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Talbot Co. History Pub.

image A TRAPPE ENTERPRISE SAMPLER 1883-1885 edited and with glossary by James Dawson; Unicorn Bookshop 2004; 37 pp with an appendix and notes and glossary; 8 1/2 x 11; illustrated with rare photographs; Excerpts from the locals column of the Trappe Enterprise a newspaper established by two teenagers 17 year old Charles Kemp and 16 year old Percy Mullikin from Trappe, MD. Its take on local news is refreshing and sometimes hilarious; wraps; new; $9.75

DESPOT'S HEEL IN TALBOT by William Paul; Privately Printed; (1966); illustrated by John Moll; 52 pps.; 6 x 8 3/4; wraps; the Civil War in Talbot Co., MD. VG; $5.00

image THE DIURNAL JOURNAL KEPT BY DR. JOHN BARNETT OF ST. MICHAELS, MD.1805-1806 edited, annotated and with index by James Dawson; Unicorn Bookshop 2005; 8 1/2 x 11; 119 pp; with appendix, notes, glossary and an extensive index; well illustrated with original sketches by Robert Horvath and also with rare maps and documents; an intimate look at life in St. Michaels, MD. through the eyes of a young doctor.
     Although his Journal lasted less than two years, Dr. Barnett filled it with everything that interested him, from daily accounts of the weather, medical house calls to see patients, visits with friends and all sprinkled with news and gossip. A social man, he names over 750 people, including slaves (although he never uses that word), free blacks, and all classes of whites from poor, through the middle class to the rich: their adventures and misadventures.
     Some of the events mentioned are rumors of two slave insurrections, an inquest on the suspicious death of a newborn, the whipping of the slave Jess (15 lashes) for stealing a pocket handkerchief, an account of a mentally disturbed man, a fight on a schooner, tea parties, birthday parties, dinner parties, quilting parties, the building and launchings of ships and much more.
     The Journal documents the beginning of what would be Dr. Barnett's 50 year practice of medicine in the St. Michaels area. Dr. Barnett treated everyone from slaves to free blacks, and all classes of whites, from day laborers at the local shipyards to the gentry. Dr. Barnett was one of the first doctors in the county to inoculate for smallpox in 1803.
     His Journal also provides a very detailed look in to the state of medicine practiced here two centuries ago especially in the account of the death of Dr. James Bordley, who was probably killed by the caustic medicines of that day, not to mention the excessive bleedings.
     An appendix section follows the Journal along with detailed notes and glossary and a very complete index, all of which can be used to tease out the information contained in the Journal. The index also includes all of the births, marriages, deaths and funerals mentioned by Dr. Barnett and just about everything else that he wrote about.; wraps; new; $14.95

FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Readin , Writin and Freedom , by James Dawson. "If you've ever doubted the importance of literacy, then take a look at the life of Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, who the world knows as Frederick Douglass. Born a slave in my native Talbot County, Md. he literally set himself free with words he wrote on a scrap of paper". This article originally appeared in the Feb. 2004 issue of The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles.   [ download free .pdf]

JACOB GIBSON'S PRANK , by James Dawson. "This stunt so enraged most of St. Michaels that Gibson was nearly lynched when he landed and came very close to being shot. It really wasn't a good time to play a joke". This article was first printed in the July 2005 issue of the Tidewater Times, Easton, MD.  [ download free .pdf]


See also Maryland History and Trappe History
The Unicorn Bookshop Talbot County history publications