on the west by the lot originally in the ownership of Isaac Gross, whose son Clement kept the _Three Mariners_, an ale house which stood west of Pierse's Alley (Change Avenue) and east of the _Sun Tavern_.

It is impossible to connect the _Hancock Tavern_ with any pre-Revolutionary event. It was a small house, as described in the _Direct Tax_ of 1798, of two stories, of two rooms each, built of wood, with twelve windows, value $1200. It was first licensed in 1790, and the earliest reference found in print is in the advertisement for the sale of lemons by John Duggan, in the _Columbian Centinel_ in 1794.

As to Cole's Inn, from the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Court, it appears that Samuel Cole kept the first inn or ordinary within the town of Boston. In 1638 the court gave him liberty to sell his house for an inn. This he did, disposing of it to Robert Sedgwick of Charlestown, as shown in Letchford's _Note Book_. The town records show that in 1638 Edward Hutchinson, Samuel Cole, Robert Turner, Richard Hutchinson, William Parker, and Richard Brackett were ordered to make a cartway near Mr. Hutchinson's house, which definitely locates Samuel Cole on the old highway leading to Roxbury, _i.e._ Washington Street (_Town Records_, Vol. II, Rec. Com. Report, p. 38).

The _Book of Possessions_ shows in the same report that Valentine Hill had one house and garden bounded with the street on the east, meeting house and Richard Truesdale on the north, Capt. Robert Sedgwick on the south, and the prison yard west.

Major Robert Sedgwick's house and garden bounded with Thomas Clarke, Robert Turner and the street on the east, Mr. Hutchinson on the south, Valentine Hill on the north, and Henry Messinger west.

Valentine Hill granted, March 20, 1645, to William Davies, his house and garden bounded on the south with the ordinary now in the possession of James Pen (_Suffolk Deeds_, Vol. I, p. 60). This presumably is _Cole's Inn_, then in the possession of Robert Sedgwick, and occupied by James Pen.

The question of Cole's residence was easily settled by Mr. McGlenen, when he read from deeds showing that in 1645 Valentine Hill sold to Samuel Cole a lot of land near the town dock. Samuel Cole died in 1666, and in his will left his house and lot to his daughter Elizabeth and son John. This property is on the corner of Change Avenue and Faneuil Hall Square, and is now occupied by W. W. Rawson as a seed store.

The _Hancock Tavern_ is a distinct piece of property. Mr. McGlenen read from deeds which proved that the land was first owned by John Kenerick of Boston, yeoman, and was first sold to Robert Brecke of Dorchester, merchant, on January 8, 1652. It was again sold to Thomas Watkins of Boston, tobacco maker, in 1653; by him in 1679 to James Green of Boston, cooper; by him to Samuel Green of Boston, cooper, in 1712; and by him willed to his sons and daughter in 1750.

The eastern portion of the original lot (that situated east of the one on which the _Hancock Tavern_, just demolished, was located) was sold by Samuel Green's heirs to Thomas Handasyd Peck in 1759. The _Hancock Tavern_ lot itself was then sold to Thomas Bromfield, merchant, in February, 1760. The deed says: "A certain dwelling house, with the land whereon the same doth stand." Bromfield in 1763 sold it to Joseph Jackson of Boston, who owned it at the time of the Revolution, and disposed of it on August 19, 1779, to Morris Keith, a Boston trader. Morris Keith, or Keefe, died in April, 1783, aged 62, leaving a widow and two children, Thomas and Mary. The son died in 1784, the widow in 1785, leaving the daughter Mary to inherit the property. The inventory describes Morris Keefe as a lemon dealer, and the house and land in Corn Court as worth £260.

Mary Keefe married John Duggan, May 24, 1789, and in 1790 John Duggan was granted a license to retail liquor at his house in Corn Court. This is the earliest record of a license being granted to the _Hancock Tavern_, so called. Mary Duggan deeded the property to her husband in January, 1795, a few weeks before her death. In 1796 John Duggan married Mary Hopkins. He died April 21, 1802, leaving three children--Michael, born 1797; William, born 1799, and John Adams, born 1802. Mary (Hopkins) Duggan then married William Brazier in 1803. He died ten years later.

The record commissioners' reports, No. 22, page 290, show the following inventory for 1798:

John Duggan, owner and occupier; wooden dwelling; west
on Corn Court; south on Moses Gill; north on James
Tisdale. Land 1024 square feet; house 448 square feet;
2 stories, 12 windows; value $1200

Duggan's advertisement in the _Columbian Centinel_ of October 11, 1794, reads:

Latest imported lemons--In excellent order, for sale, by John Duggan,
at his house, at the sign of Gov. Hancock outside the market.

His address in the Boston Directory for 1796 is: "John Duggan, lemon dealer, Corn court, S. side market."

In 1795, Duggan, who is described as an innholder, and his wife deeded this property to Daniel English, who, on the same day, deeded it back to John, in order that he might have a clear title.

"From these investigations," said Mr. McGlenen, "I think it is clear that as an old landmark the _Hancock Tavern_ is a failure."

The Rev. Anson Titus then made his report of personal investigations relating to the Tea Party itself. He said that the only sure thing is this--that something happened in Boston on the evening of December 16, 1773. Beyond this to make statements is dangerous. Details of the affair were not subject of public conversation, because of the danger of prosecution and legal action. It was at the very edge of treason to the King. It is certain that there were a great crowd of visitors in Boston that night from the country towns who had been informed of what to expect and had come for a purpose. Secrecy was the word and obedience was the command.

Mr. Titus quoted from the Boston papers of that time and from Gov. Hutchinson's letters, but declared that it was impossible to learn of the names of the actual members of the party. He said that the "Mohawks were men familiar with the vessels and the wharves. It is generally recognized that they were Masons."