Part Three: Late 1700’s, on the Corner of Hampshire and Congress Streets
Great Britain imposed a variety of measures designed to maximize profits for home-grown businesses and monetize the colonies for the Crown. Trade restrictions, and the Molasses tax, Stamp Act, and Sugar Act all increased resentment, smuggling, corruption, and rebelliousness in Maine.
Anti-government and anti-loyalist actions like the burning of stamps, the vandalizing attack on the home of Richard King, and the capture of Captain Mowatt were plotted in local taverns over bowls of rum punch. The most famous of those taverns was located here and operated by the widow Alice Greele.
It’s easy to imagine tavern keepers like Alice Greele keeping a special barrel of rum as it aged through the years to something somewhat like ‘Chando 12, reserving it for special customers, special occasions, and special toasts. It’s even easier to imagine a jug below or behind the bar infused with spices. Captain Thompson of Brunswick and his militiamen might have celebrated the capture of Mowatt and their successful attack on mast timber harvesters at Georgetown with flowing bowls of shrub or punch featuring a forerunner of Merrymeeting Spiced Rum.
When Mowatt revenged himself on Falmouth by shelling and burning the town, most of the townspeople fled. Alice Greele stayed at her tavern. When a red-hot cannonball set fire to some nearby woodchips, she ran over and scooped it away with a frying pan and put the fire out. With more than 400 buildings damaged or destroyed in the attack, Greele’s tavern served as town-hall, courthouse and more during the ensuing winter.