Kingsport 1844: Black Joe’s Tavern

12) Black Joe’s Tavern
202 Pond Street, The Hollow. Est. 1795

A) Background
Occupying a colonial saltbox near Blake’s Mill Pond, Black Joe’s Tavern is located a stone’s throw past the harbor up Blake’s Creek, just outside the hustle and bustle of Inner Harbor. Named after the late Joseph Brown, an African-American veteran of the Revolution, the tavern is now operated by his widow, Lucretia Thomas Brown, universally known as Aunty ‘Crease. The wooden building is painted bright red, and still flies the flag of the Kingsport Militia.

Something of a local legend, Black Joe’s Tavern has a fascinating history. Joseph Brown’s father was a slave, and his mother was a Gay Head Indian. Enlisting in the Kingsport Militia during the Revolutionary War, Joseph fought with Argus Blaine, and was granted manumission for his service. Lucretia Thomas is a native Kingsporter, the daughter of parents once enslaved by Captain Samuel Turner, a commodore of the Continental Navy and one of the founders of St. Erasmus. Joseph and Lucretia fell in love after the War and were married in Kingsport. In 1788, rising anti-Negro sentiment forced many of Kingsport’s freemen from town, but Joseph’s status as a war veteran and his employment as a stevedore protected him from expulsion. In 1795, they purchased the saltbox, eventually transforming it into a tavern. During winter months, Joe made extra money by cutting ice from the mill pond and selling it to local fishermen.

The Site of Black Joe’s Tavern, Marblehead
(Author’s Photo, 2020)

1800–1830: The Halcyon Years
During its heyday in the early 1800s, Black Joe’s Tavern was a popular establishment, known for a racially-mixed clientele that enjoyed drinking, dancing, and gambling—indeed, the sailors and workmen who frequented Black Joe’s were said to gamble on anything and everything, from pitching pennies against a pewter bowl and wagering “heads or tails” to betting on which goose would be the first to fly from the mill pond. The most celebrated incident regards a bet on whether or not a wagon could make it safely down Molasses Lane, a steep footpath winding down Blake Hill. A local baker accepted the challenge. Although he won the wager, his horse was killed and his wagon reduced to splinters! One of its broken wheels hangs on the tavern wall.

Gambling was not the only reason patrons flocked to the saltbox. The tavern was frequently enlivened by Black Joe’s fiddle playing—he claimed to know a hundred variations of “Yankee Doodle”—and Lucretia’s molasses beer and rum switchel were famous all over Essex County, along with her penny candy and jellied eels, made from fresh eels caught in the mill pond.

B) Personalities
Joseph Brown died in 1834, but Lucretia keeps the tavern running. Assisted by her 13-year old daughter Lucy Ann Brown and two cousins named Richard and Henry Thomas, Lucretia operates a respectable establishment, supplementing her widow’s military pension by baking wedding cakes and selling perfume made from rosepetals.

Lucretia Thomas Brown, “Aunty ‘Crease”
Age 72, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Kingsport 1772.

Combat

Skills
Accounting 55%, Art/Craft (Brewing) 90%, Art/Craft (Cooking) 90%, Art/Craft (Perfumer) 75%, Charm 70%, Credit Rating 35%, Fast Talk 25%, First Aid 30%, History 40%, Kingsport Cult 15%, Listen 55%, Persuade 30%, Psychology 35%, Religion 45%, Renown 50%, Spot Hidden 35%, Stealth 20%, Witchcraft 10%.

Description
Remarkably robust for a septuagenarian, Lucretia Brown keeps her gray hair covered by a kerchief, and favors a pair of half-moon spectacles. She spends most of her time in the kitchen while Luce and the boys maintain the tavern. Aunty ‘Crease has seen it all, and very little shocks her; but she has no love for “Boston macaronis, jumped-up constables, lawyers, and Kingsport witches.”

C) The Tavern
Redolent with the scent of gingerbread, molasses, and rosepetals, Black Joe’s Tavern sprawls across the lower floor, with a wooden patio offering charming views of the mill pond and waterwheel. Carved wooden pineapples adorn the lintels, and the floor bears the dents and scuffmarks of years of dancing. Joseph Brown’s Charleville musket is mounted above the fireplace, its frizzen missing and the initials “A.B.” carved into the stock. He claimed the musket belonged to Argus Blaine himself, who entrusted it to Brown the night “they dragged them goddamn guns up the Causeway.” Three paintings grace the tavern walls: Blake’s gristmill in the snow, the Providence Hill windmill surrounded by red roses, and an amateur copy of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of Argus Blaine. Joseph Brown’s fiddle hangs near the portrait, and Luce has been known to scrape out a few tunes now and again.

D) A Typical Night at Black Joe’s Tavern
The tavern has settled down since Joseph’s death, but it’s still a popular place for older sailors, and families and sweethearts are always welcome. Lately, a group of black railroad workers from the Eastern Railroad have adopted the tavern as their roost, but Aunty ‘Crease forbids Luce from socializing with them—“Here today and gone tomorrow, worse than sailors. At least sailors got a port.” Black Joe’s Tavern is a favorite haunt of the Kingsport Anti-Slavery League, a group of white intellectuals who gather every Monday for beer and chowder. Lucretia enjoys their commerce, but has been known to make sardonic remarks just out of earshot—“You was all so eager to introduce me to that Frederick Douglass of yours, but where was you when Dicky aimed to publish his story, or Henry wanted to be the first colored boy at Miskatonic?”

Black Joe’s Tavern still sees its share of music and dancing, but most of the gamblers died off with Joseph Brown. Roughhousing and indecency are not tolerated, and Aunty ‘Crease keeps a “swear jar” filled with pennies. While most younger sailors prefer more libertine joints like the Three Haddocks, the Eight Bells, the Fish & Ships, or the Knotted Iron, Black Joe’s remains famous for its food, and Lucretia’s rum switchel remains the best in town. The tavern keeps a few colonial traditions alive as well, such as “flip” and “whistle-belly.” Flip is a mixture of rum, beer, molasses, and eggs; whipped to a froth, then scalded with an iron poker and decanted into ceramic cups. Whistle-belly, sometimes called “whistle-belly vengeance,” is stale bread soaked in sour beer and sweetened with molasses. And of course, there’s the Joe Frogger.

E) Lucretia’s Rosepetal Perfume
Every morning Lucretia visits her husband’s grave, bringing back wildflowers and rose petals which she preserves in saltwater. Several times a year she places those petals in an iron cauldron, seals it with clay from the mill pond, adds a touch of ambergris, and distills her famous rosepetal perfume. Sold in small glass vials for $1.00 each, the fragrance is quite distinctive, and is particularly popular among Kingsport brides.

F) Programmed Events
Black Joe’s Tavern offers characters a peaceful location to drink, socialize, and enjoy Lucretia’s cooking. Three Programmed Events are associated with the tavern, all optional.

October 28, 6:00 pm: Tobias Beckett Meets the Anti-Slavery League
Every Monday at 6:00 pm, members of the Miskatonic Valley Anti-Slavery League gather at Black Joe’s Tavern for beer and chowder. A group consisting of a dozen intellectuals, the League is loosely affiliated with the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Although Negroes are encouraged to join their ranks, all present members are white, and women are barred from membership. The dinners at Black Joe’s are not official meetings, but produce spirited debates just the same, recent topics being William Lloyd Garrison’s embrace of women’s rights, the establishment of the “radical” new Liberty Party, and whether or not violence is an acceptable pathway to abolition. Prominent members include Graham Blaine, editor of the Kingsport Chronicle; Dr. William Warren of Mercy Hospital; Cornelius Alwyn, the headmaster of Ebenezer Hall Academy; Reverend Robert Carter Pryce of the Byram Theological Seminary; Reverend Rupert Halsey of the Arkham Congregational Church; Reverend Amos Curwen of the Independent Church of Kingsport; and Professor Annesley Tillinghast of Miskatonic University.

Introducing Tobias Beckett
Tobias Beckett is scheduled to meet his Uncle Graham at the offices of the Kingsport Chronicle on October 28 (see Encounter 14). After the meeting, Blaine invites his nephew to the MVASL gathering with a note of caution—“I trust these men, and they know who you really are! But still, it would not do to be overheard. Remember, you are Tobias Beckett, a family friend.” If the player character accepts the invitation, the Keeper may use this opportunity to introduce Black Joe’s Tavern and inject some politics into the game. In order to have a more active and lively conversation, the Keeper is encouraged to appoint other players to play random members of the League, perhaps responding to Blaine’s prompts about women’s suffrage or Kingsport’s involvement in the opium trade. Blaine’s lover George Clover is in attendance, and Beckett is allowed a Psychology roll to realize their clandestine relationship. The dinner earns Beckett one random roll from the Kingsport Rumor Table and one from the Quiddity Rumor Table. The gathering breaks up by midnight, but Beckett is allowed to leave whenever the player character desires.

October 28-31: A Rose for Rachel Ward
This event occurs if Rachel Ward decides to purchase some rosepetal perfume, whether to beguile Captain Joab or as a material component for her Enthrall Victim spell. The transaction brings Rachel to the tavern to meet Aunty ‘Crease, who stares at the young woman quizzically before asking, “You Peggy’s daughter, aren’t you?” If Rachel admits to being the daughter of Margaret Ward, Lucretia remarks that Peggy made more than a few visits to Black Joe’s “when she was barely a slip of a girl, just like yourself.” It’s clear that Lucretia is hinting at something, but she seems reluctant to speak. A Charm roll opens her up—“There’s some women in these parts just mindin’ their own business, but that’s never enough. And there’s some women that know their roots and yarbs, and some that don’t, if you cotton to my meaning. I ain’t gonna use that nasty word, ‘cause this town’s seen its share of bad things, and not everyone strung from that gibbet was innocent. I got no business with them folk, and the Devil knows his own. But your momma, she was one of them just mindin’ her own business.” If Rachel seems sympathetic, Lucretia presents her with a glass bottle of perfume. “You take this. No charge, girl. I have a feeling deep in my bones—you gonna need it.”

Lucretia’s Rosepetal Perfume
Contained in a glass phial sealed with a cork and tied with a red ribbon, this powerful scent is made from alcohol, rosepetals, ambergris, and vanilla. There’s also a pinch of something “extra.” The phial contains enough perfume for ten uses of Enthrall Victim, and provides a +1D10 bonus die to the witch’s Power roll when casting the spell. It also reduces the corresponding Sanity loss to the minimum value of 1 point.

October 29-31: Mr. Coffin’s Cookie Run, Part 2
It’s become a Kingsport tradition for chief mates to purchase a parcel of Joe Froggers prior to any long voyage. These treats are later presented to the ship’s officers, idlers, and other important crewmen after achieving a significant milestone such as crossing the Line, rounding Cape Horn, or making it halfway to England. After Mr. Coffin meets with Mr. Pynchon onboard the Quiddity (Encounter 11), the chief mate pawns off this traditional duty to his new underling. The Keeper is suggested to run this encounter as a pleasant diversion—a trip to Blake’s Mill Pond is quite lovely, and Aunty ‘Crease is a genuine character. The cookies cost 5¢ apiece, or 50¢ for a dozen. If Coffin mentions the chief mate by name, Lucretia nods her head sagely—“Mm-hmn. I wouldn’t expect that cold fish to be so generous to his boys. You be careful on that ship, young man!” A Charm roll is rewarded with a rumor from the Quiddity Rumor Table.

White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
[Back to “The Hollow” | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 13, Turkey Hall]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 30 October 2021
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]