The history of the Mother Bailey House at 108 Thames St. is more than just about Mother Bailey. Several other 18th and 19th century residents at the present-day intersection of Thames and Broad streets played notable roles in local, state and national history.

Prominent Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Mumford lived in a “mansion” house between the Old Post Road (now Thames Street) and the Thames River. He owned a fleet of privateer ships that captured British shipping, and as a member of the Connecticut Assembly in 1775 he promoted the construction of Fort Griswold to protect the Thames Harbor.

He was also a planner of the successful capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary War. In retaliation, the British sought out and burned his house after the Battle of Fort Griswold on Sept. 6, 1781.

In 1782, Dr. Amos Prentice, the physician who tended the wounded after the massacre at Fort Griswold, purchased Mumford’s land on both sides of the Post Road and started construction of the largest house then in Groton, a stately center hall Georgian colonial with high ceilings, massive twin chimneys containing nine fireplaces, a summer kitchen in the basement, and a separate servant’s entrance to kitchens and back stairs to the second floor.

Most of these features remain today and should be preserved since few houses with these features remain.

In 1805, Capt. Elijah Bailey, a defender of Fort Griswold, purchased Dr. Prentice’s house and with his new wife Anna Warner Bailey, who as a 23-year-old woman had assisted Dr. Prentice tending the wounded, lived there nearly 50 years. In their time the house also served as an inn, tavern, and Groton’s post office.

President Jefferson appointed Elijah as postmaster of Groton in 1808. Since the house was along the main route from New York to Boston called the Post Road (part of which was Thames and Broad Streets), it was a good location for an inn/tavern. Traffic passing the house was horses with carriages, wagons and stage coaches.

Mother Bailey’s story of fame in the war of 1812 has been relayed many times. Simply summarized: On June 1, 1813, the British blockaded Commodore Stephen Decatur in the Thames harbor and a repeat of the attack and massacre of Sept. 6, 1781, was feared daily. Most residents evacuated inland, taking their belongings with them. About June 10, Mother Bailey, then age 55, was still here and while crossing Thames Street was approached by a soldier seeking flannel for cannon wadding. She immediately dropped her flannel petticoat which women of that era did not even admit they wore.

Her patriotic act received national attention, making her a heroine of the War of 1812, and she was later to be visited in this house by three U.S presidents and other dignitaries.

In contrast to 1781, during June 1813, thousands of state militia men had been deployed to Groton, and Mother Bailey’s tavern became a place where she entertained some of them dancing and singing her favorite song, “Jefferson and Liberty.” Mother Bailey had no children but was regarded as an “honorary mother” to the troops.

During the blockade, her next-door neighbor, Major Noyes Barber, often entertained Commodore Decatur and his officers at his house, now 88 Thames St. On Aug. 10, 1814, Major Noyes Barber, commander of the Connecticut Eighth Regiment, was called into the Battle of Stonington. Not well acknowledged is that Mother Bailey followed her neighbor on horseback, and when the cannon in Stonington ran out of wadding the New York Times and other papers subsequently reported she donated another petticoat.

Major Barber’s fame led to his election for seven terms as a U.S. congressman (1821-1835), all while living across the street from Mother Bailey. One of Congressman Barber’s controversial actions as a Jeffersonian Republican was to cross party lines to vote for his friend John Quincy Adams when the 1824 presidential election was decided by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mother Bailey died in 1851 at age 93, and in 1854 the property was purchased by Jerimiah George Harris, a noted journalist active in foreign affairs. He was an editor of the New London Political Observer and publications in Massachusetts and Tennessee.

Although he travelled and lived part of his time in Tennessee, his mother, Mary Avery Harris, lived in the house until her death. J.G. Harris was here in 1879 when he became president of the Groton Heights Centennial Association that resulted in one of the city’s most successful Revolutionary War celebrations.

It is sad that the City of Groton, which bought the house 10 years ago to preserve it, no longer has enough pride or interest in such a historic house to keep it as a Thames Street attraction. The city is trying to sell it.

The house is a noted chapter in American history and should be restored to educate people about important national patriotic events that occurred in Groton. An organization like the Friends of the Mother Bailey House should be given a chance to do that. Ideally it should be accessible to the public for educational purposes.

Tom Althuis is president of the Groton Bank Historical Association.