Darby Borough.

Daniel Bessonett, who states in his petition that the license is desired for the house "where John Rudolph kept on west side of Darby Creek, in town of Darby." This statement would indicate that Rudolph had been landlord of the once noted Blue Anchor Tavern, which stood on the west side of the creek near the bridge. At all events, in 1772, when Jacob Rudolph made application for the court's indulgence at the old stand, he states it is "where his father was." In 1775, Mary, the widow of John Rudolph, became the landlady, and the following year she was succeeded by William Smith, and the latter, in 1783, by Isaac Thompson, when the inn, then known as the "Bee Hive," passed out of our annals as a public-house, although it is again mentioned in 1806, when Archibald Gardener asked the privilege to renew the license there, stating that he "hath rented the House formerly occupied for a long time by the Rudolphs as a public-house; . . . that being advanced in years and having a numerous small family to support, Prays your Honors to grant him a permit to sell Beer and sider." The court after due consideration concluded to refuse the prayer of the petitioner. On Friday afternoon, March 20, 1857, the old large stone building, formerly the Blue Anchor, which was then occupied as a dwelling by ten or twelve colored families, was destroyed by fire.

The Market Wagon. - In 1822, Joseph Warner, of Darby, stated to the court that he then occupied a house and lot on the main street, where Capt. James Serrill lately dwelt, which house he declared was necessary for the accommodation of travelers and "market people using the road in particular." His petition was indorsed by seventy-three signatures. A remonstrance was filed, signed by thirty persons, whose objections to the house were that immediately in the neighborhood were two public-houses which furnished all the accommodation desired; that they also feared that if a greater number of public-houses should be located in the village, "some of them will have to resort to a neighboring custom for support," hence they resisted the licensing of new taverns, "which are useless and may be injurious." The court, however, granted Warner's petition, and continued so to do until 1825, when he having died his widow, Hannah, who named the house the "Market Wagon," continued the landlady until 1833. She was popularly known as "Aunt Hannah." Like Madame Defarge, she was constantly employed in knitting, and was never seen in public without her needles, which furnished occupation to her fingers as she listened to or related the trifling happenings of the circumscribed world in which she lived. In February, 1833, she was succeeded in business by John Smith, who had formerly kept the Blockleyville inn in Philadelphia. In March, 1837, John Smith, who had learned by this time the value of a line of daily stages to a tavern which was the point of arrival and departure, purchased Tomlinson's business and made the headquarters of the line at this inn.

Farmers' and Mechanics' Inn. - In 1831, John Brown, of Darby, presented his petition, in which he set forth that for several years previous to his application he had kept a house of public entertainment in the village purposely for the accommodation of people going to and coming from market; that he was "provided with stabling, hay, oats, etc., a large shed for those who carry their own feed to feed their horses in, supplying his guests with beer, cyder and vitwals when they require it; that he has two spare beds for lodging, and keeping a warm bar-room (in cold weather), where the greater part get all the lodging they require." He concludes by asking that "he be permitted to add the further accommodation to travelers of selling them spiritous liquors, wines, etc." The court granted the license desired, and "Uncle John," who rarely ever spoke, but bowed or smiled on almost every occasion, and whose nod, like that of Lord Burleigh, had a monstrous deal of meaning in it, when he first received license, his head is said for several days to have moved with the regular nodding motion of a plaster mandarin, and his face was one continual rippling series of smiles. His house he called the "Farmers' and Mechanics' Inn." He died in 1835; certainly in that year his widow, Rebecca Brown, was granted the license, which was continued to her until 1839, when the house ceased to be a licensed tavern. The old building still stands just below the Imperial Mills, at the foot of the steep hill which formerly was the east end of the village.

The Buttonwood. - Aug. 28, 1739, George Wood, of Darby, applied for license, and in his petition stated that he had "laboured for some years under almost continued Indisposition of Body, and thereby rendered incapable of taking the necessary care of his plantation, and having a large family to maintain," asked leave of the court to keep tavern in the house belonging to Benjamin Lobb, which application met with the favorable opinion of the justices. In 1750, Wood having died, his widow, Hannah, applied for and received the license, and for twelve years carried on the business, being succeeded in 1769 by Henry Hayes. In 1773, Sarah Pearson kept the house, and 1776 Isaac Serrill, who appears to have been the owner of the premises, received license for the ancient inn, and for the first time the name "Mariner's Compass" appears, indicating that the story of the old Buttonwood is now being narrated. There being no record for 1777, I cannot state who was the landlord of the inn during the fall of that year, when the retreating American army, fresh from the defeat at Brandywine, fled through the village, but in 1778 Henry Hays became "mine host" of the Mariner's Compass, and continued as such until 1786, when Isaac Serrill once more became its landlord. It was during his time that Gen. Washington was entertained at dinner there, and it is related that when he attempted to enter the house "he found the doorway so low or himself so tall that he was forced to stoop." It was