Who sent Lyddie to the tavern?

Lyddie is sent to work at Cutler's Tavern by her mother, Mattie Worthen. After her father left, Lyddie's mother started to develop serious mental health issues and had to be committed to an asylum. From there, she writes a letter saying that, as well as her brother Charlie being sent to work at Baker's Mill, Lyddie is going to have to go to Cutler's Tavern; the children need to work to contribute towards the costs of their mother's health care. In those days, it was quite common for children to work. And if some kind of catastrophe should befall a family, as has happened here, then the children of the house would be expected to do their bit to help out, even if it meant performing backbreaking work for little pay. As one can imagine, Lyddie is none too happy at the news from her mother and bursts into tears upon reading the letter.

Who is the first person Lyddie meets at the tavern in Lyddie?

The first meeting between Lyddie and Mistress Cutler is awkward, uncomfortable, and unpleasant. It also sets the standard for their subsequent interactions. Thanks to Mistress Cutler, with her overbearing manner and contempt for those who work for her, Lyddie comes to dislike her new job at Cutler's Tavern.

The first meeting between the two foreshadows how Mistress Cutler will treat Lyddie. When she sees the young girl with dusty hair standing outside the tavern in her bare feet, with her boots slung over her shoulder and wearing a worn homespun dress, Mistress Cutler immediately jumps to the conclusion that Lyddie is from the margins of society. Lyddie is certainly does not appears to be the kind of person that Mistress Cutler would want hanging around outside her establishment.

So Mistress Cutler approaches Lyddie and looks her up and down as if she were a stray dog. She then tells Lyddie to move along, as hers is a respectable tavern, not a township poor house. Lyddie explains that she is the new girl at the tavern. However, Mistress Cutler, as is her wont, doesn't make any effort to apologize for her misunderstanding. Instead, she brusquely orders Lyddie to go to the kitchen, where Triphena, the cook, will tell her where she can wash.