I was playing around on America’s Historical Newspapers, a digital subscription newspaper archive based on the American Antiquarian Society’s collection of historical newspapers. My mother’s family has been based in Harford County, Maryland for almost 400 years. A search on “Harford” often yields the quirky and interesting. Havre de Grace, the city at the transition between the Susquehanna and the Chesapeake Bay, was once called Harford Town.

I particularly liked Stephen Locket’s colorful “red and white striped silk jacket” and “blue and white striped cotton trousers.” Major Thomas Yates’s Vendue-Store was located in Frederick Street in Baltimore. Vendue-Stores hosted auctions for estates, land, and market goods, as well as sold sundries.

Stephen Locket’s purchase of 120 continental buttons makes one wonder as to his purpose. Are they for petty sutlery? His own use? Thoughts welcome, as this is not my area of expertise.

Maryland Journal, January 11, 1785. American Antiquarian Society.