After breakfast the party was entertained by the young ladies on the harpsichord. At eleven o'clock they all went down to the River, where the long-boat was waiting to take them back home to the Northern Neck.
Probably the first pedlars in the Northern Neck were the Indians of Cascarawaske, a merchant tribe that manufactured their products and sold them up and down the Potomac--Patowmeke--meaning "traveling traders," or pedlars.
During colonial days the itinerant pedlar traveled from plantation to plantation. He was welcome everywhere because he brought news and gossip as well as merchandise. Children were always watching out for the pedlar at certain seasons when he usually arrived.
He was not hard to identify for he bore on his back, by means of a harness of strong hempen webbing, two oblong trunks of thin metal, probably tin. He carried a stout staff to help him to walk with his burden and also for a weapon to ward off dogs and wild animals. He was usually called the "trunk pedlar."
His pack contained everything from dress materials and jewelry to "plumpers." The latter were thin, round, light balls used to put in the mouth and fill up hollow cheeks!
The "indigo-pedlars" had a specialized trade. Blue, in all shades, was the favorite color in colonial days, and indigo was used to dye this color. It was especially in demand for dyeing wool. Pedlars traveled all over the country selling indigo.
Pedlars continued to travel through the Northern Neck until the early part of the twentieth century.
Settlers in the Northern Neck sometimes received boxes containing luxuries from relatives in England. These boxes were received even until a late date.
In one family there were seven sisters. In probably the last box they received from "home," as England was called for many years, there were seven satin petticoats, some pink and some blue. They were made of heavy satin and trimmed with lace.
Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from mother to daughter.
In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first scholastic Greek letter fraternity--Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first meeting: