14. Dined with Mrs. Ambler & Spent the Evening at the Coffee House.
On 23 Jan. 1772 an anonymous advertisement appeared in Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette, informing the public that “private lodgings may be had for seven or eight Gentlemen, during the Assembly, at the Coffeehouse, near the Capitol.” This coffeehouse is probably the one “in the main Street” that Mrs. Campbell had briefly occupied before moving to Waller Street and possibly the one that Richard Charlton had operated as a tavern during the late 1760s (Va. Gaz., P&D, 16 May 1771; see main entries for 4 May 1768 and 2 May 1771). In the fall of 1774 John Webb of Halifax, N.C., advertised “For sale That valuable and well situated Lot in Williamsburg where the Coffeehouse is now kept,” but it apparently was not sold until 1777 or later (Va. Gaz., P&D, 13 Oct. 1774 and P, 26 Sept. 1777).