Taverns
Muhlenberg County, KY, December 24, 1799
Eighteenth-Century Tavern Bond from Kentucky
MDS

[TAVERNS.] Samuel Russell and Isaac Davis, Manuscript Document Signed, Bond for Tavern License, December 24, 1799, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Also signed by County Clerk Charles F. Wing. 2 pp., 7.5" x 12.875". Expected folds; separations on folds repaired with cellophane tape; general toning; very good.

This tavern bond was signed in 1799 to operate a tavern in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The purpose of the bond was to prevent taverns from becoming centers of gambling (?unlawful gaming?), drunkenness (?suffer any person to tipple or drink more than is necessary?), and prostitution (?disorderly or scandalous behaviour?). It permitted Samuel Russell to operate the Russell House tavern, a two-story log house built on Main Street in Greenville, Kentucky.

Muhlenberg County, formed in western Kentucky in 1798, was bordered on the northeast by the Green River and Ohio County.

Complete Transcript
Know all men by these presents that we Saml Russell & Isaac Davis are held and firmly bound unto James Garrard esq. Governor of Kentucky, in the penal sum of Fifty pounds Current money the payment of which well and truly to be made to the said Governor & his successors we bind our selves our Heirs &c. Jointly & severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 24 day of Decr 1799.
The Condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above bound hath obtained a License to keep a Tavern at his house in Muhlenberg County. Now should the said Samuel constantly find & provide in his said Tavern good wholesome cleanly lodging & diet for travellers & stableage provinder or pasturage for Horses for the Term of one year from the date hereof & shall not suffer or permit any unlawfull gaming in his House nor suffer any person to tipple or drink more than is necessary nor at any time suffer any disorderly or scandalous behaviour to be practiced in his House with his privity or consent then the above Obligation to be Void Else remain in full force & Virtue.
Saml Russell {seal}
Isaac Davis {seal}
Teste
C Wing

Historical Background
Formerly a county and then a district of Virginia, Kentucky became a state in June 1792, and it largely adopted the statute law of Virginia. Among those laws was an ?An Act for Regulating Ordinaries, and Restraint of Tippling Houses,? and an act to amend that act, passed by the Virginia legislature in 1779. Finding those laws insufficient, the Kentucky legislature in December 1793 passed ?An Act to Regulate Taverns, and Restrain Tippling Houses.? According to the provisions of this act, persons who wanted to keep a tavern had to petition the county court and obtain an annual license at a cost of five shillings. The statute also provided the language of the bond. The justices of the county court were also directed to fix the rates for ?liquors, lodging, diet, stablage, provender and pasturage? for all taverns within their county. An additional statute approved in December 1799 changed the annual fee for a license to keep a tavern to $10.

Samuel Russell (1763-1835) was born in Virginia as the son of a Revolutionary War general and state senator. In 1794, he married Lucy Roberts (1769-1851), and they had at least eight children. He established the Russell House Tavern in Greenville in 1799 and operated it until his death. His widow then continued its operation, followed by their son, who kept it in operation until 1861. Samuel Russell was also Greenville?s first postmaster, from 1801 to 1809. In 1830, he owned eight slaves.

Isaac Davis (1782-1858) was born in Virginia and moved to Kentucky with his family as a child. In 1806, he married Mary Kincheloe Wickliffe (1785-1870), and they had seven children. He was an officer in a company of Muhlenberg County militiamen who fought at the Battle of New Orleans. He operated a farm with many enslaved African Americans on which he raised corn, wheat, and livestock. He also served as a justice of the peace.

Charles Fox Wing (1780-1861) was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the son of a shipbuilder. He moved to Kentucky with his family around 1790. Wing became the Muhlenberg County Clerk in 1799 and clerk of the circuit court when it was established in 1803. He married Anna Steel ?Nancy? Campbell (1788-1863), a daughter of Colonel William Campbell (1759-1800), in 1806, and they had eight children. Wing continued to serve as clerk of both courts until 1850, when the offices were divided and became elective. He was elected circuit clerk, and his son was elected county clerk.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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7.5" x 12.875"