Mount Washington Tavern welcomes Albert Gallatin during National Road Festival
Ron Duquette of Virginia will portray Albert Gallatin, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison, during the National Road Festival. He will appear at 7 p.m. May 18 at the social hall of the Addison United Methodist Church and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19 at Mount Washington Tavern, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Wharton Township. (Photo courtesy of Ron Duquette.)
Submitted photo
Ron Duquette of Virginia will portray Albert Gallatin, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison, during the National Road Festival. He will appear at 7 p.m. May 18 at the social hall of the Addison United Methodist Church and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19 at Mount Washington Tavern, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield in Wharton Township.
Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard
Debbie Miller, right, of Carmichaels, president of Friends of Fort Necessity, shares a conversation with park visitor Janet Groves of Middletown, Ohio, at Mount Washington Tavern during the 2017 National Road Festival. The Friends and National Park Service staff will once again greet the public during this year’s festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19-20.
Friends of Fort Necessity and National Park Service staff will once again dress in period clothing to greet visitors at Mount Washington Tavern, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19-20 during the National Road Festival. Pictured during the 2017 festival are Kate Sutton, of Smithfield, (left) and park ranger James Tomasek.
Mount Washington Tavern in Wharton Township will open its doors to greet visitors to the National Road Festival once again, including special guest Albert Gallatin.
Ron Duquette, of Virginia, returns to the area as an historical interpreter of Gallatin, a Swiss immigrant who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison. Gallatin is known as the Father of the National Road for his role in arranging financing and suggesting a route for America’s first federally built highway. Duquette has previously appeared at Friendship Hill National Historic Site, the Springhill Township home built by Gallatin at the turn of the 19th century.
Duquette as Gallatin is making two appearances during the National Road Festival. He will be in Addison at 7 p.m. May 18 at the social hall of Addison United Methodist Church and at Mount Washington Tavern, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19. Duquette’s appearance is made possible by the Friends of Fort Necessity, Old Petersburg/Addision Historical Society and the National Park Service.
“He’s exceptionally good,” said park ranger Brian Reedy of Duquette. “He even shaves his head to get the right profile. He’s fluent in French. He’s well versed in Gallatin’s public and private life. He’s as close to the real thing as you’re going to get.”
Duquette has been portraying Gallatin since 2011. He has appeared at the Swiss Consulate-General in New York for the Swiss-American Historical Society, as well as the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
While Duquette is in Wharton Township just one day, Mount Washington Tavern will be open during the festival for two days — from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 19 and 20. The Friends of Fort Necessity and park staff will appear in period clothing to greet visitors as they take self-guided tours of the tavern, which was a stagecoach stop on the Historic National Road throughout the mid-19th century.
Debbie Miller, president, said the Friends of Fort Necessity are happy to share stories about the tavern and the National Road.
Miller observed,”I think sometimes that part of history gets lost – the importance of that road that built the country.”
According to information from the park service, “James and Rebecca Sampey and their family-owned and operated this imposing brick and stone building. The Mount Washington Tavern catered to the stagecoach clientele and was serviced by the Good Intent Stagecoach Line. This tavern owes its name to George Washington, who as a young man fought a battle nearby. He returned 15 years later to initiate the purchase of the land which he owned until his death in 1799.”
The tavern includes a barroom, parlor, dining room and kitchen on the first floor as well as seven bedrooms on the second floor. There are also an attic and a basement that are not available to the public.
According to the park service: Gentleman — never ladies — entered the barroom where they enjoyed drinks, conversation and games such as cards or checkers. Ladies, children and gentlemen could all rest in the parlor where they would enjoy tea or coffee, find out about other travelers and discuss important issues of the day.
The dining room featured meals served family-style with travelers seated at a long table, surrounded by chairs or benches. Guests were allowed to eat as much as they liked but were often hurried as other coaches would be arriving for meals. The price of a meal was about 25 cents in the mid-1800s.
Food in the kitchen was prepared over the open hearth until the cast-iron cook stove came along. Preparing food was hard work and time consuming.
An evening meal might include chicken, pork, wild game, fresh trout, corn and wheat bread with freshly-churned butter.
Beds were shared with strangers and it was possible to have two or three bed mates during the night. Travelers would arise at all hours to get an early start on the road.
The Friends will have information on how to join their organization, which supports the mission of the park service at Fort Necessity. The Friends host a summer lecture series and will welcome back Rob Velella, an independent literary historian and playwright, as he presents a program on 19th-century author Edgar Allan Poe on Sept. 29.
The park service features additional exhibits on the National Road in its visitor’s center. Admission is free to the park, located along the Historic National Road, present-day Route 40. More information on the national park is available at www.nps.gov/fone.