APPENDIX. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. To the several members of the Committee of Publication -especially to the Reverend George M. Bartol, chairman, -and to the Honorable Samuel A. Green, the thanks of the editor, due for valuable suggestions and assistance, are hereby cordially tendered. Various courtesies received from the accomplished custodians of the Massachusetts Archives, the Massachusetts State Library, the Boston Public Library, and the Libraries of the Boston Athenæum, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, are gratefully acknowledged. THE FIRST INNKEEPERS OF LANCASTER. There is no evidence that any house here, previous to the destruction of the town in 1676, was devoted to the accommodation of travellers, or the sale of drink. Whenever Reverend John Eliot, General Daniel Gookin, and other gentlemen of the Bay towns, were called hither by official duty or private business, they doubtless found all doors hospitably open to them. Humbler travellers were but few, and those chiefly visiting friends and relatives. The licensed fur traders kept a small variety of goods suitable for barter with the native hunters, including spirituous liquors, and at first naturally monopolized all trade in such articles. Thus the list of debtors in the inventory of Thomas King's estate, besides "the Indyans," includes many of his English neighbors. By an act of 1681, but one intkeeper was permitted in each of the smaller towns, and license was granted by the county courts annually, on a certificate of approval from the town's selectmen, of which the following are examples, from Middlesex Court Files: LANCASTER y 31 of March 1690 These may certifie y bou'd Court: or any concerned that Nathanaell Wilder of Lancaster hath ye approbation and consent of yt Selectmen of sd. Lancaster for y Retaieing of strong Drinks and keeping Ordinary in ye st Lancaster. by order of yt Selectmen JOHN HOUGHTON Town Clerk To the Howable his Majties Justices for ye County of Middlz. May it please your Hon". That Whereas John White of y Towne of Lancaster in said County of Middlesex yeoman is Desiring to obtain a Licence for Retailing Rum & other strong Drink in said Towne of LaDcaster & accordingly applyed himselfe to y Selectmen of said Town for their approbation, who are Willing it may be Granted him in case yo Hon" se meet Dated LAN: July y 4: 1717. JOHN HOUGHTON NATHANIEL SAWYER Selectmen To the Honable his Majties Justices for ye County of Middlesex. May it please your Hon" that at y Request of Jonathan Houghton of Lancaster in said County of Middlesex Yeoman applying himselfe to ye selectmen of said Towne for their approbation for his Receiving a licence for an Inholder in said Towne, we accordingly approve of y same & Desire Licence may be granted him JAMES WILDER NATHANIEL SAWYER JOSEPH WILDER PETER JOSLIN Selectmen Dated July y 5: 1717. To the Honrable Justices for ye County of Middlesex. These may certifie that whereas Mr David Whetcomb of Lancaster hath applyed himselfe to us the subscribers for our approbation for his selling strong Drink by Retale we accordingly Request that your Hon's would please to grant the same. Dated LAN: July 7: 1717/18. JOHN HOUGHTON Selectmen Nathaniel Wilder was the first licensed "for Retailing of wine, Beere, Ale, Cyder, Rum &c" in Lancaster. His home was a garrisoned house on the southeast slope of George Hill, in close proximity to the site of the Symonds & King trucking house—a fact perhaps suggestive, as tending to show that the chief line of travel had not materially changed during forty years, and that the centre of population in Lancaster was yet west of the rivers. He remained the sole innholder until his death in 1704, and his widow Mary [Sawyer], granddaughter of John Prescott, continued the business. July 10 1705 Widow Mary Wilder Admitted to renew her License as Inholder for ye Town of Lancaster here Recognized as ye Law demands Simon Willard of Lancaster Licensed to be an Inholder in sd Town having entered into Recognizance persuant to Law. [Middlesex Court Records.] LIST OF LICENSED INNHOLDERS AND RETAILERS OF LIQUORS, 16851730, DERIVED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE MIDDLESEX COURT OF SESSIONS. John Houghton and Benjamin Bellows. 1705. 1706-7. Widow Mary Wilder, Benjamin Bellows and Simon Willard. Widow Mary Wilder. 1711. 1712-13. John Houghton. 1714. 1715. 1716. 1717. 1718-19. 1720. 1721 to '24. 1725. 1726. 1727 to '29. 1730. John Houghton, and "John Fay living near Marlborough." Hooker Osgood and John Houghton. John Houghton, Hooker Osgood, and John White. Jonathan Houghton, David Whitcomb, and Samuel Willard. Samuel Willard aud Thomas Carter. Thomas Carter. Samuel Willard, Thomas Carter, and Oliver Wilder. Samuel Willard, Thomas Carter, John Wright, and Oliver Capt. Samuel Willard, Jonathan Houghton, Thomas Car- The location of these tavern-keepers can be determined approximately only. Benjamin Bellows, having married Dorcas, widow of Henry Willard, lived on the Willard estate at Still River. A locality upon the intervale near, yet retains the name "Bellows Hole." Justice John Houghton lived upon Bridecake Plain, opposite the State Industrial School grounds. His sons John and Jonathan resided in the same neighborhood. A letter from the pen of the veteran town clerk gives us a glimpse of Lancaster and its tavern in 1715: To Capt Samuel Phipps of Charlstowne. Worthy Sr. After my Humble Service & Due Respects Presented to ye Hon'r'able Justices of ye County of Middlesex, together with yourselfe, these are to acquaint you that I am under such Indisposition of Body that I could not attend this Last Session of ye General Assembly, nor can I as yet Possibly (with comfort) come to pay my excise nor to Renew my Licence, but I have sent ye money for ye last years excise by Joseph Brabrook the Bearer hereof, which I hope will be to acceptance & in case yo Hon shall see cause that my Licence may be continued I hope you will abate neer one halfe of ye excise for Doubtless I have paid very Deare considering what I have Drawne Compared with other Townes. I had but one Hogshead of Rum ye last yeare & that wanted about 12 Gallons of being full when I bought it: & it wants severall Gallons of being out now besides about 10 or 12 Gallons Lent out, & were it not that I am concerned with writing of Deeds & Bonds & other Publique Concerns of ye Town affaires, which Occasion Persons often to come to my House, in order to signing & Issuing such things, I should not be willing to be concerned with a Licence; for what Drinks I sell I do it as cheap as at Boston & besides ye first cost I pay twenty shillings pr. Hogshead for carrying it up, besides the Hazard; & as for Cyder there is none to be had, nor like to be this yeare at any price, fruit is so scarce, & for wine I never sold 5 Gallons in all ye yeares I have had a licence. So that my Draught being so Little (there being no Road or throughfare for travilers through our towne) I hope your Hon's will consider ye Premisses & do therein as in your Wisdom & Justice it shall seem meet, which will oblidge Your Humble Servant Dat. LAN: July ye 27th 1715. JOHN HOUGHTON [Middlesex Court Files.] Hooker Osgood, a saddler from Andover, bought the Rowlandson lands west of the river, Nov. 22, 1710, of Philip Goss, and in 1714 purchased the lot whereon Lawrence Waters had his home, now the homestead of S. J. S. Vose. Captain John White was the noted Indian-fighter, associated with Captain Lovewell. He lived upon the east side of the neck. David Whitcomb's lands were in the southeastern part of Bolton. Captain Samuel Willard in 1627 purchased the lands bordering the highway from the Sprague bridge to the Penecook wading place, in all seventy-six acres, including the Major Simon Willard home lot, the Edward Breck lot, and the Night Pasture. The Willard mansion near the railroad crossing is supposed to have been built by him. Thomas Carter lived upon George Hill, his father, Samuel, having in 1688 purchased the Kerley lands, now in possession of F. D. Taylor and H. B. Stratton. Colonel Oliver Wilder bought of his brother Nathaniel, in 1722, the Roper lot, and probably lived near, if not in, the present house on the hill just above the George Hill school-house. The complaint in Justice Houghton's letter of the small local demand for strong drink must not be taken as a measure of the bibulous propensities of our ancestors. The frequent mention of beer and malt vessels in early inventories, and of orchards in wills, indicate that the home manufacture and consumption of fermented beverages was considerable. It may be reasonable to conclude from the above letter, that in olden time as now, the apple crop usually failed in the "odd years." The orchards of Lancaster were very early famous, and cider became a product of commercial importance. When in 1734 Captain Jonas Houghton, the Lancaster surveyor, was employed by the proprietors of Nichewaug to reconstruct the road from |