Background
Samuel Fraunces was a West Indian, probably of French extraction. His name is inseparably linked with Fraunces Tavern, the most noted hostelry of colonial New York.
Samuel Fraunces was a West Indian, probably of French extraction. His name is inseparably linked with Fraunces Tavern, the most noted hostelry of colonial New York.
Fraunces appeared as the proprietor of the Masons’ Arms on Broadway from 1759 to 1762, but in the latter year he bought the former De Lancey mansion at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets and in a few months it was carrying the “Sign of Queen Charlotte”. A year later it bore the “Sign of the Queen’s Head. ”
In 1765, he left the tavern to establish a garden on the North River “Vauxhall” where for “Four shillings each Person” his guests might see “a Group of magnificent Wax Figures, ” but in 1770, he returned to his inn, which, as the Revolution approached, became known simply as Fraunces Tavern. Here “Black Sam, ” as Philip Freneau called him, achieved a reputation as a connoisseur of wines and a steward par excellence, and the place became a favorite rendezvous.
It was there that the Sons of Liberty met in 1774 before they dumped East India tea into the river, and during the British occupancy of the island red-coated officers babbled over their cups as they “drunk deep” at Black Sam’s table.
In May 1783, when Washington and Sir Guy Carleton met at Tappan to confer on peace terms, the former secured Fraunces to provide the repast, and it was under the tavern roof late in the year that the evacuation of the city by the British was celebrated, and that Washington bade farewell to his officers.
Both the American Congress and the New York state legislature voted moneys to Fraunces for kindnesses to American prisoners and other services to the patriot cause. When Washington moved to New York as the nation’s first president, Fraunces accepted the stewardship of his household.
He proved himself so indispensable that he was taken with the family to Philadelphia when that became the capital city, serving until June 9, 1794.
He died the next year.
Fraunces is known as a restaurateur and the owner of Fraunces Tavern in New York City. During the Revolutionary War, he provided for prisoners held during the seven-year British occupation of New York City (1776-1783) and claimed to have been a spy for the American side. At the end of the war, it was at Fraunces Tavern that General George Washington said farewell to his officers. Fraunces later served as steward of Washington's presidential household in New York City and Philadelphia. Fraunces Tavern, at Pearl & Broad Streets in New York City, is a national historic landmark and museum Fraunces created a tableau of wax figurines and seashells as a gift for Martha Washington. It survives at Tudor Place, the Washington, D. C. home of her granddaughter. A Pennsylvania state historical marker at 2nd & Dock Streets in Philadelphia marks the location of the tavern he first operated after leaving Washington's presidential household. On June 26, 2010, St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia honored Samuel Fraunces by inscribing his name on an obelisk in the churchyard.
Fraunces may have had a first wife named Mary Carlile. He married Elizabeth Dally at Trinity Church, Manhattan on November 30, 1757. They had two sons, and five daughters.
24 August 1784 - 18 June 1852
December 1765 - October 1836
1773 - 1861
6 March 1768 - 30 March 1825
1759 - 1806
Born in 1774.
