New York City, occupied by the British during most of the war, was a refuge for many Loyalists. Nicholas Dean, from Orange County, ran a tavern popular with British officers. Jeremiah Coleman informed an Orange County grand jury in 1782 that he was captured by the British in 1777, then made to work for them as a tailor. In his tavern Dean confronted Coleman drinking a bowl of hot toddy and ordered him out, saying he “did not keep a House for Rebells.” Dean was indicted and convicted for “adhering to the enemies of this state.”

NYSA_JN522-17_P_0929_001

New York State Archives, New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) Pleadings and Other Civil and Criminal Court Documents, 1699-1837, JN522-17, file P-0929.

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