During the War of 1812 it was an inn of local renown; and a Lieutenant
Chase had his headquarters here for a while, when recruiting for the
army. He raised a company in the neighborhood, which was ordered to
Sackett's Harbor, near the foot of Lake Ontario. The men were put into
uniforms as they enlisted, and drilled daily. They were in the habit of
marching through the village streets to the music of the spirit-stirring
drum and the ear-piercing fife; and occasionally they were invited into
the yard of some hospitable citizen, who would treat them to "the cups
that cheer but not inebriate," when taken in moderation. William Kemp
was the drummer, and Wilder Shepley the fifer, both noted musicians in
their day. Sometimes his brother, Moses Kemp, would act as fifer.
William is still alive, at the advanced age of nearly ninety-five years,
and gives many reminiscences of that period. He was born at Groton on
May 8, 1789, and began to drum in early boyhood. His first appearance in
the public service was during the year 1805, as drummer of the South
Company of Groton, commanded by Luther Lawrence, afterward the mayor of
Lowell. He has been the father of nine children, and has had thirty
grandchildren, thirty-three great-grandchildren, and one
great-great-grandchild. Mr. Kemp can even now handle the drumsticks with
a dexterity rarely equaled; and within a short time I have seen him give
an exhibition of his skill which would reflect credit on a much younger
person. Among the men enlisted here during that campaign were Marquis D.
Farnsworth, Aaron Lewis, William Shepley, and John Woodward, of this
town; and James Adams, and his son, James, Jr., of Pepperell.

It was about the year 1815 that and Dearborn Emerson left the Richardson
tavern, and moved down the street, perhaps thirty rods, where he opened
another public house on the present site of Milo H. Shattuck's store.
The old tavern, in the meantime, passed into the hands of Daniel