Col. Morehouse’s Revolutionary Tavern in
Dutchess County, NY
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| Illustration of Morehouse Tavern from P.H. Smith |
In
the summer of 2018, my wife and I took a genealogy trip to New York and New
England to visit the haunts of some of my ancestors. My 5th
g.grandfather, Andrew Morehouse (1726-1801), a Lt. Colonel (although always
refereed to as Col. Morehouse) in the Dutchess County militia, owned and
operated a tavern in Wingdale, near South Dover, Dutchess County, NY. It was
located on the main “highway” from Hartford, CT to Fishkill, Dutchess Co.,
NY. There was supposed to be a NY State
Highway Marker designating the spot where the Tavern stood, somewhere near the
intersection old Rte 22 and Rte 55 in South Dover. Alas, no marker was to be found. We even
sought the help of the good librarians of the South Dover Public Library (which
was also at that intersection), but they had no idea, either. After driving
around, we gave up and proceeded on our journey.
Why all this
fuss about a Tavern that no longer exists? My 5th g.grandfather’s Inn, the
Morehouse Tavern, as it was known, was a frequent stop for General George
Washington and other officers during the Revolutionary War. P.H. Smith in his “General History of
Dutchess County from 1609 to 1876 inclusive,” says “Washington, Gates, Putnam, Arnold, Heath, Parsons, Lafayette and other
distinguished leaders have been entertained and there Rochambeau and his
officers have lodged.” General Washington and his entourage stayed at
Morehouse’s Tavern on or about 24 September 1780, when Col. Morehouse presented
a bill for $808.00 for 26 meals, “cyder,” and caring for 49 horses.
General
Washington stayed again at Morehouse’s on March 2-3, 1781 (Morehouse was paid
1,034 Continental dollars for expenses.) enroute to Newport, RI. Washington wrote three letters from Morehouse’s
Tavern: one to Jean B. Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau at New Port, one
to Charles Rene D. Sochet (Chevalier) des Touches also at New Port (both of
these letters were written by Alexander Hamilton, but signed by George
Washington) and one to William Heath. The letters to the French officers is
particularly interesting because Washington had been encouraging the French
Fleet to leave Newport to engage the British in the Chesapeake and assist the
Marquis de Lafayette in his pursuit of Benedict Arnold, now a British general
wreaking havoc in Virginia. And he was telling them that he was on his way to
press the point. He stayed at Morehouse’s on the way back from Newport (about
March 19, 1781) and Morehouse was paid $592 dollars for expenses.
The
French military officer, Marquis De Chastellux, writing in his “Voyage De M, Le
Marquis De Chastellux in North America in 1780, 1781, and 1782,” makes note of
his stay at the Morehouse Tavern in November 1780 saying that the Inn was “kept by Colonel Morehouse: for in America is
nothing is more common than to see a Colonel an inn keeper. They are for most
part Colonels of Militias, chosen by the Militia itself, which rarely fails to
instruct the command to the most honest and best accredited citizens.” He
went on to describe and praise his stay at the Inn. He again stayed at the Inn
in December 1782, but this time he was less praiseworthy, noting that “I had no reason to praise the Inn of
Morehouse. The Colonel who had given it his name kept it no longer, but had
conveyed to his son, who was absent, so that there were only some women in the
house. M. Dillon, who had gone a little in advance had all the trouble in the
world to make them kill some chickens. Our supper was poor, and after it was
finished and we had withdrawn to the chimney corner, we saw the women, to the
number of four, seat themselves at the table in our places, and eat the rest of
our supper, with an American dragon, who stationed there. This caused us some
anxiety on account of our men. We learned afterwards that the women had left
them only a very little portion of the supper.” By this time, Col.
Morehouse had sold the Tavern to his son, David Morehouse, who apparently let
the place run down.
The
Tavern was torn down about 1877 after being in ruin for many years and then
forgotten. The exact site of the Tavern was later determined by Howard C. Rice,
a librarian at Princeton University in 1962 by a re-examination of De
Chastellux’ “Voyage De M, Le Marquis De Chastellux in North America in 1780,
1781, and 1782.” His findings are
described in the Poughkeepsie Journal
19 August 1962 “Princeton Scholar Helps in ‘Finding’ Dover Tavern Famous in
Revolution” by Helen Myers. He noted the exact spot where the tavern stood and
remarked that there ought to be a marker or a reproduction of the old tavern.
But, alas, no marker is there now (or I completely missed it!).
While searching
the internet for information about Morehouse’s Tavern, I came across the
Library of Congress site of historic American buildings, and there was a
photograph attributed to be the Morehouse Tavern in Wingdale, Dutchess Co, NY.
The photo was taken in 1940 as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey
(HABS No. NY-6281).
However, the
book by Hasbrouck, Frank, “The History of Dutchess County, New York,” (1909), has
a photograph of the real Morehouse Tavern circa 1870 and indeed it was in ruin
and that the tavern was torn down about 1877. The Library of Congress
photograph is in error as the photo was certainly NOT of the Morehouse Tavern
in South Dover, NY. The illustration in P.H. Smith’s book closely resembles the
Morehouse Tavern photograph from Hasbrouck. Always look for multiple sources! Another post will look at General
Washington’s stays at the Inn and his relationship with Col. Morehouse.
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| Alleged Morehouse Tavern from LoC |
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| Morehouse Tavern circa 1877 from F. Housbrouck |
