People, places and memory
Hampton Gate Tavern: a name easier to find than the building
Documented tavern; location and ownership gaps
A tavern advertisement, a widow’s license and a succession of maps preserve Hampton Gate, while leaving the building’s precise location unresolved.
A widow in the record
The surviving deed excerpt identifies a transaction between Caleb Cramer and David Cavileer dated April 9, 1812, for $2,000. It establishes the parties and price; the excerpt alone does not describe a tavern building. David’s will gives his wife Mary the use and profits of the remaining property after debts. A separate list of tavern licenses for the May 1829 term includes Mary Cavileer. These documents put a woman’s business role into a history easily reduced to the names of male landowners. 1812 deed excerpt; will excerpt; license list.
A guardian, and two different Smith names
A notice dated December 30, 1840 offered Hampton Gate for rental. It directs applicants to William Stokes and explicitly identifies him as guardian of Jesse E. Smith. The notice does not state Jesse’s age or explain how the property reached him. Kirkbride’s 1850 directory instead lists Josiah Smith among hotel proprietors on Tuckerton Road. A shared surname and general road location cannot establish that these were the same person. 1840 rental notice; Kirkbride directory, page 137.
Following the symbol across the maps
The 1849 county-map excerpt places J. Smith’s Hotel at Hampton Gate; the 1859 map labels a Hotel separately from a nearby household name. The 1862 township drawing shows a small cluster of buildings, while Scott’s 1876 atlas labels the locality as Atsion property. These are evidence of a changing mapped settlement, not surveyed coordinates for surviving ruins. 1849 map; 1859 map; 1862 township map; 1876 atlas.
Sources and research limits
Rick Franzen’s THS study assembles the documents and competing site interpretations. Its stone-building tradition remains unproved. Mary’s absence from a later census does not establish her death. A full deed chain, guardianship file and measured comparison of original maps would help resolve the remaining questions. The nearby 1860 peddler accusation is a separate story, with newspaper follow-ups that stopped short of an indictment.