USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of Dedham, Massachusetts > Part 16
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The next year it was introduced into Boston and in 1823 in New York City, but gas lighting was not in successful operation in this country until 1827.
With the increased scarcity of whale oil there was commenced about 1840 the manufacture of lard oil, which was used in large quantities for illuminating purposes. This oil continued in use until about 1860. A few years previous to this time burning fluid had been introduced, but was found so very dangerous on account of the inflammable nature of the fluid that it was soon discarded. Although the term kerosene as a petroleum product was first applied to oil in 1844, it did not come into general use for illuminating purposes before 1860, although it was introduced by James Young of Scotland in 1850. Since 1860 it has been used in large quantities, and the refining of kerosene from the crude oil has become a leading industry. Kerosene oil was largely used for all lighting purposes in country towns previous to the introduction of electric lighting, which had its rise and develop- ment as an industry during the last quarter of the 19th century. In 1877 electric lighting was introduced into London and Paris, and at that time these were the only places in the world where it was commercially used. The general introduction of electricity dates from 1880. The arc light was first used for lighting streets, squares and public halls, etc., and was followed by the incandes- cent lamp for indoor use.
John Winthrop built in 1631 a ship for crossing the water, and ship building soon became an industry. In the early settle- ment of the town Dedham farmers engaged in cutting ship timber which was carted by ox teams in large quantities to Boston where it found a ready sale. The Boston boats carried boards, after saw mills had been set up, as most of the forest trees had been cut off in England. These boats also carried loads of skins of the beaver, wolf, fox, squirrel, otter and mink. Salted fish, beef and pork as well as corn, wheat, barley and rye found a ready market in England. The boats did not return empty as the English were glad to send cloth, household goods, pewter, china dishes or anything the Colonists could not make for themselves. Boats also went to the West Indies and from there got sugar and molasses which was sold in the West India goods stores of New England.
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CHAPTER XI
DEDHAM TAVERNS
MITHERE were always two central figures in the settlement of a New England town, namely, the meeting house and the tavern. The Congregational Church came into existence to meet the spiritual needs of the settlers, while the tavern or ordinary was built to meet their bodily wants as a place of public enter- tainment. Fires were never kindled in Colonial meeting houses, and as a consequence they were cold and damp and gloomy in the fall and winter seasons. The tavern then was needed as a place of warmth in the winter for those who had come in to attend the Sunday service, some of whom had traveled a distance of ten miles. The tavern naturally became a resort of worshippers on Sunday, and the General Court, in order to prevent backsliding passed a law requiring all tavern keepers within one mile of a meeting house to "clear their houses of all persons able to go to meeting during the time of service." A privilege was granted to tavern keepers which was given to no one else, namely the right to sell liquor. Yet drunkenness or tippling was prohibited and the tavern keeper who permitted such irregularities was liable to a fine of ten shillings. Later the Selectmen were instructed to post the name of common tipplers.
While Dedham was settled in 1636 there is no evidence that there was a tavern here before Michael Powell was licensed May 6, 1646, to keep an ordinary, a house of hospitality, and allowed to sell wine. As this occurred within ten years of the settlement of the town, Mr. Powell's ordinary must have been a very humble affair, with a thatched roof which would hardly meet Col. Byrd's description of the Jamestown settlers of whom he wrote: "Like true Englishmen they built a church that cost no more than fifty pounds and a tavern that cost five hundred."
In 1648 Mr. Powell moved to Boston and it is believed that Joshua Fisher continued the business as he petitioned May 9, 1649, to be freed from customs on wines. We find in the lives of Michael Powell and Joshua Fisher the kind of men licensed to keep an ordinary in the early time. Michael Powell was tavern
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keeper in Dedham for three years and a town deputy to the Gen- eral Court. Joshua Fisher became a resident of Dedham in 1637; he joined the Dedham Church in 1639. He joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1640 and was the second sergeant in 1648. In 1640 he was made a lieutenant of the Dedham Train Band. At the first town meeting, after his admission as a freeman, he was chosen a selectman and continued in the office for twenty-two years. When Joshua Fisher opened his "public house" the selectmen petitioned the General Court to be freed from the custom on wines. The Court made answer as follows: The selectmen of Dedham desiring in regard to their remoteness from Boston that Lieut. Joshua Fisher might have liberty to sell some strong water. to supply ye necessity of such as shall stand in need thereof in that town, the Court grants their request. Mr. Fisher soon engaged in the brewing of malt liquors and had a tap room at his house. This second ordinary was located on High Street, between the public landing place and the meeting house, the two sources of his patronage. Other institutions of the town were the stocks and the whipping post and whenever the Court ordered that a culprit should be punished there was always a crowd on hand to witness the punishment. The Dedham settlers drank largely malt liquors and wine, with cider, as soon as orchards were grown. The "great room" was the chief attraction in Lieut. Fisher's Tavern. Here was the great fireplace, where in winter the huge logs blazed and cracked. In summer the fireplace was filled with asparagus, smoke tree and green shrubs. The hard oak floor was sanded and kept white and smooth. The room was low-studded and the great beams, bearing the marks of the hewer's axe, stretched across overhead. A settie was before the fire and stools and chairs were scattered around the room. Beside the fireplace was found the flip iron which was used in the concoction of certain drinks, the bitter taste which the iron imparted to liquor was greatly enjoyed. In this room stood the high desk with quill pens, sand box, and account book in which were recorded the many pints, quarts and gallons of liquor, which in too many cases brought poverty and want to many homes.
In early houses of hospitality abroad at every exit was
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Top, NORFOLK HOUSE; bottom, PHOENIX HOTEL
BRIDE'S TAVERN
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found a box bound with brass straps and provided with an open- ing through which coins might be inserted. Over this box were the letters T.I.P., meaning "To Insure Promptness." From this originated the word "tip" which in common use today signifies gratuities.
Capt. Joshua Fisher, Jr., succeeded his father as the pro- prietor of the tavern. He willed the property to his wife for life with a reversion to his daughter Mary who became the wife of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, Senior, the celebrated almanac maker. Dr. Ames took up his residence at the tavern on his marriage in 1735, and became the landlord. Under his administration the building was greatly improved and made a comfortable house of public entertainment. Here he made for many years his almanac, whose accuracy gave him a great distinction. Here Benjamin Franklin visited him on October 12, 1763 and here Fisher Ames, the distinguished statesman, was born. This ordinary continued to be known as Ames Tavern until 1772, when Richard ,Woodward married the widow of Dr. Ames, Senior, and became its land- lord. Perhaps unjustly, the house was ever afterwards known as "Woodward's Tavern." Following the customs of old England, all taverns, were by statute law, obliged to put up a sign when they were licensed to keep a house of public entertainment. Dr. Ames' Tavern bore the sign of the "Rising Sun" while the Wood- ward Tavern put out the sign of a "Law Book." With the advent of newspapers enterprising landlords gave notice of the attrac- tions of their houses by inserting advertisements in the news- papers. Dr. Ames used his almanac as an advertising medium. In 1751 the following advertisement appeared: These are to sig- nify to all persons that travel the great Post Road south west from Boston, that I keep a house of Public Entertainment, eleven miles from Boston, at the sign of the Sun. If they want refresh- ment and see cause to be my Guest, they shall be well entertained at a reasonable rate. His house was fitted with closets and com- pletely finished "to the turning of the key inside and out." It was a time of stirring events, when in 1772 Richard Woodward became proprietor of the tavern, an institution which Daniel Webster styled the "Headquarters of the Revolution." It was at the "Red Sabin Tavern" in Providence that the patriots in
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June 9, 1772, met who captured the British naval schooner, the "Gasper", the first sea victory of the Revolution. It was at the Green Dragon in Boston, that Paul Revere's committee watched the movements of General Gage. It was at the Indian Queen Tavern in Philadelphia that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declara- tion of Independence. "Thus is hospitality forever linked in love with Liberty." Here at the Woodward Tavern the Sons of Liberty met and here the committee of correspondence formu- lated measures to promote the welfare of the colonists. Here on September 6, 1774 was held the Convention which appointed General Warren with others to draw up the celebrated Suffolk Resolves, the adoption of which has been called "the spark which kindled the Revolution." This old tavern, known as the sign of the "Law Book" which had served as a place of public entertain- ment for a century and a half and whose floors had resounded to the tread of Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams and many other patriots of the Revolution, was torn down in 1817 and thus passed an ancient landmark. It is related that the tap room windows were screened with heavy wooden shutters in which were small heart-shaped openings. In the evening when the room was lighted these little openings emitted a brilliant streak of light, and travelers as they passed along the highway or in crossing the meadows, seeing the light in the darkness were wont to remark: "See the light shine through Mrs. Woodward's heart."
As the settlement of New England became more populous the demand for public houses for the accommodation of travelers engaged in trade and business and journeying from one part of the country to another became more necessary. On the great road from Boston to Worcester before the incorporation of the town of Needham, there was located on the south side of Charles River, in what was then a part of Dedham, a tavern which was run by Benjamin Mills. He was first licensed July 2, 1705 to keep a house of public entertainment. Judge Samuel Sewell mentions in his Diary that the Royal Governor and other digni- taries were wont to refresh themselves at Mills' Tavern in their journeyings into the interior of the state.
When the stage coach made its appearance it created a new
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kind of travel for recreation and pleasure, and not wholly for business, so Gay's Tavern on Court Street, corner of Highland Street, came into existence. This was an important institution in the town nearly two centuries ago. Benjamin Gay was the original proprietor and was the landlord in 1749. As Gay's Tavern was located on one of the direct roads to Rhode Island, stage coaches probably stopped here for breakfast and perhaps for a change of horses. There was much rivalry between land- lord Ames and landlord Gay as shown by a statement in Dr. Ames' Almanac for the year 1752 as follows: I beg leaf to add-having the year previous advertised his tavern at the sign of the "Rising Sun", that if any with a view of gain to themselves, or advantage to their friends, have reported things of this house, in contra- diction of any advertisement I would only have those whom they would influence consider that when the narrator is not honest, is not an eye or ear witness, can't trace his story to the original, has it only by hearsay, a thousand such witnesses are not suffi- cient to hang a dog, and I hope no gentleman that travels the road will have his mind biased against my house by such idle report. Benjamin Gay died in 1761 and was succeeded by his widow, who in turn was succeeded by her son, Joshua Gay, who built the beautiful colonial house now occupied by Hugh Perrin, which was kept as a tavern for more than a quarter of a century. Joshua Gay died in 1782 and was succeeded as landlord by Timothy Gay of Needham. Gay's Tavern was probably as com- plete in its appointments as any country tavern of its time in this vicinity. The inventory of the estate of Benjamin Gay, made in 1761, shows twenty-nine chairs, six beds with bedding, ten napkins, ten knives and eleven forks, two china punch bowls, two earthen punch bowls, two decanters and wine glasses, stone mugs and earthen ware; three dozen glass bottles, six candle sticks, three dozen pewter plates, seven pewter platters besides pewter porringers and measures.
President Dwight of Yale, a descendant of John Dwight of Dedham, writing about 1820 gives a description and appreciation of New England inns at the period of Gay's Tavern. The best old- fashioned New England inns were superior to any of the modern ones which I have seen. They were at least spared from attempting
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to furnish a great variety of food. Yet the variety was ample. The food was always of the best quality; the beds were excel- lent; the house and all its appendages were in the highest degree clean and neat; the cookery was remarkably good; and the stable was not less hospitable than the house. The family in the mean- time were possessed of principle, and received you with the kind- ness and attention of friends.
When the Norfolk County jail was built in 1795 it was located on Highland street near Gay's tavern. Timothy Gay the landlord was the jailor, and here in the bar-room of the tavern the keys to the jail were hung. The last landlord of Gay's Tavern was Stephen Fuller who was running the hotel in 1807, although there were three other hotels in the village at the time. A pane of glass in the bar room of Gay's Tavern bore on original verse cut upon it with a diamond in 1807. The verse was evidently addressed to the sweetheart of the guest.
Far, far from home, while journeying on i
I often turn and love to see
O'er yon blue hills, the smiling sun,
Whose beams dear Anna smile on thee.
In the estate of Samuel Colburn devised to the Episcopal Church in Dedham in 1756 were several lots of land including his homestead. In Mr. Colburn's old house, Jesse Clapp opened a tavern of which he was the landlord in 1792 when the property was leased by Timothy Gay, landlord of the Court Street Tavern, of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Gay seems to have been the land- lord in 1802. He was soon succeeded by William Smith who con- tinued to be the landlord until his death in 1810. Mr. Smith named his house "The Dedham Hotel." The word "hotel" did not apply itself to American hosteleries until about 1800 so Mr. Smith was one of the early users of the word. In 1817 Nathaniel Polly Jr. became proprietor and ran the hotel for several years. Oil June 30, 1817 while Polly was landlord President Munroe in jour- neying to Boston stopped with Capt. Dowse over night. The next morning he walked down to the tavern where he gave a reception to the citizens of the town. In the years 1821-1828 the tavern was kept by Francis Alden; here the passengers of the "Citizens Line of Coaches" took breakfast. Before the advent
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of the railroad there was an enormous business done between Boston and Providence where connnections were made for New York and the South. In 1828 this became Brides Tavern. James Bride being the proprietor. As a landlord he was noted for his abundant table and good service. There was a large stable in con- nection with the tavern, the buildings of which covered nearly an acre of land. At midnight on October 30, 1832 the stable was found to be on fire, efforts were unavailing to stay the flames and the whole establishment was laid in ashes. The tavern and stable in due time were rebuilt. The house, as it had arisen from the ashes of its predecessor was called the Phoenix House. At this time the Phoenix was the finest hotel in Norfolk County. It had sixty rooms furnished in the most modern and tasteful manner. On the first floor were four large parlors, dining hall 58x28 feet, and bar-room 38x18 feet. On the second floor there were six par- lors and ten chambers, and later an elegant dance hall 56x28 feet was added. The hall was opened with a grand ball and turkey sup- per on January 30, 1840. James Bride was succeeded by David Kingman and during his occupancy the hotel was partially burned on April 10, 1836. October 6, 1836 Adam H. White became the land- lord and opened it with an elegant champagne supper. He per- sisted in selling liquor contrary to law and was several times in- dicted. In 1837 Theodore T. Kimball bought the property and the following year became landlord of the hotel.
In 1843 there was a great temperance celebration in honor of the opening of the Phoenix by James Clark, as a Temperance Hotel. Public exercises were held in the meeting house of the First Church. An address was given by Nathaniel P. Banks, after- wards distinguished as a statesman and soldier. After the exer- cises in the meeting house the men and women marched with their music and banners to the Phoenix to dine. Among the cele- brated temperence advocates who spoke in Dedham from time to time were John B. Gough and Father Mathiew the great Irish Temperance Reformer. Mr. Clark was obliged to give up his ex- periment in 1845. John Tilton was the next landlord. He was the first to introduce into the house what was distinctly called style. He had colored waiters and bell boys to answer the call of guests. In 1850 Josiah D. Howe became the landlord and ran the Phoenix
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with great success until his death in 1867. His wife succeeded him and conducted the house with much ability until 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Howe were perhaps the most popular landlords which the Phoenix ever had. Under their management this hotel was felt to be an acquisition to the town. At that time sleighing par- ties were very popular and during the winter months many par- ties from Boston and surrounding towns were entertained here. During the Civil War the Phoenix was the constant resort of offi- cers at Camp Meigs at Readville. When President Lincoln was assassinated the hotel was decorated with the American Flag and draped in black. James Eaton of Rockland was its landlord until that never-to-be-forgotten Christmas night in 1880 when the Phoenix was burned never to be rebuilt. Thus passed the last hostelry on this spot which for nearly a century had been asso- ciated with the growth, comfort and prosperity of the town. Many distinguished persons were guests at the Phoenix. Nath- aniel P. Willis, and his sister Fanny Fern, the Rev. Dr. Ezra S. Gannett, William H. Fuller, a brother of Margaret Fuller, with his family. Count Johannas and many prominent Dedham fami- lies were boarders here. Under landlord Howe's management, when the Court was in session, the judges stopped here from Monday morning to Friday night with many distinguished law- yers. The hotels in Dedham Village, the Phoenix, Norfolk and Columbian, all had flag staffs attached and on festive days and patriotic celebrations, the American Stars and Stripes were hoisted in honor of the occasion.
In 1795 a post road was opened with mail coaches, under con- tract with the Postmaster General which ran over Court and Highland Streets to Providence. To meet this natural increase in travel, "Howe's Tavern" was opened in 1798 by William Howe, who leased of the Episcopal Church a piece of land which was the site of the first Episcopal Church in Dedham, at the corner of Court and Church Streets on which he erected a tavern the main part of which is still standing on the site. The building originally had an ell in which there was a dance hall. Mr. Howe sold the property in 1818 to Mace Smith who ran it under the name of "The Punch Bowl". He had a store in connection with the hotel where he sold West India goods. It was later known as "Shep-
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ard's Tavern" when it was run by Lemuel Shepard who later be- came the landlord of the Union Hotel in Boston. William Smith again became landlord and ran it with poor success until 1842, when the building received extensive repairs and was closed for six months after which it was again opened by William Smith who called it the "Washingtonian House". He ran it as & strictly temperance house but was obliged to close it after four months trial. He was succeeded by Jonathan Bowditch who named his place of entertainment the "Columbian House" and under his management it was celebrated for its good service and fine table. Francis Alden bought the property in 1847 and it was afterwards known as "Alden's Tavern." He was its last landlord and during the last year of his management it was little more than a boarding house.
The Norfolk Hotel* on Court Street was one of the last of the old Dedham inns. It was built by Martin Marsh on land leased of the First Church in Dedham in 1801. In 1818 the property was purchased by Gragg & Alden who remained proprietors until 1828 when Francis Alden became the sole owner. Mr. Alden soon enlarged the building by the addition of an ell which contained a dance hall. The ballroom was one of the best in New England and for many years was the scene of festive occasions. From far and near parties came to try the celebrated spring floor, and the elegant supper following a royal dance. Here a Thanksgiving Ball was given for many years. Mr. Alden named it the Norfolk Hotel. In 1814 Mr. Marsh commenced to run, in connection with the hotel, a line of stage coaches between Dedham and Boston, the fare being 623 cents each way. He issued the following ad- vertisement: "Neat and convenient carriages, fleet and gentle horses, civil and obliging drivers, will constantly be provided and every exertion made to accommodate the public." The stage left Dedham at 7 o'clock in the morning in the summer and at half past eight in the winter season. Later the regular stage coach service of the town was five days in the week, Wednesday and Sunday being the excepted days. The stage coach was ordinarily drawn by two horses, but on certain days, as Monday and Sat- urday by three. In 1840 Mr. Alden conveyed the property to
. For the history of the Norfolk Hotel see Austin's Tale of a Dedham Tavern, 1912.
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Martin Bates who through the years had several tenants as land- lords. At times when it was not leased Mr. Bates made the at- tempt to run it himself. At one time the hotel was known as Hazelton's Hotel and later as McIntire's. In 1848 Ezra Jones became proprietor and under his management the hotel began to run down, he himself came to grief for violation of the liquor law. On June 1, 1866 Mr. Bates conveyed the property to the trustees of St. Mary's School and Asylum, and an institution which had been of great service to Dedham came to a close. Early landlords of the Norfolk House-Martin Bates, Moses Gragg and Francis Alden, were prominent Freemasons and here for some years, pre- vious to the dedication of the Masonic Hall, in 1839, in the north- east room on the third floor were held the meetings of Constel- lation Lodge and here many men of Dedham were raised to the sublime degree of master masons. Ebenezer Gay's "Travelers Inn" on Federal Hill was purchased in 1787 by Capt. Timothy Stowe. Here he found many receipted bills for casks of various liquors, which had been sold to travelers and others who passed over this road, thus established the tradition that this was once a roadhouse. Mr. Gay was by trade a cordwainer and had a little shop in connecton with his inn.
Frederick D. Klemm, who came to this country from Ger- many, in 1847, in consequence of having been a participant in the Student's Riot at Heidelburg University, purchased land on East- ern Avenue, in 1862, and erected a hotel which he named the "Reunion Hotel" in the hope that the war then going on between the North and the South would terminate in a reunion. Mr. Klemm was a lifelong friend of Carl Schurz and had many tokens of his friendship in gifts he had received. During the Civil War the Reunion Hotel was patronized by soldiers from Readville to many of whom Mr. Klemm gave fencing lessons. It was a popu- lar place for jurors when the Court was in session.
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