Page 15 - Taverns Stands in Woodstock - for Flipbook_Neat

Taylor’s Tavern (1793-1796)

In the year 1793, Elisha Taylor of Woodstock bought of Samuel Matthews a piece of land, containing one hun-
dred acres, on the North Branch of Ottauquechee River, a mile above the village (known as the Jacob Boyce
property in 1869). Taylor paid 100 pounds for the property and he built a tavern and a store which he assumed
at the time would grow into the center of the town. (It has also been stated that the building was constructed by
Artemas Baker in 1793 and managed by him as a tavern until Elisha Taylor assumed ownership in 1795.) Two
or three years later, Taylor sold out to Roger Williams and purchased a property (the building on the that site is
known currently as the Fairbanks/French Block) from Charles Marsh for $300. This was in the summer of
1796. Elisha Taylor rented the “Churchill House” on the Green in 1796 and kept tavern there while he was
building his own tavern (see The Village Hotel). He had his bar in the room that was used as a shop, on the west
side next to the chimney. Supposedly he “not only dispensed freely to others, but also imbibed freely himself.”
The building became a private residence for many years and was owned by several well-known Woodstock resi-
dents such as Benjamin Swan, Sylvester Edson, and Major Issac Churchill. The building was torn down in 1901
and replaced by the current bank building. This house is now the site of People’s United Bank.

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