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(he buBdftg whea the toh— I his baoa turrit ytadartckten I !*•«•MOUnI Slaw im TownQuynn’s Hardware Dates To Around 1780; Has Been In Quynn Family Continuouslyw. a. «utnnTilt Quran Hardware Store. IS East Patrick street, has a deartitle la the diatiactioa of ba-tag the “Oldest Store ia Town,” aiooa it waa founded ia the last two deeadee of the eighteenth century. By this time Frederick had developed in the forty years since its foundation Sato a town ef seme IMP iahabitaats. It was a small metropolis which greatly impreossd foreign visitors by the alafaaoe of its brick and stone hsuees, its active business life and the beauty of tbo countryside with its productive farms. The iahabitaats of Frederick at this time lived mostly in an irregular quadrilateral bounded by 8sicond street on the north, Beats street on the west, East street or Love Lane on the oast and All Saints street on the south. The Iowa had some five hundred dwelling houses and seven churches Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, German Rein 17N, operated by Isaac and John Hants, with a large volume ef business, as is shown by the first extant ledger, ef that year.Prortnrterian, Methodist ist. There were a CourtMouse, an Academy and a Jail. .Manufacturing and business wore i carried on by a variety of artis-ans and merchants. Froderi.k was the center of a thriving county of some thirty thousand Inhabitants and business was concentrated ia the town, whore factory-made products could then beIt is not known exactly whenthe Quran store was founded or nr mom.by whom. It is possible that it was begun in the 17N’s as a Mat venture of the Mantx-Quyra families. It was e going ooocoraThis would imply that it had already beta in operation for seme years. The lot oa which tbs store stood, end still stands, was owned by John Allen Quynn. After his death, bis son's widow, Msury Manti Quynn, probably bought, in im. the stare for her sons, Allen, William and Caspar. From then oa, the store was owned mostly by members of the Quynn family. Ia INI the business was tehee over by the grandfather efrk pnmi wwvnhtv*The early ledgers Now among the customers many of the well-known names ef Frederick which still exist today. One very famous name, Benjamin West, could possibly be that of the painter. The accounts ia these first ledgers were kept ia pounds, shillings end peace, then later in both English and American currency. IBs time of change-over was dur ing the War of 1113, for after that period only dollars were used The rate of exchange between dollars and pounds seems to have been about three dollars to the pound, nearly what it is non. A great many things were taken in exchange for merchandise, both goods and services, such things as bearskins, pheasants, tobacco, buckskins, cord wood and work of all sorts, including washing and ironing, hauling, even teaching the children.The store seems to have handled nil sorts ef merchandise:hardware, dry goods, groceries, tobacco, shoes and clothing. Roms Uatsd, unfortunately no longer available at die store include: bed cords, hair powder, kneebu.kles, nonesopretty, sticks and yards of tobacco, sword blades and belts, loaves of sugar, horse locks, bearskins, redskins, umberrollas lt;*Jc), Indies twist tobacco, whiskey, diamonds, segars, pocket pistols, snuff boxes bearingand snuff, bearing trumpets, coffin lace, boot lags. Merry An-drew cards, Hoary VIII cards, Anderson's plus, Batsman'sDrops end many other medicines. They also sold an enormous quantity af books, ail of a serious nature. Books were apparently handled on commission for Matthew Carey of Philadelphia and there is one large consignment valued at £3N. This great diversity of goods continued through the first half of the nineteenth century. In the second half tbo establishment became a real hardware store.Not the least of the unique___lities of this small and ancient business has been the faithfulness of its employes. Four of the present employes, have a total of 147 years of service among them. The invaluable manager, Harry D. Stup, has been there since1110, whi h gives him fifty-twoyears. Carl Walch is next with forty-two, Henry Lightner has twenty-seven and Lucille Baumgardner has twenty-six. It is tbs above all which has enabled a small family business to survive into this present age of flares competition.
Newspaper Details
Frederick Post
Frederick, Maryland, US
Tue, Sep 11, 1962
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Kelly E.
NA, 25 Mar 2024
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