Chapter 6 No.6

Relation of George Washington to the Liquor Traffic

In approaching the study of the character of Washington a writer should always remember the veneration in which his memory is justly held among Americans. The reader should remember that public sentiment was then at a very low ebb with regard to the liquor traffic and neither the drinker nor seller was discredited by his neighbors as he is today.

The use of liquor played an important part in the life of a Virginia planter a century and a half ago. At all the cross-roads and court-houses there sprang up taverns or ordinaries, and in these the men of a neighborhood would gather and over a bowl of punch or a bottle of wine, the expense of which they clubbed to share, would spend their evenings. Into this life Washington eagerly entered. As a mere lad his ledger records expenditures:

"By a club in Arrack at Mr. Gordon's 2/6;

Club of a bottle of Rhenish at Mitchel's 1/3;

To part of the club at Port Royal 1/;

To cash in part for a bowl of fruit punch 1/7-1/2."

When Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington in 1753 with a letter to M. de St. Pierre, the French commander, to remonstrate against the erection of French forts, one of the incidents of his journey was a complimentary visit to the Indian queen, Aliquippa, who resided at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogany rivers, in the southeastern part of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania. She had complained of his neglect in not calling upon her when on his outward journey. Young Washington explained the circumstances that prevented him, and with an apology he gave her a coat and a bottle of rum. The latter, Washington wrote, "was thought the much better present of the two," and harmony of feeling was restored. Aliquippa, who was a woman of great energy and had performed some brave deeds, was held in deep respect, amounting almost to reverence, by the Indians in western Pennsylvania.

In 1766 Washington shipped an unruly negro to the West Indies and wrote the captain of the vessel as follows:

"With this letter comes a negro (Tom) which I beg the favor of you to sell in any of the islands you may go to, for whatever he will fetch, and bring me in return for him

One hhd of best molasses

One ditto of best rum

One barrel of lymes, if good and cheap

One pot of tamarinds, containing about 10 lbs.

Two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats, about 5 lbs each.

And the residue, much or little in good old spirits."

Shortly before this time Washington was a candidate for the legislature. There was then a Virginia statute forbidding treating the voters, or bribery at elections, and declaring illegal all elections thus obtained, yet the following is the bill of the liquors Washington furnished the voters of Frederick:

40 gallons of Rum punch a 3/6 per galn. 7.00

15 gallons of wine a 10 per galn. 7.10

Dinner for your friends 3.00

13 1/2 gallons of wine a 10/ 6.15

13 gallons of beer a 1/3 4-4/2

8 qts Cider Royal a 1/6 .16-3

Punch 3-9

30 galls strong beer a 8d. per gall. 1-0

26 gall. best Barbadoes rum 5/ 6.10

12 lbs. S Fefd. Sugar 1/6 .18-9

3 galls & 3 qts of beer 1/per gall. 3-9

10 bowls of punch 2/6 each 1.50

9 half pints of rum 7? d. each 5-7-1

1 pint of wine 1-6

After the election was over, Washington wrote Wood that "I hope no exception was taken to any that voted against me, but that all were alike treated, and all had enough. My only fear is that you spent with too sparing a hand." It is hardly necessary to say that such methods reversed the former election: Washington secured three hundred and ten votes, and Swearington received forty-five. From this time until he took command of the army Washington was a burgess. Once again he was elected from Frederick county, and then, in 1765, he stood for Fairfax, in which Mount Vernon was located. Here he received 208 votes, his colleague getting 148, and in the election of 1768 he received 185, and his colleague only 142. Washington spent between ￡40 and ￡75 at each of these elections, and usually gave a ball to the voters on the night he was chosen. Some of the miscellaneous election expenses noted in his ledger are:

54 galls of strong beer

52 dro. of Ale

￡1.0.0. to Mr. John Muir for his fiddler,

For cakes at the election ￡7.11.1.

Bushrod Washington, made a real estate investment that did not suit his uncle, and Washington wrote him as follows:

"Now let me ask you what your views were in purchasing a Lott in a place which, I presume, originated with and will end in two or three Gin shops, which probably will exist no longer than they serve to ruin the proprietors, and those who make the most frequent applications to them."

He expressed an adverse opinion of the liquor business at one time, somewhat in the same line, in a contract he made with a plantation overseer:

"And whereas, there are a number of whiskey stills very contiguous to the said Plantations, and many idle, drunken and dissolute people continually resorting to the same, priding themselves in debauching sober and well-inclined persons, the said Edd Violet doth promise as well for his own sake as his employers to avoid them as he ought."

To the contrary, in hiring a gardener it was agreed as part of the compensation that the man should have "four dollars at Christmas with which he may be drunk for four days and nights; two dollars at Easter to effect the same purpose; two dollars at Whitsuntide to be drunk for two days; a dram in the morning, and a drink of grog at dinner at noon."

At Valley Forge he complained to Congress of the mortifications they (even the general officers) must suffer, when they cannot invite a French officer, a visiting friend, or a traveling acquaintance, to a better repast than stinking whiskey (and not always that) and a bit of beef without vegetables.

In the New York State Library at Albany is a statement in Washington's handwriting of his household expenses for three months at the beginning of his first term as President, from May 24 to August 24, 1789; the total expense for that time was ￡741 and 9 shillings, of which the following items were for liquor:

Pounds Shillings Pence

Madeira 43 18

Claret 21 11

Champaign 18

Van de Graves

Cherry 2 5

Arack 2 16

Spirits 12

Brandy 6 6

Cordials 5 6

Porter 16 8

Beer 34 14 6

Cider 4 10

In the same library is a memorandum of Washington's opinion of his general officers, prepared in the winter of 1791-2. From this it seems that he considered the drinking habit of his subordinates, even at that time, in appointing a successor to General Arthur St. Clair, who had just then been defeated by the Indians:

"Majr General (By Brevet) Wayne.

"More active and enterprising than judicious no economist it is feared-open to flattery-vain-easily imposed upon and liable to be drawn into scrapes. Too indulgent [the effect perhaps of some of the causes just mentioned] to his officers and men. Whether sober-or a little addicted to the bottle, I know not.

"Majr General (By Brevet) Weedon.

"Not supposed to be an officer of much resource, though not deficient of a competent share of understanding-rather addicted to ease and pleasure, and no enemy it is said to the bottle-never has had his name brot forward on this account.

"Major General (By Brevet) Hand.

"A sensible and judicious man, his integrity unimpeached, and was esteemed a pretty good officer. But if I recollect rightly not a very active one. He has never been charged with intemperance to my knowledge. His name has rarely been mentioned under the present difficulty of choosing an officer to command, but this may, in a great measure be owing to his being at a distance.

"Majr General (By Brevet) Scott.

"Brave and means well; but is an officer of inadequate abilities for extreme command, and by report is addicted to drinking."

In 1795, when the United States passed an excise law, distilling became particularly profitable, and a still was set up on his plantation. In this whiskey was made from "rye" chiefly, and Indian corn in a certain proportion, and this not merely used much of the estate's product of those two grains, but quantities were purchased from elsewhere. In 1798 the profit from the distillery was three hundred and forty-four pounds, twelve shillings, and seven and three-quarter pence, with a stock carried over of seven hundred and fifty-five and one-quarter gallons; but this was the most successful year. Cider, too, was made in large quantities.

Washington resigned his command December 23, 1783, and went back to his estate, which had suffered from his eight years' absence. To his friends he offered unpretentious hospitality. "My manner of living is plain," he said, "a glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready and such as will be content to partake of them are always welcome."

At Washington's official dinners ordinarily a boiled leg of mutton was served, followed by a glass of wine. The silver service was massive, being valued at $30,000, but the menu was very simple. On a great occasion it included soup, fish roasted and boiled, meats, fowls, and so on, and for dessert, apple pies, puddings, ice cream, jelly, and fruit. After the cloth had been removed the President filled his glass and drank the health by name of each one present.

Samuel Stearns, who was a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon, thus described the habits of Washington:

"He is very regular, temperate and industrious; rises in winter and summer at the dawn of day; generally reads or writes some time before breakfast; breakfasts about seven o'clock on three small Indian hoe cakes, and as many dishes of tea, and often rides immediately to his different farms, and remains with his laborers until a little after two o'clock, then returns and dresses. At three he dines, commonly on a single dish, and drinks from half a pint to a pint of Madeira wine. This with one small glass of punch, a draught of beer, and two dishes of tea (which he takes half an hour before the setting of the sun) constitutes his whole sustenance until the next day. But his table is always furnished with elegance and exuberance; and whether he has company or not, he remains at the table an hour in familiar conversation, then every one is called upon to give some absent friend a toast. After he has dined, he applies himself to business, and about nine retires to rest; but when he has company he attends politely upon them till they wish to withdraw."

Relation of Other Prominent Americans to the Liquor Traffic

Among the early prominent American characters the total abstainer was a rare article, and the prohibitionist almost unknown. Governor John Winthrop was probably a total abstainer, and the romantic character of John Smith seems quite clear from the drinking habits of the period. "Never was warrior known," says an old writer, "from debts and dice and oaths so free," and his own words as to the object of life show a loftiness of purpose almost unknown among his contemporaries, and should be preserved for the example they furnish to posterity. "Seeing we are not born for ourselves but each to help the other, and our abilities are much alike at the hour of our birth and the minute of our death; seeing our good deeds and our bad by faith in Christ's merits is all we have to carry our souls to heaven or hell; seeing honor is our lives' ambition and our ambition after death to have an honorable memory of our life; and seeing by no means we would be abated of the dignities and glories of our predecessors let us imitate their virtues so as to be worthily their successors." So wrote the man of whom old Thomas Fuller said, "He had a prince's heart in a beggar's purse," and to whom one of his comrades, a survivor of the starving time, paid this touching tribute: "Thus we lost him that in all our proceedings made justice his first guide-ever hating baseness, sloth, pride and indignity more than any dangers; that never allowed himself more than his soldiers with him; that upon no occasion would he send them where he would not go himself; that would never see us want what he either had or could by any means get us; that would rather want than borrow or starve than not pay; that loved actions more than words and hated falsehood and covetousness worse than death; whose adventures were our lives and whose loss our deaths."

But these are two of the few oases in the dreary desert of early American drunkenness. Most prominent men of the time drank to excess. The early colonial grandees furnish a number of quaint pictures. Governor William Cosby, of New York, was admitted to the Humdrum Club on January 24, 1733, over many bowls of punch made from peculiar and valuable receipts, known only to the members of the club, which was potent in its effects even over a well seasoned veteran like the late Governor of Minorca. Sir Danvers Osborne, another governor, committed suicide. The colony of New York had been treated to a variety of rulers since the English had taken possession of the Dutch colony. They were endowed with every vice known. They were fortunately spared the dominion of a madman who succeeded a dipsomaniac in the chief office of the province. Governor Clinton immured himself in the fort and spent his time with his bottle and a little trifling circle who lived on his bounty. Governor Hunter was a man of violent passion. After he had had one of his fits an Indian said to an officer, "The governor is drunk." "No," said the officer, "he never drinks any strong liquor." The brave replied, "I do not mean he is drunk with rum, he was born drunk."

In 1688, in the midst of the rejoicings, the news came that the Queen, the second wife of James, had been blessed with a son, who became heir to the throne. The event was celebrated the same evening by bonfires in the streets and a feast at the city hall. At the latter, Mayor Van Courtlandt became so hilarious, that he made a burnt sacrifice to his loyalty of his hat and periwig, waving the burning victims over the banquet table on the point of his straight sword. And when, in March, 1691, Governor Sloughter arrived, and Leisler sent him a letter loyally tendering to him the fort and province, that functionary, under the influence of the aristocratic leaders, answered it by sending an officer to arrest the "usurper" and Milborne and six of the "inferior insurgents" on a charge of high treason. They were taken to prison, and when they were arraigned, the two principal offenders, denying the authority of the court, refused to plead, and appealed to the King. They were condemned and sentenced to death, but Sloughter, who in his sober moments was just and honest, refused to sign the death warrant until he should hear from the King. The implacable enemies of the "usurper," determined on causing his destruction, invited the governor to a dinner party on Staten Island on a bright day in May. One of them carried to the banquet a legally drawn death warrant, and when the governor had been made stupid with liquor, he was induced to sign the fatal paper. It was sent to the city that evening, and on the following morning Leisler and Milborne were summoned to prepare for execution. Leisler sent for his wife, Alice, and their older children, and after a sorrowful parting with them, he and his son-in-law were led to the gallows in a drenching rain. They confessed their errors of judgment but denied all intentional wrongdoing. The blamelessness of their lives confirmed their declarations of innocence. Before Sloughter was permitted to recover from his debauch, they were hanged. It was foul murder. The governor was tortured with remorse for his act, and died of delirium tremens three months afterward.

When William Penn, in 1682, drew up his code of laws for Pennsylvania he made the drinking of healths and the selling of liquor to Indians crimes. His opinion as to drinking healths must have changed between 1682 and 1710 when Dean Swift met Penn and passed a lively evening. He writes Stella, "We sat two hours drinking as good wine as you do," and it is the strongest proof of Penn's lovableness that after drinking good wine with him for two hours that night, Swift the next morning has no word of dispraise for his companion.

One of the oddest characters in early Virginia history was Dr. John Pott, who was at one time governor of Virginia, and is described as a Master of Arts, well practiced in chirurgery and physic and expert also in distilling waters, besides many other ingenious devices. It seems he was also very fond of tasting distilled waters, and at times was more of a boon companion than quite comported with his dignity, especially after he had come to be governor. A letter of George Sandys says of Dr. Pott: "At first he kept too much company with his inferiors who hung upon him while his good liquor lasted." After Harvey's arrival Ex-Governor Pott was held to answer two charges. One was for having abused the power entrusted to him by pardoning a culprit who had been convicted of wilful murder, the other was for stealing cattle. The first charge was a common notoriety; on the second Doctor Pott was tried by a jury and found guilty. The ex-governor was not a pardoner of felony but was a felon himself. The affair reads like a scene in comic opera. Some reluctance was felt about inflicting vulgar punishment upon an educated man of good social position, so he was not sent to jail but confined in his own house, while Sir John Harvey wrote to the King for instructions in the matter. He informed the King that Doctor Pott was by far the best physician in the colony and indeed the only one skilled in epidemics and recommended that he should be pardoned. Accordingly the doctor was set free and forthwith resumed his practice.

No one was better disposed toward a moderate conviviality than Franklin himself. In that old house on High street where he lived and died there remains now in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society that delightful punch-keg which rolled so easily from guest to guest, and which carried the generous liquor generously around Franklin's board. A curious little keg this, pretty, portly, and altogether unlike other punch-bowls left us from colonial days. Among the china was a fine large jug for beer, to stand in the cooler. Franklin's wife was frugal, and it pleased him to set aside her customary frugality on the blithesome occasions when the punch-keg went rolling round.

In 1768, when the advent of the new governor made necessary the election of a new House of Burgesses, Jefferson already craved the opportunity to take an active part in affairs, and at once offered himself as a candidate for Albemarle county. He kept open house, distributed limitless punch, stood by the polls politely bowing to every voter who named him according to the Virginia fashion of the day, and had the good fortune, by these meritorious efforts, to win success. In 1794 Jefferson very nearly sympathized with the Whiskey Rebellion. He called the excise law an infernal one. In his gloomy views of the War of 1812 he asks what Virginia can raise, and answers his question thus: "Tobacco? It is not worth the pipe it is smoked in. Some say whiskey, but all mankind must become drunkards to consume it." While Chastellux, in his travels, tells of discussing a bowl of punch with Jefferson at Monticello, Jefferson never seems to have drunk ardent spirits or strong wine, and in his last illness his physician could not induce him to take brandy strong enough to benefit him.

While Hamilton favored the whiskey tax and caused the Whiskey Rebellion thereby, he nevertheless was in favor of temperance, as is shown by the circulars he issued to the army.

In his early youth Andrew Jackson was gay, careless, rollicking, fond of drinking, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and all kinds of mischief; his habits moderated in later years and in his old age Jackson became religious.

The son of Dolly Madison by her first marriage, Payne Todd, was a continual financial burden to her even after the death of President Madison, and by his dissipation broke his mother's heart, embittered her old age, and ruined her financially as if to show that even the wife of the President was not exempt from the burdens of any mother of a drunkard. When Tyler became President he lived precisely as he had done on his Virginia plantation. He invariably invited visitors to visit the family dining-room, and "take something," from a sideboard well garnished with decanters of ardent spirits and wine, with a bowl of juleps in the summer, and of eggnog in the winter.

One of the most picturesque figures of this period was General Sam Houston, who was a prominent figure at Washington during the Taylor administration. Because of trouble with his wife he resigned the governorship of Tennessee, went into the Cherokee country, adopted the Indian costume and became an Indian trader and so dissipated that his Indian name was "Big-drunk." He wore a waistcoat made from the skin of a panther dressed with the hair on, and was conspicuous in the Senate for whittling soft pine sticks, which were provided him by the seargeant-at-arms. He was the best customer supplied from his own whiskey barrel, until one day after a prolonged debauch he heard that the Mexicans had taken up arms against their revolted province. He cast off his Indian attire, dressed like a white man, and never touched a drop of any intoxicating beverage afterwards.