Bayles William Harrison
Old Taverns of New York
Sales of Prizes
We find continuously in the newspapers issued during the war notices of sales of prize ships and cargoes at the taverns, at the Coffee House and on the wharves near by. The Merchants’ Coffee House, where the inventories were posted, had become the recognized place with the merchants for the transaction of all kinds of business, and many sales of ships and prizes taken by the privateers were made here. It had become a sort of maritime exchange. In 1758 Luke Roome was its landlord, and was also the owner of the house, which he offered for sale. It was purchased by Doctor Charles Arding, who retained possession of it until 1792, when it was acquired by the Tontine Association, who built on it and other contiguous lots the Tontine Coffee House. Luke Roome was afterwards assistant alderman and for several years leased the docks and slips of the city. How long he was landlord of the Merchants’ Coffee House we do not know.
It was customary in colonial times and even a good deal later to build market houses in the middle of streets. For a great many years in the middle of Wall Street, between Queen Street or Hanover Square and the river, had stood the Meal Market. In the course of time, as the building grew old, the merchants and those living in the neighborhood came to consider it as a nuisance, and in 1762 petitioned the authorities for its removal. They say in their petition: “It greatly obstructs the agreeable prospect of the East River, which those that live in Wall Street would otherwise enjoy; and, furthermore, occasions a dirty street, offensive to the inhabitants on each side and disagreeable to those who pass to and from the coffe-house, a place of great resort.” Garrat Noel, the most prominent bookseller in New York, moved his store in 1757 and, in his announcements in the newspapers, gives its location as next door to the Merchants’ Coffee House, opposite the Meal Market; but, in July, 1762, he announces his store as “next door to the Merchants’ Coffee House, near where the Meal Market stood.” This is pretty good evidence that it had been taken down very soon after the petition was presented for its removal.
The Crown and Thistle
Down near the water at Whitehall Slip stood the Crown and Thistle, a tavern kept by John Thompson, who preferred the cognomen of Scotch Johnny, by which he was familiarly known. Here good dinners were served to merchants, travellers and army officers, and here travellers could make arrangements for transportation in Captain O’Brien’s stage-boat to Perth Amboy on their way to Philadelphia or by boat to Staten Island or Elizabethtown Point, which was the route taken by a large majority of travellers going south. Those landed on Staten Island passed along on the north shore to a point opposite Elizabethtown Point, where they crossed the Kills to that place by ferry. Scotch Johnny was not only the landlord of the Crown and Thistle and lodged and entertained travellers who landed near his house or waited there for boats to carry them across the bay, but was himself, in 1755, interested in transportation of travellers to Staten Island, and the next year to Perth Amboy, on their way to the south. On November 30, 1753, the anniversary of St. Andrew was celebrated at the Crown and Thistle by the gentlemen of the Scots’ Society, where an elegant dinner was provided, the colors being displayed on the ships in the harbor, particularly the ship Prince William.
The Black Horse
All the travel to the north and east went out of the city over Bowery Lane to Harlem or King’s Bridge. This was the Boston post road. In 1750, at the upper end of Queen Street, near Alderman Benson’s, stood the Black Horse Tavern, kept by Jonathan Ogden, “where the Boston post puts up.” This tavern in the suburbs was a convenient and suitable place for taking a parting glass with friends about to set out on a journey and wishing them godspeed, as was then the custom. Ogden and his successor, besides furnishing entertainment for travellers and stabling for horses, made it their business to supply travellers with horses, chairs, harness, saddles, etc., either for short drives on the island or for more extensive trips. In 1753, after the death of Ogden, John Halstead became the landlord of the Black Horse. At the public vendue of the household goods belonging to the estate of Ogden, there was offered for sale an article called a “Messacipia Table.” We leave it to the reader to conjecture what it was for. In 1756 there was a Black Horse Tavern in Fair (Fulton) Street.
The Bull’s Head
Just after entering the Bowery Lane the traveller would come to the Bull’s Head Tavern, which in 1755 was kept by George Brewitson. This was the great resort and stopping place for the farmers and drovers who brought in cattle for the city market and where they were met by the butchers who purchased their stock. Thus it was not only a tavern but a sort of market for live stock or for the meat supply of the city and continued such for a great many years. The Bull’s Head market survives to the present day, only a little further uptown. Three or four miles out was the Union Flag, and not far from this was a house which was described as a noted tavern where lived John Creiger, four miles from New York and ten miles from King’s Bridge.
At the northwest corner of the present 66th Street and Third Avenue stood the Dove Tavern. From this point the road continued northward for some distance, and then to avoid the swamps and inlets, turned to the westward, entering the present bounds of Central Park, and ascended the hill at the top of which was a large stone tavern. This had been built by Jacob Dyckman, Jr., near the year 1750, who, about ten years after, sold it to the Widow McGown, who, with the assistance of her son Andrew, kept the house, which became known as McGown’s Pass Tavern. That the old stone tavern was a house of generous capacity is evident from its being selected as the place for the meeting of the colonial assembly, while the City Hall was being repaired, in October and November, 1752. Just a little south, on the opposite side of the road, was a tavern, which, shortly before the Revolution, was known as the Black Horse. It is thought to have been the headquarters of General Cornwallis during the battle of Harlem Heights. Dyckman’s or McGown’s Pass Tavern was about half way between New York and King’s Bridge and there was doubtless a natural demand by travellers on this part of the road for entertainment, which induced Dyckman to build a capacious house. Once a week it received a visit from the post rider going out and once a week on his return. It must necessarily have received considerable trade from passing travellers, farmers and drovers, for it was on the one road which led out of the city, and its capacity to entertain attracted many a dinner party of those who followed the hounds, for fox-hunting was a sport indulged in by many New Yorkers at that time.
McGown’s Pass was the scene of some activity in the first year of the Revolution, and was fortified and occupied by the British troops during the whole seven years of the war. Early on the morning of September 15, 1776, the English ships lying in the East River opened fire for the purpose of silencing the American battery at Horn’s Hook and to cover the British landing at Kip’s Bay. Washington had a few days previous removed his headquarters to the Roger Morris house, from which could be had an extensive view to the south, including the East River shores. Warned by the bombardment that something important was about to take place, Washington, in haste, mounted his horse and dashed down at utmost speed over the road past McGown’s to the scene of action. This ride was something like that celebrated ride of General Phil Sheridan about ninety years later, but not with similar results. Before he arrived at Murray Hill, the British troops had landed, and the Americans were in full retreat. Two months later a sad spectacle was witnessed at McGown’s Pass as the twenty-eight hundred prisoners taken at the surrender of Fort Washington filed down over the hills to New York. Many had been plundered by the Hessians, and all of them showed the effects of the desperately fought battle through which they had passed. They were on their way to years of suffering, many on their way to death in English prisons, which, happily for them, they did not then understand.
The Blue Bell
On the road about a mile further north after leaving McGown’s there was a tavern standing near where the present St. Nicholas Avenue crosses 126th Street, which, about the time of the Revolution and for many years after, was known as Day’s Tavern; and about three miles further was the Blue Bell, which, although a small house, seems to have been well known at a very early period and to have continued its existence down to quite recent times. From the Blue Bell to King’s Bridge was about two and a half miles.
King’s Bridge
At the most northern point of the island was the only place in its whole circumference from which, in early days, the mainland could be reached by a ford. It was called the Wading Place. Near this a ferry was established, but as early as 1680 the governor’s council ordered “Spiting Devil” to be viewed for a bridge. Action was delayed. Governor Fletcher in 1692 recommended its construction by the city, but the city declined on account of the expense. In January, 1693, Frederick Flypsen offered to build a bridge at his own expense, if he were allowed certain “easy and reasonable toles,” and he was accordingly granted the franchise for ninety-nine years. A bridge was constructed by him the same year. It was to be twenty-four feet wide, with a draw for the passage of such vessels as navigated the stream; to be free for the King’s forces and to be named the King’s Bridge. This bridge was in possession of some member of the Philipse family, descendant of Frederick Flypsen, until the Revolutionary War, and was, no doubt, before the free bridge was built, a profitable investment. A tavern was opened on the northern side for the entertainment of travellers. Madam Sarah Knight, in returning to Boston in December, 1704, set out with her companions “about one afternoon, and about three came to half-way house about ten miles out of town, where we Baited and went forward, and about 5 come to Spiting Devil, Else King’s Bridge, where they pay three pence for passing over with a horse, which the man that keeps the Gate set up at the end of the Bridge receives.” The half-way house, spoken of by Madam Knight, stood at the foot of the hill on the Kingsbridge Road on a line with the present 109th Street. We find that in 1746 there was a public vendue of lots of land at the Half-Way House, near Harlem, which was very likely the same place.
On account of the barrier gate and the tolls demanded, the King’s Bridge, as travel increased, became unpopular and, in 1756, a project was set on foot for building a free bridge by voluntary subscriptions. When sufficient had been secured, Benjamin Palmer, who was active in the undertaking, began the work of building the bridge a little below the first bridge, from the land of Jacob Dyckman, on the island, to that of Thomas Vermilve on the Westchester side. Colonel Phillipse, the owner of King’s Bridge, tried in every way to prevent its construction. Twice in one year he caused Palmer to be impressed “as a soldier to go to Canada,” which compelled him to procure and pay for substitutes. Nevertheless, in spite of all opposition, the bridge was finished, and the celebration of its completion was announced as follows:
“These are to acquaint the public, That to-morrow the Free Bridge, erected and built across the Harlem River, will be finished and completed. And on the same day there will be a stately Ox roasted whole on the Green, for and as a small Entertainment to the Loyal People who come.”
The Best Taverns
The following memoranda from the manuscript diary of Paymaster General Mortier, of the royal navy, indicates the taverns of New York that were probably most patronized by the fashionable gentlemen of the day, for the few years preceding 1761:
The piece of land, now the block inclosed by Broadway, Fulton, Nassau and Ann Streets, or nearly so, was, in the early part of the eighteenth century, a public resort, and known as Spring Garden. There was a tavern or public house on the premises known as Spring Garden House, standing on the site of the present St. Paul’s Building, corner of Broadway and Ann Street, which in 1739 was occupied by Thomas Scurlock, who may have been in possession of it for some time. In an administration bond given by him in 1718 he is styled vintner. Spring Garden House appears to have been a well-known landmark, used as such in records and in the newspapers.
After the death of Thomas Scurlock in 1747 the tavern was kept for some years by his widow, Eve. When the house was advertised for sale in 1759 it was described as “in Broadway at the corner of Spring Garden, now in use as a tavern, Sign of the King of Prussia, and next door to Dr. Johnson’s” (President of King’s College). In 1763 the landlord of the house was John Elkin. After about 1770 we hear no more of it as a tavern.
VI
Tavern Signs
The Comforts of a Good Inn
Samuel Johnson, born in 1709, was in his prime about the middle of the eighteen the century. His description of the advantages afforded by a good inn has not yet been surpassed. Here it is:
“There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern. Let there be ever so great plenty of good things, ever so much grandeur, ever so much elegance, ever so much desire that everybody should be easy, in the nature of things it cannot be; there must always be some degree of care and anxiety. The master of the house is anxious to entertain his guests; the guests are anxious to be agreeable to him; and no man, but a very impudent dog indeed, can freely command what is in another man’s house as if it were his own. Whereas, at a tavern there is general freedom from anxiety. You are sure you are welcome, and the more noise you make, the more trouble you give, the more good things you call for, the welcomer you are. No servant will attend you with the alacrity which waiters do, who are incited by the prospect of an immediate reward in proportion as they please. No sir, there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good inn.”
Another writer, whose name is unrecorded or lost in the sweep of time, has said that the tavern “is the busy man’s recreation, the idle man’s business, the melancholy man’s sanctuary, the stranger’s welcome.”
Samuel Johnson, if in New York, would not have found at any tavern such congenial companions as at the Turk’s Head, in Soho. New York did not have an Oliver Goldsmith, nor a Sir Joshua Reynolds, nor an Edmund Burke, nor – but Boswell would have been with him. Barring the companionship of such men he could have been made as comfortable at the Queen’s Head in Dock Street as at his familiar tavern in London. He could have taken his cup of tea, his favorite drink, in one of the boxes of the Merchants’ Coffee House and then strolled into Garrat Noel’s bookstore next door where he could have found food for his mind after his corporeal needs had been supplied. Here was literature of the solid sort, as Noel’s announcements in the newspapers inform us, and Dr. Johnson might have easily imagined himself in the bookstore of Tom Davies – one of his familiar haunts.
The Landlord
The accomplished tavern-keeper of New York, as well as of London, knew how to welcome his guest and from long experience instinctively knew how to reach his heart. After receiving him with the most unbounded cordiality, occasionally dropping him a piece of news which he knew would interest him, or one of his newest jokes, he soon made him feel glad to be in his house. When the dinner was ready he was on hand to place the first dish on the table and to give him his company if he saw that it was desirable.
In colonial times signs were extensively used. The hardware dealer placed above his door a sign of Crossed Daggers, or a Golden Handsaw, or a Golden Key; some used the sign of the Crossed Guns. A carriage-maker used the sign of the Gilded Wheel, a tailor that of the Hand and Shears. Thus the business streets were filled with signs, and a well-known or prominent sign was invariably used as a landmark to designate locations of other houses. Tavern signs were much used in this way. Houses were not numbered, and in the low state of education, numbers as well as worded signs would have been of little use. Taverns obtained their names from the signs hung out; and the tavern sign had a wider range of diversity than that of any other business. It was almost unlimited; but there were certain favorites. Sometimes tavern-keepers clung tenaciously to signs which they carried with them from place to place – and the tavern-keeper of colonial times appears to have been a roving character.
Hard Drinking Prevailed
Some features of tavern life and some of the taverns of New York were not to be commended. The eighteenth century was a period when hard drinking pervaded not only the American colonies but England as well. Even preachers of the Gospel drank to excess. They were known to indulge at church meetings so as to lose control of both speech and gait. Unable to withstand the alluring temptations, they drank to excess without forfeiting the respect of their people. The Reverend Jacob G. Green, of Morris County, New Jersey, although so pious that he would not allow any member of his family to converse on any but religious subjects on a Sunday, did not hesitate to engage in the business of manufacturing distilled liquor. At funerals, as well as at weddings, wine and rum were consumed in excessive quantities, and it is a fact that persons were known to stagger in the funeral procession and at the brink of the grave. At the funeral of a colonial governor it is said that the minister’s nose glowed like a coal of fire, and the aged bearers staggered as they bore the coffin. The Reverend Samuel Melyen, pastor of the First Church of Elizabethtown, was obliged to give up his church on account of intemperance; but this did not seem to the people to be a warning example, for when his successor, Jonathan Dickinson, a young man of twenty-one, was installed, we are told that “great quantities of toddy was consumed.” When Philip Livingston died in 1749, funerals were held both at his Hudson River mansion and at his residence in Broad Street, New York. At each of these places a pipe of spiced rum was consumed, and to the eight bearers were given gloves, mourning rings, scarfs, handkerchiefs and monkey spoons. When intemperance was looked upon with such indulgence it is hardly to be expected that the young and gay men of the period would exercise much restraint; and many a convivial party at the tavern ended in a drinking bout, and sometimes in a riot of drunkenness and debauchery. A man in the condition which we of the present day would think quite drunk, and a proper subject for the care of his friends or relatives, was at that time considered to have taken only a proper modicum of drink. No man was looked upon as drunk until he was entirely down and out. The prevailing formula was:
“Not drunk is he who from the floor
Can rise again and still drink more,
But drunk is he who prostrate lies,
Without the power to drink or rise.”
In New England rum was so extensively made that the price became as low as twenty-five cents per gallon. It was popularly called “Kill-devil.” In New Jersey large quantities of apple-jack were turned out, which, when new, was quite fiery, and this was called “Jersey lightning.” Servants were not expected to be entirely free from the drinking habit, which, within certain bounds, was looked upon by their employers as pardonable. Announcement was made in the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury of December 4, 1769, that
“An Hostler
That gets drunk no more than 12 times in a year and will bring with him a good Recommendation, is wanted. Such person will meet with encouragement by applying to H. Gaine.”
Sports and Amusements
In the middle of the eighteenth century we find that New Yorkers were fond of all kinds of sports and all kinds of amusements that were available. The city was making rapid strides in increase of wealth and population. Many of her wealthy merchants had built large and handsome houses and there was more gaiety and desire for entertainment among her people. For balls, banquets, social clubs and exhibition of all sorts, each tavern of importance had, if possible, its “long room.” There was no other provision or place for public assemblage. Some had delightful gardens attached to them, which, in summer evenings, were illuminated and sometimes the guests were entertained with music. Boating and fishing were largely indulged in and people of means who lived on the waterside had pleasure boats. In 1752 John Watson was keeping the Ferry House on Staten Island. In December of that year “a Whale 45 feet in length ran ashore at Van Buskirk’s Point at the entrance of the Kills from our Bay, where, being discovered by People from Staten Island, a number of them went off and Killed him.” Mr. Watson states in an advertisement in the New York Gazette of December 11, 1752, that this whale may be seen at his house, and doubtless this announcement may have induced many to make the trip across the bay to see the whale and add to the profits of John Watson’s tavern.
The Reverend Mr. Burnaby, who visited the city about 1748, says: “The amusements are balls and sleighing expeditions in the winter, and in the summer going in parties upon the water and fishing, or making excursions into the country. There are several houses, pleasantly situated up the East River, near New York, where it is common to have turtle feasts. These happen once or twice a week. Thirty or forty gentlemen and ladies, meet and dine together, drink tea in the afternoon, fish and amuse themselves till evening, and then return home in Italian chaises (the fashionable carriage in this and most parts of America), a gentleman and lady in each chaise.” These trips up the East River were made to Turtle Bay. One of the houses there about this time, or a little later, was well known as the Union Flag, situated on the post road. A lot of about 22 acres of land was attached to the tavern, extending to the river, on which was a good wharf and landing. Deep drinking and gambling were prevalent among the men, although tavern-keepers were forbidden by law from permitting gambling in their houses. Cock-fighting was a popular sport. At the sign of the Fighting Cocks – an appropriate sign – in Dock Street, “very good cocks” could be had, or at the Dog’s Head in the Porridge Pot. Steel and silver spurs could be purchased in the stores. The loser of a broad cloth coat advertises in the newspaper that it was lost on a cockfighting night (supposed taken by mistake).
The Common was a place where outdoor games were played in the daytime and bonfires built at night on festive occasions. On Monday, April 29, 1751, a great match at cricket was played here for a considerable wager by eleven Londoners against eleven New Yorkers. The newspaper account states that “The Game was play’d according to the London Method; and those who got most Notches in two Hands, to be the Winners: – The New Yorkers went in first and got 81; Then the Londoners went in and got but 43; Then the New Yorkers went in again and got 86; and the Londoners finished the Game with getting only 37 more.”
The game of bowls seems to have been quite popular in the early part of the eighteenth century. It was played upon a smooth, level piece of turf from forty to sixty feet square, surrounded by a ditch about six inches deep. At the further end of the ground was placed a white ball called the jack and the bowlers endeavored, with balls from six to eight inches in diameter that were not exactly round but weighted on one side so as to roll in a curve, to make their balls lie as near to the jack as possible.
Back-gammon was an evening game at the taverns and at the coffee-house. In 1734 a partisan of the governor’s party, under the nom de plume of Peter Scheme wrote in reply to an article in Zenger’s Journal: “I also frequent the Coffee House, to take a hitt at Back-Gammon, when I have an opportunity of hearing the curious sentiments of the Courtiers (since he is pleased to call the Gentlemen who frequent that place so) concerning his Journal.” It is apparent that the popularity of the game continued for many years, for Alexander Mackraby, in a letter dated June 13, 1768, says: “They have a vile practice here, which is peculiar to the city: I mean that of playing at back-gammon (a noise I detest), which is going forward at the public coffee-houses from morning till night, frequently a dozen tables at a time.”
Horse-Racing
From the very beginning of English rule in New York, horse-racing seems to have been a fashionable sport among people of means. It has been stated how Governor Nicolls established a race-course on Hempstead Plains, and since that time interest in the sport had been kept up, increasing as the population and wealth of the city increased. Races were held yearly on the Hempstead course and it is more than likely that a course was soon established on Manhattan Island. In 1733 we find an announcement in a New York newspaper that a race would be run on the 8th of October on the course at New York for a purse of upwards of four pounds by any horse, mare or gelding carrying twelve stone and paying five shillings entrance, the entrance money to go to the second horse if not distanced. There is no mention made of the location of the course, but a notice that horses that have won plate here are excepted indicates that it was probably a yearly event. Three years later we find that a subscription plate of twenty pounds’ value was to be run for on the course at New York on the 13th of October “by any horse, mare or gelding carrying ten stone (saddle and bridle included), the best of three heats, two miles each heat. Horses intended to Run for this Plate are to be entered the Day before the Race with Francis Child on Fresh Water Hill, paying a half Pistole each, or at the Post on the Day of Running, paying a Pistole.” This course on Fresh Water Hill had probably been established for some time and its location was very likely near the present Chatham Square. In 1742 there was a race-course on the Church Farm in charge of Adam Vandenberg, the lessee of the farm, who was landlord of the Drovers’ Tavern, which stood on or near the site of the present Astor House.
In seeking information from the newspapers of the day in regard to horse-racing, we find very little, if any, in the news columns; but more is to be found among the advertisements. Thus, in January, 1743-4, it is announced that a race would be run on the first day of March “between a Mare called Ragged Kate, belonging to Mr. Peter De Lancey, and a Horse called Monk, belonging to the Hon. William Montagu, Esq., for £200.” It is not stated where this race was to take place, but, in all probability, it was run either on the Fresh Water Hill course or on the Church Farm. It was for an unusually large wager, and, no doubt, attracted a great deal of attention. From about this date we hear no more of the race-course on Fresh Water Hill. It may have been disturbed by the line of palisades which was built across the island during the war with France, crossing the hill between the present Duane and Pearl Streets, at which point was a large gateway.
In September, 1747, it was announced in the newspapers that a purse of not less than ten pistoles would be run for on the Church Farm on the 11th of October, two mile heats, horses that had won plate on the island and a horse called Parrot excepted, the entrance money to be run for by any of the horses entered, except the winner and those distanced. We have every reason to suppose that the races were at this period a yearly event on the Church Farm, taking place in October. In 1750 it was announced in the New York Gazette in August and September that “on the Eleventh of October next, the New York Subscription Plate of Twenty Pounds’ Value, will be Run for by any Horse, Mare or Gelding that never won a Plate before on this Island, carrying Ten Stone Weight, Saddle and Bridle included, the best in three Heats, two miles in each Heat,” etc. A few days after the race the New York Gazette announced that on “Thursday last the New York Subscription Plate was run for at the Church Farm by five Horses and won by a horse belonging to Mr. Lewis Morris, Jun.”
The next year similar announcements were made of the race, the difference being that the horses eligible must have been bred in America and that they should carry eight stone weight. The date is the same as that of the previous year, October 11. We find no record of this race in the newspapers, but the illustration which is given of the trophy won is sufficient to indicate the result. Lewis Morris, Jr., appears to have carried off the prize a second time. The plate was a silver bowl ten inches in diameter and four and one-half inches high, and the winner was a horse called Old Tenor. The bowl, represented in the cut, is in the possession of Dr. Lewis Morris, U. S. N., a lineal descendant of Lewis Morris, the signer of the Declaration of Independence and the owner of Old Tenor. The name of the horse was doubtless suggested by certain bills of credit then in circulation in New York. In an advertisement of two dwelling houses on the Church Farm for sale in April, 1755, notice is given that “Old Tenor will be taken in payment.”
The great course was on Hempstead Plains. On Friday, June 1, 1750, there was a great race here for a considerable wager, which attracted such attention that on Thursday, the day before the race, upward of seventy chairs and chaises were carried over the Long Island Ferry, besides a far greater number of horses, on their way out, and it is stated that the number of horses on the plains at the race far exceeded a thousand.