Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1346
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Library
Williamsburg, Virginia
1990
"That noted and well accustomed tavern, the Raleigh" (quoted from Va Gaz) where the spark of the Revolution was kindled in Virginia was the center of many of the political and social affairs of the colony from about 1735 until the disastrous fire of 1859.
A leaden bust of Sir Walter Raleigh above the door proclaimed that these Virginians honored the man who was believed to have introduced tobacco into England; who at least popularized "tobacco-taking" in the seventeenth century and so paved the way for the tobacco trade which was the basis of Virginia's existence.
Through that door passed governors, patriots, merchants, tobacco planters, young college students, Indian chiefs, officers of the Revolutionary War, and men destined to become presidents of the newly formed United States. The ladies of Virginia came to Williamsburg to enjoy the social life of the colony during court times and to dance in the Apollo and the Daphne, as the ball rooms in the Raleigh were called. It pleased the fancy of the inn keeper to name these rooms for the wood nymph and the sun god who pursued her. He also carved above the mantel in the Apollo "Hilaritas Sapientiae et bonae vitae proles" - "Jollity the offspring 2 of wisdom and good life."
The house was noted for its hospitality. Henry Wetherburn, the first keeper of the tavern, made a punch so famous that there is a deed on record in Goochland County by which William Randolph of "Tuckahoe" conveyed to Peter Jefferson (father of President Thomas Jefferson) 200 acres for the consideration of "Henry Wetherburn's biggest bowl of arrack punch."
There was a gaming room, "The One and Four" and a bar which dispensed the wines, ales and liquors imported from England, France, Portugal and Italy.
When the Cherokee Indians came to Williamsburg in 1751 to negotiate a treaty they were royally entertained and were given the Apollo Room for their headquarters.
In February 27, 1752, Alexander Finnie, owner and keeper of the Raleigh advertized in the Virginia Gazette; "Notice is hereby given to the Ladies and Gentlemen That the Subscriber purposes to have a Ball, at the Apollo, in Williamsburg, once every Week, during the Sitting of the General Assembly and Court. Alexander Finnie."
It was such a ball which the young Thomas Jefferson, then a student at William and Mary College, attended, when he wrote in a letter, ". . . 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!"
3The scene at the tavern was a varied one. Theatre and lottery tickets were sold in the building and the bust of Sir Walter Raleigh looked down on many a public sale held on the steps outside, when plantations, houses, negroes, horses, furniture and merchandise were auctioned to the highest bidder.
Anthony Hay, who bought the Raleigh in 1767, was also a cabinet maker and the furniture of the Raleigh was the last word in elegance and style when it was inventoried after his death. This inventory is the valuable document which provided a vital clue to the whole furnishing of the tavern when it was restored.
Anthony Hay lived during stirring times. At his tavern Lord Botetourt was officially welcomed in 1768. In the next year when Botetourt dissolved the House of Burgesses, they promptly repaired to the Raleigh to meet and elect Peyton Randolph moderator. In accordance with long standing custom Peyton Randolph entertained his electors at a "genteel dinner at the Raleigh Tavern after which many loyal and patriotic toasts were drank, and the afternoon spent with cheerfulness and decorum."
George Washington came frequently to the Raleigh to dine and sup or to attend meetings. On May 3, 1769, he "dined with the Council and spent the evening at ye Daphne", and on May 25, 1770 noted "... attended a Committee of the association at Hayes till 11 o'Clock", among numerous entries in his diaries and accounts that attest the frequency with 4 which he visited the noted public house.
When Hay died in December of 1770, the Virginia Gazette wrote an account of the death of the master of the Raleigh Tavern "a heavy loss to a large family, to whom he was a tender husband and kind parent. And he is regretted by his acquaintances as being a good citizen and honest man."
His entire estate including the tavern with its distant stable and pasture, the nineteen slaves who served the tavern, and his stock of liquors was sold at auction before the Raleigh door and purchased by James Barrett Southall in 1771.
It was this new host who prepared the official welcome for Lord Dunmore on October 3, 1771. Dunmore, in return, entertained the populace at the Raleigh several weeks later in celebration of the anniversary of the King's Accession to the throne, "... plenty of liquor was given to the populace;" wrote the Gazette, "and the City was handsomely illuminated."
J. F. D. Smyth, the noted traveller also partook of Southall's hospitality noting in his journal, "We dined very agreeably at the Raleigh tavern where we had exceeding good Madeira, and afterwards walked out to view the town ..."
Rebellion against the tyranny of King George III was fomenting wherever men gathered in the taverns or in their homes. Once again the Burgesses convened at the Raleigh, 5 after being dissolved by Lord Dunmore and here on May 27, 1779 eighty-nine members of the House signed a non-importation agreement. Here a committee of the newly organized Continental Congress sat to try violations of the non-importation agreement.
Peyton Randolph who had long been a leader in the colonial Capitol, once served as President of the Continental Congress. Upon his return from Philadelphia, after the session of May 1775, he was given a tremendous ovation. He was met by a uniformed detachment of cavalry from the Williamsburg Volunteers, at Ruffin's Ferry, and escorted to Williamsburg. Here they were met by the whole cavalry and infantry; and all the bells in town were rung. In the evening there were illuminations and to crown the occasion, a celebration at the Raleigh.
Then came the Revolution, and the Williamsburg that had echoed to Patrick Henry's fiery speech on the Stamp Act echoed to his welcome as the first governor of the State of Virginia. At his departure in March, 1776 the troops then in Williamsburg went into mourning. The officers escorted Henry to a dinner at the Raleigh Tavern.
Southall was a leader of the patriot cause, entertaining French officers and giving over the public rooms of the tavern to state affairs. Here auctions of prize ships were held, the Williamsburg Manufacturing Society met, the building of barracks and hospitals for the army was let out, court martials were 6 held and confiscated loyalist property was auctioned.
Phi Beta Kappa was organized by students of William and Mary College in December 5, 1776, probably at the tavern. Each year thereafter an anniversary celebration was held at the Raleigh, according to the original records of this scholastic society.
The tireless Gazette reported another event of importance on February 26, 1779, "On Monday the 22nd instant a very elegant entertainment was given at the Raleigh tavern by the inhabitants of this city to celebrate the anniversary of that day which gave birth to GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON, Commander in Chief of the armies of the united states, the saviour of his country, and the brave asserter of the rights and liberties of mankind."
The Williamsburg lodge of Masons celebrated the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist with a ball at the Raleigh in 1779. General Washington's birthday was one of the important functions of the next year, then came a celebration in 1781 of the surrender of Cornwallis.
When peace was proclaimed in 1783 a procession was ordered by Governor Benjamin Harrison for Williamsburg, "Order of the Procession on the Great Day, Thursday, May 1st. [1783] ... From the Ct House the Citizens are to proceed to the College, and make proclamation at that place, from whence they are to proceed to the Capitol and make proclamation there; and from thence Proceed to the Raleigh & pass the rest of the Day."
But Williamsburg's heyday was passed. The Capitol had 7 been removed to Richmond and the little city that had been so much the center of the activities of the Revolution fell into a quiet decay and lived with its memories. Young Alexander Macauley, surveying the comparative desolation of Williamsburg and its leading tavern in 1783 wrote, "There is the Raleigh Tavern, where more business has been transacted than on the Exchange of London or Amsterdam; in that Building formerly assembled the rich, wealthy Merchants of all Countries from Indies to the pole, from the Tweed to the Orcades; here the Exchange of the world, the relative value of money in every Kingdom on Earth was settled; who has not heard of the fame of the Merchts of this ancient Dominion, your Hansons, Brisbanes, & etc."
Johann David Schoepf, a German traveler noted also the desolation of post-war Williamsburg, but found a good word for its tavern, "In the tavern here 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."
Despite the decline of Williamsburg after the removal of the Capitol the Raleigh continued under various bonifaces, as the leading hostelry.
Here in October, 1824 the Marquis de Lafayette was guest of honor at a splendid banquet reminiscent of the gay occasions of other days. Colonel Burwell Bassett presided and many notables 8 were present, including governor and council, Chief Justice Marshall, John C. Calhoun and officers of the Army and Navy.
In 1848 Benson J. Lossing reached Williamsburg in his search for material for his field book of the American Revolution. He arrived to find men at work changing the famous old Apollo Room. The front of the building had been changed already, but he was told that the front was a replica of the western side and for his book carefully portrayed the building as it had been.
His feeling for the Apollo is one of the finest tributes to the old tavern ever written, and his careful drawing of this room while the carpenters were at work changing it made possible its restoration some eighty years later. Lossing wrote,
"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 it had remained unaltered. Carpenters were then at work remodeling its style, for the purpose of making it a ballroom; 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 . . . In this room the leading patriots of Virginia, including Washington, held many secret caucuses, and planned many schemes for the overthrow of royal rule in the colonies. The sound of the hammer and saw engaged in the work 9 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."
The next change to the building was even more momentous. The famous Apollo room became a school room under the direction of Mrs. Mariah Clopton who had formerly directed a Female Institute. Lessons in Latin, French, Guitar, Piano and painting were included in the curriculum and the young ladies were provided at the Raleigh with board, lodging, fuel, lights, and tuition for $75. a term. An editor of the many-times-revived Virginia Gazette commented, "Apollo Hall', famous in American History will be the School Room, and whilst conning their lessons in the consecrated 'Hall' may our fair girls think of their noble ancestors, and so cultivate their minds, manners and morals, as to befit them for the duties of life, and make them worthy descendants of those to whom we are indebted, . . ."
For the space of a few years after the select school for young ladies had departed, the Raleigh again became a hostelry.
In February 1859 the ladies of Williamsburg gave the alumni and invited guests of William and Mary College a dinner at the Raleigh. President John Tyler, Governor Henry A. Wise and Hugh Blair Grigsby responded to the toasts at this, one of the last functions in the old tavern, for in that year it burned.
The foundations, and the base of the pedestal on which the bust of Sir Walter Raleigh rested, remained. But the building which had inspired the historian Lossing to make a record of it 10 in 1848, rose from the ashes of the old one, in spite of the fact that for almost seventy years a store had stood on the site.
Filled with old furniture of the type that Anthony Hay had listed in his inventory the building today recalls the stirring events of the Revolution, the charming social life of another age, and the names of many great men and women; and the fireplace in the Apollo again proclaims, "Hilaritas Sapientiae et bonae vitae proles."
Harold R. Shurtleff, Director
Department of Research & Record
Report by: Helen Bullock
HB/vbl
cc: 6 copies
It is possible that a building was erected on Lot 54 before 1710, for the deed in the York County Records, Deeds & Bonds, Book III, of the Trustees of the city of Williamsburg to Richard Bland says
Two certain lots of land in the city of Williamsburg denoted in the plat of the said city by the figures 53 and 54.
He shall begin to build within the space of 24 months upon each of the said lots one or more good dwelling houses according to an Act of Assembly 1699.
There is a gap in the records for the next seventeen
twenty-seven years but Tyler's Williamsburg, p. 232, states that it
belonged to Dr. Archibald Blair and was probably built by him before 1735.
There was a building erected there by 1742 as the abstract in the York County Records, Deeds, Book V reads: "November 12, 1742 - John Blair, Esq. to John Dixon, David Meade, Patrick Barclay, Alexander McKenzie and James Murray, Merchants. All that Messuage, tenement and lot of ground lying and being on the North side of the Duke of Gloucester Street in the city of Williamsburg, now in the possession of Henry Wetherburn, Ordinary Keeper . . . . ." Although there is no record that this building was not called the Raleigh at this date, we have no information that it was. It must have been an ordinary or tavern for Henry Wetherburn was the keeper. It was found from Swem's Index that some of these merchants lived in England and others in different parts of the colony. It is reasonable to assume that they took this ordinary over as security for a debt and never kept it themselves. (See Letter Book of Francis Jerdone, William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14 (1), p. 143, for confirmation of this theory.)
The earliest mention that we can find of the name, "Raleigh Tavern", is in the Virginia Gazette (William Parks), May 15, 1746 - "Notice is hereby given to the Proprietors of the RALEIGH TAVERN in Williamsburg . . . . .". It is very probably that it was called Raleigh before this date.
In insurance policy number 126, page 54, taken out on April, 1796, the Raleigh was located between the lots of James Davis on the west and John N. Galt on the east. On both the map of the unknown draftsman and that of Bucktrout, the Raleigh is shown between Davis and Galt; on the former map, the Raleigh lot is number 54.
There is no proof that the drawing made by Lossing of the Raleigh and the early building itself were alike except for his statement regarding the Apollo Room which 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 it had remained unaltered". (Lossing, Pictorial Field- Book of the Revolution, 1848, Vol. II, p. 278)
This statement is correct according to an excerpt from the Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, p. 124, which says
By the Members of this House, as a day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer . . . . . for averting the heavy Calamity which threatens destruction of our Civil Rights, and the Evils of Civil War; to give us one heart and one mind firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American rights etc . . .
On May 18, 1769, the House of Burgesses was dissolved by the governor and they "repaired to the house of Mr. Anthony Hay, in this city". (Virginia Gazette, Purdie & Dixon, May 18, 1769)
Another instance of the House meeting in the Raleigh was after they were dissolved on May 26, 1774 by Governor Dunmore. (Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776. preface, p. xiii and p. 132)
Governor Dinwiddie dined here on November 21, 1751 (William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. VIII (1), p. 15), Lord Botetourt in 1768 (Virginia Gazette, Purdie & Dixon, October 27, 1768) and Lord Dunmore in 1771. (Virginia Gazette, Purdie & Dixon, October 3, 1771)
December 5, 1777 is the first mention of the Society meeting in the Raleigh. "November 29th, 1777 - The Business of the evening being finished, the Society adjourned to the 5th of next month, being the Anniversary, to be kept at the Raleigh". (William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. IV (I), p. 220, "Original Records of Phi Beta Kappa")
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. I, pp. 186-189, give "Last night, as merry as agreeable company and dancing with Belinda in the Apollo could make me . . . ."
Fitzpatrick, George Washington, Colonial Traveller,
pp. 63, 263, 344, 356-357 give instances of Washington dining at the Raleigh.
The Richmond Enquirer, December 16, 1859, says on the 11th of December the old Raleigh burned.