"a Public Trust": Laws, Liquor, Disorder, and Women

• Jurisdiction: New Hampshire,United States
• Citation: Vol. 51 No. 1 Pg. 0072
• Publication year: 2010
• Pages: 0072
• Year: 2010

New Hampshire Bar Journal 2010.

2010 Summer, Pg. 72. "A PUBLIC TRUST": Laws, Liquor, Disorder, and Women

New Hampshire Bar Journal
Volume 51, No. 1
Summer 2010

"A PUBLIC TRUST": Laws, Liquor, Disorder, and Women

By Marcia Schmidt Blaine

New Hampshire liquor laws exist in a constant state of tension. What is the best way to balance safety, order, and profit? The same contradictions shaped liquor laws in eighteenth-century New Hampshire. By looking at the relationship between tavern licensing and one of the seemingly least powerful groups in provincial New Hampshire, women, it is possible to underscore the stress-riddled relationship that existed between the state and liquor. The same exploration also highlights the discrepancies between the legal status of women and the reality of their existence in eighteenth-century New Hampshire society.

Colonial society was never quite comfortable with the mix of drinking and comradery within the public, yet private, character of taverns. Government control was necessary and expected. Only individuals trusted by their neighbors and capable of maintaining order could become tavern keepers - no matter their sex. In 1714, the Portsmouth selectmen recommended the Widow Wincall as "a Suitable Person to keep a Publick House."(fn1) Yet colonial women lived in a society based on patriarchy and coverture, concepts that denied women power or authority. In 1765 William Blackstone stated the law regarding married women with the celebrated statement of the legal rights of wives under the common law. "The very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection and cover, she performs everything."(fn2) Single women did have the legal right to make contracts and the standing to sue and be sued, but the law assumed that a woman's natural role was that of a subject to her husband or some other male head of household. It was an ideal that all in society understood: in the social hierarchy of their communities, God placed men over women because women needed the help and guidance of men. Patriarchy was, it appeared, a natural outgrowth of women's weaknesses. Given that tavern owning was "a public responsibility" granted by the state and a liquor license sealed "a public trust ... that brought serious consequences if violated," why were women given licenses to own and manage taverns, the most potentially disruptive spots in town?(fn3)

A licensed tavern keeper was required to keep an orderly house, provide lodging for people and their animals, and serve strangers and the community. The licensing process was intended to ensure that only individuals who were capable of managing what happened inside their tavern would be licensed. There were three main steps to licensing. The first and most important step in the process involved obtaining community approval, usually through the documented approval of the town selectmen. Second, the potential tavern keepers sought the approval of the provincial government (the governor and council and then the assembly; after 1742, occasionally justices of the peace) justifying the need for a tavern in a particular location. For the third step, tavern keepers had to post a bond with sureties guaranteeing their adherence to the laws governing liquor, especially those covering the payment of excise taxes and the need to keep order.(fn4)

In 1687, the laws of New Hampshire and Massachusetts called for licenses for public houses to be "granted in open Sessions and to such only as are persons of good repute and have convenient Houses and att least Two Bedds to entertaine Strangers and Travellors." The most important part of the law, and one repeated in subsequent versions of tavern licensing laws, involved the section identifying a "person of good repute" as an acceptable tavern keeper. Those who believed an individual would not be a good tavern keeper had the opportunity to speak out during local discussions as the town selectmen made their decisions.(fn5) In 1700 when Sarah Hopkins gained a license to run a tavern in New Castle, the selectmen of her town proclaimed that she was "a woman that keepes good orders and liveth peaceably amongst her neighbours, is quallified and well provided with victualls and Lodgings and other conveniences appertaineing to that imploy: so that we think it convenient that she may have a lycence." The language used for male license seekers was similar: in Christopher Fredericks' license renewal, the selectmen said that Fredericks' "house Stands Very Commodious for all Strangers and travellers, and is Well Provided With meet Drink and lodgings and [he] keeps Good order and attendance as a Tavernner."(fn6) Like all tavern keepers, Hopkins and Fredericks were expected to control their clientele, even when their customers had imbibed more than they should, even when contentious disagreements arose. Among the many rules the legislature passed for tavern keepers, they were not to allow any of their clientele to drink longer than two hours or after 10 p.m., except "Travellers Persons upon Buesness or Exterordinary occasions.'' Their patrons could not receive credit for drinks beyond five shillings and they were not to swear or curse or gamble.(fn7) If the local authorities believed that an individual was capable, they wrote and signed a letter to the provincial government giving their approval. But local approval did not necessarily mean that the central government would approve all licenses.

Being removed from the locale and the individuals involved and believing that women were more liable to disorder, the colonial government should have avoided giving women tavern licenses. Understanding women's 'weaknesses' should have meant women would not have been chosen by government leaders to guard against the potential of tavern disorder Yet, women received licenses. In 1719, the selectmen of Dover wrote "Wee... Doo approve of the widow [Ann] Evenes to keepe a publick house of Entertainment for the Town of Dover for Retailing of Strong Drinck and Entertainment of Stranggers and travelers." The selectmen of Portsmouth stated the case more strongly when they recommended Elizabeth Harvey as a tavern keeper "We the Subscribers being Selectmen for the Town of Portsmouth do think Mrs Eliza Har-rvey a meet & fit person to keep a publick house of Entertainment." They "Judged shee is a woman Capable for that."(fn8)

How widespread was the female proprietorship of taverns in colonial New Hampshire? In 1697, New Hampshire towns were limited by law to no more than four licensed taverns per town. Along the seacoast, where the vast majority of the population of New Hampshire lived, two women in Portsmouth and two (possibly three) women in New Castle ran taverns in that year. Similar patterns of ownership continued throughout the eighteenth century. In 1758, Portsmouth was allowed eight taverns in the provincial legislative records and had at least three female-run taverns...