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 ^3> RECEIVED "j>^ 
 IvIAR 1-1904 
 
 AN OLD HOSTELRY. 
 
 THE TAVERNS OE OLDEN TIMES. 
 
 Read by Warren S. Ely at October Meeting of the Bucks 
 County Historical Society. 
 
 There is something about the very word 
 "Inn" that appeals to the English speak- 
 ing race. We are fully mindful of the 
 fact that in nuHlern times many of our 
 best citizens do not concern themselves 
 with the roadside inn except to file re- 
 monstrances against the granting of 
 license; but it is the dutv of the historian 
 to record what has taken place in the 
 past; and the inn cannot be eliminated 
 from the records of our county without 
 positive detriment to local history. In 
 fact the old time hostelry was a most con- 
 spicuous institution so far as human 
 habitations had to do with the life and 
 customs of the people Some philosopher 
 has said "There is no hospitality in the 
 world like that of the inn. " From time 
 immemorial the inn has had its place in 
 history and romance. Who would elimi- 
 nate the old "Blue Boar" from the legends 
 of Robin Hood and his Merry Men? What 
 man so lacking in imagination and poetic 
 sentiment that he cannot picture and ap- 
 preciate the famous old inns of the 
 Engli-h coaching days, with the light 
 from glowing logs on the wide hearth re- 
 flected on pewter tankards and platters; 
 the savory roasts turning on the spit, the 
 quaint paved courts and cool gardens? 
 
 And in our own country, in the early 
 days when this great and powerful Re- 
 public was struggling for its very life, 
 what an atmosphere of romance sur- 
 rounded the inn? Every cloaked and 
 mud-stained stranger seeking the hospi- 
 tality of the tavern was watched by eagle- 
 eyed, stern faced men; and under smoke- 
 stained joists and by the light of a tal- 
 low dip were seen gathered for mutual 
 counsel the architects of the grand Re- 
 public of which we are so proud to-day. 
 
 The modern great piles we call hotels, 
 with their tiled corridors, myriads of glit- 
 tering lights, luxurious furniture and 
 uniformed lackeys are the resorts of poli- 
 ticians and statesmen, but none of them 
 is so closely associated with the life of the 
 times as was the humble inn, that wit- 
 nessed the birth and evolution of this 
 great nation. 
 
 And so these ancient taverns become 
 a subject of importance to the student of 
 local history. The relation of the country 
 inn or tavern, on one of the main thor- 
 oughfares, to the community in which it 
 was located, a century and a half ago, is 
 an interesting study. It was almost the 
 sole point of contact with the outside 
 world to the isolated pioneer in the coun- 
 try districts. The ponderous stage coach, 
 then the only public conveyance, dis- 
 charging its living freight at the doors 
 of the country inn for a single meal or 
 night's lodging, brought to him glimpses 
 of the outside world, of the fashions of 
 the cities and remote settlements, as well 
 
 as news of the progress of civilization in 
 the new country. The drover of cattle 
 from the back settlements, seeking a 
 market for the product of the virgin 
 meadows brought to the home dweller the 
 gossip and news from distant settlements. 
 The Provincial land surveyor, on his re- 
 turn from laying out new tracts for set- 
 tlement, brought news of new conquest 
 of virgin forest and mead. The strolling 
 fiddler beguiled the winter evening for 
 swain and damsel and won his way to 
 their hearts and pockets. And so, about 
 the simple country inn, gathered all sorts 
 and conditions of men having a common 
 interest, and coming in contact with each 
 other and the outside world, learned the 
 great lesson of toleration, which is the 
 corner-stone of civil and religious liberty. 
 In our day of railroads, trolley, tele- 
 graph and telephone lines intersecting 
 every rural district, it is hard to realize 
 how much of a necessity the old time 
 tavern was to our great grandsires. nor 
 do the present dwellers in this quiet neigh- 
 borhood realize that one hundred and 
 fifty years ago, the great highway of com- 
 munication, not onlv between New York 
 and Philadelphia, but between >sew 
 England and the latter city and points 
 south and west, ran through our county. 
 Early in the second half of the eighteenth 
 century a petition for a license to keep a 
 "House of Entertainment" at what is 
 now the home of Thomas H. Ruckman 
 in Solebury township, sets forth that the 
 "applicant is compelled to entertain 
 numerous drovers and other travellers 
 from New Ingland, Vermont, New York, 
 and the Jersie States. " And we recall an 
 instance where the petition for a license 
 at Warwick Cross Roads, now Hartsville, 
 was signed by numerous residents in New 
 Jersey, Forks of Delaware, and points be- 
 yond, who stated that they had been en- 
 tertained at that hostlery for many years; 
 it being, "The end of their first day's 
 journey" out from Philadelphia. This 
 was in 1755, when the license was with- 
 held, supposedly on account of the char- 
 acter of the applicant. The Court in those 
 days evidently exercised a more careful 
 discretion in the granting of license than 
 at a later period, and no mere grog shop 
 was ever tolerated. Therefore, the char- 
 acter of the men who obtained license 
 was probably above that of the average 
 hotel keeper of to-day. In fact the average 
 inn -keeper was a leading man in his 
 communit.v and exercised a wide influence 
 therein. We could refer to a number of 
 colonial inn-keepers who achieved dis- 
 tinction and left a record of civil and 
 military service without a blemish. A 
 direct ancestor of President Roosevelt 
 was for many years an inn-keeper within 
 a few miles of this place. 
 
In our own Quaker community the at- 
 titude of the members of the Society of 
 Friends toward the inn was not alto- 
 gether unfriendly, though the meeting 
 very early manifested a strong feeling 
 against the use of intoxicating liquor. 
 The Friends evidently realized the neces- 
 sity of the inn, since it relieved them of 
 the burden of entertaining numerous 
 travellers wending their tedious way 
 across our county from the Jersies and 
 elsewhere; and we find the names of 
 the most prominent Friends appended to 
 petitions for license to keep houses of 
 entertainment. In fact the names of 
 many of them will be found on the lists 
 of inn keepers in various parts of the 
 county. 
 
 Buckingham township was without a 
 tavern within its borders for a longer 
 period after its settlement than any town- 
 ship in the county. The first petition for 
 license within the township, of v\ hich we 
 have a record, was in 1748, when Benja- 
 min Kinsey sought to obtain a "recom- 
 lu ndation to his Excellency the Gouv- 
 ernor" to keep a house of entertainment 
 at the piesent village of Holicong, 
 "Where one part of Durham Koid 
 crosses York Road, that leads from 
 Cai by's Ferry to Philadelphia, and 
 neare the Koad tht.t leads from said 
 York Roid to Butler's Mill and North 
 VNales. " This petition, though numer- 
 ously signed by his brethren and Quaker 
 neighbors, the Byes, Pearsons, Scar- 
 broughs, Shaws, Browns antl others 
 was turned down, as were a number of 
 other applications for several years 
 following. 
 
 At the sessions of Court held June 
 llth. 1752. George Hughes, of Bucking- 
 ham, presented his petition for recom- 
 mendation for license to keep a house of 
 entertainment where he lived at the junc- 
 tion of the York and Durham Roads and 
 his petition was "Allowed." I his vras 
 the first tavern in Buckingham, and stood 
 where the farm house on the Hughesian 
 farm now stands. At that time the 
 nearest taverns were Canby's, at the 
 Ferry, now Newhope, on the east; Joseph 
 Smith's, at Wrightstown, ou the South- 
 east, Neshaminy bridge on the South; 
 Doyle's on the Northwest, and Patrick 
 Poe's "Sign of the Plough" on the North. 
 Hughes does not seem to have bfen 
 pleased with the venture, as he did nut 
 renew his application until eleven years 
 later. At the June sessions, 1763, he 
 again petitions for a license. This later 
 petition is supplemented by a numerously 
 signed recommendation of his neighbors 
 and others, setting forth that "Where 
 George Hughes is living is asuitnbleand 
 convenient place for a publick House of 
 Entertainment, and where one is very 
 much wanted, and he having put himself 
 to a considerable expence in buildings 
 and prepareing of other necessaries to en- 
 able him to undertake the business they 
 make bold to pray the Court, would be 
 pleased to grant such recommendation, 
 &c. " To this paper appear the names of 
 sixty-seven persons, comprising most of 
 the adjacent land owners and a few from 
 Wrightstown, Warwick and Solebury. 
 Among them were the names Fell, Gill- 
 ingham. Parry, Brown, Church, Fenton, 
 Chapman, Watson, Bye, Blaker, Ely, 
 and many other names still familiar in 
 the neighborhood. 
 
 At the same sessions of Court the peti- 
 tion of Henry Jamison was presented, 
 setting forth that the petitioner "hath 
 lately purchased the House and Planta- 
 tion of Samuel Blaker, adjoining the 
 Roads that leads from Philadelphia to 
 New York and from Newtown to Dur- 
 ham" and asks that he be recommended 
 to the Governor to obtain a license, &c. 
 Like the petition of Hughes, this one has 
 
 appended to it the following supplement: 
 "The undersigned are acquainted with 
 Henry Jamson and believe him to be a 
 proper per.son to keep a House of Enter- 
 tainment * * * that there is no tavern 
 within foure miles &c. " This recom- 
 mendtition is signed by John Gregg, 
 then Sheriff of the county, Joseph EUicolt, 
 who became sheriff four years later; Sam- 
 uel Harrold, William Corbet, Euclides 
 Scarbrrjugh, Mathew McMinn, Thomas, 
 Samuel and Benjamin Kinsey, nine in 
 all, and all with the exception of the 
 Kinseys and Ellicott, like the petitioner, 
 of Scotch Irish origin. Th s petition 
 was "allowed" and Hughes' is marked 
 "rejected. " 
 
 Henry Jamison was born in the neigh- 
 boring township of Warwick in the year 
 1729. only a few years after the .irrival of 
 his father, gi-andfather and uncles from 
 County Tyrone, Ireland. 
 
 "The Plantation" referred to in the 
 petition comprised 16f) acres, embracing 
 the present farm of Joseph Anderson 
 and all the land lying between it and the 
 Y'ork Road. It was a part of the 1000 
 acres "back in the woods," which Rich- 
 ard Lundy received in exchange for 200 
 acres on the Delaware, in the year 1688. 
 The 200 cres, of which the 166 acres were 
 a part, was conveyed by Lundy to 
 Francis Rossel in 1692, who devised it to 
 the sons of his friend Samuel Burgess. 
 John Burgess conveyed it to Lawrence 
 Pearson in 1702, who, in the following 
 year, conveyed a one-half interest therein 
 to his brother Enoch Pearson, reserving 
 to the heirs of the said Lawrence Pear- 
 son "the right to get limestone for their 
 own use, with free ingi-ess and egress to 
 fetch the same. " The Pearsons conveyed 
 to Robert Saunders, he to Benjamin Hop- 
 per, Hopper to James Lennox, in 1724, 
 Lennox to rhomas Canby in 1729 and 
 Canby to Samuel Blaker in 1747. As the 
 home of Thomas Canby, a prominent 
 Friend, a Justice of the Peace and mem- 
 ber of Colonial Assembly, it became a 
 place of noted hospitality and local promi- 
 nence. 
 
 Under the administration of Mine Host 
 Jamison and his enterprising wife Mary, 
 supposed to have been the sister of Sheriff 
 Gregg, the Buckingham Inn became 
 profitable. No complaint came from his 
 Quaker neighbors and we find it soon be- 
 came a popular stopping and meeting 
 place for local, county and State officials, 
 it being a sort of "Half-way House" be- 
 tween the county seat and the upper parts 
 of the county. Henry Jamison died on 
 June 29th, 1766, and the license was trans- 
 ferred to his widow, Mary Jami.son, on 
 September loth, 1767, and she continued 
 as the popular hostess until ten yeas 
 later. 
 
 In the Fall of 1767 Mrs. Jamison peti- 
 tioned the Court for the sale of her hus- 
 b^Jud's real estate, and herself became the 
 purchaser, through the medium of John 
 Gregg, then a resident of New Jersey, 
 who officiated as the "straw man," tak- 
 ing the title from the widow as adminis- 
 tratrix and transferring it back to her 
 as femme sole. 
 
 In the Winter of 1772 the jolly landlady 
 took unto herself a new mate in the per- 
 son of one, John Bogart, presumably a 
 son or grandson of Guysbert Bogart, 
 Sr. , of Solebury township, a "Knicker- 
 bocker' ' who had migrated from the Dutch 
 settlement upon the Raritan to Solebury 
 about 1740, aiid in 1742 purchased of the 
 Canbys a large tract of land just across 
 the Buckingham line, at Lahaska. Jacob 
 Bogart, Esq., was one of the Justices 
 who recommended the granting of the 
 license to Jamison in 1763, and Guysbert 
 Bogart was an innkeeper at "fforks of 
 Dellawar" (Easton) in 1750. 
 
 It was as "Bogarts' Tavern" that the 
 
inn was known during the early part of 
 the Revolution, the license having been 
 issued in his name in 1773 and succes- 
 sively until 1777. 
 
 Under date of Aug. 15, 1773, a dis- 
 tinguished traveller enters in his dairy: 
 "House at Jamison's neat and clean, din- 
 ner indifferent, claret rery bad." 
 
 The first meeting of the Bucks County 
 Committre ef Safi-ty, aftf^ris full orgini- 
 zatiou by representatives from each town- 
 ship, was held at Bogart's tavern, on 
 July 21st, 1775 at which the field officers 
 of »he Associated Companies of the 
 county were selected. This was one of 
 the most important mei-tinsrs ever held 
 in the county, as it was the first organized 
 movement toward arming for the conflict 
 with the mother country. Then it was 
 that the leaders realized that pacific pro- 
 tests were nnavailale. It represented the 
 parting of the ways between the non-com- 
 bants and those who had determined to 
 enforce tlieir rights by force of arms if 
 necessary, herefore, a number of persons 
 who had' been selected to represent their 
 townships in the committee, "being of 
 the People called Quakers and others, 
 alleginsi- scruples of conscience relative to 
 the business necessarily transacted by 
 the committee desired to be released from 
 further attendance. " J^nlong those who 
 retired at this meeting were Jacob 
 StTciwn. of Haycock; John Wilkinson, of 
 Wrightstown; Thomas Foulke, of Rich- 
 land; Jonathan Ingham, of Solebury; 
 John Chapman, of Upper Makefleld; 
 Joseph Watson, of Buckingham, and 
 Thomas Jenks. of Middletown, Quakers, 
 and-Abrahaui Stout, of Rockhill, a Men- 
 nonite. Their places were directed to be 
 filled by election prior to the next meet- 
 ing of' the committee on August 21st. 
 At the following meeting John Lacey, 
 later the distinguished General, was re- 
 turned in place of Wilkinson; John Cor- 
 yell, of Solebury, in place of Ingham, 
 and William Carver, of Buckingham, in 
 place of Joseph Watson. The Treasurer 
 reported having received donations for 
 the people of Boston amounting to 75 
 pounds, 4 shillings, 4 pence, and had 
 forwarded the same, producing the re- 
 ceipt of John Adams, one of the Com- 
 mittee of the Town of Boston, for that 
 amount. 
 
 Complaint was made against several 
 persons for remarks derogatory of the 
 Continental Congress and the Commit- 
 tee and the offenders were examined by 
 special committees,and the following is a 
 sample of the refutation they signed which 
 is entered in full upon the minutes of the 
 committee: 
 
 "Whereas, I have spoken injuriously of 
 the distressed People of the Town of Bos- 
 ton ani disrespectfully of the measures 
 prosecuting for the redress of American 
 grievances, I do hereby declare that I am 
 heartily sorry for what I have done, 
 voluntarily renouncing my former princi- 
 ples and promi.se for the future to render 
 my conduce inexceptable to my Country- 
 men by strictly adhering to the measures 
 of Congress. " 
 
 (signed) "Thomas Meredith" 
 
 Thomas Smith, of Upper Makefield, was 
 alleged to have said that "ineasures of 
 Congress had already enslaved America 
 and done mi. re damage than all the Acts 
 of Parliament were intended to lay upon 
 us, and the whole revolt was nothing but 
 a scheme of hot-headed Pesbyterians 
 
 * * * that the devil was at the bottuui 
 of the whole of it * * * * that tak- 
 ing up arms was the most scandalous 
 thing a man could be guilty of and more 
 heinous than a hundred of the grossest 
 offences against the law. " A resolution 
 was adopted denouncing him and declar- 
 ing that "he be considered as an enemy 
 of the rights of British America and that 
 
 all persons break oflf every kind of deal- 
 ing with him until he shall make proper 
 satisfaction to the Committee for his con- 
 duct. " 
 
 Smith appeared at the next meeting, 
 Sept. 11, 1775, and expressed his sorrow 
 for imprvident expressions and promised 
 such support as was consistent with the 
 principles of Friends. 
 
 The meetings of the Committee were 
 held at Bogarts each month almost con- 
 tinouously during the years 1775 6 and 
 the minutes of their proceedings give 
 abundant proof of the zeal and patriotism 
 of the members. 
 
 Bogart's Tavern, was not only the head- 
 quarters of the Committee of Safety, but 
 of many of the Associated Companies of 
 this section of the county and the old road- 
 side inn has no doubt witnessed the 
 evolutions of many an awkwcird squad of 
 raw recruits, training for service in the 
 defence of their country. A tragic inci- 
 dent that occurred at one of these train- 
 nings is related by one of our local his- 
 torians. A training was in progress at 
 the public house of John Bogart on Aug. 
 14, 1775. when Robert Poque (Polk) and 
 John Shannon two embryo patriots from 
 the neighboring township of Warwick, 
 repaired to the house of William Ely, now 
 the home of Albert S. Paxson, to bor- 
 row a gun to use in the muster then go- 
 ing on, and having obtained the gun 
 Shannon in giving an exhibition of the 
 exercise of training, accidentally dis- 
 charged the firearm the contents striking 
 Polk in the throat, killing him instantly. 
 The Polks, the name then variously 
 spelled "Poque, " "Poak," "Poke," were 
 at that date large land owners near Hart- 
 sville, and had emigrated from Carrick- 
 fergus, Ireland, in 1725, and were with- 
 out doubt of the same lineage as Presi- 
 dent James K. Polk, one of the emigrant 
 brothers having the same given name as 
 the ancestor of the President having re- 
 moved from Bucks county to the South 
 about 1 740. The Inn has not been without 
 frequent glimpses of the main branch of 
 the Continental Army under the great 
 Commander-in-Chief himself. The move- 
 ments of Washington and his army up 
 and down the York Road to and from 
 the Delaware are too much a matter of 
 history to need treatment here. 
 
 Gen. Greene, when charged by Washing- 
 ton with the care and safety of the boats 
 on the river in December. 1776, when our 
 country was threatened with an invasion 
 by the British troops from New Jersey, 
 evidently had his headquarters for a time 
 at Bogarts' as he writes from there under 
 date of December 10, 177(3, to Gen. Ewing 
 to send sixteen Durham boats and four 
 flats down to McKonkey's ferry. 
 
 The Bogarts seem to have been very 
 zealous in the cause of independence, per- 
 haps a little over zealous, in reporting to 
 the Committee irrevelant and irresponsi- 
 ble remarks, made over a convivial cup at 
 the bar, as in at least one case reported 
 by Mrs. Bogart the committee decided 
 that the "matter spoken and the speaker 
 were both too insignificant for the notice 
 of this Committee." 
 
 There is little doubt that certain mem- 
 bers of the Society of Friends, the domi- 
 nant class in this community, who only 
 sought to avoid taking up arms for rea- 
 sons of religious conviction, suffered con- 
 siderable inju.stice at the hands of a class 
 of men suddenly elevated to authority 
 and actuated as much by a spirit of jeal- 
 ously as of patriotism. 
 
 The Bogarts disposed of the "Tavern 
 and Plantation" to William Bennett, of 
 Wrightstown, in April, 1777, and the 
 license was issued to him in that year, 
 and continuously until 1794, when he 
 rented the tavern property to Robert Mel- 
 dtrum, who continued as landlord until 
 
1797. 
 
 On April 1, 1797, Bennett conveyed the 
 tavern and fifteen acres comprising the 
 present lot on the South side of the York 
 Road to Josiah Addis. The York Road 
 at that date swerved to the right in front 
 of the hotel, leaving "Lundy's line," and 
 wound in long loop round the "Pond," 
 striking its present route again near its 
 intersection with Broadhurst's Lane. 
 Bennett conveyed that part of the tract 
 lying across the Y'ork road, now occupie 
 t by Frank Day's haH, shops, &c. , to 
 Jonthan L irge, and when the turnpike 
 k was laid out, practically on Lundy's 
 line, the line of the land remained 
 unchanged. 
 
 The title and license of the tavern 
 changed again in the Spring of 1805 
 when Josiah Addis conveyed it to Corne- 
 lius Van Horn and John Marple. The 
 license was issued to VanHorn, and he 
 purchased Marple's interest in the real 
 estate in 1809, and continued as pro- 
 prietor until his death, in February 1814 
 His executors conveyed the property 
 on April 1, 1814, to ex-Sheriff Elisha 
 Wilkinson, who remained the owner at 
 this death in February, 1846. 
 
 Col. Wilkinson, as he was familiarly 
 known, was a son of John Wilkinson be- 
 fore referred to and had already had 
 several years experience as an innkeeper. 
 He came to Buckingham from Newtown 
 in 1805 having purchased the tavern 
 property, now known as "The Bush," 
 which he kept until after his election 
 as Sheriff in 1809. He sold it in 1811. 
 He removed to the Centreville ta,vern 
 in the Spring of 1814, and remained 
 there for a period of 23 years. In the 
 Spring of 1836 he rented the tavern to 
 Samuel B. Willett, who kept it for the 
 next two vears and was succeeded by 
 Isa-dC McCarty, in 1838, he by Samuel 
 Thatcher, who was the tenant at the 
 date of Col. Wilkinson's death in 1846. 
 The tavern was sold by the administrator 
 of Wilkinson in 1846 to James Vansant, 
 who probably never occupied it and dy- 
 ing about 1848 devised it to Edward Van- 
 sant, who held the license until 1852, 
 when he sold the property to Casper 
 Y'eager of Philadelphia. The latter 
 kept the hotel until July, 1856, when he 
 conveyed it to Francis B. Davis, who 
 sold it the following year to William 
 Corson, who, after six years occupancy, 
 conveyed it to the Righters, who still 
 hold the title and conduct the hotel. 
 
 This, in brief, is the official history of 
 the ancient hostelry, now nearly 140 
 years old. Its appearance to-day is 
 greatly changed from that of 100 years 
 ago, it having been entirely remodelled 
 by the present owners in 1$70. Though 
 the original walls remain, the long slop- 
 ing roof was replaced by a mansard roof, 
 and the kitchen end next the barn was 
 raised to the level of the main building. 
 
 While under the administration of Sam- 
 uel B Willett, Edward Hicks was em- 
 ployed to paint an elaborate sign repre- 
 senting Penn treating with the Indians 
 which was erected upon a pole in front 
 of the tavern where it remained for 
 many years, and during which period 
 the inn was called "The Sign of Penn's 
 Treaty." Later it was known as "The 
 Sign of Gen. Washington. " 
 
 Under the administration of Col. Wilk- 
 inson the tavern became widely known 
 to the sporting fraternity, as the Colonel 
 was a great horse fancier and breeder. 
 He introduced into the neighborh od a 
 very fine breed of Arabian horses. Soon 
 after moving to the tavern he purchased 
 a tract of land across the Y'ork Road, then 
 covered with timber, and laid out a quar- 
 ter-mile track, where his blooded colts 
 were trained to run and trot. Samuel 
 Thatcher, a Jerseyman, who later be- 
 came the landlord, was for several years 
 his trainer. Col. Wilkinson was a 
 patron of the turf for many years, and 
 many of his racers won prizes at Long 
 Island and elsewhere. 
 
 The old stone house across the road, 
 where George Hughes kept the tavern 
 in 1752. and for which he sought to ob- 
 tain a license in 1763, was pulled down 
 in the forties. It was built of rough 
 stone. pointed, and contained three rooms 
 and hallway on the first floor. It stood 
 practically on the same sire as the pre- 
 sent Hufihesian farm house. Old resi- 
 dents say that it looked at least 100 years 
 old in 1830. and it was probably the resi- 
 dence of Matthew Hugh<^s, the fattier of 
 George, long before 17.52, and was prob- 
 ably occupied by both father and son at 
 that date. Matthew Hughes died in 
 1766, a' a very advanced age, and de- 
 vised all his land South of the Y'ork 
 Road, comprising the Charles Williams 
 and Huahesian farms, except 50 acres at 
 the South corner, to his son George. He 
 had previously conveyed to George (1763) 
 100 acres, including the site of the Inn. 
 George Hughes died in 1795, and by 
 will dated in 1783. devised the "Stone 
 house in which 1 live and the meadow 
 adjoining down to the big spring and 
 from there to York Road, making 50 
 acres in all," to the mother of Amos 
 Austin Hughes for life, then to Amos 
 Austin Hughes with all the rest of the 
 plantation. He, howeer, made him a 
 deed for it in his life time, dated Feb- 
 ruary 24, 1790. 
 
 At the death of Amos Austin Hughes, 
 his housekeeper, Mary Paxson, was left 
 a life tenancy in the farm, and Thomas 
 Broadhurst, her brother in-law, removed 
 there. Some years later a story and a 
 half addition was built to the end next 
 the Durham Road, which was occupied 
 by his daughter, Rachel Broadhurst, 
 as a store. 
 
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