The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-10-05

at different times, were the proprietors.
Mr.. Godding was a well known man in
his day. and lived to green old age.
Colonel Blakey is remembered as a large
man, of military bearing. whose feat
ures were those of the English type.
The Swan. so far as we can learn,
regarded as q well kept, moderate
priced place of entertainment, where
good meals and beds were to be found.
1t was for years much in favor with
theatrical people. Joseph Jefferson,
when a very young man, and a member
os the stock company of the old Mar
shall theater here. boarded there and
long occupied room on the second floor
at the corner of Ninth and Broad. Upon
a visit to this city some years ago he
drove to the tavern. and sitting in his
friend who occupied a seat by his side
the room which had been his.
Edgar Allen Poe was a freauenter of
the Swan, and was ill there for two
weeks during his last visit to Richmond.
This was shortly before his death, which
occurred IN Baltimore, and DR.. Rawlins
was his attending physician.
The depot of the Fredericksburg rail-
road was for long time at the north
west corner of Broad and Eighth STREETS
and that must have been OF much ad-
vantage to the Swans business.
When great political conventions
wehe held here or when the legislature
was in session. or when interesting
cases in the courts attracted many Wis
itors to Richmond, no doubt the old tav-
ern had fair share of the patronage
of distinguished gentlemen. s-
There is a tradition that that was the
case when Aaron Burr was on trial here
(1S0D before Chief Justice Marshall and
Judge Griffin. When the court took a
recess learned counsel and others. we
imagine. sometimes adjourned to The
Swan, or to the Washington Tavern
Qate the st. Claire to take drinks. We
do not know whether the Powhattan
house, now Ford's, was in existence
then or not, but it may have been. II
so, it appeared in diminutive form, for
it's present size is due to several en-
largements that have been made from
time to time-the greatest of which was
made after It came into the hands Of
Mr. Ford. - .. g. -.~.-...
But no matter about that. 1t is GER
tain that the old Swan is an aged strue-
ture, but for decades it has been out of
use as hosiery. 1t does not appear in
the list of hotels given in the city direc-
tory of 1859. The name of tavern has
adhered to 1t, though an effort was
made to change it to ''The Broad Street
Hotel" In this it showed an unchange-
ableness unlike the washington Taxern,
which changed to the Central hotel,
then to the Monument, then to the Cap
! itol, and then to the st. Claire. Indeed,
| it may have had many other titles, but
we believe that through nearly all its
| history 1t was used as a place of public
entertainment. During part Of the
war the Confederacy quartered one of
| its bureaus there. 49,.
The original Washington Tavern
| building has wholly disappeared, having
recently been removed to make way for
Mrs. Atkinson's new .hote, THE Rich
mond." The section that one sees still
fronting Ninth street, is of comparative
" modern origin, and was built, we
think, when the property was owned by
James Lyons, Esq Richmond Times
| Dispatch.