Raleigh Tavern Architectural Report, Block 17 Building 6A Lot 54 Originally entitled: "Raleigh Tavern"
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library
Research Report Series - 1348
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Library
Williamsburg, Virginia
1990
ARCHITECTURE NOTES
By- Walter M. Macomber
RALEIGH TAVERN
WILLIAMSBURG, VA.
When the Restoration work was started in 1927, the site of the Raleigh Tavern was occupied by two modern store buildings which had been built about the time of the War between the States. Before actual excavations were begun, a careful examination of the foundations of the modern buildings disclosed the existence of fragments of the original Raleigh Tavern foundations that extended east and west near the front of the Lane store. This original brickwork extended under the modern foundations, and was picked up later by excavating. The old foundations were then discovered to extend toward the west and under the second store building. After removing the floor of that building a few feet within, the architects located the southwest corner of Raleigh Tavern. The entire west foundations were then uncovered and so on, until the entire wall was exposed. They were not, of course, intact, but were sufficiently complete to clearly define the accurate over-all dimensions of the building as it appears today.
The various chimney foundations exposed by careful digging located various partitions, such as the north wall of the Apollo Room and the wall between the Reception Room and the Tap Room.
Directly beneath the present fireplace in the Apollo Room the chimney foundation was discovered. Because of the fact the basement beneath this room was the most convenient for the Heater Room, it was necessary to excavate to a much deeper level than the original basement floor, so the bricks from this original foundation were carefully marked and numbered -2- and made use of in rebuilding the Apollo Room fireplace on the first floor. This change was made so these bricks would not only be preserved, but could be seen by the visitors.
In the southwest corner of the foundations was found a cellar that unquestionably was the wine cellar. This was entered from the outside by an unusual bulkhead which has been reproduced in the restored building. From the cellar floor level the bulkhead steps carried up to a landing located about two-thirds of the distance up to the outside grade. There were no steps from this landing to the grade, so we are convinced this arrangement was for the purpose of handling heavy wine barrels more easily.
What is left of the original walls of this wine cellar are easily distinguishable from the restoration work by their mouldy appearance. They are part of the present north and west walls of this basement room. The north wall also form part of the Tap Room and Reception Room fireplaces foundation. The fireplaces above are corner fireplaces, and the method of their foundation construction in the basement is unusual, inasmuch as there is a center wall with segmental arches springing from this wall obliquely to the main foundation wall.
The design of Raleigh Tavern exterior was controlled by a crude sketch made in 1846 by Benson J. Lossing to illustrate his "Pictorial Field Book of the American Revolution". The building had partially been destroyed when he visited Williamsburg, and the west front only was standing when he drew it, consequently the south elevation in his sketch was based on the description furnished him by the men who were at work altering the building, who in round terms stated the south front -3- was identical with the west side. This accounts for the unsymmetrical arrangements of windows in the sketch, and the entrance door being off center.
That their information was inaccurate was proved after the south wall along the Duke of Gloucester Street was uncovered. The foundation for the steps was discovered exactly on the center of this facade. If the entrance door had been in the location shown on the sketch, it would have been impossible to have seen through the hall to the yard beyond as is recorded to be a fact of Lossing.
The general scale and relation of window openings to wall surfaces, etc., used by the architects was inspired by the Richard Bland House. It is their belief that the design of this building, which was erected a few years after Raleigh Tavern, was influenced considerably by the design of the Raleigh Tavern. In accordance with this theory they used the Bland House in turn as a guide to go by in the rebuilding of the Tavern.
A rough sketch made by the same Lossing shows the north end of the Apollo Room. This is crude in its indication, but gives us the reason for using the double-panelled wainscoting, and modillioned cornice.
The marble mantel in this room was not mentioned in the notes, but precedent for this treatment is found in one of the first-floor rooms in the Richard Bland House, and the design of the panelling over the mantel is an adaptation of the indication on the sketch according to the practice of the period.
-4-The design for the rest of the interior is based on Virginia Colonial precedent, as the records found have given us no aid in regard to their appearance and design. Such nearby buildings as "Toddsbury" and the Rolfe House have been used as an inspiration. It should be borne in mine therefore that all architectural motives inside and outside --panelling, moulding, cornices, base boards, door and window trim, sash, etc.--are in the most authentic Tidewater Virginia Colonial tradition and in most cases are actual replicas of motives already existing in other buildings.
RALEIGH TAVERN
WILLIAMSBURG, VA.
COPY
by W. Macomber
The site of the Raleigh Tavern was occupied by two modern store buildings, when the Restoration work was started, which had been built about the time of the War between the States. Before actual excavations were begun, a careful examination of the foundations of the modern buildings disclosed the existence of fragments of the original Raleigh Tavern foundations that extended east and west near the front of the Lane store. This original brickwork extended under the modern foundations, and was picked up later by excavating. The old foundations were then discovered to extend toward the west and under the second store building. After removing the floor of that building a few feet within, the architects located the southwest corner of Raleigh Tavern. The entire west foundations were then uncovered and so on, until the entire wall was exposed. They were not, of course, intact, but were sufficiently complete to clearly define the accurate over-all dimensions of the building as it appears today.
The various chimney foundations exposed by careful digging located various partitions, such as the north wall of the Apollo Room and the wall between the Reception Room and the Tap Room.
Directly beneath the present fireplace in the Apollo
Room the chimney foundation was discovered. Because of the fact the basement
beneath this room was the most convenient for the Heater Room, it was necessary
to excavate to a much deeper level than the originalbasement floor, so the bricks from this
original foundation were carefully marked and numbered and made use of, and replaced in rebuilding the
Apollo Room fireplace on the first floor according to their position in the foundation. This change
was made so the thesebricks could be viewed would not only be preserved but could be seen by the visitors.
In the southwest corner of the foundations we was found a cellar that
unquestionably was the wine cellar. This cellar was entered from the outside by
an unusual bulkhead which has been reproduced in the restored building. From the cellar floor level the bulkhead steps carried up
to a landing located about two-thirds of the distance to the outside grade.
There were no steps from this landing to the grade, so we are convinced this
condition arrangement was for the purpose of handling heavy wine barrels more easily.
What is left ofThe original walls of this wine cellar are easily
distinguishable from the restoration work by their mouldy appearance. They are
part of the present north and west walls of this basement room. The north wall also forms part of the
Tap Room and Reception Room fireplaces foundation. These The fireplaces above are corner fireplaces,
and the method of their foundation construction in the basement is unusual, in view of the fact
as much as there is a center wall with segmental arches springing from this wall obliquely
to the main foundation wall.
The design of Raleigh Tavern exterior was controlled by
a crude sketch made in 1846 by Benson J. Lossing to illustrate his
"Pictorial Field Book of the American Revolution". The building had
partially been destroyed when he visited Williamsburg, and the west front only was standing when he drew it consequently the south
elevation was indicated as described to in his sketch was based on the descriptions furnished him by men who were at work altering the
building, who in round [illegible]stated the south front was identical with the west side. This accounts for
the unsymmetrical arrangement of windows in the sketch, and the entrance door being off center.
This sketch was disThat their information was inaccurate wasproved after the South wall along
the Duke of Gloucester Street was uncovered. The foundation for the steps was
discovered exactly on the center of this facade. If the entrance door had been
in the location shown on the sketch, it would have been impossible to have seen
through the hall to the yard beyond as is recorded to be a fact by Lossing.
The general scale and relation of window openings to
wall surfaces, etc., used by the architects was were inspired by the Richard Bland House. It is our their
belief that
-3-
the design of this building, which was erected a few years after Raleigh Tavern,
was influenced considerably the design of [illegible]by Raleigh Tavern, in accordance with this [illegible] and we in turn used it for the
same purpose of comparison.the Bland House in turn as a guide to go by in the rebuilding of the Tavern.
A rough sketch made by the same Lossing shows the north
end of the Apollo Room. This is very crude in its indication, but gives us
precedent for the reason for usingthe double-panelled wainscoting, and modillioned cornice.
The marble mantel in this room was not mentioned in the notes, but precedent for this treatment is foundin one of the first-floor rooms in the Richard Bland House, and the design of the panelling over the mantel is an adaptation of the indication on the sketch accordingto the practice of the period.
The design for the rest of the interior is based on Virginia Colonial [illegible]purely
imaginary, as the records found have given us no aid in regard to their
appearance and design. It should be borne in mind therefore that all architectural [illegible] inside and outside panelling moulding cornice base boards door and window trim sash etc = are in the most authentic Tidewater Virginia Colonial tradition and in most cases are actual replicas of [illegible] already existing in other buildings.The character of these remaining rooms has been inspired
by buildings of the colonial period, such as "Toddsbury" and the
Rolphe House.
MEMORANDUM:
I made a sketch showing the out-buildings at the Raleigh Tavern, and asked Willie Baker, sexton of Bruton Parish Church, to show it to his mother who before the Civil War worked for Mr. Vest, next door to the Raleigh Tavern, and ask her what she remembered about these buildings. He told me this morning that his mother said the building which stood on the eastern side of the lot near the well was the laundry (Col. Lane told me he thought that building was the kitchen). Willie Baker's mother also said the building on the west of the Tavern, in the rear, was the stable. She did not remember the location of the kitchen.
HERBERT S. RAGLAND
[Map]
Memo: For Research Dept. Files:
The following is a statement from Wm. Baker (colored), Sexton of Bruton Parish Church, concerning the property facing on the North side of Duke of Gloucester Street between Botetourt Street and the Raleigh Tavern:-
"My mother lived in the house just behind Raleigh Tavern at the time of the fire just before the Civil War and she remembers all of the buildings in that square at that time. Her mind is not clear as to corner lot (Standard Service Station lot now). The Hoffheimer Store (brick) was recently Kinnaman's Garage. The Lee house was a one story building with three dormer windows in front and two in the back, with the shed roof behind and cellar. The Vest Store was a brick building-- two stories with a one story frame annex behind. It was built right up against the east end of the Lee House. Space large enough for one person to walk between Vest's store and Lee's house. She recalls the stables behind the Raleigh Tavern, one house for the help with two dormer windows back and front. She has drawn water out of the well on Raleigh Tavern Lot before the Civil War."
I asked Wm. Baker to find out, if possible, from his mother the locations in the rear of the Raleigh Tavern of the stables, the "house for the help" etc. that his mother told him she remembered.
Herbert S. Ragland
THE RALEIGH TAVERN
PART I - HISTORY
The Raleigh, "that noted and well accustomed Tavern", (1) was, during the last half of the 18th Century, the most noted and well accustomed of all the hostelries of Williamsburg. Its popularity was due not only to its convenient location near the Capitol Buildings which enabled it to share in the activity during the semi-annual sessions of the General Assembly and Court, but also and more particularly to the able management of its successive proprietors.
The convenience of location was shared by a number of other houses of entertainment: The King's Arms, opposite on the Duke of Gloucester Street; the Sign of Edinburg Castle; the Red Lion Inn; Susannah Allen's Ordinary; the English Coffee House, and others, some on the main street, some, like the Blue Bell Tavern and Mrs. Campbell's on the so-called Exchange at the east of the Capitol. The full list of Taverns, Inns, and Ordinaries in Williamsburg in the 18th Century is imposing enough to give us today a clear impression of the large amount of patronage and the consequent need for accommodations during certain seasons of the year.
ITS ORIGIN
The Origin of the Raleigh Tavern is not recorded. It is known, however, that it existed and was under the management of Henry Wetherburn for some years prior to 1742, in which year the Tavern was sold to an association headed by John Blair. (2) It is probable that Wetherburn, who had married the widow of Henry Bowcock, Innkeeper, had acquired, along with the widow, the already established Raleigh Tavern.
-2-From small beginnings, the building responded to successive demands upon it for increased and more particular accommodations and entertainment until it reached its present size and its greatest fame during the decade preceding the Revolution.
The leaden bust of Sir Walter Raleigh which stood above the door proclaimed both the Tavern's name and the fact that Virginia honored the man who sponsored the first efforts to colonize Virginia and who popularized "Tobacco Taking" in the 17th Century, and thus paved the way for the establishment of Virginia's indispensable tobacco trade.
HENRY WETHERBURN - INNKEEPER
Henry Wetherburn, an indefatigable courtier of the widows of prosperous innkeepers, would perhaps have continued in possession of the Raleigh had he not considered that better opportunity lay elsewhere. Two marriages identify him successively with the Raleigh Tavern, the English Coffee House, Wetherburn's on the Duke of Gloucester Street, and Wetherburn's on Capitol Landing Road.
Of his good reputation as an innkeeper and host there can be no doubt. As early as 1736, a bowl of his exceptional Arrack punch was made the sole consideration for the transfer of a parcel of 200 acres of Goochland County land, from William Randolph of Tuckahoe to Peter, the father of Thomas Jefferson. (3) In 1755, George (Daniel) Fisher, an Englishman and lately, himself, a tavern keeper of sorts in Williamsburg, relates to his diary that upon arriving in Leedstown, Virginia "I put up at one Mr. T....., esteemed the best ordinary in Town; and indeed the House and Furniture -3- has as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the Country, Mr. Finnay's or Wetherburn's in Williamsburg not excepted. The Chairs, Tables, &c of the Room I was conducted into was all of mahogany, and so stuff with fine large [?] Plate Prints, that I almost fancied myself in Jeffries' or some other elegant print shop." (4)
By 1751 Wetherburn had relinquished the Raleigh Tavern and Alexander Finnie had assumed control after purchase from Blair's association. (5) Thus Wetherburn and Finnie were probably close rivals for the better trade in Williamsburg, with Wetherburn enjoying the advantages of longer tenure and reputation. For while Finnie dedicated the "Apollo" Room at the Raleigh to the accommodation of the "Warriors and the Great Men" attendant upon the "Emperor of the Cherokee Nation", in response to a request from the Council and in pursuance of the Council's desire to do the Indian Chieftain signal honor, skill, it was at Wetherburn's that Governor Dinwiddie was entertained upon his arrival in October. (6)
ALEXANDER FINNIE - INNKEEPER
Alexander Finnie must have profited from the good will of his predecessor at the Raleigh and also have been an able manager himself. His advertisement appears in the Virginia Gazette, announcing "Balls" to be held "at the Apollo, once eve y week during the Sitting of the General Assembly and Court", (7) and, as an evident tribute to his personality, frequent notices are to be found speaking of auction, sales, and events to take place at "Finnie's" or "before Finnie's door" - many years after his own departure from the Tavern.
THE APOLLO
There is no evidence that a room for entertaining, larger than the Apollo, existed in the town, and it is natural that the provision of this accommodation should increase the use, and so the property, of the Tavern itself. The room had been added to the original building, probably by Alexander Finnie in 1750-55, and presumably had been given its name from the room of similar name in the Devil's Tavern, London, which was frequented by Raleigh, Ben Jonson, and their friends.
The motto of the Tavern was carved in the frieze in gilt letters about the mantel: "Hilaritus Sapentise et Bense Vitae Poriec" - "Jollity the offspring of wisdom and good living".
THE DAPHNE
The "Daphne" room, named logically for the wood nymph pursued by the sun god, Apollo, and also possibly because of the increasing use of the Tavern by the ladies of the Colony, was added soon after. The Tavern, with these accommodations, its numerous bedrooms or dormitories, its Parlour, its room called "Ye One & Ye Four" which may have been a gaming room, (8) its Bar, Withdrawing Room, &c., and finally its kitchen, outbuildings, and large stable, located one hundred yards to the north, was complete and by 1775 had outgrown any of its competitors in Williamsburg.
During the period of Alexander Finnie's management of the Tavern and later during that of William Trebell, till the purchase of "all that messuage, tenement end lot of ground" (9) by the notable Anthony Ray, cabinet-maker, on January 1, 1757, and through the Revolutionary War under James Southall, the Raleigh was frequented by -5- those governors, patriots, merchants, tobacco planters, young college and law students, Indian chiefs, and soldiers who have become familiar as characters in American history.
ANTHONY HAY - INNKEEPER
The inventory of the possessions of Anthony Hay made in 1771 after his death the previous year is extant and repays a careful examination. This man had been a cabinet maker by trade for many years in Williamsburg and had acquired a considerable fortune. The furnishings at the Raleigh Tavern, enumerated in this inventory, supported by the reference from Fisher as noted above, indicate the high quality and extent of the furnishings in the best taverns of the time.
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THOMAS JEFFERSON
It was of this building, and among these surroundings that we find Thomas Jefferson in 1764, then a Student of Law at William and Mary College, writing: "Last night as merry as agreeable company and dancing with Belinda in the Apollo could make me, I never could have thought the succeeding Sun would have seen me so wretched as I now am!" (10) George Washington repeatedly speaks in his diary and letters of his visits to and meetings at the Raleigh. He was want to put up often at Mrs. Campbell's and at Anderson's across the street from the Raleigh, possibly for the comparative quiet; but very frequently he dined or supped at the Raleigh. On May 5, 1769 he "dined with the Council" and "spent the evening at ye Daphne" (11) and on May 28, 1770 he noted, "attended a Committee of the association at Haye's till 11 o'clock". (12)
-6-In 1768 "His Excellency the Right Hon. Lord Charles Greville Montague, Governor of South Carolina, and his Lady dined with his Honour the President and other members of His Majesty's Council at the Raleigh Tavern". (13)
LORD BOTETOURT
In the same year, Norberne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, succeeded to the Governorship upon the death of Governor Francis Fauquier and was welcomed at the Raleigh in October. He had landed at Hampton Roads from the "Rippon man of war of 60 guns" and the next day had proceeded to Williamsburg, stopping at the Capitol to be welcomed "by His Majesty's Council, the Hon. the Speaker, the Attorney General, the Treasurer, and many other Gentlemen of distinction... His Excellency then swore in the members of His Majesty's Council, after which he proceeded to the Raleigh Tavern and supped there with His Majesty's Council". (14)
No one of the Royal Governors of Lieutenant Governors of Virginia so speedily earned nor more richly deserved the affection of the people of the Colony then did Lord Botetourt. He was able, considerate and, by employment of his natural gifts contrived to combine close contact and intimacy with colonists of all degrees; and equally by the wise use of the perquisites of his office, to retain and to enhance the dignity of his official position. The inventory of his effects, taken upon his death in Williamsburg in 1770, is the inventory of the estate of a wealthy nobleman.
His official duties must have been none too agreeable to one of his temperament and to one who hoped to conciliate the needs of his -7- Colony with the demands of the Mother Country. Within a year he was obliged to command the immediate attendance of the House of Burgesses, receiving their "instant obedience" and to speak to them as follows: "Mr. Speaker and Gentleman of the House of Burgesses, I have heard your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly". (15) "The late Representative of the people then finding it necessary that some measures should be taken...repaired to the house of Mr. Anthony Hay, ... where, being assembled, ... Peyton Randolph, Esq., late Speaker of the House of Burgesses, was unanimously elected "Moderator". (16) A "voluntary convention" was formed and a non-importation agreement was passed. (17) Thomas Jefferson was present at this meeting and relates that the meeting was held in the Apollo. (18)
PEYTON RANDOLPH
Peyton Randolph's "genteel" dinner to the electors of the City, on October 4, 1769, "after which many loyal and patriotic toasts were drank and the afternoon spent with cheerfulness and decorum", (19) was only one of many at the Tavern to which Peyton Randolph invited his friends over a period of years. The friends, however, were not without a conscience in the matter. The Virginia Gazette of July 14, 1774, records that "The Freeholders, in order to show their disapprobation of a practise which has too long prevailed of the Electors receiving entertainment from those who represent them, and at the same time, from a tender regard for their Speaker ... conducted him to the Raleigh... "where they partook of a most splendid dinner". (20)
-8-James Barrett Southall became proprietor in 1771 after purchasing the entire landed estate of Anthony Hay, including "its distant stable and pasture, the nineteen slaves who served the Tavern", and also his stock of liquors.
It was this new host who prepared the official welcome "by the Gentlemen of our Corporation" to John Murray, Lord Dunmore, the successor to Lord Botetourt, in October 1771 (21); and, in return, as was the custom, this Governor engaged the Tavern on his Sovereign's Birth Night "for the entertainment of such as might incline to spend the Evening there"; meanwhile "plenty of Liquor was given to the populace and the City was handsomely illuminated". (22)
LORD DUNMORE
Dunmore, far less successful than Botetourt with his Council and his Burgesses, found discontent fomenting against the tyranny of the Government of King George III wherever men met one another in Taverns, Churches or their homes. The Raleigh Tavern may justly claim the lion's share of distinction as the one tavern in America to provide the setting for meetings, upon the result of which our present form of government rests.
Dissolution of House of Burgesses by Dunmore The Committee of Correspondence, and a "General Congress" of the Colonies
Dunmore, in his turn, dissolved the House of Burgesses on May 26th, 1774, and upon the following day eighty-nine of the members met at the Raleigh Tavern and entered into an agreement "not to purchase or use any kind of East India commodity whatever, except saltpetre and spices, until the Grievances of America are redressed"...(23) George Washington was -9- present at this meeting at which the resolutions of 1769 were reaffirmed and the committee of correspondence was requested to sound the similar committee in the other colonies upon the expediency of the calling of a General Congress of the colonies (24) The contemporary English conception of this action by the Colonists is expressed in the lampoon print, "The Alternative of Williamsburg", now hanging in the Tap Room.
In the tavern, also, sat a committee to try violations of the non-importation agreement. This committee treated such cases with dispatch and severity.
EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION
The Revolution brought war time activity to the Capitol City of Virginia. The popular Patrick Henry's departure from the City upon a mission as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia forces was the occasion of the adoption of the mourning by the troops in Williamsburg. The officers escorted Patrick Henry to a farewell dinner at the Raleigh Tavern. (25)
The Raleigh became the rendezvous for officers of the Continental and the French armies; the public rooms were engaged and used for state affairs; here auctions of prime ships and confiscated loyalist property were held; contracts for the building of barracks and hospitals were let, and court martials were convened.
On February 26, 1779, the Virginia Gazette states
that "on Monday the 22nd instant a very elegant entertainment was given at
the Raleigh Tavern by the inhabitants of this city to celebrate the
-10-
anniversary of that day which gave birth to General Washington..." and again
in 1780 on a similar Birthday there was an "elegant Ball at the
Raleigh...The Entertainment was Grand". (26) The
Williamsburg Grand Lodge of Masons was wont to hold its meetings and Balls at
the Raleigh. Also, the first annual meeting in 1777 and 1778 of According to traditionthe new Phi Beta
Kappa Society are recorded as having met here. (27) It is
logical to assume the truth of the tradition that the Society was here founded,
although no actual document has been found which states so specificallywas founded here in 1776. It is known that the annual meetings of the Society were held here in 1777 and 1778. In
1780, after "the Reverend James Madison, their Chaplain, had preached a
sermon suitable to the occasion..! In the evening there was a ball at the
Raleigh, and everything was conducted with the greatest harmony and order".
(28)
Peace was proclaimed and upon the "great day", May 1st, 1785, it was ordered that the "Procession" after making proclamation at the College and the Capitol, was to "proceed to the Raleigh and pass the rest of the day". (29)
Post-war Williamsburg could not sustain its former place in the Old Dominion. The capitol had been transferred to Richmond in 1780, and though Johann David Schoepf, a German traveller, says of the Tavern: "There is very good, but very dear, entertainment. Black cooks, butlers, and chambermaids made their bows with much dignity and modesty; were neatly and modishly attired and still spoke with Enthusiasm of the gallantry and politeness of the French officers-" (30) and though Louis Pagand and his post-war successors as landlord -11- did their utmost to stem the tide, the City and its leading Tavern subsided into a quiet inactivity and lived with their memories.
VISIT OF LAFAYETTE
In October, 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette returned to Williamsburg and once more a "splendid banquet", presided over by Colonel Burwell Bassett, was spread at the Tavern. There were present Chief Justice John Marshall, John. C. Calhoun, and officers of the Army and Navy of the Revolution. (31)
REMODELLED
The decade preceding the War between the States witnessed an increased building activity in Williamsburg. During this time many large houses were erected. In 1848 the Raleigh Tavern was remodeled and most of its former appearance lost. It continued, however, as a Tavern until 1854, when as the Raleigh Institute it was again modelled, this time as an academy "For the Education of Young Ladies".
We of today are indebted to Benson J. Lossing, author of "The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution", who visited Williamsburg in 1848 and upon the very day that the dismantling of the old Apollo was taking place. He made a sketch of the partially dismantled interior of the Room and another of the exterior of the building, in part from description by the carpenters then at work. The west side was at the time still intact, the front had become unrecognizable. He says:
"The Room used for public meetings is in the rear building of the old Raleigh Tavern at Williamsburg, and up to the day of my visit -12- it had remained unaltered. Carpenters were then at work remodeling its style, for the purpose of making it a ball-room; and, now, I suppose, that apartment, hallowed by so many associations connected with our war for independence, has scarcely an original feature left. Had my visit been deferred a day longer, the style of the room could never have been portrayed."..."The walls were whitewashed, and the woodwork painted a lead color". And later he states: "The old Tavern was in the form of an L, one portion facing the street, the other extending at right angles to the rear. Both parts were precisely alike in external appearance."
"The sounds of the hammer and saw engaged in the work of change seemed to me like actual desecration; for the Raleigh Tavern and the Apollo Room are to Virginia relatively what Faneuil Hall is to Massachusetts."
We shall see later on that indebted though we are to Lossing, it would have been more accurate if he had said that both parts were much alike in external appearance rather than that they were "precisely" alike.
PRESIDENT TYLER
The last event of note that happened in the Tavern was the "dinner given to the alumni and invited guests of William and Mary by the fair and accomplished ladies of Williamsburg" in February 1859. The gathering included President Tyler, Governor Wise, Hugh Blair Grigsby, and others who had come to Williamsburg to discuss the rebuilding of the main building of the College which had just been severely damaged by fire.
There was something ominously prophetic about this dinner for in December of this same year the Raleigh Tavern with its famous Apollo Room burned to the ground.
Footnote Reference
Raleigh Tavern History
(Preserve in Research files for reference)
(NOTE: These footnotes can be inserted at foot of the pages of "PART I -HISTORY" if desired. If not so inserted, the reference numbers in the "History" text will be removed.)
[All of the following notes have been marked through]