On the 15th of February, 1703, the treasurer of the city was ordered to repay to the mayor £9 10s 3d, which he had expended for a bonfire, beer and wine, on her majesty’s birthday, the 6th of February, and on the 24th of this same month the common council ordered that a public bonfire be made at the usual place, and that ten gallons of wine and a barrel of beer be provided, at the expense of the city, to celebrate the success of her majesty’s arms at Vigo and in Flanders, and the housekeepers were ordered to illuminate.

Much more deference was paid to the dignity of office two hundred years ago than at the present time. Not only were governors received with great honor at their appearance to assume the office, but often, when they left the city to visit Albany or New Jersey, they were, on their return, entertained by the corporation. In November, 1704, Lord Cornbury, on his return from his other government of New Jersey, was entertained at a dinner given by the corporation at the house of Richard Harris, which cost the city £10 18s 6d. This is the bill rendered, and which was ordered paid:

1704. The Mayor, Aldermen, &c., Dr.
£ s d
Dec. 19. To a piece of beef and cabbage 7 6
To a dish of tripe and cow-heel 6 0
To a leg of pork and turnips 8 3
To 2 puddings 14 6
To a surloin of beef 13 6
To a turkey and onions 9 0
To a leg of mutton and pickles 6 0
To a dish of chickens 10 6
To minced pyes 1 4 0
To fruit, cheese, bread, &c. 7 6
To butter for sauce 7 9
To hire 2 negroes to assist 6 0
To dressing dinner, &c. 1 4 0
To 31 bottles wine 3 2 0
To beer and syder 12 0
10 18 6

Richard Harris married the widow of Roger Baker, who had been the landlord of the well known King’s Head, not long after the latter’s death, which occurred in 1702, and he may have continued this tavern, which is very likely, as it was probably being conducted by the widow when he married her. The year after his marriage, he was elected assistant alderman, and his house for many years was patronized by the officials of the province and the city. He was assistant alderman for several years. In 1707 he was one of a committee for leasing the Long Island ferry. On the 10th of October, of that year, the committee met at his house for that purpose, and for their expenses he was paid by the city £1 12s. Five years after this, when he was no longer a member of the common council, the lease being about to expire, the committee for leasing the ferry met at his house on the 17th of December, 1712, and this time he charged the corporation £7 10s 9d. Conference committees from the council and assembly met at his house several times in November, 1710, and in 1712. On the 6th of October, 1714, the governor gave notice of the death of Queen Anne, and on the 11th, King George was proclaimed in the city. The common council ordered seven or eight cords of wood for a bonfire and twenty gallons of wine for the people. The expenses of the common council on this occasion at the house of Richard Harris amounted to £8 4s, which was ordered to be paid.

On November 7, 1717, the council requested a conference at the house of John Parmyter on the subject matter of the bill for letting to farm the excise, and on October 20th of the same year a bonfire was ordered and a dinner was given by the corporation at his house in celebration of the anniversary of his majesty’s coronation. The aldermen seem to have been ever ready to celebrate any of the usual anniversaries by eating a good dinner and drinking good wine. The bill for this dinner was as follows:

1717 Corporation of New York, Dr.
To John Parmyter
£ s d
Oct. 20 To 32 bottles of wine 3 14 0
To beer and cyder 5 3
To eating 1 12 0
To dressing supper 6
5 17 3

As on most occasions a large portion consisted of liquor exhilarants.

John Parmyter had been a resident of New York since the time of Bellomont and probably had been a tavern-keeper for some years previous to the date of this dinner. His house was on or near the corner of Beaver and New Streets. In 1712 an act was passed by the legislature of the province prohibiting all but John Parmyter to make lamp-black, for five years, “this to encourage the first to set up that manufacture.” He no doubt continued to keep tavern and had the monopoly of the manufacture of lamp-black until his death, and it also appears that his widow continued to carry on both lines of business. An act to prohibit all persons but Susannah Parmyter, widow, and her assigns, to make lamp-black during the space of ten years, was passed by the legislature in 1724. She continued to keep the tavern and rendered a bill to the authorities in August, 1727, for the “board of the Governor of Canada (sic) and fourteen men and wine.”

The custom of meeting in conference at the taverns continued and the names of the keepers of these houses are given in the journal of the assembly. In 1713 conference committees met several times at the house of Bernard Hardenbrook and in 1718, at the house of Elizabeth Jourdain, who was the widow of Henry Jourdain, captain of the sloop Dolphin, who died at sea in the latter part of the year 1702. The Dolphin was probably a slaver, for Henry Jourdain, in his will, evidently made at sea, directs that sixty-one elephants’ teeth marked H. J., and some gold in bulk should be delivered to his wife in New York, which indicates that he had visited the African coast. His entire estate amounted to £426, which enabled his widow to set up a public house, where she entertained the committees from the council and assembly and “lodged his majesty’s soldiers.”

The Tavern of the Widow Post