Join New Jersey author, Michael Gabriele, for a program on his newest book, Colonial Taverns of New Jersey – Libations, Liberty and Revolution. New Jersey was the “Crossroads of the American Revolution,” and as battles raged, colonial taverns formed the social network that held the state together. Taverns were the stage for the unfolding drama of a colony transitioning into statehood and making decisions about declaring a war of independence. They were the places where the voices of history took shape, used as recruitment stations for colonial militias and meeting places for local committees of safety, which ran daily municipal matters for communities. A haven for Patriots and Loyalists, taverns were the “seedbeds” for the revolution, strongholds for political activities, beacons for travelers, and venues for entertainment, merriment, and libations. George Washington often used taverns as headquarters, where he drafted his many letters and planned strategy with his generals. Taverns were stops for stage wagon travel between New York and Philadelphia—transporting people and commercial goods. The new book focuses on activities associated with taverns in Haddonfield, Bordentown, Burlington, Princeton, Piscataway, New Brunswick, Trenton, Newark, Morristown and all points in between. It spotlights the lives of New Jersey’s little-known colonial/Revolutionary War luminaries such as Elizabeth Haddon, Jacob Hyer, Christopher Ludwick, Cyrus Bustell, Timothy Matlack, John Dickinson, Ann Risley, John Neilson, John Woolman and Henry Lyon.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing, cash only.