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Deborah Fisher (October 30, 1723 – November 10, 1817), later Deborah Ames and Deborah Woodward, was a tavern owner in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Personal life edit
Born on October 30, 1723, Fisher was the youngest child of Jeremiah and Deborah (née Richards) Fisher.[1]
Fisher was the second wife Nathaniel Ames, marrying him on October 30, 1742.[1] Deborah and Nathaniel Ames had five children, Nathaniel, Seth, Deborah, William, and Fisher Ames.[1][a]
When she and her second husband, Richard Woodward, sued a relative over the will and estate of her father, they hired John Adams as their lawyer.[4] After they divorced, she was known as Mrs. Ames again.[5]
Deborah died on November 10, 1817, at which time her tavern was torn down.[2][6][1]
Ames' Tavern edit
Nathaniel's first wife was Fisher's cousin, Mary.[1] Through this marriage, Nathaniel came into possession of Fisher's Tavern, which was founded by one of Fisher's distant relatives, Joshua Fisher.[7][6] After Nathaniel died, Fisher inherited it.[1]
After her husband Nathaniel died in 1764, Fisher successfully ran the tavern for several years with the help of several of her sons.[1][6][2][b] According to a later family biography, "inn keeping was a favorite occupation with her and she carried natters with a high hand."[1] Befitting her position as an inn keeper, she was astutely interested in politics.[1] Fisher "hated the Jacobins devoutly."[1] As an inn keeper, she was compared to Meg Dods, the innkeeper in the 19th century novel Saint Ronan's Well.[1] She has been described as "a very shrewd and sensible woman of a strong and singular cast of mind."[1]
In 1772, she married Richard Woodward and her home became known as the Woodward Tavern.[2][6][8][1][9] It was an unhappy marriage, however, and the couple divorced by 1784.[2][1] Before they did, however, the convention that adopted the Suffolk Resolves met in the tavern and began their work.
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Fisher 1898, p. 100.
- ^ a b c d e f Hanson, Bob. "The Inn Thing: Taverns of Dedham" (PDF). Dedham Historical Society News-Letter (March 2005): 2–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
- ^ Hanson 1976, p. 122.
- ^ Wroth, L. Kinvin; Zobel, Hiller B., eds. (1965). Legal Papers of John Adams. Harvard University Press. p. 63. GGKEY:69J8DZLH39D.
- ^ Bernhard 1965, p. 42.
- ^ a b c d Fisher 1898, p. 43.
- ^ Hanson 1976, p. 122-123.
- ^ Hanson 1976, p. 147.
- ^ Briggs 1891, p. 29.
Works cited edit
- Bernhard, Winfred E. A. (1965). Fisher Ames, Federalist and Statesman, 1758-1808. Williamsburg, VA: Institute of Early American History and Culture.
- Briggs, Sam, ed. (1891). The Essays, Humor, and Poems of Nathaniel Ames, Father and Son, of Dedham, Massachusetts, from Their Almanacks, 1726-1775. With Notes and Comments by Sam. Briggs.
- Fisher, Phillip A. (1898). The Fisher Genealogy: A Record of the Descendants of Joshua, Anthony, and Cornelius Fisher, of Dedham, Mass., 1630-1640. Massachusetts Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-608-32125-7. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
- Hanson, Robert Brand (1976). Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635-1890. Dedham Historical Society.