BELL TAVERN

BELL TAVERN. Constructed in 1833, the Bell Tavern was located on the corner of Main and 4th. (1) It has been considered the town's first substantial structure constructed of logs and partially sawed lumber. (2) A center of society in those early day, patrons were entertained and encouraged to dance by Antoine Sociere, a violinist. On November 6, 1833 Pastor Barton Randall, a thirty-seven-year-old Georgia native assigned to Dubuque as a missionary, crossed the MISSISSIPPI RIVER and delivered his first sermon in the building. (3)

On June 20, 1834 Patrick O'CONNOR was to be hung after being convicted of murder. When a rumor was spread that a group of Wisconsin miners were headed to Dubuque to free him, one hundred and sixty-three men, with loaded rifles formed into line on Main street in front of the Bell Tavern. They elected Loring Wheeler Captain of the Company, and Ezra Madden, Woodbury MASSEY, Thomas R. Brasher, John Smith and Milo H. Prentice, marshals of the day. These men escorted the condemned to the gallows. (4)

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Source:

1. "The Old Bell Tavern," Dubuque Daily Herald, August 21, 1894, p. 4

2. Sommer, Lawrence J. The Heritage of Dubuque-An Architectural View," East Dubuque: Tel Graphics, 1975, p. 34

3. St. Luke's United Methodist Church. "Our History." Online: http://www.stlukesumcdbq.com/welcome/about-us/

4. Price, Eliphalet. "Dubuque in Early Times," Annals of Iowa, October 1865, XII, Online: http://iagenweb.org/dubuque/history/annals/Oct_1865_3.htm