Elizabeth Hamilton, Tavern Keeper

For most of Elizabeth Ranken’s contemporaries, their stories would have ended here. A poor widowed woman facing criminal charges in the early eighteenth century had few options. If convicted she risked imprisonment, followed by fines that would leave her destitute. If acquitted, she would return to a hostile neighborhood with no means to support herself or her family. Her only option lay in remarriage where she would become the legal property of her husband and disappear from the public record.

Elizabeth Ranken, née Hamilton, suffered no such fate. The full span of Elizabeth’s life in Chester County is well documented, her history recorded in extensive detail in the ordinary records of county government. In a testament to her character and ability, Elizabeth turned adversity into opportunity. During her eventful life, she acquired several thousand acres of land, established and operated six taverns, all while raising eight children and working hard to ensure their success. She married three more times, successfully securing marriage contracts that allowed her to transact business separately from her husbands. She was a woman far ahead of her time.

Elizabeth Hamilton’s early history is unknown. Her arrival in Chester County was preceded by her brother, William Hamilton Jr.’s settlement on Doe Run in 1724. The Ranken and Hamilton families were of Scots Irish descent and part of the later wave of arrivals who settled the western “back country” of Chester County. Highly educated, Elizabeth stood out from her Scots Irish peers. While most women of this demographic received little to no education, Elizabeth could both read and write. In addition, she understood mathematics and accounting, skills that helped her succeed in her future business ventures.

In the late 1720s, William Ranken, Elizabeth’s first husband, acquired the rights to a 400-acre tract of land in Fallowfield Township (West Fallowfield) known as the Gum Tree Tract. This tract of land was located near Elizabeth’s brother William Hamilton Jr., who recently established a grist mill on Doe Run, near present-day Doe Run Village. History does not record how long Elizabeth and William Ranken lived on the tract before William's sudden death. All that is known is that by November 1729, Elizabeth was widowed and facing a criminal charge for keeping a tippling house.

On February 24, 1730, at the courthouse in Chester, Elizabeth Ranken appeared before the justices of Court of Quarter Sessions and pled not guilty. Likely supported by her brother William Hamilton Jr., who provided surety for her appearance, the case was held over to the next court term. While the records do not state the reason why, it is likely that the prosecution witness did not appear. The case continued before the court until finally, after November 1730, it was dropped.

Running afoul of the law generally disqualified prospective tavern keepers from gaining a license. Elizabeth Ranken used her time in Chester to escape this fate and to secure the financial well-being of her family. In May 1730, Elizabeth petitioned the same court that was trying to convict her, to obtain a license to operate a tavern. Describing herself as “a poor Widdow” who was living on “the Kings road, which Leeds from brandywine to Conestogoe, & Living neer the Barranes is Very much Incumbred with travelers … to the Great Damage & Detrement of your Petitioner.” Her request was allowed. The petition was supported by many prominent Chester Quaker residents, including the sheriff, John Owen. Generally, tavern petitions were signed by local township residents, but not in this case. The tavern, for which Elizabeth was petitioning, was in West Caln Township near present-day Wagontown on the property of Thomas Moore.

They did not have long to wait; in the spring of 1733 they purchased “at a very great rate” a five-acre tract on the Great Nottingham Road from Thomas George. Thomas established a tavern stand on this tract in 1728 after William Barnes had given up the trade further down the road in present-day Pennsbury Township. While no official name has been identified for the tavern stand in this period, by the nineteenth century the tavern was widely known as the Anvil Tavern.

Once again, Elizabeth, along with her husband, ran a profitable enterprise. For several more years, Richard Clayton received a license to operate the new tavern unimpeded by local grievances. The new location became a center of community life, bringing Elizabeth into contact with the important county and provincial officials of the day. By 1734, the tavern became a locus of civic affairs, acting as a temporary courthouse for the Orphans’ Court and the County Commissioners as they ran circuit in the County.

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By the fall of 1735, the Claytons expanded their tavern business to include a shop where they sold necessities to the local community. As the tavern continued to prosper, Richard Clayton became fatally ill. Attended by Dr. Finney, Richard passed away in October 1735, leaving behind Elizabeth and their infant son Richard Clayton Jr. Elizabeth, widowed for a second time, was left to raise four children and continue the business alone.

Securing the right to administer her husband’s estate, Elizabeth filed the inventory of Richard’s personal estate on February 23, 1736. The document provides a window into the tavern and the luxuries it afforded them.

The main tavern room contained three tables with eighteen “old chairs.” The patrons had their food and drink served on pewter dishes and plates, in drinking glasses and punch bowels. The kitchen was stocked with frying pans, copper kettles, a poultry roaster and a wooden mortar and pestle. There were five beds and two trunks for overnight guests. The total value of their goods and furniture was valued at over £422. Six years after Elizabeth appeared before the court and identified herself as a “poor” widow, she had achieved financial security.

Not long before the death of her husband Richard, Elizabeth’s father, William Hamilton Sr., had moved to Chester County and settled near her brother on Doe Run. Both William Hamilton Sr. and Jr. continued to operate the grist mill. However, unlike Elizabeth’s tavern, the grist mill was not a financial success. Heavily indebted, William Hamilton Jr. and his wife Jane sold his sister the grist mill and the surrounding 200-acre property on August 25, 1736. However, William and his father continued to operate the mill. The sale was likely an attempt to provide fresh capital and put off the mill’s creditors.

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During their joint ownership, Elizabeth and Archibald continued to expand their enterprise. By 1743 they had erected their own brewhouse to furnish beer for the tavern. The tavern, a substantial structure, was built of brick and contained seven chambers, two stories, and two cellars.

In addition, they actively worked to enhance the quality of the furniture and service ware. Silver spoons accompanied fine tea ware, an eight-day clock kept time near a prized an oval walnut table, and playing cards provided patrons a means to entertain themselves in the tavern’s pleasing environment.

In addition to improving their Kennett property, Elizabeth and Archibald made improvements to the Gum Tree Tract and purchased a 400-acre parcel of land in Nantmeal. This tract, in present-day Honey Brook Township, was located on the Paxtang Road. As with her other tracts, this tract proved to be an ideal area for a tavern. Later in 1761, Elizabeth sold a one-acre lot from this tract to William Mackay. Five years later, John Graham successfully established the first tavern on this property in 1766.

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On December 23, 1742, two days before Christmas, Archibald McNeile died. Elizabeth was a widow for the third time in less than fifteen years. As with her previous husband Richard, Elizabeth began the process of settling Archibald’s estate. On April 6, 1743, she signed the administration bond, along with her brother William Hamilton Jr., who provided surety. Because of the complicating factors introduced by her multiple marriages, the final account provides several details about her growing household.

William, Margaret and David Ranken, her surviving children from her first marriage to William Ranken Sr., each received £100 bonds with interest. Her son Richard Clayton Jr. also received the same £100 bond. In addition, Elizabeth charged Archibald McNeile Sr.’s estate for the “Keeping, Cloathing & Schooling” of Hector and Archibald McNeile. According to the account, Archibald Jr. was only two years old when his father died.

The total amount of Archibald McNeile’s estate was valued at over £1064. In addition to the inventory of goods and property, Elizabeth was able to charge the estate over £261 for her work as the estate’s administrator. After paying off his debts, including £1.6.0 as “a Gift given by my Husband” to the poor of Rev. Robert Cathcart’s congregation at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth was now one of the wealthiest widows in Chester County.

This time Elizabeth was in no hurry to remarry. Financially secure, Elizabeth used her resources to expand her holdings. On November 16, 1744, she purchased a 650-acre tract from John Taylor, near her mill property on Doe Run. Now in possession of over 1,100 acres along Doe Run, Elizabeth took an active interest in its development. With a firm understanding of the importance of taverns to the success of local grist mills, Elizabeth helped her daughter Margaret and her husband James Parry establish the first tavern in Doe Run. Their petition submitted on August 27, 1745, was signed by William Hamilton Sr. and Jr., along with Margaret’s brother William Ranken. The local Quakers, including William and Ezekiel Harlan, protested the establishment of the tavern but Parry’s license was allowed by the court.

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After the death of McNeile, Elizabeth had sold the Kennett tavern tract to her neighbor William Webb. Webb leased the tract back to Elizabeth who continued to operate the tavern. Soon after their marriage Nathaniel and Elizabeth purchased a 250-acre tract in East Marlborough Township. For the next four years, the Rings continued to successfully operate the tavern. For reasons unknown, after sixteen years of improving, managing, and promoting a successful enterprise in Kennett Township, Elizabeth and Nathaniel decided to make a change. By August 1750, they sold their lease rights for the Kennett tavern to Abraham Parker.

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Soon after the sale, they moved to West Marlborough Township, likely settling on Elizabeth’s grist mill property. The move gave them direct oversight of Elizabeth’s vast land holdings and brought them closer to her older children. Margaret Ranken Parry still operated the Doe Run Tavern with her husband James. On August 3, 1750, Elizabeth sold 200 acres of her Taylor tract to her son William Ranken. William, trained as a blacksmith, was living in Wilmington, Delaware at the time.

By November 1750, Elizabeth’s son William Ranken decided to follow his mother’s example and operate a tavern. Purchasing the property and tavern rights of Moses Musgrove in West Fallowfield, William successfully received a license to operate a tavern south of present-day Atglen. His petition was signed by his stepfather Nathaniel Ring and his brother-in-law James Parry.

The quiet life of the “gentlewoman” farmer may not have been enough for Elizabeth. Not content to remain in Doe Run, the Rings purchased a tavern and two tracts of land in New Garden Township from Stephen White on April 11, 1753. Located at the junction of the Nottingham and Newark Roads, the tavern, later known as the Hammer and Trowel, was ideally situated for the enterprise. For Elizabeth, the new tavern gave her another chance to employ the skill set she had honed for over two decades. While she would continue to maintain an active interest in the Doe Run community, Elizabeth moved with her husband to the new tavern property.

With the outbreak of hostilities during the French and Indian War in 1754, Elizabeth’s brother, William Hamilton Jr. was forced from the Pennsylvania frontier to return to Doe Run with his family. With nothing but a few personal belongings, William Jr. found himself in the same precarious financial position he was in when he left Doe Run in the mid-1740s. Taking advantage of his sister Elizabeth’s absence, William took physical possession of the Doe Run grist mill tract he sold to her in 1736. Angered by his action, Elizabeth took her brother to court.

Prior to the trial, in June 1757, William Hamilton was placed in the common gaol for his outstanding debts. His public fight with his sister Elizabeth prompted his nervous creditors to have him jailed. In November 1757, just before the trial, William petitioned the court for his release. He stated that he was “now an Old man” who “hath several Children, some of whom are young, and being very much disordered by sickness and Infirmities since his confinement … having nothing wherewith to Subsist on, or pay his debts without some respite of time.” The judges denied his request. He petitioned again in March and one final time in May 1758. In his last petition, William stated that he and his family were “drove from their settlement by the Indians, and have no place of residence now.”

Elizabeth’s first complaint stated that on August 10, 1755, William Hamilton broke into her grist mill and stole 100 bushels of flour. In a case of ejectment filed the following year, she further accused William of taking the 200-acre grist mill tract by “force & arms.”  William, for his part, denied the charges. The case proceeded to trial, which was held on December 1, 1757, at the courthouse in Chester. After hearing testimony from witnesses, including Elizabeth’s daughter Margaret Parry, a jury of twelve men found in Elizabeth’s favor. William was guilty of the stated charges and fined £100 in damages.

On September 19, 1758, Nathaniel and Elizabeth Ring sent a message to John Mather Esq. in Chester. Addressed to the justices of the open court they formally discharged William Hamilton for the £100 damages awarded to them by the court. Whether from regret or pity for a brother she was once close to, Elizabeth’s letter had the desired effect. On that same day, the court accepted William’s petition. He was finally a free man after sixteen months in prison.

The economic strain on her brother William Hamilton also manifested itself in the affairs of Elizabeth’s children in the 1750s. Her son William Ranken and daughter Margaret Ranken Parry, both of whom acquired property from Elizabeth in the 1750s, lost their land to debt by 1758. Elizabeth made one more attempt to help her daughter Margaret’s husband in 1765. After losing the Doe Run Tavern in 1758, James Parry successfully obtained a license to operate a tavern in East Nottingham Township in 1764. Elizabeth purchased the tavern property in 1765 but James lost his license again and Elizabeth promptly sold the tract in 1766. Having learned a lesson from her older children’s experience, Elizabeth’s remaining children did not receive a direct gift of land until after her death.

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Nathaniel Ring submitted his last tavern petition on August 30, 1763, and on May 15, 1764, Nathaniel and Elizabeth sold their New Garden tavern tract to Simeon Woodrow. This marked the end of Elizabeth’s active interest in operating taverns in the county. After over 30 years Elizabeth was finally retiring. She remained actively interested in her business investments, but the day-to-day concerns of a tavern keeper were no longer hers.

By April 1765, Nathaniel and Elizabeth returned to Doe Run. Until this point in her life, Elizabeth’s interests lay in the tavern business. While she acquired a grist mill from her brother in 1736, there is no evidence that she actively engaged or took a direct interest in milling. That changed on May 13, 1765, when Elizabeth purchased, separately from her husband, the Harlan grist mill and 100 acres on Doe Run from her stepdaughter Hannah Ring Gibson and her husband Thomas. The mill that had once competed with and diminished her grist mill, was now under her ownership.

By the early 1760s, the tiny crossroads of Doe Run was a vital cog in the wheat and flour trade that dominated Chester County’s economy. Having secured over a thousand acres of land in the area, Elizabeth’s interest in Doe Run’s development never waned in her absence. While her daughter and son-in-law’s tavern was a failure, her first grist mill continued to find business well into the middle of the eighteenth century. Now settled in the community that had long held her interest, Elizabeth continued to seek new business ventures.

Whatever happiness Elizabeth felt in returning to Doe Run, it was short lived. In 1766 she suffered the loss of her twenty-year-old son Nathaniel Ring Jr. on March 26 ^th . With little time to process her grief over Nathaniel Jr’s death, her husband Nathaniel Sr. died after a short illness on December 10 ^th . Both son and husband were buried at the Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church cemetery.

As his last official act, Nathaniel Ring Sr. wrote his will on November 29, 1766. Having signed a marriage contract with his wife Elizabeth, Nathaniel had no legal right to dispose of any personal or real property that Elizabeth brought into the marriage or acquired separately during their twenty-one-year marriage. If Nathaniel had any misgivings or resentment about this arrangement, by the time of his death those feeling had long since passed. Referring to Elizabeth as “my Dear and Well beloved wife,” he left her a few tokens of his affection. In addition to leaving her a third of his estate to his widow, Nathaniel left several bequests to his stepchildren and step-grandchildren along with his son and daughter from his first marriage.

Nathaniel’s bequests to Elizabeth reveal that at some point during their marriage, he acquired an enslaved woman named Jane. Along with his riding mare, Jane’s ownership was transferred to Elizabeth. Nathaniel required Jane to be freed after Elizabeth’s death. Before her marriage to Nathaniel, Elizabeth and her past husbands employed indentured servants to assist them in their labors. While Elizabeth never directly purchased an enslaved individual, her views on enslavement cannot be known. Jane, however, remained part of Elizabeth’s estate until Elizabeth’s death in 1784.

Elizabeth was made executor of Nathaniel’s will and promptly acted. On December 20, 1766, she appeared on the doorstep of John Hannum Esq. of Concord Township. John, a kinsman of Nathaniel’s, was also named as co-executor. He declined that responsibility. John noted that Elizabeth was in “great” haste to prove Nathaniel’s will. With only five days before Christmas and little notice, John wrote to Henry Hale Graham in Chester. He stated that he “could not posably attend but have no objections to you taking proof of the witnesses.” With that, John sent them on to Chester to probate the will.

It would take Elizabeth until 1775 to finally settle Nathaniel’s estate. Hunting down his debtors, selling his properties, and paying off his creditors occupied a substantial amount of her time. But that was nothing new, she had done the same for her previous husbands. In a male dominated society which viewed her as a second-class citizen, Elizabeth’s necessary and legal actions almost certainly caused her grief and in one notable instance, led to physical harm.

In the process of settling Nathaniel’s estate, Elizabeth was forced to call in the debt of Simeon Woodrow who had purchased their New Garden tavern tract in 1764. Elizabeth sued Simeon and the property was seized and sold at sheriff’s sale on May 26, 1767. Having purchased the property from the sheriff, Elizabeth leased the tavern until she finally sold the property to Stephen Anderson in 1772. Simeon, however, took Elizabeth’s actions personally. In 1769, Simeon “differed with” Elizabeth “so far as to push her down with his foot.” Simeon was a Quaker and a member of the New Garden Monthly Meeting. The meeting took note of his actions and disowned him. Elizabeth was in her right to bring formal criminal charges against Simeon, but she let the Quaker meeting handle his punishment.

Once again widowed, Elizabeth never remarried. Over the next few decades, Elizabeth’s focus remained on her Doe Run properties. With the excellent pasture lands of her Indian Fields tract, raising cattle became an additional business interest beyond her mills and land holdings. With a tavern already situated in the area, Elizabeth saw a need to establish a shop. Finding a likely partner in Joseph Spear, Elizabeth provided the land and resources for Joseph to establish the important business venture. In 1775, Joseph Spear became the first identified shopkeeper in Doe Run Village.

In September 1777, Elizabeth was safely removed from the events that were unfolding to the south. While British Troops marched through her former tavern properties in New Garden and Kennett, her Doe Run properties were safe from the damage visited on hundreds of Chester County citizens. Like much of the county, the residents of West Marlborough Township were of divided loyalties. A neighbor to several known loyalists and the infamous bandit James Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth was staunchly pro-American. After the battle of Paoli, Elizabeth sent over 231 pounds of beef to feed the militia. Her friend and business partner, Joseph Spear, served as a major in the 8 ^th  Battalion of the Chester County militia. Tasked with scouting British troop movements before the Battle of Brandywine, Joseph’s controversial report to General George Washington led to the Americans’ eventual loss in this hard-fought battle. Like Elizabeth, however, he also provided supplies to the American troops during the campaign.

As the cold weather settled in during the first weeks of January in 1784, Elizabeth Hamilton Ranken Clayton McNeile Ring’s life was drawing to a close. The war that had ravaged the county in 1777, formally ended four months earlier. The economy was in shambles and Elizabeth’s carefully accumulated wealth was in a precarious position. Likely in her 80s, Elizabeth recognized that she was “old & weak in body.” With her mind still sharp, Elizabeth set down her last will and testament on January 17, 1784. After committing her “soul to Almighty god who gave it In whoms & by the Merits of Jesus Christ I Trust & believe to be saved” she set about dividing her worldly possessions.

Elizabeth’s first items went to her surviving children and grandchildren, a standard mix of land and cash bequests. To her enslaved woman Jane, who was to be manumitted at her death, Elizabeth gave £30 to “be paid to by my Executors as they see her in Necessity.” In a sign that she mended fences with her brother, or perhaps as a peace offering, she left William Hamilton and his son £50. To her “good friend Joseph Speer Now living at my house” she gave her plantation where they both lived, including £300 to be used towards defraying her debts. She concluded by making Joseph Spear and her grandson Jacob Chandler the executors of her estate. As she had so many times before, Elizabeth signed her name and affixed her seal, likely for the last time.

On March 12, 1784, William Chaffen and David Bailey appeared before John Beaton, Register of Wills, in East Caln Township. They affirmed that the document in their possession was Elizabeth Ring’s last will and testament.  Elizabeth Ring had passed. Her body was taken to the Hamilton family graveyard in West Marlborough Township where it was laid to rest. The fate of her estate, the accumulation of years of toil, lay in the hands of Joseph Spear.

Whether through negligence, grift, or poor economic timing, Joseph Spear proved a poor steward of Elizabeth’s estate. The properties that had once secured her financial independence, by the 1790s were auctioned off by the sheriff to pay the debts never satisfied by Joseph. In 1786 Joseph Spear was noted as poor. He remained in Doe Run until 1800 before disappearing from the county. The full extent of his negligence cannot be known. He never formally submitted an account documenting the credits and debts coming in and out of the estate. In the end, all the financial success that Elizabeth had secured was frittered away.

When noted Chester County historian, Gilbert Cope, researched the Ring family in the late nineteenth century he took note of Elizabeth Hamilton. Documenting her mainly through tavern petitions, his interest in her only extended as far as her husband Nathaniel Ring. Reaching the end of his curiosity, he noted “Elizabeth Ring was buried in a family graveyard at Doe Run, since plowed up. She probably was born Hamilton.” His myopic interest in the male line blinded him to the extraordinary story that lay tantalizingly before him.