Rural Economy in New England 257 



the grist-mills, the fulling-mills, the tanneries; the village artisans 

 or mechanics, the blacksmiths, the carpenters and joiners, and the 

 cobblers. In a mere numerical consideration these occupations 

 might seem to have formed an important element in the economic 

 life of the community, but, on closer observation, it becomes evident 

 that these, too, were usually only auxiliary occupations, by-indus- 

 tries of agriculture. 



The New England tavern served a wide variety of purposes and 

 its proprietor must needs be a man of varied talents. If situated 

 on a stage-coach route it provided the clean beds and the whole- 

 some fare which were so much appreciated by travelers.^ Far more 

 important were its services to the townsfolk as a common gather- 

 ing-place. As a social center it rivaled the meeting-house to whose 

 moral atmosphere it presented a decided contrast. Here much 

 of the political business of the town was transacted; the selectmen's 

 meetings and the sessions of the town court were held regularly in its 

 main room; and at times, in winter, when the meeting-house was 

 too cold, the town meetings held an adjourned session there. It 

 was the scene of many village festivities; the singing school and the 

 dancing school, where the liberal tone of the community permitted 

 such frivolity, met there; on muster days the tavern was the head- 

 quarters of the train band. On most of these occasions the tavern 

 bar, where strong liquors were dispensed, was liberally patronized. 

 This feature, too, proved a strong attraction for the village topers 

 and ne'er-do-wells.2 It was this multiplicity of services to the 

 community rather than the patronage of the infrequent travelers 

 which explains the uniform occurrence of taverns in inland towns. 

 They were, of course, most numerous on the post-roads between 

 New York and Boston, but even in the smallest and most isolated 

 towns at least one tavern could usually be found.^ 



' Brissot de Warville discusses appreciatively an inn in Spencer, Mass. 

 Travels, I. 124. 



* See Field, Edward. The Colonial Tavern. Providence. 1897. Also Mac- 

 Master, History of the United States. II. 564-565. Adams, C. F. Episodes, 

 II. 783. 



' Chastellux, Travels, I. 50, while traveling in Connecticut, writes of a law 

 which requires public houses at intervals of every six miles on the great roads. 

 Such a law, however, does not appear in the statutes in force in the three states of 

 southern New England at the end of the eighteenth century. In Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut, the local authorities were invested with power to determine the num- 

 ber of taverns deemed necessary in each town, and to appoint fit persons as keepers. 

 The latter were required to give bonds and pay a license fee. Connecticut Pub- 



