Taverns and the Mill Community

It is true, that in a populous city, there must be taverns and houses for public accommodation – but are we bound to give every man who will not work a license to sell liquor?¹

Very little was written about the drinking establishments along the banks of the Brandywine during the first half of the 19th century. There are no maps from the period showing tavern locations, no census records identifying tavern owners, no formal advertising of tavern licenses, no mention of property usage in deed records, and nothing of note in the local newspapers. However, the lack of specifics in the news and written records does not indicate a lack of interest in the drinking habits of the mill workers or in the ‘tippling houses’ where they exercised these habits.

EI du Pont confronting workers who are drinking. Rough translation: "So what do you do with the rest of your time? Mr I, we have fun" Image Courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library. — EI du Pont confronting workers who are drinking.
Rough translation: “So what do you do with the rest of your time? Mr I, we have fun”
Image Courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library.

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Twelve Respectable Citizens

As noted in the previous article, a law passed in 1873 required individuals who wanted to operate a tavern to apply to the Clerk of the Peace for the license. In addition, they had to advertise their plan in the local newspaper and file a “certificate containing the signatures of twelve respectable citizens who affirmed that the applicant was of good character, that he owned a suitable house, and that a tavern was needed”.¹

This 1873 application² from Thomas Toy shows the form and format of these requests.

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A Brief History of Alcohol Regulation In Delaware

From the earliest times when there was a ‘Delaware,’ certain aspects of liquor manufacture, distribution and use were regulated, sometimes highly so, other times, not so much.

In the mid-17th century, when the Dutch and the Swedes were contesting ownership of the new land, the regulation of alcoholic liquors bobbed back and forth between the two sides and, eventually, to a third side, the English.

When the Dutch controlled the land, and thus the laws, officials appointed by the Director of the private landowner, such as the Dutch East Indies Company, regulated the traffic. However, there was not much to regulate, as the Dutch settlements were fairly poor and relied on New Amsterdam (New York) for their supplies. In the Swedish-controlled areas, there were active viniculture works “from which the people make delightful wine year after year.” Unlike the Dutch, the Swedes had a fairly liberal policy of regulation: lower taxes, no outlandish duties¹. Beyond the usual police regulations to prevent disorder, to punish drunkenness and to keep an eye on traffic with the native population, there wasn’t much overt regulation of the liquor industry.

Portion of a New Netherland map published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702), Showing Fort Casimir and Fort Christina

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Early Taverns in America

Whoe’er has traveled life’s dull round,

Where’er his stages have been found,

May sigh to think he still has found

His warmest welcome at an inn

Cherubimical, nimptopsical, oxycrocium. No, you haven’t found the judge’s list for the next round of the spelling bee. Nor have you come across the medical profession’s cheat sheet for the newest bout of pandemic illnesses.

This trio of nonsensical words is among the 228 “round-about” words or phrases for drunkenness that Ben Franklin published in The Pennsylvania Gazette in the winter of 1737.¹ America’s founders were “anguished and perplexed” about alcohol.² Their anguish and perplexity didn’t keep them from drinking spiritous liquors, however. John Adams is said to have enjoyed a tankard of hard cider for breakfast. Thomas Jefferson invented the presidential cocktail, according to Rorabaugh, who adds that the Founding Fathers feared that America would be destroyed in a flood of alcohol.

The first glass, he said,was for health, the second for taste, and the third forsleep; any more after that might serve as recreation. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. — The first glass, he said, was for health, the second for taste, and the third for sleep; any more after that might serve as recreation.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Introducing the ‘Tavern Project’

“Entertainment for Man and Beast“

This is the first in a series of articles about the licit and illicit drinking establishments operating in the vicinity of Henry Clay (or ‘Rising Sun’) after the founding of the Dupont powder mills in 1802. As the community grew, so did the importance of taverns in the social, recreational and political activities of the mill workers. At one point Rising Sun had so many taverns that two were numbered “Rising Sun Tavern No. 1” and Rising Sun Tavern No. 2”. This led a newspaper report in 1873 to wonder,

“But what is the design in commencing to number the taverns, unless it is feared that there won’t be names enough for all? For a thirsty man, whose stomach won’t bear water, we recommend Rising Sun. It’s bound to shine!”¹

We will start with a bit of history and background on the role of taverns in the United States in general and Delaware in particular. We will look at the laws and regulations that governed the operating of drinking establishments before exploring the taverns of Henry Clay in more detail.

These Henry Clay articles will focus on the physical taverns themselves, looking at their ownership or proprietorship over the years and looking into the lives of these individuals. For example, the Toy Tavern on Main Street was originally owned by Patrick Higgins, a wealthy landowner, in the early 1800s. It was purchased by James Toy in 1848 and operated as the Jefferson House. The tavern later passed to John Thomas Toy, son of James, and became known as the William Penn Hotel. After the passing of John Thomas, the tavern was rented and operated by a number of local residents until Prohibition. Each of these people contributed to the character of the tavern during their tenure.

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