It is probable that the license was procured to enable the firm to
retail the liquors which they had in stock, and not for keeping
a tavern. In a community in which liquor-drinking was practically
universal, at a time when whiskey was as legitimate an article of
merchandise as coffee or calico, when no family was without a jug,
when the minister of the gospel could take his "dram" without any
breach of propriety, it is not surprising that a reputable young
man should have been found selling whiskey. Liquor was sold at all
groceries, but it could not be lawfully sold in a smaller quantity
than one quart. The law, however, was not always rigidly observed,
and it was the custom of store-keepers to "set up" the drinks to their
patrons. Each of the three groceries which Berry and Lincoln acquired
had the usual supply of liquors, and the combined stock must have
amounted almost to a superabundance. It was only good business
that they should seek a way to dispose of the surplus quickly and
profitably--an end which could be best accomplished by selling it
over the counter by the glass.
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