Adventures in the Archives: A Little Tipple Down at Pearson’s Tavern

Receipt for supper, libations, livery, and toll fare at Pearson’s Tavern at the Bridge. Item #2026.7.28 from the Museum of Old Newbury’s Business & Industry Collection.

By Ashley Adams Serveiss, Collections Manager & Archivist

It’s Thursday again, which means we are back with another iteration of Adventures in the Archives! This week we’re heading over to the Essex-Merrimack Bridge, and to Pearson’s Tavern by the Bridge, in the present-day area of the Chain Bridge. The Essex-Merrimack Bridge was built in 1792, the brainchild of millwright-turned-architect Timothy Palmer (1751-1821). The bridge was composed of two trussed arches, meeting at Deer Island in Salisbury (now Amesbury) in the Merrimack River, and connecting with Newburyport’s shore. The bridge was in use for well over a century before being replaced by the similar span we know as the Chain Bridge in 1910.

The original Essex-Merrimack Bridge was a private enterprise, managed by the Essex Merrimack River Bridge Corporation. Beginning in 1791, investors, who were known as Incorporators, funded the venture by purchasing shares at £25 each, with 200 shares being required in order to start work. These shares provided funding for the bridge’s construction and the investors received quarterly dividends once the bridge opened. These dividends were based on toll payments, and all of the Incorporators made a profit from their investment. There were dozens of Incorporators, including Moses Brown, Timothy Dexter, Hannah Sawyer (the sole female investor!), and Jeremiah Pearson of Newburyport.

We have extensive primary source records on the Essex-Merrimack Bridge in our Bridges Collection. These records are complemented by a single receipt in our Business & Industry Collection; a small piece of paper originating from Pearson’s Tavern at the Bridge. Because the bridge was a money-making enterprise, a toll collector’s house was built for Ebenezer Pearson (1760-1846). The toll collector’s house also functioned as a tavern and livery for wayward travelers making their way to and from Newburyport. As you can see from the bill, the focus was on the libations offered at Pearson’s Tavern. A long list of tempting adult refreshments appear on the bill and include, “Wine, Punch, Grog, Sangaree, Flip, Porter, Mull’d Wine, Sling, Egg’d Rum, Bitters, Ginn, Rum, Cherry Ditto (this is likely a cherry cordial made with rum, listed above, hence the “ditto), Cyder…” all of these sound excellent, particularly to someone like me, who is nearly 7 months pregnant and cannot indulge! The bill pictured here offers a fine example of a traveler’s stay at Pearson’s Tavern. They had supper, brandy, horse-keeping to include oats and hay, cider (the 21+ kind), and fare for the toll; all in all a pretty standard experience for a traveler the late 18th or early 19th century.

Image STE-0132a from our Stereoview Collection, showing a covered iteration of the drawbridge from Deer Island to Salisbury, Deer Island and Pearson’s Tavern by the Bridge, which is today known as the Harriet Prescott Spofford House, with the Essex-Merrimack Bridge to Newburyport with its signature trusses, behind the tavern.

Pearson’s Tavern, which was also called Parson’s Tavern, was a noted social gathering space for locals, too. In Reminiscences of a Nonagenerian, Sarah Smith Emery recalls a fond memory of a wintertime trip to the tavern: “An half hour's ride brought us to Parsons' tavern on Deer island, at the Essex Merrimac bridge. This was a noted place for pleasure parties. A delightful spot in summer, and a noted rendezvous for sleighing parties in winter, when a supper and dance were enjoyed. At the first snow a rush was made for Parsons', where the first comer was treated to a bottle of wine by mine host. Though our horses had skimmed over the snow like birds, the day was so intensely cold we were fairly benumbed, and the bright wood fire was exceedingly grateful.”

Eventually the toll keeping ceased and the toll keeper’s house, then known as Pearson’s Tavern by the Bridge, was sold to Greenleaf Dodge, whose widow sold it to Richard S. Spofford (1833-1888) and his wife Harriet Prescott Spofford (1835-1921). The Spoffords moved the house back from the road and gave it a thorough remodel. Today, the house is still there and looks lovely as ever, and the Chain Bridge continues to connect Newburyport and Amesbury, sans any tolls.

Editor’s note: We were really, really perplexed with some of this research. Bethany and Ashley searched high and low for the “correct” Ebenezer Pearson, and eventually started referring to the entire Pearson family tree as, “The Proliferating Pearsons.” Bethany eventually figured out which Ebenezer Pearson operated Pearson’s Tavern by the Bridge, finding his death record, which was our smoking gun. We now believe Ebenezer's parents to be Thomas Pearson (1730-1785), born in Lynn, and Mary Currier (1737-1816), from Amesbury, part of an influx of Pearsons who originate in Lynn and often have the same names as the branch of the family who originate in Rowley/Byfield!.

As always, if you’re interested in seeing our Essex-Merrimack Bridge documents, the bill of fare for Pearson’s Tavern, or anything else, please visit us on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am - 2pm at the Perkins Art & Research Center here at the Museum of Old Newbury.