Throwback Thursday: Tavern Troubles (Part II)
Digging Deeper: We Continue to Follow the Tavern’s Trail Through Yellow Springs’ Past
In our last post, we walked through how we have been researching the timeline of the tavern at Yellow Springs. We traced dozens of tavern petitions from Yellow Springs and nearby townships. We confirmed several tavernkeepers, including Robert Pritchard, Samuel Lewis, James Martin, Jonathan Durell, George Maxton, John Bayly, and Samuel Culbertson.
We cast a wide net on purpose. We wanted to find any names we may have missed during our earlier research. That approach gave us a longer list of possible tavernkeepers. We then had to carefully narrow that list down.
We also explained how we ruled out Mr. Garret Brownback as a tavernkeeper at Yellow Springs. He first appeared as a possible candidate as early as 1738. Our research showed that Brownback and his family actually ran a different early colonial tavern. That tavern later became known as the Seven Stars Inn. It stood in what is now Phoenixville.
This week, we continued researching taverns in colonial Pennsylvania. Our goal was to narrow the list of possible Yellow Springs tavernkeepers even further.
30,000 Acres
Picking up from last week, we returned to the same source that helped clarify the history of the Seven Stars Inn. That source is 30,000 Acres: Vincent and Pikeland Townships, 1686 to 1850. Chester County historians have come to know this research collection well. Local historian Estelle Cremers and archaeologist Harry Tucci Jr. published the book in 1989.
The book follows the history of the 30,000-acre tract that became Vincent and Pikeland townships. It covers major events from early settlement through the middle of the 19th century. Cremers and Tucci supported their research with sources and citations. Their work makes 30,000 Acres an important resource for local historians.
The book is somewhat dated today, but its detailed research remains valuable.
The book first mentions Yellow Springs on page 66. It does not call Yellow Springs a tavern, though it likely was one by 1792. The passage does show that the Pennypacker family had ties to the area.
Page 98 brings us back to Yellow Springs while discussing Garrat Brownback and his tavern. On page 108, Cremers and Tucci name Robert Pritchard as the first documented person to receive a Yellow Springs tavern license. A 1750 record confirms that Robert Prichard received approval that year.
Daniel Prichard, likely Robert’s relative, submitted applications until about 1753. He may have been one of the “sons or brothers” Cremers mentions. Pages 108 and 109 also confirm that George Maxton’s tavern led the Uwchlan Friends Meeting to call Yellow Springs a “place of promiscuous resort” in August 1765.
The authors then summarize Yellow Springs history from the 1770s through the 1920s. Some details have changed with our research, but their timeline still helps explain relationships between Yellow Springs landowners during the second Spa era.
After page 114, the book turns to other Pikeland taverns.
Page 115 shows George Chrisman ran a separate tavern there. It also mentions the “Black Bear” or “Sign of the Black Bear.”
We removed both from our list. The same applies to taverns run by Samuel Bradford, Jeremiah Messersmith, Isaiah Carl or Corl, John Morgan, and Thomas Mason.
Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity
30,000 Acres gave us a strong starting point and useful context for local relationships. But it did not help us remove more names from our list.
We then turned to another major Chester County source, S.W. Pennypacker’s Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity. The full title is Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity: From the Settlement to the Year 1871, Giving the Origin and Growth of the Borough with Information Concerning the Adjacent Townships of Chester and Montgomery Counties and the Valley of the Schuylkill.
Pennypacker first published the book in 1872. He later became Governor of Pennsylvania and grew up around Vincent and Pikeland townships.
The book covers Phoenixville and nearby areas from early settlement through the mid-1800s. Pennypacker used the scholarship of his time to discuss major colonial families, land grants, farming, and industry, especially the Phoenix Iron Company.
Early chapters describe Chester County’s settlement from an administrative viewpoint. Pennypacker also names people tied to Charles Pickering’s estate and the Pickering Tract. None match our list, but they may matter later.
His accounts of conflict with Indigenous peoples favor the colonists and reflect the bias of his time. We focus on the names while keeping that context in mind. In May 1728, Henry Pennypacker and Anthony Holman joined local leaders seeking action against the Lenape and other Indigenous people.
Anthony Holman likely belonged to the same Holman family tied to Yellow Springs during the Revolutionary and Second Spa eras. Henry Pennypacker was likely an ancestor of the Pennypacker family.
During the French and Indian War, Pennypacker lists Captain Adam Holman, Michael Holman, John Adam Holman, John Holman, Balthaser Holman, and John Hartman among local militia members involved in bounty-driven raids against Indigenous people after 1756. “Richard Brischert” was likely Richard Pritchard, since clerks often spelled names by sound.
We also wondered whether Captain Richardson belonged to the family Primus was accused of stealing from. Research confirmed he was Captain Richard Richardson in 1747. A Chester PA Roots index lists him among Associate Regiment officers from 1747 and 1748. It also names Lieutenant John Culbertson.
That name interests us because he may have been related to Samuel Culbertson, a Yellow Springs tavernkeeper and Kennedy family associate. We have not finished Samuel’s genealogy, so we cannot make that connection yet.
William Moore and His Trial
As Pennypacker continues his account of the French and Indian War, he describes the trial of William Moore in detail.
Judge William Moore of Moore Hall was a wealthy and powerful colonial judge and politician. He was also deeply controversial. Moore came from the local aristocratic planter class and remained a Loyalist. He served as Presiding Judge of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas from 1741 to 1781. He also represented Chester County in the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly.
His name stands out in our Yellow Springs research. Moore served as Presiding Judge when Prime and Dr. Samuel Kennedy faced charges in 1774. The case involved Prime’s alleged theft of a button from Richard Richison.
What makes Moore’s earlier trial interesting is the timing. About 20 years before the 1774 case, people were already questioning his actions. By the 1750s, officials had put Moore on trial over his conduct. Pennypacker names the people who testified against him. These names give us more people to compare with our list. They also show who held influence in Chester County during the 1750s.
The trial shows that Michael Cypher and John Carl were connected to Moore by 1755 or earlier. We already removed both names after seeing them in Cremers’ 30,000 Acres. Pennypacker’s account supports that decision.
Later, Conrad Shymer mentions Michael and Adam Holman. We know both men from Yellow Springs’ Revolutionary War history. We are still researching Michael Holman’s family. So far, we know he fathered one of the three young men from Yellow Springs imprisoned on the Old Jersey.
The testimony also makes Moore’s conduct look potentially corrupt. However, one article on Moore argues that his longtime rival, “Mad” Anthony Wayne, helped create many of the accusations against him. The article can be found here.
Familiar Names and Places
At first glance, the connection seems to make sense. People familiar with Yellow Springs would recognize Anthony Wayne and the Holman family. But the timing shows a problem.
Much later, Anthony Wayne became an associate of Dr. Samuel Kennedy. Kennedy likely knew Michael and Adam Holman after he and Sarah bought the Yellow Springs plantation. The Holman and Kennedy families later became close. After Sarah Kennedy was widowed, she asked Philadelphia officials to free Henry Holman after his capture and imprisonment on the Old Jersey. Dr. Bodo Otto Sr. also asked General George Washington to help Henry. The Holmans had ties to the Yellow Springs military hospital and Washington Hall’s medical staff.
The Holmans may have reached Anthony Wayne through the Kennedys, Frazers, McCarrahers, or Hartmans. That could support a larger plot against William Moore.
The problem is the dates. This network developed between 1774 and 1781. Moore faced his corruption trial in 1754 and 1755. Samuel Kennedy seems like the key link, but he was only in his early 20s then. He was not yet Dr. Kennedy, and he and Sarah Ruston were not married. He also had no known role in the Yellow Springs community. The Holmans, however, seem to have already been connected to the area.
This is only one example. We still lack context for the other people who testified against Moore. It seems strange to connect Cypher and the Holmans to Carl and Cypher’s dispute. Their own testimony suggests that the Holmans and Cypher were at odds. Both men also seem to have believed that he had been cheated when an indentured servant girl became part of a property deed.
In both cases, Moore appears to have acted dishonestly. Several people accused him of taking bribes and abusing his power. He was convicted and later signed a confession on December 21, 1757. We should note one important caveat: Pennsylvania’s colonial government, under British rule, tried and convicted him.
Back to Tavern Troubles
Regardless, Estelle Cremers connects Michael Cypher and John Carl to separate taverns in Chester Springs.
Michael Cypher was one of several Cypher men connected to the Seven Stars Inn. That tavern grew from Garret Brownback’s original tavern in Phoenixville.
John Carl was likely related to Isaiah Carl. Isaiah ran a tavern along the Schuylkill River. Samuel Bradford and Jeremiah Messersmith had established that tavern earlier. Isaiah did not buy it until around 1818. He then petitioned for its tavern license.
We also know that Isaiah Carl and his family had no connection to Yellow Springs. Samuel Lane appears here as the owner of the Bull Tavern. We have removed him from our list of possible Yellow Springs tavernkeepers.
The Robert Kennedy mentioned here was related to Samuel Kennedy, but our research places him as Dr. Kennedy’s second cousin twice removed. They likely never knew each other personally.
The “Alexander McCalla” in this account was likely the same man as Alexander McCarraher from our records.
Our final Yellow Springs reference appears on page 99. Peter Dehaven reported that Dr. Kennedy wanted soldiers stationed at Yellow Springs for protection. This helps clarify our Revolutionary War timeline. We have found no evidence that Dehaven worked in or ran a tavern.
Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity contains many other details we may use later. For now, we want to focus on finding our existing candidate names.
Newspapers and Beyond
Pennypacker’s Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity gives us useful information about important people in our area. It also has some clear limits.
Pennypacker published the book in 1872. That date creates a problem for our research. The book is old enough that we must consider the culture and views of its time. At the same time, it is too recent to serve as a primary source from the events it describes.
Pennypacker also wrote from his own point of view. We need to remember that bias when we study his account. We can use the book to support evidence about events, movements, documents, and influential people from the period. For some of the specific names on our list, though, we need to look elsewhere for more details.
One of our earliest candidates, for example, was a woman named Ruth Hoskins.
Ruth Hoskins
So far, neither Cremers’ 30,000 Acres nor Pennypacker’s Annals of Phoenixville names Ruth Hoskins. Her tavern’s name and location also do not appear in her early petitions. Ruth first applied for a tavern license in 1718, making her one of Chester County’s earliest tavernkeepers.
We searched Newspapers.com for primary sources from her lifetime. A newspaper from October 3, 1728, says a sheriff’s sale of part of Caleb Pusey’s plantation would take place at Ruth Hoskins’s house. This shows that locals knew her house, likely her tavern, by 1728.
The Winterthur Library says Ruth was likely born Ruth Atkinson. She married John Hoskins Jr. (1677–1716) in 1698 and had five children. The Hoskins family came from Cheshire, England, and became early Chester County settlers. John and Mary Hoskins received a 250-acre Middletown Township warrant on July 21, 1683.
Ruth’s final tavern application came in 1730 and was postponed. Her lack of later applications supports the Winterthur source’s 1739 death date. As a widow after 1716, she could legally and socially operate a tavern to support her family.
A 1727 American Weekly Mercury notice links Ruth with Edward Smout. Both reported runaway servants from the “same place,” suggesting they worked from one establishment.
Their relationship remains unclear. Smout may have helped Ruth gain business credit as a widow.
A Pennsylvania Gazette notice from April 2, 1730, places Ruth’s house in Chester.
Smout became a Lancaster County coroner by September 30, 1731, suggesting they had stopped working together.
Ruth wrote her will on July 3, 1738. She named the “Pennsylvania Arms” and another house, both “in Chester,” and left property to family members, including enslaved people.
Chester County property records show Ruth received land from David and Susannah Roberts in 1723. Joseph Hoskins sold another family property to Edward Russel in 1743. This accounts for Ruth’s two properties.
The Pennsylvania Arms was most likely the Old Hoskins House, whose structure dates to 1688. These records conclusively rule Ruth Hoskins out as the Yellow Springs tavernkeeper.
More Names To Remove
Now that we know that Ruth Hoskins and Edward Smout were associated with a tavern in the town of Chester, we can rule them out from our list of candidates. The same can be said for Samuel Bradford, Jeremiah Messersmith, Isaiah Carl (or Corl), John Carl, John Morgan, Michael Cypher, and Thomas Mason, as we have discussed the evidence against them above.
Finally, we received a tip from Carla Herkner, an extremely knowledgeable historian associated with the Anselma Mill.
Research over at this fantastic historic site- located about 4 miles South of Historic Yellow Springs in the modern day- identified that a man named James Benson requested a tavern license at that location.
Benson, along with a man named Lewis Rees, purchased the mill in 1812. Benson’s application was denied for unclear reasons, though he is believed to have continued operating a tavern there “off the books.”
We can also safely remove James Benson from our list of candidates.
You can our updated list of candidates in the extended version of this post on our Substack!
‘Till Next Week…
We’ve removed a good amount of names from our list this week, but we still have a considerable way to go. Join us next week as we continue to wade through records and references to dive even deeper into the origin of Yellow Springs as we know it.
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Featured History Event at Historic Yellow Springs
Historic Yellow Springs is thrilled to host William Peck, expert on the Orphan School System, at the CSS Studio on September 13th at 1:30 PM!
We hope you stop by!
Interested in learning more? Check out the course listing here!
More upcoming speaker events can be seen here!
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Learn more about the history of Yellow Springs
You can read the more in-depth version of this post here
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