A Ledger For The Ages
This blog was originally posted on the Historic Annapolis website in January 2018. James Brice kept an account book during the years (1767-1774) that he built the grand Georgian mansion […]
A Garden In Bloom
The William Paca Garden is a such special place in the springtime. We are pleased to welcome visitors back to the Garden as spring brings riots of color to our […]
A Slow News Cycle
Some news cycles are lighter than others, and that was just as true 250 years ago as it is today. Of course, some 21st-century media work to a never-ending, 24/7 […]
Just A Few Queries
I’ve written before (see my November 5, 2020, November 26, 2020, and January 14, 2021 blog entries) about Governor Robert Eden’s ham-handed approach to dealing with uncooperative legislators 250 years […]
A Bicentennial Request for Recipes
Held within Historic Annapolis’s collection is a booklet, Maryland Recipes: in honor of the Bicentennial, printed by BGE (yes, the electrical company) in 1976. This booklet was among countless items […]
Liberty is what we are all contending for…
Two months had passed since a group of Baltimore merchants called for a meeting in Annapolis to consider whether Maryland should continue enforcing a strict boycott of certain British imports […]
A Predictable Pattern
Maryland’s last proprietary governor, Robert Eden, was nothing if not predictable. Early in his administration, he established a pattern of proroguing the General Assembly (suspending the legislature without officially dissolving […]
Unanimous Resolutions
Following her husband Samuel’s death in August 1770, Anne Middleton assumed control of the family’s Annapolis tavern and ferrying business. October 25th was a busy day for her, as that […]
Cracks in the Wall
By the autumn of 1770, serious cracks were appearing in the American colonies’ united front against unpopular British policies. More than six months after Parliament repealed the Townshend Duties (except […]
A Dramatic Scheme
Last month, I wrote about actress Nancy Hallam, who caught the eye of an Annapolis gentleman (most likely Rev. Jonathan Boucher, rector of St. Anne’s Church) at a 1770 performance […]
What’s The Story?
It is for a gentleman to whom I have done (as the Saying is) Ninety-nine good Turns…” I sometimes come across a notice in the Maryland Gazette that leaves me […]
Agreeable to the Association
In September 1770, more than a year into a partial economic shutdown, many Annapolitans were weary but still committed to seeing it through to an acceptable outcome. In the summer […]