Little personal information survives about Elizabeth Empson Battell, a reality that reflects the broader absence of women’s voices in early American historical records. Elizabeth Empson Battell’s birth and death dates are unknown. Like many women of the Revolutionary era, her personal details went largely unrecorded, even as her public influence shaped pivotal moments in American history.

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Known as the “Godmother of the First State,” Battell operated the Golden Fleece Tavern on Dover Green from 1777 until 1792, placing her at the center of Delaware’s political life during the American Revolution and the nation’s formative years.

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She ran the tavern alongside her husband, French Battell, a Quartermaster in the local militia, as equal partners throughout the war. Following French Battell’s death in 1781, Elizabeth continued operating the Golden Fleece on her own, preserving its role as one of the most important civic gathering places in the state.

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The Golden Fleece Tavern—often referred to as Battell’s Tavern—was far more than a public house. During the American Revolutionary War, it served as a critical hub for communication and coordination. The tavern hosted meetings of the Committee of Inspection and Observation, and when Delaware’s state government moved from New Castle to Dover in 1777, it became the meeting place for the Assembly’s Upper House until the State House was completed in 1791.

 

In 1787, the Golden Fleece Tavern once again became the setting for history. Thirty delegates from across Delaware gathered there to review the proposed United States Constitution following the Philadelphia Convention. On December 7, 1787, Delaware unanimously ratified the Constitution, becoming the First State to do so. That defining moment occurred under Elizabeth Battell’s stewardship.

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According to surviving records, the legislators, eager to spread the news of statehood, left the tavern without paying their bill. The unpaid invoice remains preserved in the Delaware State Archives, with a copy displayed today in the modern incarnation of the Golden Fleece Tavern. The tavern continued to play a role in shaping the nation when, in 1790, delegates met there to ratify the Bill of Rights.

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Elizabeth Empson Battell never signed a founding document, held public office, or cast a recorded vote. Yet her leadership, resilience, and stewardship provided the space where Delaware’s most consequential decisions were made. Her story stands as a reminder that the American Revolution was not only carried forward by those whose names appear in textbooks, but also by those who created the environments where democracy could take root.

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Elizabeth Empson Battell’s legacy lives on as one of the Unheard Voices of the Revolution, a woman whose quiet influence helped shape the First State and, in turn, the nation itself.