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��The Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of Grotou.
��ward the mayor of Lowell. He has been the father of nine children, and has had thirty grandchildren, thirty- three great-grandchildren, and one great- great-grandchild. Mr. Kemp can even now handle the drumsticks with a dexterity rarely equaled ; and within a short time I have seen him give an exhibition of his skill which would reflect credit on a much younger per- son. Among the men enlisted here during that campaign were Marquis D. Farnsworth, Aaron Lewis, William Shepley, and John Woodward, of this town ; and James Adams, and his son, James, Jr., of Pepperell.
It was about the year 1815 that Dear,bom Emerson left the Richardson tavern, and moved down the street, perhaps thirty rods, where he opened another public 'house on the present site of Milo H. Shattuck's store. The old tavern, in the meantime, passed into the hands of Daniel Shattuck, who kept it until his death, which occurred on April 8, 1831. The business was then carried on during a short time by Clark Tenny, who was followed by Lemuel Lakin, and afterward by Francis Shattuck, a son of Daniel, for another brief period. About the year 1833 it was given up entirely as a public house, and thus passed away an old landmark widely known in those times. It stood well out on the present road, the front door facing down what is now Main Street, the upper end of which then had no existence. In approaching the tavern from the south, the road went up Hollis Street and turned to the left somewhere south of the Burying- Ground. The house afterward was cut up and moved off, just before the Baptist meeting-house was built. My earliest recollections carry me back faintly to the time when it was last used
��as a tavern, though I remember dis- tinctly the building as it looked before it was taken away.
Dearborn Emerson married a sister of Daniel Brooks, a large owner in the hne of stage-coaches running through Groton from Boston to the northward ; and this family connection was of great service to him. Jonas Parker, com- monly known as " Tecumseh " Parker, was now associated with Emerson in keeping the new hotel. The stage business was taken away from the Richardson tavern, and transferred to this one. The house was enlarged, spacious barns and stables were erected, and better accommodations given to man and beast, — on too large a scale for profit, it seems, as Parker and Emerson failed shortly afterward. This was in the spring of 18 18, during which year the tavern was purchased by Joseph Hoar, who kept it a little more than six years, when he sold it to Amos Alexander. This landlord, after a long time, was succeeded in turn by Isaac J. Fox, Horace Brown, William Childs, Artemas Brown, John McGil- son, Abijah Wright, and Moses Gill. It was given up as a hotel in 1856, and made into a shoe factory ; and finally it was burned. Mr. Gill had the house for eight years, and was the last land- lord. He then opened a public house directly opposite to the Orthodox church, and called it The Globe, which he kept for two years. He was suc- ceeded by Stephen Woods, who re- mained only one year, after which time this also was given up as a public house.
Another hostelry was the Ridge Hill tavern, situated at the Ridges, three miles from the village, on the Great Road to Boston. This was built about the year 1805, and much frequented
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