Amos Harvey’s Tavern-Keeper License

Marietta resident Amos R. Harvey wanted to renew his liquor/tavernkeeper license in 1811. He figured it would be routine. But there was a glitch. A group of prominent citizens filed a petition recommending that his license not be renewed.

He had presumably been in the tavern business for a while. Taverns at that time were an important public institution; much more than a neighborhood bar. Taverns offered food, liquor, entertainment, and lodging. Public meetings and social gatherings were held at taverns. There were often “spirited,” if you get my drift, debates about issues of the day. The Ohio Company of Associates which founded Marietta held its initial meetings at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston. Taverns in early Marietta served locals and also visitors traveling on the Ohio River. 

The petition was filed with the Court of Common Pleas which had to approve the renewals. It stated: “...Amos R. Harvey has kept a house of such a character as is a public disgrace to the town of Marietta and such as tends to corrupt the public morals and serves only as a rendezvous for practising those vices and that species of licentiousness and laciviousness which demoralize and debase mankind and strike at the root of all decency and virtues in society...(the petitioners) pray the honorable court,...as the guardians of the public morals in this respect, to refuse a license to the said Harvey.

The petitioners were plainly upset with Harvey and invoked some powerful vocabulary to make their case. The original documents pictured in this article belong to Bill Reynolds, historian at Campus Martius Museum, and are used with his permission. The twenty-two signers of the petition included prominent names such as David Putnam, Timothy Buell, Gilbert Devol, Benjamin Ives Gilman, Samuel Hildreth, Ichabod Nye, Dudley Woodbridge, William Woodbridge, Griffin Greene.

Petition opposing renewal of Amos Harvey tavernkeepers license, above, signatures below. Image of original document courtesy of Bill Reynolds

There are two sides to every story. Amos Harvey had a group of supporters who also filed a petition, shown below, in his favor. It stated “We...do hereby recommend Amos R. Harvey as a suitable person to keep a house of public entertainment or tavern at his house in said Marietta.” Twenty persons signed that petition.

Petition in support of Amos Harvey’s license renewal. Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

The original licensing law adopted by the Northwest Territory in 1792 required the applicant to be “well qualified in person and character....”  A later version of the law in 1809-10, after Ohio became a state, dropped the character requirement per se but specified other conditions: No licensed person “shall knowingly allow...betting or gaming....or shall suffer any disorder, revelling or drunkenness therein.” Also, “All tavern-keepers and inn-keepers shall provide and furnish good entertainment and accommodations for man and horse..... ” 

The Court of Common Pleas had to approve applications and renewals for a tavern-keepers license. On the first day of each Court term, a grand jury was convened. They were given a list of all license holders and directed to “make inquiry and to give information about violations of this act...” Their report could influence the renewal of licenses by the Court.

I was not able to learn whether Amos Harvey’s license was renewed in 1811. But he was listed as a tavern-keeper by George Woodbridge* in the 1820s. So his license must have been renewed at some point. He may have toned down the alleged immoral practices in his tavern, though based on prevailing practices at the time, maybe not.

Want to know more about how a real tavern operated? Stop at Our House Tavern in Gallipolis, Ohio, a restored 1819 tavern that hosted General Lafayette when he visited in 1825. To learn more, click here.

*“Reminiscences of Hon. George M. Woodbridge” viewed in Martin Andrews’ History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens.

SOURCES: 

Andrews, Martin R., History of Marietta and Washington County Ohio and Representative Citizens, “Reminiscences of Hon. George M. Woodbridge,” Chicago, Biographical Publishing Company, 1902

COLLELUORI, Salvatore“The Colonial Tavern, Crucible of the American Revolution,” Warontherocks.com

The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwest Territory from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive, Volume I, edited by Salmon P Chase, Cincinnati, Corey & Fairbanks, 1833 viewed at archive.org

Images of original documents from Bill Reynolds - petitions opposing and in favor of tavern license renewal for Amos R. Harvey dated August 19, 1811

Spirituous Liquors and Two Marietta Pioneers

Sometimes history shows up by accident. I was paying my lunch bill recently at the Wine Cellar Restaurant in Marietta. My eye wandered to a framed document on the wall above the counter. It appeared to be old - yellowed and in quill pen type script. I asked the lady at the counter what it was. "It's an old liquor license that someone gave us," was the response. My first reaction was curiosity - a liquor license? I thought early days on the frontier were unregulated. Things like liquor were used for barter. Even the Indians had access to liquor from traders and soldiers.

Later I returned for a closer look at the document, so I could learn more about it. The Wine Cellar folks graciously allowed me to take a few pictures. Here are the images; pardon the background reflections:





Below is the wording of the license:

To Whom It May Concern

Know Ye that Josiah Munro having obtained a recommendation
from the Justices of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace
for the County of Washington as a Retailer of Spirituous liquors
in Marietta in said County. I do hereby agreeably to the powers in me
vested therefore License the said Josiah Munro as a retailer of spirituous
liquors in Marietta aforesaid for the Term of one year from the date hereof.
Given under my hand and seal of office at Marietta aforesaid the twenty third day of December
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred ninety three.

R. J. Meigs one of the commissioners for
granting licenses in the County of
(seal) Washington

The license was granted in 1793, just a few years from the founding of Marietta and the start of government in the Northwest Territory in 1788. It surprised me that such a regulatory structure existed then. Further research revealed that law and order was alive and well in those early days.

The Ordinance of 1787 granted power to adopt laws: "The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district..." A law licensing retail sales, including sale of "spirituous liquors," was adopted at Cincinnati on August 1, 1792. You can view that and other laws in the publication Laws of the Northwest Territory 1788-1800 edited by Theodore Calvin Pease, University of Illinois. 

The liquor license introduced me to two of Marietta's original settlers.

Josiah Munro, one of the original settlers, is listed as the recipient of the liquor license. His last name appears in historical references as Munro, Munroe, and Monroe. I was not able to learn what business he operated that used the liquor license. It may have been at Picketed Point where historian Hildreth lists him as a resident with wife and two children. His military service included the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary Army for 2 1/2 years as a captain. He was on the staff of Marquis de Lafayette for a time. His grave marker in Mound Cemetery at Marietta has this inscription:

Captain Josiah Munroe, born at Lexington, Mass., February 12, 1745; died at Marietta August, 1801. He was an officer in the Revolutionary Army, and became a friend of Lafayette, who recognised his services by the gift of a sword. He was one of the original Ohio Company who landed at Marietta, April 7, 1988,  and was appointed postmaster at Marietta, 1794, which office he held at the time of his death.

Return Jonathan Meigs signed the license as Commissioner for Granting Licenses under authority of the Territorial Court. After a distinguished military career, he became a surveyor with the Ohio Company of Associates and was also one of the original 48 settlers of Marietta. Meigs helped survey the lands in the Ohio Company purchase. He also put his Yale University law studies background to work by creating a temporary code of regulations for the fledgling settlement at Marietta until the Territorial government was established. The written code was posted on a large oak tree near the Ohio River. According to his obituary, the "venerable" oak tree notice was often consulted for guidance. He later became a Territorial judge and member of the legislature.

Return Jonathan Meigs was a decorated officer of the Revolutionary War. I was impressed by Meigs' courage and perseverance in very perilous situations.. He was part of Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec in 1775. Rough terrain, bad weather, sickness, and lost supplies nearly wiped them out. Some were forced to survive by "eating leather, bones, the bark of trees, and soup made of the flesh of their dogs" until eventually resupplied. 

Meigs was captured in the subsequent Battle of Quebec. He was later released and returned to service with the Continental Army. He lead a successful raid which destroyed British ships at Sag Harbor NY in 1777, for which Congress awarded him a presentation sword for bravery. He also commanded the 3rd Regiment in the Battle of Stony Point in 1779. After the war, he returned to his home Middleton CT, before joining the Ohio Company group several years later.

Something as ordinary as a liquor license can be an inspiring reminder of our heritage - the bravery of veterans and perseverance of our nation's pioneers.