A Hessian sword, removed from the wall during renovations in the late 1960s and now on display in the main dining room of the restaurant, is just one clue to the rich history of the colonial mansion that is now the Cocke 'Kettle. Local legend has it that German mercenaries had recruited Hessian soldiers into the English Army and they marched through the Blackstone Valley during the Revolutionary War. Some speculate this is how the sword came to rest, hiding for so many years, in our wall.

The original building, an outstanding example of high-style Georgian architecture, preserves almost all of the elements of its original design despite modern commercial additions. The house is said to have been built by The Honorable Bazaleel Taft, a member of the Taft family that figures quite prominently in the history of Uxbridge. Some local sources report that the house was built as late as 1790, although, the land on which the house stands was a farm, owned by the Taft family since the early eighteenth century.

Bazaleel, a veteran of the Continental Army of the newly formed United States, continued to serve his new country after the war for independence was over. He served terms in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the State Senate. His home in Uxbridge became known as The Bazaleel Taft House, until many years later, when it passed out of the Taft Family. The estate was initially opened as The Cricket on the Hearth Restaurant after the renovations in 1968 that uncovered the sword, along with a stirrup, the metal portion of a leather awl and a saucer marked Woods Ware, Wood and Sons, England in the area that once served as the mansion's kitchen.