USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time > Part 78
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Henry T. Darlington, of the Bucks County Intelligencer, speaks of that newspaper and the Democrat a quarter of a century ago, as follows :
" Twenty-five years ago, and probably long before that, the Intel- ligencer and Democrat were well known among the country journals of the state. At that time the country press was of much less importance, relatively, than it is now, yet I remember well that the two weekly papers from Doylestown were not excelled in general merit and interest by any of the great number on the exchange list of the old Village Record. Each had its distinctive flavor, illus- trating to a great degree the characters of the men who published them-John S. Brown and Samuel J. Paxson. Both were men of industrious and careful habits. They were liberal in providing the needs of their business, and they made that business pay. In those days the custom of reporting local events was in its infancy, but they were both quick to perceive the importance and variety of the field
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just opened. The facilities for collecting news of this kind were few, and many people had an objection to being mentioned in the papers-a weakness to which the existing generation is not subject. Brown was methodical and persevering-his account-books were models of neat exactness, and not a line was allowed in his paper that had not passed under close supervision. Paxson was more dashing and sanguine. When he made up his mind to do a thing he was not particular about consequences. If an item was inter- esting or spicy it had to go in. Personally they were friends, but in political campaigns, as was the habit of the times, they made things pretty lively. Both papers had a good circulation, though of course not as large as at present. After 1849 they were printed on cylinder presses, driven by steam, and since that time they have had their offices in the present locations. Hiram Lukens, of the Intelligencer, and John Harton, of the Democrat, have been con- nected with the respective papers, under all administrations, some forty years."
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
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CHAPTER LIII. .
OLD TAVERNS.
First license on the Delaware .- Claimed early attention .- How license was procured. -Liquors good for sick or well .- First landlord .- New England rum .- Crown inn .- Thomas Brock .- Samuel Beakes keeps a disorderly house .- John Ward fined .- Taverns in 1730 .- The Anchor .- Cross keys .- Friends discouraged use of rum .- William Biles sells rum to Indians .- Rum at vendues .- Licenses in 1744 .- Harrow tavern .- Craig's tavern .- Red lion .- Brick hotel, Newtown .- Keichline's tavern .- Distinguished visitors .- Joseph Bonaparte .- Mrs. Keich- line .- Public houses at Bristol .- The Plough .- The Buck and the Bear .- Tavern at Centreville .- Sellers' tavern .- Beans' tavern.
SPIRITUOUS liquors were sold along the Delaware as soon as the white man showed his face upon its banks, for strong drink invari- ably waits upon him in the wilderness. The earliest record on the subject goes back to 1671, when Captain John Carre, the English governor of the west bank of the river, licensed persons both to sell and distill spirituous liquors.
One of the first subjects that claimed the attention of the county authorities was that of license, places to sell liquor being considered a prime necessity. At that day and down to nearly the close of the last century, the applicant for license had to be recommended by the court, to the governor, and if approved was duly commissioned. As there was but little traveling abroad, public houses were chiefly supported by the community around them. Strong liquors were then in universal use by all classes, and it had not yet entered the minds of any considerable number that its use as a beverage was an
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offense against good morals or detrimental to health. At the first settlement of the county spirits were considered an excellent thing for patient and nurse, the sick and the well. Rum, either raw or sweet- ened, and tobacco, smoked or chewed, were thought to be an antidote against infectious or offensive smells. The dram and the pipe were much indulged at leisure hours. The early settlers believed the air and water of this "hot climate," as they called it, were unwhole- some, and rum was drunk to prevent evil effects. The bottle was handed around at vendues and funerals among all classes of the pop- ulation. At first the common beverage among Friends was water or home-brewed beer, but soon New England and Jamaica rum found their way into the quiet settlements. When the orchards came into bearing cider was added as a common drink.
Richard Ridgeway, who lived on the river in Falls, opposite Biles's island, was probably the first landlord in the county, being licensed to keep an "ordinary" August 3d, 1686. He and his wife Eliza- beth were among the earliest settlers in the township, where they had a daughter born to them 17th of twelfth-month, 1682. The number of public houses kept pace with the increase of population, and in many instances they were the first sign of advancing civiliza- tion. They often overleaped a wide intervening wilderness, and planted themselves in advance of those who were to support them. They reached the banks of the Lehigh almost before the settlers, and the historic Crown inn became a noted hostelry when there was a sparse population around it. The crown is one of the oldest English signs, and is typical of royalty. There was a Crown inn in Cheapside, London, as early as 1467. The crown was associated with many other names, as "Crown and Mitre," "Crown and An- chor," etc .-
" The gentry to the King's head, The nobles to the Crown."
In olden times, when but few persons could read and write, taverns and their sign-boards played an important part in cities and towns. The names of many of the streets of London are derived from the sign of the inn or public house, which frequently was the first build- ing in them. The study of the signs, some of them several centuries old and very curious, is an interesting one. They suggest the modes of thought or the ideas of humor of the people of the period. In this country they are less suggestive and their history less curious. Next to Richard Ridgeway the earliest recorded petitioner to keep
53
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a public house in this county was Thomas Brock. On the 15th of February, 1705, he petitioned the court to recommend him to the governor for a license to keep a house of entertainment in Bristol the ensuing year, stating that he had been in the county about twenty years, and had been principally occupied in keeping public house, and that he is "now grown ancient, and is destitute of any other employment." No doubt Mr. Brock was licensed. It was as difficult then as now to prevent abuse of this privilege, and we find that at the October term, 1703, Samuel Beakes was presented for " keeping an ill and disorderly house, suffering and countenancing drunkenness, both in English and Indians, and suffering gambling and quarreling, and drunkenness in his house on the first day of the week." In 1726 John Ward was fined five pounds at the March term "for selling liquors without license." At the October term, 1727, the inhabitants of Solebury asked the court to recommend John Wells, who kept the ferry at what is now New Hope, where he no doubt had his tavern, and Jonathan Woolston, to the gov- ernor to keep public houses to retail strong liquors. In 1730 twenty- five persons were returned to the court as "retailers of rum" in the county, of which Bristol had five and Makefield three. Among the townships that reported none were Buckingham, Warminster, and Southampton. The amount of tax assessed was ninety-two pounds. The Anchor tavern, in Wrightstown, is probably one of the very oldest continuously-kept public houses in the county, and is still in the business. It was built by Joseph Hampton, who came into the township in 1724, and who kept it for several years. The anchor was perhaps used rather as an emblem than referring to its use in shipping. It is said to have been frequently used in the catacombs, typical of the words of Saint Paul, "The anchor of the soul," etc. It was a favorite sign with early printers. At the June term, 1728, Henry Betts, James Moon, and Evan Harris requested the court to recom- mend them for license to keep public houses in Bristol. In 1731 the fees for license in Bristol were ten shillings more than in any other part of the county, but the reason is not known. The Cross keys tavern, in Buckingham, a mile above Doylestown, ranks among the oldest public houses in the central part of the county, and dates some ways back into the last century. The cross keys are the arms of the Papal see, the emblem of Peter and his successors. This sign was frequently used by innkeepers and other tenants of religious houses even after the Reformation, and no doubt was first used by them.
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When the Friends became sensible of the growing evils from rum drinking, they put a stop to it as far as it was possible, and they were the pioneers of temperance reform in the province. From the earliest settlement they discouraged the sale of rum to Indians, and the meeting dealt with those who offended. In 1683 it was reported to Falls meeting that Ann Miller "doth keep a disorderly house and sell strong liquor to English and Indians, suffering them to drink it until they are drunk." In 1687 William Biles, the only merchant along the Delaware who imported and sold rum, a leading Friend, and several times elected to the assembly, was called to account for selling ram to the Indians, and Thomas Janney and William Yard- ley were appointed to wait on him. The earliest temperance pledge known to be upon record is found in the minutes of the Middletown monthly meeting in 1687, signed by forty-nine members, who bore testimony against the evil practice of selling rum to the Indians, be- cause it is "contrary to the mind of the Lord, and a grief and burden to his people." They advised every monthly meeting to subscribe against it. In the meeting records we find several instances where the early Friends bore testimony against the use of strong drink in families and elsewhere, and parents, in particular, are cau- tioned against giving it to their children. Down to about 1724 the practice of the crier at public vendnes giving rum "to the bidders to encourage them to enhance the price of the goods," was counte- nanced by all. That year the Middletown monthly meeting declared against it, and from that time the practice was discountenanced by Friends. April 9th, 1827, a meeting was held at Union school- house, Buckingham, to adopt measures to stop the practice of selling liquor by the small at vendues and other public gatherings without license. Soon afterward it was prohibited by act of assembly, but the law was only partially observed. In 1737 the yearly meeting took notice of the growing evil from the common use of liquors, and "tenderly" cautioned Friends against it. Friends of to-day watch with jealous care over the morals of their society in this regard, and are probably the most temperate religious body in the country. In compliance with the request of the yearly meeting, a committee is appointed each year in the monthly meetings to make inquiry of the members whether they use intoxicating liquors themselves or give them to those in their employ. The result of the inquiry for 1873 shows that there were only two persons in the Bucks quarterlies who used liquors themselves or gave them to others, and that only occa- sionally.
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In 1744 thirty persons were licensed to keep tavern in Bucks county, namely, Benjamin Harris, Joseph White and Malachi White, Bristol borough; Eleazar Jones, Bristol township; John Orr, Bed- minster ; Ann Amos and John Vandygrift, Bensalem; Benjamin Berin, New Britain ; Eleazar Stackhouse and Mary Taylor, Middle- town ; John Rich, Plumstead ; Joseph Thornton and Joseph Inslee, Newtown ; Benjamin Canby, Solebury ; Thomas Hamilton, Peter Grover, Peter Snyder, and Jacob Boyer, Rockhill ; Peter Walbec and Jacob Moyer, Upper Milford; Richard Brink and Richard Thomas, Warrington ; John Ogilby, Southampton ; John Baldwin, Warminster ; John Williams, Falls ; Andrew Van Buskirk, Nicholas Pennington, and Hugh Young, Wrightstown ; John Wilson, Tini- cum, and George Groover, " above Macungie, in the back woods of Lehigh county." The locality of some of these taverns of one hundred and thirty years ago is well known. Joseph Thornton kept on the site of the Brick hotel, Newtown, John Baldwin, at Hartsville, who moved away in 1748, and was succeeded by James Vansant, Ann Amos at the Red lion, Bensalem, and John Ogilby probably at the Buck, in Southampton. In 1748 we find that license was granted to David Owen, Upper Saucon, Stoffel Wagoner, Lower Saucon, John Trexler, Macungie, who had purchased the plantation and tavern-stand of Philip Labar. Bernard Vanhorne, jr., had been keeping public house in Northampton, but in 1748 he came to grief, because he " had no regard to the laws, encouraged drunken- ness, gaming, fighting, etc., on week days and Sundays, and doth frequently abuse and beat his wife in an extraordinary manner." In 1754 thirty-five persons petitioned the court for license, and among whom we find John Strickland and Lawrence Hoff, of Southamp- ton. In 1758 the leading Friends of Middletown recommended Thomas Stackhouse, jr., to the court for license. The Harrow tavern, in Nockamixon, was so called in 1785, and twenty years before that John Wilson kept a tavern on or near the Durham road, in the same township. Nearly a century ago the tavern at Newville, Warrington township, was kept by Daniel Craig, and called Craig's tavern. Within the present generation, under the management of Jacob Markley, it became quite a celebrated hostelry, and was patronized by gentlemen from a distance who delighted in a well- cooked and well-served meal, washed down by a glass of choice liquor.
The Red lion tavern, in Bensalem, is one of the oldest in the
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lower part of the county, In 1730 Philip Amos petitioned the court to keep a public house of entertainment "near Poquessing creek, on the highway from Philadelphia to Bristol." This became the Red lion, and Amos was probably the first landlord, and may be the builder. The house is a substantial stone building, with wide piazza on two sides, and with stone stables across the road immediately in front of it. The situation is picturesque and naturally invites the traveler to repose ; surrounded by trees, on the bank of a gently- winding stream where it is spanned by an old stone bridge, with hills on either side of it. It was still kept by Philip Amos's widow in 1770.1 The delegates to the first Continental Congress from Massa- chusetts, Messrs. Bowdoin, Cushing, Samuel and John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, on their way to Philadelphia dined at the Red lion, August 29th, 1774. John Adams dined there twice subse- quently, on the 9th of December, 1775, and the 13th of October, 1776. In 1781 part of the Continental army, en route for York- town, encamped at this place over night. The Red lion was, and still is, a very common sign. It is thought to have originated with the badge of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who married a daughter of Don Pedro the Cruel, and wore a lion rampant to represent his claim to the throne of Castile. There was a Red lion inn at Sittingbourne as early as 1415.
The Brick hotel at Newtown has something of a history, and was built at an early day. The date is not known, but there was a public house there before 1744. It stands on land that Shadrick Walley located before 1684, and which Joseph Walley leased to Amos Strickland in 1748, for twenty years, but in 1761 the Red lion, as it was called, was sold by the sheriff, and Strickland bought it. He died in 1779 and left his estate to his wife and children, and one of his daughters marrying Mark Hapenny,2 he became the owner of the hotel and an hundred acres of land, in 1787. He sold it to John Smock in 1792, and thence it passed through many hands into the possession of its present owner. This house is indebted to
1 February 18th, 1742, the De Normandies conveyed one hundred acres on the north- east bank of the Poquessing, to Ann Amos.
2 The late John Yardley married a daughter of Mark Hapenny. We have been informed that Mrs. Hapenny, daughter of Amos Strickland, told those now living that her father built the first brick hotel. The great-grandfather of William K. Carver, of Newtown, did part of the carpenter-work. From the surplus bricks was built the house now owned by Mrs. Martha T. Heyed, once kept as the "Court inn." The bricks were probably burnt in a field of Samuel Phillips.
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Joseph Archambault, who bought it in 1829, for most of its modern improvements. He added a third story to the main building, and afterward built the two-story brick at the west end, besides making other additions. He kept it as a first-class hotel for several years, and forty years ago it was a resort for people from Philadelphia, and was generally filled with summer boarders. Joseph Archam- bault's life was one of vicissitudes and varied experience. Born at Fontainbleau, France, in 1796, and left an orphan, he became a ward of the empire, through family influence. On leaving the military school he was attached to the suite of Napoleon as a page, and subsequently to that of Josephine. On the emperor's return from Elba young Archambault was again attached to his suite and shared his fortunes. He was wounded at Waterloo and left on the field, but rejoining the emperor he was one of the twelve selected to accompany him to Saint Helena. When ordered to surrender his sword on the Bellerophon he broke it and threw the pieces into the sea. At the end of a year he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope, where he was confined for a time, and thence came, via England, to New York, where he landed May 5th, 1817. He spent a year at William Cobbett's model farm on Long Island, who was his fellow-passenger, teaching French to his son and receiving in- struction in scientific agriculture. Archambault was a frequent and welcome visitor at the house of Joseph Bonaparte, at Bordentown. He first went into business in New York, but that proving unsuc- cessful, he came to Philadelphia, and thence to Newtown, where in turn he kept a hardware-store, practiced dentistry, and was host at the Brick hotel. He spent most of his active life in this county, where there are many who remember him. He took a deep inter- est in the volunteers, and commanded the Union troop, a fine company of cava'ry, for several years. He served as captain and major in the civil war, and died in Philadelphia in 1874, at the age of seventy-eight, leaving a widow, five children, thirty grand and two great-grandchildren. He was the last survivor of the suite that accompanied Napoleon into exile, and is known in history as the "younger Archambault."
The old Keichline tavern, at the intersection of the Durham and Easton roads, in Bedminster, has been as noted in its day as any inn in the upper end of the county. The centre building was erected about 1759, the parlor and dining-room were added in 1784, and the kitchen and small room at the west end in 1790 and 1801. Col-
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onel George Piper was its landlord from 1778 to his death, in 1823, when he was succeeded by Jacob Keichline, who married his daugh- ter, who was likewise its landlord to his death, in 1861. Their oc- cupancy extended through eighty-three years, which cannot be said of any other tavern in the county. During this long period it shel- tered many of the most distinguished men of the last century, among whom may be mentioned General Wayne, Franklin, Mifflin, Timothy Pickering, Robert Morris, Doctor Rush, Chief-Justice Tilghman, Bishop White, Reverend Doctor Muhlenberg, and others. Timothy Matlack cut his name on the railing of the upper porch, which was still there when it was taken down in 1827. During the yellow fever of 1798 Mayor Wharton, of Philadelphia, and his family boarded there, and Stephen Girard made it his stopping-place on his way to Bethlehem. George Taylor, the Signer, was a frequent guest of Colonel Piper, as was also William Allen. Colonels John and Thomas Cadwalader, stopped at the inn while on their gunning excursions along the Tohickon, sometimes accompanied by William Logan and Casper Wister, and Joseph Bonaparte, with his entire suite, boarded there two weeks. He brought with him his own cook and plate, and the landlord only furnished the meat and vegetables, which his servants prepared for the palate of the ex-king. Colonel Piper was widely and favorably known, aud during the Revolution was at one time in command of the American outposts near Miles- town. While the colonel was absent one day at Newtown, leaving only his wife, children and a hired man at home, Gibson and Ged- dis, two supposed confederates of the Doanes, came to the inn while Mrs. P. was ironing. Geddis put his booted foot into a pan of buckwheat batter, when she threw a flat-iron at him, breaking his arm near the shoulder. He tried to strike her with his loaded whip, but she retreated into a side room, got her husband's sword and drove the ruffian from the house. The broken arm was set by Doctor Shaffer, who boarded at George Fox's, a mile and a half be- low the tavern. Geddis brought suit against Mrs. Piper for damages, but was afraid to prosecute it. Gibson was the same who shot Moses Doane after his capture at the cabin. It is said of this patri- otic woman, that during the Revolutionary war she gave her husband her entire fortune received from her father's estate, three hundred and twenty-five pounds in gold, to purchase shoes and clothing for his company. It was buried in the cellar of the tavern in an earthen pot, which was digged up and carried to camp. It was replaced by
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Continental money that became worthless. Jacob Keichline and wife were both popular, and while they kept the house it was much frequented. They were both warm Democrats. Mrs. Keichline, a plain German woman, was a born politician, and took to it like Richelieu to state craft. Many an anxious candidate for office re- ceived timely advice from her which helped his fortunes. Candidates going up county from below rarely failed to stop and have a chat with the astute landlady.
There were public houses at Bristol among the earliest in the county. We know there was at least one there as early as 1705. In 1730 the Ferry house, corner of Mill and Radcliff streets, was kept by one Patrick O'Hanlin. The Delaware house, which stands on its site, was built by Charles Bessonett in 1765, and had a like- ness of George the Third emblazoned on its sign. A few years later there were four public houses in Bristol-one by Mrs. Jackson in Bath street, the Rising sun, by Robert Rees, in Mill street, the King of Prussia, by John Dowd, corner of Mill and Pond streets, and Bessonett's George the Third, then kept by his son John. During the Revolutionary war a regiment of troops passing through Bristol gave the King of Prussia three cheers, while they saluted his majesty of England with volley after volley until the sign was riddled and fell out of its frame. In 1785 Archibald McElroy built and opened a public house called the Cross keys, which was sold in 1857, and is now owned by Samuel Pike, and occupied as a dwell- ing and store. In 1757 a detachment of British troops passing through Bristol to winter-quarters, being too numerous to find accommodations in the taverns, were quartered in the old court- house. In 1758 the tavern at Gardenville was called " The Plough," and Stoffel Wagoner was still keeping a tavern on the Bethlehem road, two miles over the county line in what is now Northamption county, where he had been for several years. The Plough was an agricultural sign, and probably originated in farmers visiting the public house where it first swung. The Harrow no doubt had the same origin. They are frequently joined together as "The Plough and Harrow."
In their day no taverns in the county were more noted than the Anchor, in Wrightstown, the Black bear, in Northampton, and the Buck, in Southampton. The bear was early made choice of for a tavern sign. For centuries the Bear inn was a celebrated tavern at the foot of London bridge, and in the time of Richard the Third it
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was the resort of aristocratic pleasure-seekers. Probably the first White bear was named after this animal. Henry the Third received one as a present from the king of Norway in 1252. There were also Black bears. The first mention of the buck for a sign was when used in London by John Buckland, a bookseller. It was the habit at that day to use signs that were puns upon their owners' names- sometimes taking all or part, and Buckland was content with half a pun. At these two old hostelries lovers of fun and frolic " most did congregate," and in winter time they were visited by many sleighing parties. The Bear was the headquarters for the local politicians for miles around. There was a tavern at this place early, and nearly a century ago it was known as "Leedom's." For many years the volunteer trainings, which brought out a large crowd, alternated between the Bear and Newtown, when the war-like manœuvres were varied with horse-racings, fights, and other athletic games. The little stone structure at the north end of the tavern was built by Richard Leedom at an early day, which he kept as a public house several years. About an hundred years ago he put up the main building, in which a tavern is still kept. Mr. Leedom acquired a large real estate in the vicinity, which was inherited by his descend- ants. Mahlon Miller was the landlord at the Bear for thirty-two years. The Buck was an outpost of the Bear, where the rollicking crowd would resort when they found a change of base necessary, and they never failed to make times lively. The Anchor. was kept by John Parker in 1800, and was known as " Parker's," but we do not know when the name " Anchor" was given to it. The Buck tavern was called by this name in 1795. The tavern at Centreville, Buckingham, has been noted in its day, and considerably more than a century of years whitens its memory. Situated at the junction of the Durham and York roads, the early highway from the upper Delaware and New Jersey, to the Schuylkill and Philadelphia, it was much frequented by travelers. Samuel Blaker was the land- lord an hundred years ago, and was succeeded by one John Bogart, who watched over its destinies through the Revolutionary struggle, The Bucks county committee of safety had frequent meetings under its roof, from 1774 to 1778, and General Greene had his headquarters there at one time. In turn it has been called many names after the persons who kept it. Cornelius Vanhorne and John Marple dissolved their co-partnership in September, 1808, and Matthew Hale was its landlord in 1816. Recent repairs give the old building a modern appearance.
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