Legend tells of the following dialogue between a traveler and the landlady of an 18th century tavern.
 

Taverns served many useful functions in colonial America not the least of which was to serve the needs of the traveler. But most taverns were not originally built as such. As the population in America increased the selectmen in a town requiring an additional tavern might urge the proprietor of a suitable private home to undertake the role of tavern keeping. One of the ground floor rooms of the house might be converted into a tap room and another into a dining room.

Consequently, tavern service varied widely in colonial days and travelers were fortunate if they obtained reasonable drink and food or more than a few square feet of floor space near the fireplace for their overnight's rest. The quality of the drink varied considerably since commercial brewing of beer and cider and its attendant quality control came upon the scene much later. Selectmen in the various towns made efforts to control the quality and cost of food and drink but still the traveler embarked on an uncertain adventure in his journeys.

One tavern near Tarrytown, N.Y. which supplied accommodations advertised:

Lodging and clean sheets, 3 shillings; dirty sheets, one shilling.


The Farmers, Almanac of 1793 provides a list of taverns on the main roads leading out of Boston. They were spaced about eight miles apart presumably a reasonable distance for a traveler on horseback to endure the cold January weather before requiring warmth and sustenance. Travelers expiring by the wayside was not a desirable state of affairs even in colonial days.

Not only was it desirable to situate taverns on main roads but Its proximity to the church was equally important. Churches were not heated and the service might last most of the day with sermons of several hours. There would be a necessary noon-time break as families trudged to the nearby tavern for warmth and refreshment. Portable metal foot warmers would be replenished with hot coals to provide some small measure of warmth in church. Only in the last hundred years did it become undesirable to situate taverns near churches and in many Massachusetts communities laws forbade the granting of liquor licenses to establishments within 500 feet of a house of worship.

Post tables were found in taverns and in those days of erratic mail service one could deposit a letter on this table hoping that a traveler would stop and carry it closer to its ultimate destination. (This service often entitled the traveler to read its contents). Dr. Benjamin Franklin during his years as deputy postmaster general of North America attempted to formalize the post along the main routes. The ingenious Doctor traversed his domain with a fifth wheel odometer hitched to the back of his carriage and indicated each mile by dropping a temporary marker which would later be replaced by a permanent signpost.

In 1780 the Continental Congress initiated express mail service by pony rider - three days between Boston and Philadelphia, a time period virtually unaltered in 200 years.

The tavern became the focus for news and gossip and if the tavern keeper didn't know what was happening, his wife certainly did. Broadsides and other notices were posted on tavern walls and copies of a weekly newspaper might be available.

During colonial days the Masons grew as an influential group. Scarcely a patriotic name can be mentioned who was not a member (John Adams excepted). Lacking their modern Masonic lodge buildings they met in secret at taverns. The Boston Tea Party had a worthy contingent of Masonic participants.

But most importantly the taverns became the social gathering place for men where they would drink and discuss the important issues of the day. Colonial America was dominated by an agrarian economy and such matters as agriculture, weather and animal husbandry were frequently discussed. It is not generally appreciated that the American Revolution was principally a product of our agrarian self-sufficiency. Land was cheap and labor expensive so that most individual needs were met with the products of farming and dairying. The politics and annoyances of the Stamp Tax, the tax on tea and quartering of British soldiers in Boston only served to exacerbate this spirit of independence already prevalent in the minds of the colonials.

When one discovers that the average colonial consumed the unbelievable daily quantity of more than 3.1 gallons of liquids such as beer. hard cider, perry (pear cider). and mead (honey wine) one is apt to conclude that they were perennially "sloshed".

But by converting their grain to beer, their apples and pears to hard cider and their honey to mead this served as a preservative in lieu of effective refrigeration. Such a large consumption of liquid indicates that the paths into the woods must have been well marked.

This quantity of liquid works out to about 6000 calories per day so colonials evidently labored quite hard - as distinguished from typical modern sedentary requirements of about 2000 calories per day. Perhaps the alcoholic intake was sufficiently high to detract from the toil.

Other factors which accounted for the large liquid intake was the preserving of foods by salting and the fear of disease from water or milk (tuberculosis). Chamber pots were generally dumped on animal dung heaps which might be near the supply of water. The colonials failed to relate water pollution to this practice.

There is the story of the inebriate pounding at the tavern door late one night to be greeted by a sleepy tavern keeper from the bedroom window above.

"I want some half and half.'
"We're closed - get yourself home, John.'
'I want some half and half."
The tavern keeper momentarily left the window and returned with the chamber pot whose contents were dumped on the intruder.
"There's your half and half - half mine and half the Mrs."

In addition to these staple drinks of beer, cider, perry and mead various wines were produced. The early settlers brought French vinifera grape cuttings to America but these would not survive the weather. soil or disease here so that wild native grapes were cultivated to yield the so-called Labrusca variety available commercially under such labels as Lake Niagara, Pink Catawba etc.
As early as 1616 Lord Delaware wrote to the London Company

"In every boske and hedge, and not far from our pallisade we have thousands of goodly vines running along and leaving (leafing) to every tree which yealds a plentiful grape in their kinde. Let me appealed. then, to knowledge if these natural vines were planted, dressed and ordered by skillful venearoons, whether we might not make a perfect grape and fruitful vintage in short time!"

In many households grape wines were supplemented by berry and flower wines. These include apple, apricot, balm. carrot, celery, cherry, clove. clover, coconut, corn stalk, cowslip, cranberry, cyprus, dandelion. date. elderberry, elder flower, ginger, goldenrod, gooseberry, grape leaf, hawthorn, hop, Jerusalem artichoke, juniper, lemon, lettuce, marigold. may blossom, mint, mulberry, nettle, oak leaf. orange, pansy, parsnip, peach, peapod, pineapple, plum, potato, primrose, pumpkin. quince, raisin, raspberry. rhubarb, rice. rose, rose hips, mountain ash, sage, spinach, spruce, squash, strawberry, sycamore, tomato, turnip, walnut, whortleberry and yarrow.

On the other hand it was soon discovered that lilies of the valley, privet laurel, and lilac produced poisonous wines. In those days the lethality of a new wine could only be discovered by trial and fatal error.

When it came to the hard stuff like rum and whiskey which required distillation and its associated plumbing this generally was left to the commercial distilleries. The only exception was real applejack produced by allowing hard cider to freeze. This led to a natural separation into ice and a potent apple whiskey. Commercial applejack available today is a distillate and is not the same drink.

To produce wines and rum, New Englanders needed sugar and the so-called triangular trade became a vital part of the 18th century economy. Sugar and molasses were imported from the West Indies, converted into rum and shipped to Africa for slaves. The slaves were inhumanly transported to the West Indies plantations to help in producing the sugar and molasses. Some of the New England rum was smuggled into France and Spain in exchange for gold and the gold used to pay for English manufactured goods. Hence the smuggling was often overlooked by the English authorities.

Other sources of sugar were honey and both maple and birch sap. Even the Indians were familiar with tapping maple trees. Surprisingly, cornstalks produced sugar. The Virginia Gazette of February 14, 1775 describes the technique.

"The stalks, green as they were, as soon as pulled up, are carried to a convenient trough, then chopped and pounded so much that, by boiling, all the juices could be extracted from them. After pounding, the stalks and all are put in a large copper, there lowered in its sweetness with water to an equality with common observations in malt wort and then boiled, till the liquors in the glass is seen to break (as the brewers term it)g after that it is strained and boiled again with hops."

The 18th century tavern keeper, of course, made his own beer, wine, cider and mead and his reputation depended on the quality of his product. Apples and grain were easily procured in New England but honey was a problem. While bee culture is an ancient art, wild sources of honey were more often sought. The tavern keeper would place an open box containing some sugar solution in a likely spot in the woods and return in a few hours hoping some bees had discovered it. If so he would sight the direction the bees took and would place a lid on the box Entrapping a few bees. The box would be moved a goodly distance in the appropriate direction and uncovered again. Once more the direction the bees took would be noted and this process continued until the hive was discovered. generally in the hollow trunk of a dead tree. The tree would be chopped down and the honey contents might be 20 to 100 lbs.

If you ask why not follow the bees directly to their hive rather than play cat and mouse, the answer is that bees can do a four-minute mile through the woods.

Most colonial taverns in New England are now gone. Occasionally one is preserved as a museum or serves as a modem inn with some flavor of colonial days. But in 1939 Henry Lawton Blanchard of Avon, Massachusetts (a small town 20 miles south of Boston) bought and donated to the town the building which several Blanchard families owned and operated as a tavern in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building was refurbished to serve as a town hall and library.

'When Henry Lawton Blanchard died in 1947 he allocated some dupont stock to establish a trust, designating five trustees to oversee,the use of this stock to interest people in the "lives of our forebears". He further urged that if the old Blanchard Tavern were to become available at some later date that it be purchased by the trust and used to implement the terms of his will. It was not until 1975 when the town outgrew the limitations of space in this building that it sold it to the trustees. To honor the will of Henry Blanchard the trustees decided to restore the building as a working tavern of the colonial period.

But how to proceed? They owned a building that at least by legend was an eighteenth century tavern (formerly known as Blanchard's Tavern), they had a portfolio of stock of modest proportions but were dedicated as old Yankees not to touch the principal - only the income and they had a vague idea of how to restore it as a working tavern of the eighteenth century.

A history major at Tufts University was engaged to do some research on the building and on 18th century tavern life. This research provided the details of ownership of the building back to 1752 and confirmed its history as a tavern. But details of tavern life, particularly the dynamics of tavern activities such as entertainment, the drinks and snacks, the clientele etc. were sketchy.

At this stage the trustees opened discussions with Colonial Williamsburg. the Newport Restoration Society. Sturbridge Village and sundry other groups but they had limited success In ascertaining details of tavern life and even questions of how to finish the woodwork (floors, wainscoting etc) produced a variety of answers. The trustees concluded that common sense had to prevail. Many decisions became compromises between 'authenticity" and the practical problems of running a t4Lvern and complying with local town ordinances (modern bathrooms were of course mandatory).

Fortunately one of the five trustees headed a local construction company and he in turn was able to engage and supervise local workmen. The first task involved the removal of all superfluous modern additions such as floor and ceiling tiles and wall boards. The original wide pine floors were found intact under the tiles as well as some of the original wainscoting and original ceiling beams in a structurally sound building. About twenty tons of tiles and wall covering were removed. All paint was stripped, the original fireplaces were repaired and the original doors found stored in the attic were rehung.

Early in this restoration effort the trustees applied for a beer and wine license (they decided to avoid the hard stuff) and were faced with the fact that the tavern was within 500 feet of two churches. This required variances since the state law at the-time forbade such proximity but the church officials became convinced that this effort was truly of historic proportions and agreed to the variance provided the tavern was not open when the churches were. Fair enough.

At this stage an article by Professor Sanborn Brown on colonial drinks was brought to their attention. This article represented thirty years of research and experimentation on the subject. Professor Brown would try out old colonial recipes in his home laboratory and occasionally employ his students as guinea pigs. After 30 years he never lost a student and crowned his research by producing an excellent book on the subject (Wines and Beers of New England, 1978). The unexpected ingredient of this story is that Professor Brown was dean and chairman of the physics department at M.I.T. Well why not?

A trustee journeyed to Henniker, N.H. to visit Professor Brown, retired, and discussed in some detail colonial drinks, their commercial availability, serving techniques etc. all aimed at some semblance of authenticity. Again compromise entered the decision making.

The drinks now served at the tavern are beer, hard cider, perry, mead, sack, port, Madera, Labruscan wines, colonial tea and General Washington coffee.

Most,beer drinkers do not realize that there are two basic beer-making processes, lager beer in which the yeast sinks and English style beer in which the yeast floats. The colonials produced the latter type and fortunately Watney's of Wandsworth, England exports to America an English beer in metal barrels. Unfortunately this beer is pasteurized in order to survive the long ocean journey.

Tap beer served in English pubs is "alive' i.e. unpasteurized and must be sold within a few weeks of delivery. There is some difference in taste between the pasteurized and unpasteurized English beers but short of making our own beer we had to settle for the former. Compared to lager beer even pasteurized English beer has a distinctively different taste, more heady and yeasty.

The beer is served in 'pewter-style" mugs. We do not use real pewter partly because of the expense and partly because the Board of Health requires a high temperature caustic cleansing in a dishwasher and pewter which is primarily tin would not survive. Our mugs are made of aluminum and have borne up quite well after years of use.

We have tried a number of hard ciders both French and English and have settled for English Sussex cider (Merrydown). Avid cider drinkers in the west of England prefer a heady, cloudy and vinegary cider called scrumpy and commercially available French cider has some of these characteristics but many of our patrons try hard cider for the first time and the mild Sussex variety invariably meets their approval. Hard cider may contain between 6% and 10% alcohol.

Perry (pear cider) has presented some difficulty. Westons and Goldwells in England produce a good perry but it is not available commercially in Massachusetts. Two domestic pear wines are available in Massachusetts but patron preference is for a sparkling English import called Babycham that is 75% perry and 25% apple cider. Unfortunately, the supply of Babycham is not always assured.

Mead (honey wine) is available from several sources both foreign and domestic but the English Merrydown brand is as free from excessive sweetness as any of the brands. It has had a wide appeal from our patrons.

Mead is a very old drink (it is mentioned in the Bible) and by legend was fed to newlyweds as an aphrodysiac, hence the word honeymoon.

One old colonial inn with a questionable reputation had an inn sign depicting a bee hive with swarming bees and underneath the legend:

"Here in this hive we're all alive
Good liquor makes us funny
If you are dry, step in and try
The flavor of our honey."

Some effort was made to find an authentic tea of the colonial period. The bulk of the tea cast overboard at the Boston Tea Party was a china variety called Bohea named after a hill in China but no longer available. According to S.H.G. Twining, director of the famous London tea establishment, the closest tea now available is Keemun. The black tea in Chinese restaurants is an appropriate blend and they brew their tea for many hours.

At the tavern an electric coffeemaker with a stainless steel infuser is used so that the tea is always ready to be drawn hot. There is the story of a busy restaurant which kept tea hot in a samovar. The temperature of the tea had to be accurately controlled for if too hot the patrons lingered too long while if too cold the patrons complained. Only China tea survives long brewing, Ceylon or India tea would be undrinkable.

When the tavern first opened they purchased a 40 pound carton and even though the tea is dispensed free of charge this quantity of tea will last about five years. (A little goes a long way).

Legend has it that General Washington always drank his coffee laced with rum and this is how we dispense it. while the tavern does not have a license to sell hard whiskey the proof of General Washington coffee is below that of fortified wine so it meets the licensing requirements. The patrons are told that it was the rum in his coffee responsible for the General sleeping in so many places.

Early in the restoration it was decided to shun full meals since this requires a large staff. Furthermore the major emphasis is on entertainment (tavern singers) and patrons cannot divide their attention between eating and listening. For these reasons the fare is limited to unusual snacks.

The first thought was to have pork pies, so indigenous to English pubs, but they are unavailable in America since pork products cannot be imported. Fortunately a small establishment in Fall River, Massachusetts has made pork pies for about 100 years. These differ from the English pub variety in that they use only lean ground pork for the filling and no gelatin.

These are stored frozen, heated in a microwave oven on demand and served with a special sauce consisting of a mixture of apple sauce, mustard and ginger. Incidentally the microwave oven is hidden in the kitchen.

Another fortunate discovery was a bakery in Brattleboro, Vermont that has been producing a unique stone ground whole wheat bread baked with maple syrup. This is served toasted with a mild soft traditional cheese like Havarti to the delight of our patrons. The toast is also served with ginger marmalade laced with rum.

On the occasion of one of President Washington's birthdays a spice cake was prepared and this cake is served with a liberal scoop of our popular dessert syllabub.

Syllabub is an old dessert whose essential ingredients are wine, cream and lemon and while there are a number of recipes our experiments have arrived at one that has been most favorably received. It is served chilled with nutmeg freshly ground before the patrons' eyes. It is indeed amusing to discover that very few people are familiar with the whole nutmeg. This procedure adds a touch of authenticity as well as showmanship to this dish.

One other snack is popcorn, a discovery of the early settlers when corn was introduced to them by the Indians.

Patrons proceed to the bar as in an English pub to secure food and drink so that we do not require waitresses.

The tavern opened in December 1979 and for the next three years the trustees concentrated on providing appropriate entertainment. Tavern singers provided a wide range of colonial songs many of them comic and bawdy. Most of the tavern tables are eight foot long trestle tables and this arrangement encourages people to mingle and to join in the singing. The singers concentrate on clear enunciation of the wards and this invariably elicits the full attention of our patrons.

The Late Tayler Vrooman, who performs at colonial Williamsburg, has amassed over 5000 such songs. The tavern library probably extends to 1000 songs which is ample.

There is also a mime who encourages audience participation by having some of them read aloud such items as "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" as he humorously interprets the events described.

In addition to these entertainers the tavern keeper reads selected 18th century items such as the satire of Benjamin Franklin or items from The Boston Gazette of 1780, a weekly newspaper of that year.

The Tavern keeper has also produced a collection of satirical letters in the style of Benjamin Franklin and a sample letter follows; (Avon during colonial days was part of East Stoughton).

                                            
Continental Army Headquarters
Cambridge, Mass  Bay Colony
Blanchard's Tavern
East Stoughton, Mass Bay Colony
Jan. 10, 1776
Gentlemen;

It has come to my attention that a rumour is being circulated about myself and your establishment in East Stoughton. I beg to inform you that at no time have I ever slept in Blanchard's Tavern. However last fall on a journey from Boston to Newport I distinctly recall my horse stopping under the large oak tree in front of Blanchard's Tavern and he did appear to have been well relieved as a result for he renewed the journey with greater vigour.

You are therefore entitled to mount a brass plaque on that tree (which must surely have profited from that visit) stating that General Washington's horse stopped here --- or any phrase that you feel is more descriptive of that event.

Iremain yr ob servent etc.
G. Washington
General, Continental Army

P.S. On several occasions I have stopped at Blanchard's Tavern for a room but found it always engaged by my good friend the honorable Dr. Franklin.

(Of course with Benjamin Franklin's reputation everyone knows why he engaged the room at the tavern).

Besides the main tap room there is a game room and a ladies' parlor. Research into games of the 18th century has uncovered Dr. R. C. Bell an English surgeon as the world's expert having produced many fine books on the subject. In addition to the well-known games of darts. chess, checkers, dominoes, cards and cribbage we have added Fox and Geese, nine men's morris, nefertafel and skittles. Reproduction 18th century cards are available from historic Williamsburg.

Future plans call for a more ambitious program of 18th century board games relying heavily on Dr. Bell's advice to us as to which games are easy to learn and provide the most audience interest.

The ladies' parlor with stenciled floor is finished with more elegance but is frequented the least. A community needlepoint was set up in this room on an antique frame so that anyone could work on it but most people faced this form of entertainment with some trepidation lest they do poorly and spoil it. It took a year and a half to complete but it now hangs in the ladies' parlor for all to enjoy.

Entering the tavern one is immediately drawn into a visual contact with the 18th century. The impression is enhanced by the tastes and sounds of that period. The effect is quite engulfing and an effort is also being made to introduce smells of the period with dried herbs hung from the beams.

People entering the tavern for the first time evidence bewilderment because the ambience is so unexpected. These patrons are easily spotted as they crane their necks to take in details of construction and decor. Occasionally this bewilderment evokes an uncomfortable feeling particularly if many of our patrons are attired in colonial dress and the customer thinks he is intruding on a private party.

The tavern keeper noticed one foursome turn on its heels and leave after entering. He followed them out and explained that this was a tavern of the year 1780. The unexpected reply "That was not the year we were looking fort"

On another occasion the tavern keeper was reading aloud an issue of the 1780 Boston Gazette which referred to John Paul Jones then resident in Amsterdam. He turned to one patron and asked,

"You do know who John Paul Jones was?"

Came the reply:

"No. I'm sorry, this is my first time here.'

Some patrons, noting our fetish for authenticity, point out that the reproduction 18th century sconces use electric lights (shaped like candles). Here again we call upon our standby Dr. Franklin and point out that the good doctor installed the lights and there are several kites flying from the roof to collect the electricity! This is the sort of spirit that the trustees try to evoke from the patrons.

A significant percentage of our patrons are from overseas or from other states simply because it is an unusual place to take visitors.

There are a number of original well-known taverns in Massachusetts preserved as museums such as The Buckman and Monroe Taverns in Lexington (the former next to Lexington Green from which emerged The Minutemen on that fateful day of April 19. 1775); The Fearing Tavern in 4areham from which our bar design was copied; The Golden Ball Tavern in Weston; The Old Ordinary in Hingham; and two at Deerfield Village.

A soupcon of tavern life is preserved in the story of John Buckman, Jr. colonial tavern keeper and the town drunk who boasted he'd sooner give up his life than his bottle of rum. Late one night a disguised Buckman accosted this toper on the road and relieved him of his bottle at gunpoint. For several weeks Buckman amusedly related this story to his patrons until he was arrested for robbery and fined $50.

At a seaport tavern the skipper of a boat called Bulldog married a girl named Abigail S. Asked if he was going to rename his boat after his wife, he replied no but if his wife turned out to be as reliable as the boat he would change her name to Bulldog.


The agrarian economy no doubt produced many stories in the taverns such as the one about the stranger who passed a farm hewed out of the rocky soil of Vermont. He remarked to the farmer that it certainly did not look like very good faming country, what did he raise? Men, came the reply.

Or the stranger asking the farmer why he erected a wall 3 feet high and 4 feet wide received the reply that if it ever blew over it would be higher than it was wide.

The search for such 18th century humor uncovered many stories but for original source material the writings of Franklin are outstanding. Perhaps the most famous piece of satire read at the tavern is his advice to a young man on the selection of a mistress:

 

To my dear Friend:

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent Natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the,proper remedy. It is the most natural state of Man. and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at Present appear to me not well founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that makes the complete human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility, and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in the State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent, healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old women to young ones.

You call this a Paradox and demand my Reasons. They are these:

1. Because they have more Knowledge of the World. and their Minds are better stro'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving, and more lastingly agreeable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a thousand Services small & great, and are the most tender and useful of Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a Thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.
3. Because there is no Hazard of Children: which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because through more Experience they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclined to excuse an old Woman, who would kindly take Care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health & Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part. The Face first grows lank and wrinkled then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever so that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to tell an old one from a young one. And as in the Dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of Corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior every Knack being, by Practice, capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflectinon; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8th and lastly. They are so gratefully Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly being sincerely

                                                                                                    Your Affectionate Friend, B.F.

One of the trustees became quite interested in Franklin's career during the period just before and during the revolution (as representing the period of the tavern). particularly since it is frequently overlooked that Franklin was born in Massachusetts (Milk Street, Boston, 1706).

Most of the patrons of Blanchard's Tavern come convinced that Franklin was a "dirty old man" who flew a kite and wrote Poor Richard's Almanac, just as they always allude to Washington as "father of our country" because of his prowess in bed.

But Franklin has become our hero and scarcely an evening goes by without some discussion of him in an effort to provide an accurate account of the man in a painless way.

As the tavern enters its fourth year the second floor has been completed and plans are considered for developing the adjoining property into a town green for 18th century militia companies. But none of this was possible without the gift of Henry Lawton Blanchard.

The tavern is open Friday and Saturday at 8sOO p.m. and at other times is available for private parties.

                                                                                                              December 1982



                                                                   THE EARLY BLANCHARD'S

As you enter the taproom, there's a mural over the fireplace showing Main Street in East Stoughton around 1831. In it, we see Blanchard's tavern and store. Who was this Blanchard and how did he come into association with this town and Tavern?

William Blanchard was a Braintree resident, living just up the Old Bridgewater Road in what is now Randolph. Born in 1747 to Samuel and Mary (whitmarsh) Blanchard, he grew up on his father's farm and married a neighbor's daughter, Rachel Spear, in 1771. She bore him a son shortly afterwards.

It was during the Revolutionary War that Blanchard came into association with the tavern. After serving in the town militia, he was enlisted into the Continental Army for three years by his.neighbor Jacob Wales, who had been granted a lieutenant's commission in Capt. Nathaniel Winslow's company of Col. Thomas Marshall's Tenth Massachusetts Regiment. Both William and his cousin Joseph probably were signed up at this tavern, since several other recruits also lived nearby.

As a Continental Army private, William Blanchard saw plenty of service, taking part in the two battles of Saratoga, suffering through the winter at Valley Forge, and fighting in the Battle of Monmouth, where cousin Joseph died at his side. In the spring of his last year of service, he was transferred to the elite Light Infantry company of Capt. Amasa Soper. and took part in the daring nighttime storming of Stony Point. After honorably serving his country, he was discharged on Groundhog Day, 1780.

The next few years were ones of rebuilding for Blanchard. A little over a year after he returned home, Rachel died, leaving ten year old William Jr. without a mother. William Sr. took a second wife, Betty Mann in 1782. Her family was large and influential locally. William and Betty were among the first members of Rev. Mr. Joel Brigg's Baptist Church, in which Betty's brother Benjamin was a deacon.

By 1784 William Blanchard had finally settled his back pay for army service, and became eligible for a small pension. With this money. he was able to purchase the tavern on the Old Bridgewater Road where he had enlisted seven years earlier. Blanchard's Tavern had been founded.

William Blanchard's store and tavern became a profitable enterprise which remained in the family until Henry Lawton Blanchard willed it to the town of Avon early in this century. At the time of William's death in 1804, he had a fairly comfortable estate, valued at nearly $6000 (William and Betty. who died in 1833, are both buried in the historic Old Cemetery on East Main Street). It is interesting to note that in the inventory of his estate were included many of the things we find in the tavern today, including glass and crockery drinking vessels, rum, cheese, cider and mead, which remains a favorite drink of tavern patrons.

As you visit the tavern, enjoy the historic atmosphere and entertainment and join with us in raising a glass of mead to toast the continued prosperity of our kind host, William Blanchard, Esq.