M
arines all over the world celebrate November 10 as the birthday of the Marine Corps. They toast the place where it all started: the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, a name which is forever linked with the Corps. But few know the history of the humble meeting place where the first Marine recruitment was held. Samuel Carpenter was born in England in 1649. His father, the Sheriff of Horsham, was murdered when Samuel was in his early twenties. Not long after this tragedy the young Samuel became a Quaker and moved to Barbados, where he built up a small fortune. As a Quaker, however, (and somewhat ironically) he was fined more than once for refusing to send men with arms for military service. He left Barbados, settled in Philadelphia, and eventually became a Deputy Governor of colonial Pennsylvania. Since he was immeasurably wealthy, he bought a lot that stretched for several blocks, ending at what was then called Ton Alley. He built several warehouses and a wharf on this lot. The wharf (appropriately named "Carpenter's Wharf") was the first of its kind in Philadelphia and later expanded into what is known today as "Penn's Landing." Mr. Carpenter also built a mansion for himself and his family, and several other buildings including, in 1685, the Tun Tavern brew house ("tun" being the old English word for a container of beer.) The Tun Tavern is traditionally known as the first brew house in Philadelphia, and was famed for its excellent selection of beer and ale.
Known for its hospitality and food ("Peggy Mulligan's Red Hot Beef Steak Club" was the name of the restaurant added in the 1740's) the Tun Tavern became a meeting place for several groups. The St. George Society, the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple, St. John's No. 1 Lodge and the St. Andrews Society all held meetings at the tavern. Benjamin Franklin used it as his recruiting station for the Pennsylvania Militia. The 1st and 2nd Continental Congress even met there from time to time. The Tun Tavern was such a well-known meeting place that, when the Continental Congress decided to form the Continental Marines (now known as the US Marine Corps), it seemed perfectly reasonable to everyone that recruitment for the Marines should be set up there as well. On November 10, 1775, Robert Mulligan, the then proprietor of the establishment, was commissioned by an act of Congress to raise the first two battalions of Marines. Recruitment was held at the tavern, and the rest is history. Today, Marines around the world celebrate the birthday and birthplace of the Marine Corps on November 10 remembering its humble beginnings in a tavern on a wharf in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, in 1781 the tavern burned down and was not rebuilt. Interstate 95 now covers the area where the Tun Tavern once proudly stood, but its likeness still graces countless Marine Corps balls, and visitors to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia can even dine in a replica of the Tun Tavern, built right into the museum itself.
239TH MARINE CORPS BALL NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8
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