Old Boston Taverns and Tavern ClubsDrake, Samuel Adams
History
Old Boston Taverns and Tavern Clubs
Drake, Samuel Adams
Boston (Mass.) -- Social life and customs; Clubs -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Taverns (Inns) -- Massachusetts -- Boston
The eastern portion of the original lot (that situated east of the one on
which the _Hancock Tavern_, just demolished, was located) was sold by
Samuel Green's heirs to Thomas Handasyd Peck in 1759. The _Hancock Tavern_
lot itself was then sold to Thomas Bromfield, merchant, in February, 1760.
The deed says: "A certain dwelling house, with the land whereon the same
doth stand." Bromfield in 1763 sold it to Joseph Jackson of Boston, who
owned it at the time of the Revolution, and disposed of it on August 19,
1779, to Morris Keith, a Boston trader. Morris Keith, or Keefe, died in
April, 1783, aged 62, leaving a widow and two children, Thomas and Mary.
The son died in 1784, the widow in 1785, leaving the daughter Mary to
inherit the property. The inventory describes Morris Keefe as a lemon
dealer, and the house and land in Corn Court as worth £260.
Mary Keefe married John Duggan, May 24, 1789, and in 1790 John Duggan was
granted a license to retail liquor at his house in Corn Court. This is
the earliest record of a license being granted to the _Hancock Tavern_,
so called. Mary Duggan deeded the property to her husband in January,
1795, a few weeks before her death. In 1796 John Duggan married Mary
Hopkins. He died April 21, 1802, leaving three children--Michael, born
1797; William, born 1799, and John Adams, born 1802. Mary (Hopkins) Duggan
then married William Brazier in 1803. He died ten years later.
The record commissioners' reports, No. 22, page 290, show the following
inventory for 1798:
John Duggan, owner and occupier; wooden dwelling; west
on Corn Court; south on Moses Gill; north on James
Tisdale. Land 1024 square feet; house 448 square feet;
2 stories, 12 windows; value $1200
Duggan's advertisement in the _Columbian Centinel_ of October 11, 1794,
reads:
Latest imported lemons--In excellent order, for sale, by John Duggan,
at his house, at the sign of Gov. Hancock outside the market.
His address in the Boston Directory for 1796 is: "John Duggan, lemon
dealer, Corn court, S. side market."
In 1795, Duggan, who is described as an innholder, and his wife deeded
this property to Daniel English, who, on the same day, deeded it back to
John, in order that he might have a clear title.
"From these investigations," said Mr. McGlenen, "I think it is clear that
as an old landmark the _Hancock Tavern_ is a failure."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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