Rum, Riot, and Reform

Back to: 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret

Darby and Joan, ca. 1840
Attributed to William Matthew Prior (1806-1873)
Oil on paperboard
Collections of Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA

Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam, ca. 1758
John Greenwood (1727-1792)
Oil on bed ticking
Collections of The Saint Louis Art Museum

This vision of Yankee mariners in various states of inebriation includes a few identifiable men. Such a bacchanal would have been difficult or impossible in the small ports of Maine, where taverns were closely regulated. This is not to say drunkenness and fistfights did not occur Downeast, but simply that it was easier for our ancestors to behave badly away from the eyes of church and neighbors.

Mrs. Greele's Tavern, 1770, created ca. 1900
Charles Quincy Goodhue (1835-1910)
Pencil sketch
Collections of Maine Historical Society

In the tumult of the Revolutionary era, three taverns served Falmouth Neck (renamed Portland after 1786). The most colorful was owned by Alice Ross Greele (Grele). Located on the corner of today's Congress and Hampshire streets, the tavern served as courtroom and a meeting place for rebels. Running a licensed house was one of the few trades open to women and the tough-minded Mrs. Greele achieved legendary status by extinguishing her burning building during the British bombardment of 1775. She ran the tavern until her death in 1795.

Maine Tavern interior, 1854
Illustration in Way Down East: or, Portraits of Yankee Life
Seba Smith (1792-1868), Philadelphia
Collections of Maine Historical Society
QJ 813 Sm65w

"I have seen my mother, as often as Parson Lancaster exchanged [pulpits] with my father, mix Holland gin and loaf sugar and warm it up for him before he went into the puplit and after he came out. I once went with my father to a funeral in Beaver (now Brown) Street, and a decanter of liquor and glasses were set on the coffin" Reverend Elijah Kellog (1813-1901), 1886

Tavern Sign
York, Maine, ca. 1784
Painted eastern white pine
Collections of the Old York Historical Society, York, Maine

This sign is from the Stacey Tavern of York. In 1807-08, the visiting Edward Kendall noted, "boards hung out, on which are uncouth inscriptions offering spiritous liquors for sale."

Tavern Sign, Maine, mid 19th century
Painted wood
Collections of Maine Historical Society; gift of Dorothy Plummer, 1985
A86-886

This quizzical sign came from Samuel Witham's Tavern in Raymond, Maine.

Tavern Sign
Maine, mid 19th century
Painted wood
Collections of Maine Historical Society; gift of Dorothy Plummer, 1985

Another quizzical sign that came from Samuel Witham's Tavern in Raymond, Maine.

A. Davis Tavern Sign, ca. 1803
Painted wood
Collections of Baxter House Museum, Gorham

This handsome sign marked the tavern hotel of Allen Davis (1770-1818) in Gorham.

Image of Jeremiah Berry (detail), ca. 1800
England, probably Herculaneum Pottery (1796-1840)
Creamware with enamel painting
Collections of Peabody Essex Museum

Jeremiah Berry (1742-1816) toasts the successful economy while on a break in his Portland blockmaking shop. Workers or apprentices are shown working and drinking on their grog break.

"At eleven o'clock on each day the bell would ring, the masons come down from the ladders, the joiners drop their tools, and all would partake of rum, salt-fish, and crackers." Reverend Elijah Kellog (1813-1901)

Billy Hans (1755-1831) Portrait, ca. 1830
Charles Codman (ca. 1800-1842)
Oil on board
Private Collection

Billy Hans was a veteran of the Revolutionary War who had become an alcoholic and fallen on hard times. His ravaged face could stand for generations of Mainers in similar circumstances.

Plan of Ann Street, Portland, ca. 1802
Pen and ink and watercolor on paper
Collections of Maine Historical Society; gift of Charles Thornton Libby, 1909

This watercolor shows the Thomas Robinson (1747-1806) estate with his rum distill house.Robinson built and operated Falmouth's first large distillery.

J. Cutters Inn Tavern Sign, New England, ca. 1802
Oil on wood
Courtesy of Bevinn O'Brien

From the earliest decades of English settlement in Maine and the rest of New England, licensed tavern keepers, both men and women, provided sustenance, warmth, and comfort to travelers in the often hostile environment. Drinking was one of the few activities sanctioned by Puritans since alcohol was considered beneficial to the health of mind and body.

A Reading Room Discussion on Anti-Slavery, ca. 1845
Charles Henry Granger (1812-1893)
Oil on canvas
Collections of the York Institute Museum, Saco

Saco painter Charles Henry Granger created this composite tavern scene using local characters in a heated debate over slavery. In many of Maines small towns and cities, taverns were the center of social and political life.

Captain William McLellan, Sr., ca. 1800
John Brewster, Jr. (1766-1854)
Oil on canvas
Collections of Maine Historical Society; gift of William McLellan, III, 1920

Captain McLellan, a son of a Scotch-Irish immigrant, was a leader during the Revolutionary War and an important mariner. Much of his time was spent engaged in the West Indies trade. His brother Joseph was part owner of a Portland distillery.

GALLERIES: Drinking Implements | Taverns, People, and Scenes | Influential and Interesting Documents