The 24th Annual 18th Century Market Fair April 28, 2018.
We arrived early at 8:30am to a wet parking area in the grass from the previous day's rain. Some of the vehicles had difficulty making it up the hill. The temperature was 45°F degrees with clear skies. With those conditions, we knew it would be a beautiful day to meet all the sutlers selling their wares and providing entertainment.
The Fort Frederick wall can be seen behind the sutlers selling their wares.
The Fair was open too all military units, Native American Indians, soldiers, ladies and gentleman, longhunters, traders and servants as long as they would abide by the strict rules and regulations appropriate to the period from 1730 to 1790. The vendors has to wear proper attire and use shelters and equipment. Period lighting had to be used for illumination in camp.
Jymm Hoffman from Hoffman's Forge LLC from Ambridge, Pennsylvania has the only blacksmith forge on wheels at the show. He was set up at the entrance of the show.
We next stopped into the booth with Sue Skinner and Joe Jostes of SJ Pottery to admire all the mochaware, redware, salt glazed pottery and Leeds plates that the studio produces. We have written about the art of producing Mochaware on our website and shown all the patterns that are produced. Sue and Joe traveled all the way from Salesville, Arkansas. Their next show will be at Feast of the Hunter's Moon in Lafayette, Indiana.
Co-owner Joey Gross holding Adeline Carlson. Adeline's mother Montana is to the right of the picture out of sight. Their business is Sanctuary Traders from Tinley Park, Illinois.
Traveling along the road pulling a cart full of tinware was Scott Baylor from Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. We noticed his prices were quite reasonable. Tinsmiths have had difficulty in recent years aging the tin because of the makeup of the tin after the removal of lead. One from Walkersville Maryland actually left the business in disgust. Scott insisted that the chemical manufacturers came to the rescue of tinsmiths with a new chemical bath to age the tin. He said vendors want the new tin as much as they want the aged tin look. He offered his services in repairing any tin products we might give him.
Tinsmith Scott Baylor from Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania traveling throughout Fort Frederick just as a colonial tinsmith would in colonial times, pulling his tin wares in a cart.
Two booths down was Grandma's Soap and Stuff from Sheridan, Indiana. Grandma was yelling out the type of soap from behind the curtain as Grandpa yelled out the number of bars of soap on the table. They wanted to make sure there was enough to keep the crowds happy. Some of the soaps offered were cherry almond, egyptian musk, chamomile and apricot, grandma's shampoo soap, lilac, raspberry sage, and several other fragrances.
Silas Moore the Ratcatcher with his two cages rats Rebecca who was named after his wife and and Charlotte named after the Queen.
At Apple Cart Creations from Greentown, Indiana, Karen Heinlan's husband was showing a vendor how to turn a post on a lathe using foot motions. The vendor commented how much work it took to make a post. They product historically accurate hand knitted and hand woven items used in reenactments. Apple Cart Creations also sells knives, lavender sachets, and wooly sheep.
The 18th Century band marched past the crowd playing their colonial music while at Wagner's Pieces the sutler did work to his knife while comfortably perched in his hammock. Around the corner was The Crown Point Bread Company of New York with sour dough bread stacked so high you could barely see the worker behind the counter. Would they sell it all? The lady at the counter asked that question before she made a loaf. At the end of the day there would be only a few loaves left. They also made sweets such as cookies, chocolate croissants, and sausage rolls.
The marching band performing 18th century music.
Right around noon we walked into the fort to view the barracks. There were plenty of sentries to help with our questions. Our sentry told us that the two barracks were built in 1975 on their original foundation. There is another building known as the Governor's House that stood in front of the flag pole that has yet to be reconstructed. The foundation is there but more information is needed in research before they continue to reconstruct the building.
Apple Cart Creations from Greentown, Indiana demonstrating wood turning on a manual lathe run by foot power. Also beeswax and honey being sold at Sanctuary Traders.
Beeswax and honey being sold at Sanctuary Traders.
Settlers moved in and were reported to be destroying the fort and improvements by 1762. On December 25, 1762, a decision was made to lease the land to Henry Heintzman. The lease stated "there is not any garrison or soldiers at the said Fort Frederick, and several persons who live at or near the said fort do, and if not prevented, will continue to make great waste and destruction of the said fort and improvements by burning the plank and materials."
The fort was used during Pontiac's uprising in 1763 as a place of refuge for western settlers which numbered in the hundreds. Governor Sharpe ordered the return of arms during this time. But it didn't last. By the end of the summer the arms were returned to storage in Annapolis.
Sutlers shopping at the show.
Hats being offered for sale.
The fort was opened for the prisoners and Colonel Rawlings was in charge. Food and supplies were difficult to come by because the locals wouldn't accept government money. By December 1780, the prisoners suffered due to lack of meat and water which had to be obtained a half mile away. 859 prisoners including men, women, children, and sailors were transferred to Fort Frederick in May 1781. The fort received additional prisoners after Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown in October 1781.
Gentleman from Wagner's Pieces working on his knife from a comfortable hammock.
In the 1820's an elderly resident of Indian Springs, a village located three miles north of Fort Frederick, said they attended religious services in the fort held by Methodist itinerants going westward.
The sentry inside the fort who let us enter to view the barracks built in 1975.
Nathan Williams, a colored man and former slave was given the tract of land in 1860 by his owner Robert Johnson. Nathan was the man that that used stone from the northwest side and built the barn against the wall of the fort. Inside the fort Nathan planted an orchard, vegetables and grapes while he tended to the animals in pens. Outside of the fort he planted grain and harvested hay. His son inherited the property in 1910 and lost it to Jesse Snyder due to financial difficulties.
Fort Frederick region was occupied by the 1st Maryland Infantry during the Civil War in 1861 to guard the C & O Canal and the B & O Railroad. The troops were believed to have knocked a whole in the south curtain wall through which they place a cannon to stem off Confederate forces across the Potomac. During the winter of 1861-1862 several skirmishes took place in the vicinity of the fort.
Two officers inside the the Great Hall.
In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps sent about 200 men to start work on the excavation and restoration of the fort and park area which includes 279 acres today. They restored the fort walls, the northwest bastion, and a portion of the catwalk, and the former buildings were built up to ground level and capped. Artifact were removed but were poorly recorded and misplaced. The land was disturbed for future excavations which took place before the construction of the barracks in 1975. The west barrack was constructed to its 1758 appearance, the east barrack contained displays regarding the history of the fort.
Sour Dough Bread piled high at Crown Point Bread Company.
After the four excavations were completed, the artifacts totaled 13,429. It was surprising to see that Fort Frederick possessed more expensive decorated ceramics than previously thought. Some of the military items discovered were 10 smaller lead shot, 6 gunflints, 12 musket balls, and four iron musket hardware fragments. Three jew harps were discovered which showed the leisure activities of soldiers. It was also discovered than buttons were being manufactured in the fort when 62 bone buttons and 51 button blank fragments were found near the fireplace footings of the east barracks.
Perry Riley Jr. of Kingman, Indiana dressed at an Eastern Woodland Indian selling his wonderfully decorated gourd baskets.
The gourds that Perry Riley Jr. of Kingman, Indiana sells during the Market Fair.
Personal items give additional insight into the lifestyles of the residents of Fort Frederick. A pair of cufflinks, copper alloy buttons and some with military insignias, buckles used in various clothing and belts were excavated. This treasure trove of artifacts gives credence as to why the Market Fair is so strict on the dress and use of proper equipment during the entire fair. Fort Frederick is truly hallowed ground for these participating sutlers.
Attendees at the auction to benefit the Friends of Fort Frederick.
At the end of the day we visited Mark Thomas from Dayton Virginia who specializes in powder horns. The discussion was the importance of York County powder horns which are important and sought after items by collectors. Each powder horn that Mark offered, some with chip carvings and some with engravings were priced at $750.
Pat McAffee McKinney of R. McKinney 1777 from Elizabethtown, Kentucky demonstrating the use of a tape loom.
It was estimated by Bob Yetter, treasurer for the Friends of Fort Frederick, that the fort had 9,000-10,000 visitors in the three days it was held, There were 140 sutlers not counting campers trading their wares. Fort Frederick is such a fitting place to hold the 18th Century Market Fair with the sutlers tents aligning the fort walls.
The 25th Annual 18th Century Market Fair will be held next year April 25th-28th. Be sure and attend. For the colonial enthusiast, there is no better place to be than Fort Frederick during the Market Fair. Be sure and check out the links of some of the sutlers at the fair. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. If you care to check out other sutlers, go to the Sutler List for 2018 Fair under the Friends of Fort Frederick website. Be sure and check out the slideshow for additional photos.
Tents set up on the outside of the wall at Fort Frederick.
