Bunch-of-Grapes

Last updated
Bunch-of-Grapes
Grapes Boston Drake1917.png
Sign of the Bunch-of-Grapes tavern during 17th-18th c.
Bunch of Grapes Tavern.jpg
Bunch-of-Grapes
General information
TypeTavern
Location State Street
Town or city Province of Massachusetts Bay
CountryUnited States
Construction started1733
Demolished1798
Client
Affiliation

The Bunch-of-Grapes was a tavern located on King Street (State Street) in Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the 17th and 18th centuries. It served multiple functions in the life of the town, as one could buy drinks and meet friends, business associates, political co-conspirators. The facade of the Bunch-of-Grapes building featured an iconic sign: "Three gilded clusters of grapes dangled temptingly over the door before the eye of the passer-by." [1]

Contents

Brief history

Notable events occurred on tavern premises. "On Monday, July 30, 1733, the first grand lodge of Masons in America was organized here by Henry Price, a Boston tailor, who had received authority from Lord Montague, Grand Master of England, for the purpose." [2] In 1769, the tavern offered tickets for "Love in a Village," the first professional opera performance in Boston. [3] Artist Christian Remick (b.1726) displayed his paintings in the tavern in 1769. [4]

A darker chapter in the tavern's history involved slavery. For potential buyers, a "search for slave labor in Boston began and ended along the bustling King Street corridor that connected the warehouses of Long Wharf to the commercial center of town. Three of Boston's busiest public houses -- the Royal Exchange, the Crown Coffee-House, and the Bunch of Grapes tavern- lined that half-mile stretch. All offered fine drink and lively conversation, and at times all served as clearinghouses for slaves." [5] [6]

In the revolutionary era, "the Bunch of Grapes became the resort of the High Whigs, who made it a sort of political headquarters, in which patriotism only passed current, and it was known as the Whig tavern." Paul Revere [7] and others gathered here. However, during the British occupation of Boston, British troops met at the tavern. In January 1776, James Henry Craig, company commander of the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot, arranged a meeting at the tavern: "The ancient and most benevolent of the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick. The Principal Knot of the 47th Regiment is to meet at the Bunch of Grapes on Thursday the 29th inst. at eleven o'clock in the forenoon." [8] After the Siege of Boston ended in March 1776, "General Washington was handsomely entertained" at the Bunch-of-Grapes, as were Lafayette and General John Stark. [5] [ disputed ]

In March, 1786, Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Samuel Holden Parsons, and Manasseh Cutler met at the tavern and formed the Ohio Company of Associates, which led to a contract being drawn up that sold about five percent of the State of Ohio to this group of Revolutionary War Veterans. This land was in the Southeastern part of Ohio. Provisions of the contract included setting aside two townships in the center of the purchase for a university. Thus, Ohio University (first chartered as American Western University) became the first land grant institution of higher education in the United States, preceding the more famous Morrill Act land grant institutions by nearly three-quarters of a century. [9]

Owners of the tavern included William Davis (prior to 1658), William Ingram (1658); John Holbrook (1680), Thomas Waite (1731), and Elisha Doane (1773). [10] Keepers of the tavern included: Francis Holmes (1690–1712); Mrs. Francis Holmes (1712-ca.1731); William Coffin (1731–1733); Edward Lutwich (1734); Joshua Barker (1749); Mr. Weatherhead (1750-ca.1757); Joseph Ingersol (1764–1772); John Marston (ca.1776-1778); William Foster (1782); James Vila (1789); and Dudley Colman (1790). [10]

The Bunch-of-Grapes building was demolished in 1798, [11] and a commemorative plaque exists on the State Street site today. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of North Carolina</span> Former British province in North America

Province of North Carolina was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712(p. 80) to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monarch of Great Britain was represented by the Governor of North Carolina, until the colonies declared independence on July 4, 1776.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manasseh Cutler</span> American politician (1742–1823)

Manasseh Cutler was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. He was influential in the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and wrote the section prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory. Cutler was also a member of the United States House of Representatives. Cutler is "rightly entitled to be called 'The Father of Ohio University.'"

<i>Boston Gazette</i> Newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts (1719–1798)

The Boston Gazette (1719–1798) was a newspaper published in Boston, in the British North American colonies. It was a weekly newspaper established by William Brooker, who was just appointed Postmaster of Boston, with its first issue released on December 21, 1719. The Boston Gazette is widely considered the most influential newspaper in early American history, especially in the years leading up to and into the American Revolution. In 1741 the Boston Gazette incorporated the New-England Weekly Journal, founded by Samuel Kneeland, and became the Boston-Gazette, or New-England Weekly Journal. Contributors included: Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Phyllis Wheatley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Dawes</span> American judge

Thomas Dawes was a patriot who served as a Massachusetts militia colonel during the American Revolution and afterward assumed prominent positions in Massachusetts's government. His positions included membership and chairmanship of the Massachusetts Governor's Council and representative in both the House and Senate. As chairman of the Governor's Council, Dawes served briefly as the de jure presiding officer of the executive branch of Massachusetts' state government for ten days – May 20, 1800 to May 30, 1800 – following the death of first Governor Increase Sumner and then Lieutenant Governor Moses Gill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Royall Jr.</span>

Isaac Royall Jr. (1719–1781) was the largest slaveholder in 18th-century Massachusetts. His wealth, primarily accrued through enslaved labor in Antigua, made possible the creation of Harvard Law School. Royall and his father enslaved 64 people on the family's estate in today's Medford, Massachusetts. The Isaac Royall House is now a museum and historic site. The property includes the only surviving freestanding slave quarters in the northern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincy political family</span>

The Quincy family was a prominent political family in Massachusetts from the mid-17th century through to the early 20th century. It is connected to the Adams political family through Abigail Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Horse Tavern (Boston, Massachusetts)</span> Former tavern in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

The White Horse was a tavern in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 17th and 18th centuries. A well-known gathering place in colonial Boston, it "had a large square sign projecting over the footway, on which was delineated a white charger." Located near Boylston Street, the White Horse was frequently mentioned as a wayfinder to other establishments nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caleb Davis</span> American politician

Caleb Davis was an American merchant, revolutionary patriot, and public servant in Boston, Massachusetts. He held several positions of public trust, including state legislator (1776–1788), Speaker of the Massachusetts General Court (1780–1782) and Elector for Massachusetts' Suffolk County in the first U.S. presidential election in 1789.

Mungo Mackay was a Scottish seafarer from the Orkney Islands who made a fortune in the Boston shipping trades in Massachusetts. Mungo was a highly regarded ship master, successful privateer owner and bonder, and operated a store on Long Wharf in Boston. He was also active in the politics of the town of Boston and the Masonic Order in Boston. His legacy includes the Alpheus Babcock and Jonas Chickering piano manufacturing establishments.

Joseph Badger was a portrait artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to tailor Stephen Badger and Mercy Kettell. He "began his career as a house-painter and glazier, and ... throughout his life continued this work, besides painting signs, hatchments and other heraldic devices, in order to eke out a livelihood when orders for portraits slackened." In 1731 he married Katharine Felch; they moved to Boston around 1733. He was a member of the Brattle Street Church. He died in Boston on May 11, 1765, when "on Saturday last one Mr. Badger, of this Town, Painter, was taken with an Apoplectic Fit as he was walking in his Garden, and expired in a few Minutes after." Works by Badger are in the collections of the Worcester Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Historic New England's Phillips House, Salem, Mass. While respected in his own time, subsequent scholars and connoisseurs largely overlooked Badger's significance until Lawrence Park wrote a book about him in 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchants Row (Boston)</span>

Merchants Row in Boston, Massachusetts is a short street extending from State Street to Faneuil Hall Square in the Financial District. Since the 17th century it has been a place of commercial activity. It sits close to Long Wharf and Dock Square, hubs of shipping and trade through the 19th century. Portions of the street were formerly known as Swing-Bridge Lane, Fish Lane, and Roebuck Passage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Melvill (American patriot)</span>

Thomas Melvill or Thomas Melville was a merchant, member of the Sons of Liberty, participant in the Boston Tea Party, a major in the American Revolutionary War, a longtime fireman in the Boston Fire Department, state legislator, and paternal grandfather of writer Herman Melville.

James Gibson was a merchant in the British colonies of Jamaica and the Province of Massachusetts Bay. During King George's War (1744–1748), William Shirley, the Governor of Massachusetts, debated whether to siege and capture the French fortress of Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. According to Gibson's journal, he convinced Governor Shirley that the siege would be successful and used his personal wealth to provide 300 soldiers for the campaign. Gibson wrote an account of the Siege of Louisburg, and it was published in London in late 1745.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Kent</span> American lawyer active during the American Revolution

Benjamin Kent (1708–1788) was Massachusetts Attorney General (1776–1777) and then acting Attorney General during much of Robert Treat Paine's tenure (1777–1785). He was appointed seven successive terms. Prior to the American Revolution, Kent was notable for his representation of slaves suing their masters for their freedom, which contributed to the demise of slavery in Massachusetts. He was a member of the North End Caucus and prominent member of the Sons of Liberty, which formed to protest the passage of the Stamp Act of 1765. The efforts of the Sons of Liberty created the foundation for the Boston Tea Party. Kent called for independence early in the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Brattle</span> American politician, lawyer, cleric, physician and military officer (1706–1776)

Major-General William Brattle was an American politician, lawyer, cleric, physician and military officer who served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1736 to 1738. Brattle is best known for his role during the American Revolution, in which he initially aligned himself with the Patriot cause before transferring his allegiances towards the Loyalist camp, which led to the eventual downfall of his fortunes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartwell Tavern</span> Colonial building in Massachusetts

Hartwell Tavern is a historic American Revolutionary War site associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord. It is located on North County Road, just off Battle Road in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and operated as a historic house museum by the National Park Service as part of the Minute Man National Historical Park. Built in 1733, in what was then Concord, it is staffed from Memorial Day (May) weekend to October by park rangers dressed in colonial attire who offer programs daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1837 Massachusetts gubernatorial election</span> Gubernatorial elections were held in Massachusetts November 13, 1837

The 1837 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Hartwell House</span> Remains of a colonial building in Massachusetts

The Samuel Hartwell House is a historic American Revolutionary War site associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord. Built in 1733, in what was then Concord, it was located on North County Road, just off Battle Road in today's Lincoln, Massachusetts, and about 700 feet east of Hartwell Tavern, which Hartwell built for his son, Ephraim, and his newlywed wife, Elizabeth, in 1733. The site is part of today's Minute Man National Historic Park.

References

  1. Samuel Adams Drake and Walter Kendall Watkins. Old Boston taverns and tavern clubs. Boston, W.A. Butterfield, 1917.
  2. Mass Moments Archived November 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Announcement. Boston Chronicle, Sept. 25, 1769; quoted in: David McKay. Opera in Colonial Boston. American Music, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Summer, 1985), pp. 134.
  4. Massachusetts Historical Society. "Thomas Jefferson papers".
  5. 1 2 Robert E. Desrochers, Jr.. Slave-for-Sale Advertisements and Slavery in Massachusetts, 1704-1781. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 59, No. 3, Slaveries in the Atlantic World (Jul., 2002), p.627.
  6. Conroy, David (June 19, 1995). In Public Houses: Drink & the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts . University of North Carolina Press. p.  125. ISBN   9780807845219. Francis Holmes, proprietor of the Bunch of Grapes on King Street in the early eighteenth century, directed that his slave Prince not be sold, but either freed after his wife's death or placed with one of his children. But other tavernkeepers, simply indifferent to their slaves' fate or in financial straits, sold slaves without hesitation
  7. David Hackett Fischer. Paul Revere's ride. Oxford University Press US, 1994; p.302.
  8. Notice in: Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter, Jan. 22, 1776. Quoted in: Richard Frothingham. Siege of Boston. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 14 (1876), pp. 229-316.
  9. Hoover, Thomas (1954). The History of Ohio University. Athens: The Ohio University Press. pp. 1–20. 54-7172.
  10. 1 2 Annie Haven Thwing. The crooked & narrow streets of the town of Boston 1630-1822. Marshall Jones Company, 1920; p.137.
  11. Thwing, 1920; p.137
  12. Historic Taverns of Boston, 2006.

Bibliography

Further reading

Coordinates: 42°21′32.3″N71°3′21.09″W / 42.358972°N 71.0558583°W / 42.358972; -71.0558583