Chester Pelsang

This project examines the world of women tavernkeepers in colonial Williamsburg during the revolutionary era. Early historical works, such as Peter Thompson and David Conroy, study the political and economic spheres of taverns, while later works by Sharon Salinger and Sarah Meacham argue the importance of examining the social and material culture. A continual theme throughout tavern studies is the notion that women during this time lost power in the public sphere. The power of purchase and ability to obtain lines of credit were given only to white men, eliminating many opportunities for women to operate freely in the community. Yet, there are exceptions. An examination of the lives of Christiana Campbell and Jane Vobe complicates conventional understanding that women tavernkeepers worked under their husbands’ names. I argue that these women were not only operating taverns as owner-proprietor, but they also conducted themselves as professionals. Meaning, they had substantial training, they moved geographically to pursue the same form of employment, and they engaged legally with the community. By sifting through family wills, land deeds, articles from the Virginia Gazette, and tavern inventory records, I discovered Campbell and Vobe moved their taverns, owned multiple establishments, and were deeded to the property under their own names. Viewing these women tavernkeepers as professionals allows labor historians who specialize in gender studies to examine a time thought to be void of female professionalship.

Chester Pelsang is a second-year M.A. History student in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University. His research interests include transatlantic British-Caribbean and colonial revolutionary America. Chester's current research explores tavern cultures of the larger Atlantic world during the age of British imperial power. Chester holds a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.