Celebrity Visitors to the Keeler Tavern

The Keeler Tavern was an important gathering place in Ridgefield during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and a busy stopping point on the inland stagecoach route between New York and Boston. Often, notable visitors – from the U.S. and abroad – passing through the town would stop at the Tavern for conversation, food, and lodging.

Jerome Bonaparte & Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte · 1804

In the summer of 1804, Jerome Bonaparte, the youngest brother of the infamous French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, stopped at the Keeler Tavern with his new American bride, Elizabeth (Patterson) Bonaparte. Elizabeth was the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Maryland, and was often referred to as Betsy by the press. The young couple was en route to their honeymoon at Niagara Falls and arrived in a private coach drawn by four matched white horses. Their marriage was contentious and a subject of much attention in the press – Jerome had been ignoring his older brother’s orders to annul the union and return to France – and so a sizable crowd of gawkers gathered along Main Street while the couple made their way into the tavern. Visit the museum to see where the honeymooners dined during their visit, in what is now called the Private Dining Room.

Other Notable Visitors:

• Aides to George Washington
• Samuel Goodrich, Jr., alias Peter Parley, 19th-century American author
• Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President for Abraham Lincoln
• Columbus the Elephant