This is a drawing of the Old Anchor Tavern in Lynn, Massachusetts. the drawing was done in 1866, but the tavern opened in 1643. The tavern was situated in Saugus on the road to Boston, making it convenient for both townspeople and travelers. I find it interesting that this tavern, essentially, looks like a large house.

Last year I wrote two blogs about 18th century taverns because the characters in Sea Tigers & Merchants spent a fair amount of time at Ship tavern. Geordie Crowninshield and Lizzie Rowell began their “romance” in one of the upstairs rooms, and many of the characters stopped in the great room for food and beverages. You can access those blogs here and here. I researched the venerable sites of entertainment, libation, and business conferences until I was comfortable with the setting.

So, Why Am I Doing More Tavern Research?

My current as yet unnamed writing project is a prequel to the Salem Stories series. The project takes a step backward in time to investigate the conditions and people in Salem during the 17th century when ancestors of the Crowninshield and Derby families first arrived in Salem. For example, Mary Hodges who married Richard Derby in the first chapter of Ambition, Arrogance & Pride was a descendant of William Hollingworth, whose father was a member of the founding generation.

To supplement the family income William Hollingworth’s wife Eleanor petitioned the General Court for a license to operate “house tavern” in 1670. Business was good and Eleanor’s humble house tavern became known as the Blue Anchor. Initially, Eleanor served her only home brewed beer, but over time, meals were also available.

Every Town Requires a Tavern

Taverns were an extremely important part of Puritan town life, so much so that the 1656 General Court fined any town that didn’t have a tavern, then called an “ordinary.” The record notes that four years later, the town of Concord was fined, because it didn’t have a “common house of entertainment.”

Taverns were usually located close to to the required church meeting house. Church meetings were all-day affairs with a nooning break. Congregants walked vast distances to meet their church attendance requirement, and the only readily available food was at the tavern. Churches did not have heat in the winter; taverns had great roaring fires.

Many people think Puritans opposed alcohol consumption. Not true. Everyone – men, women, and children – drank alcohol with their meals, even if it was only small beer. Men of high social standing routinely owned taverns. For example, Deacon Nathaniel Ingersoll, lieutenant of the Salem Village militia, also operated Ingersoll’s Ordinary. The tavern did a brisk business on militia training days as well as church days. Likewise, on Sundays, Nathaniel Ingersoll was licensed to sell beer and cider by the quart, so long as the man managing the tavern was “godly.” Good thing Nathaniel was a church deacon.

Despite the substantial amount of alcohol consumed on a daily basis, Puritans condemned drunkenness as a sin. An 1658 law stipulated that no tavern owner could allow anyone to be drunk in his establishment or to drink excessively. The law defined that excessive drinking was “above half a pint of wine for one person at a time, or to continue tipling above the space of half an hour, or at unreasonable times, or after nine of the clock at night.”

As for the person who overindulged, “every person found drunken, viz. so as he be thereby bereaved or disabled in the use of his understanding, appearing in his speech or gesture, in any of the said houses or elsewhere, shall forfeit 10 shillings and for excessive drinking, 3 shillings and 6 pence and for tipling at unreasonable times or after 9 of the clock of night, 5 shillings for every offense in those particulars, being lawfully conducted thereof, and for an of payment, they shall be imprisoned till they pay, or be set in stocks one hour or more.. as the weather will permit not exceeding 3 hours.”

Tavern Designs

The Parker Tavern in Reading Massachusetts was built in 1694 in what was called the Salt Box Design typical of so many colonial houses. From the front, the structure appears to be a typical home with a flat exterior. But from the side the pitched roof explains the “salt box” comparison.

[Aside: Salt boxes were wooden boxes for storing salt. they were designed to hang On an interior wall and had a slanted lid.]

Salt box structures had two stories in the front and one story in the rear with a chimney in the middle. Windows were placed to admit natural light. Inside there is an entrance into a great room and a rear kitchen. Salt box design also allows for easy expansion.

Is My Tavern Research Complete?

I don’t think there’s anything more to add — It’s time to write the story.

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Sandra’s Books: Sea Tigers & Merchants. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

Illustrations & A Few Sources:

Old Anchor Tavern; Puritans Drinking from Pewter Mugs; Cross Keys Tavern Interior, Shelby County KY 1933; Puritan Sitting in Stocks while another is Whipped; Parker Tavern; Salt Box; Salt Box Side Elevation; Quill Paper Icon. Edward Field, The Colonial Tavern, 1892. Rachel Silva. “Everything You Need to Know About Saltbox-Style Houses.” Decor. June 22, 2022.

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