Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 9.djvu/255

 The Old Taverns and Stage-Coachcs of Groton.

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��otherwise considerably enlarged. Cap- tain Keep was followed by the brothers Isaiah and Joseph Hall, who were the landlords as early as the year 1798. They were succeeded in 1825 by Joseph Hoar, who had just sold the Emerson tavern, at the other end of the village street. He kept it for nearly twenty years, — excepting the year 1S36, when Moses Gill and his brother- in-law, Henry Lewis Lawrence, were the landlords, — and sold out about 1842 to Thomas Treadwell Famsworth. It was then conducted as a temperance house, at that time considered a great innovation on former customs. After a short period it was sold to Daniel Hunt, who kept it until 1852, and he was followed by James M. Col- bum, who had it for two years. It then came into the possession of J. Nelson Hoar, a son of the former landlord, who took it in 1854, and in whose family it has since remained. Latterly it has been managed by three of his daughters, and now is known as the Central House. It is the only tavern in the village, and for neatness and comfort can not easily be surpassed.

In the list of innholders, near the end of Isaiah Thomas's Almanack, for 1785, appears the name of Richardson, whose tavern stood on the present site of the Baptist church. It was originally the house owned and occupied by the Reverend Gershom Hobart, which had been considerably enlarged by addi- tions on the north and east sides, in order to make it more suitable for its new purposes. Mine host was Captain Jephthah Richardson, who died on October 9, 1806. His father was Con- verse Richardson, who had previously kept a small inn, on the present Elm Street, near the corner of Pleasant. It was in this Elm Street house that

��Tynothy Bigelow, the rising young lawyer, lived, when he first came to Groton. Within a few years this building has been moved away. Soon after the death of Captain Jephthah Richard- son, the tavern was sold to Timothy Spaulding, who carried on the business until his death, which occurred on February 19, 1808. Spaulding's widow subsequently married John Spalter, who was the landlord for a short time. About 1 81 2 the house was rented to Dearborn Emerson, who had been a driver of a stage-coach, as well as the owner of a line. He remained in possession of it for a few years.

During the War of 181 2 it was an inn of local renown ; and a Lieutenant Chase had his headquarters here for a while, when recruiting for the army. He raised a company in the neighbor- hood, which was ordered to Sackett's Harbor, near the foot of Lake Ontario. The men were put into uniforms as they enlisted, and drilled daily. They were in the habit of marching through the village streets to the music of the spirit-stirring drum and the ear-piercing fife ; and occasionally they were invited into the yard of some hospitable citizen, who would treat them to " the cups that cheer but not inebriate," when taken in moderation. William Kemp was the drummer, and Wilder Shep- ley the fifer, both noted musicians in their day. Sometimes his brother, Moses Kemp, would act as fifer. Wil- liam is still alive, at the advanced age of nearly ninety-five years, and gives many reminiscences of that period. He was born at Groton on May 8, 1789, and [began to drum in early boyhood. His first appearance in the public ser- vice was during the year 1805, as drum- mer of the South Company of Groton, commanded by Luther LawTence, after-

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