But all this was fatal to business, and by spring it was evident that
something must be done to stimulate the grocery sales.
On the 6th of March, 1833, the County Commissioners' Court of Sangamon
County granted the firm of Berry and Lincoln a license to keep a
tavern at New Salem. A copy of this license is here given:
Ordered that William F. Berry, in the name of Berry and
Lincoln, have a license to keep a tavern in New Salem to
continue 12 months from this date, and that they pay one
dollar in addition to the six dollars heretofore paid as per
Treasurer's receipt, and that they be allowed the following
rates (viz.):
French Brandy per 1/2 pt. 25
Peach " " " . 18-3/4
Apple " " " . 12
Holland Gin " " . 18-3/4
Domestic " " . 12-1/2
Wine " " . 25
Rum " " . 18-3/4
Whisky " " . 12-1/2
Breakfast, din'r or supper 25
Lodging per night........ 12-1/2
Horse per night.......... 25
Single feed.............. 12-1/2
Breakfast, dinner or supper
for Stage Passengers..... 37-1/2
who gave bond as required by law.
It is probable that the license was procured to enable the firm to
retail the liquors which they had in stock, and not for keeping
a tavern. In a community in which liquor-drinking was practically
universal, at a time when whiskey was as legitimate an article of
merchandise as coffee or calico, when no family was without a jug,
when the minister of the gospel could take his "dram" without any
breach of propriety, it is not surprising that a reputable young
man should have been found selling whiskey. Liquor was sold at all
groceries, but it could not be lawfully sold in a smaller quantity
than one quart. The law, however, was not always rigidly observed,
and it was the custom of store-keepers to "set up" the drinks to their
patrons. Each of the three groceries which Berry and Lincoln acquired
had the usual supply of liquors, and the combined stock must have
amounted almost to a superabundance. It was only good business
that they should seek a way to dispose of the surplus quickly and
profitably--an end which could be best accomplished by selling it
over the counter by the glass. Lawfully to do this required a tavern
license; and it is a warrantable conclusion that such was the chief
aim of Berry and Lincoln in procuring a franchise of this character.
We are fortified in this conclusion by the coincidence that three
other grocers of New Salem--William Clary, Henry Sincoe, and George
Warberton--were among those who took out tavern licenses. To secure
the lawful privilege of selling whiskey by the "dram" was no doubt
their purpose; for their "taverns" were as mythical as the inn of
Berry and Lincoln.
At the granting of a tavern license, the applicants therefor were
required by law to file a bond. The bond given in the case of Berry
and Lincoln was as follows:
Know all men by these presents, we, William F. Berry, Abraham
Lincoln and John Bowling Green, are held and firmly bound unto
the County Commissioners of Sangamon County in the full sum
of three hundred dollars to which payment well and truly to
be made we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and
administrators firmly by these presents, sealed with our seal
and dated this 6th day of March A.D. 1833. Now the condition
of this obligation is such that Whereas the said Berry &
Lincoln has obtained a license from the County Commissioners
Court to keep a tavern in the Town of New Salem to continue
one year. Now if the said Berry & Lincoln shall be of good
behavior and observe all the laws of this State relative to
tavern keepers--then this obligation to be void or otherwise
remain in full force.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN [Seal]
WM. F. BERRY [Seal]
BOWLING GREEN [Seal]
This bond appears to have been written by the clerk of the
Commissioners' Court; and Lincoln's name was signed by some one other
than himself, very likely by his partner Berry.
[Illustration: A WAYSIDE WELL NEAR NEW SALEM, KNOWN AS "ANN RUTLEDGE'S
WELL."]