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The
picture to the right is a scene from a tavern in the 18th century
made by printmaker William Hogarth. The scene titled "Canvassing for Votes" depicts the political importance of a meeting house tavern. In the
background, another tavern can be seen, possibly the other candidate
for office used
the other tavern as his headquarters.
As the
population grew in New England cities, taverns sprung up as
political dissension grew among the people.
In rural
Vermont, legal issues were
resolved at the local tavern. Salmon Dutton was the 1st
Justice of the Peace in 1786.
In 1819, New Hampshire
Judge Levi Woodbury spent a week traveling in VT and reported
staying at a
Cavendish tavern where a court case was taking place in the parlour.
. . but was this tavern in Duttonsville or nearby Proctorsville?
Relations weren't always friendly in
Cavendish
township.
When
Salmon Dutton died in 1824, the tavern closed shortly after. By 1834, another tavern
was in the business
listing of Cavendish. The Dutton Family most
likely shifted to inn-keeping.
As the
years went by, the house changed its shape from home, to tavern (1800-30s),
to
boarding house (1840-) and then to public library of Cavendish in 1874.
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