TRANSCRIBER NOTES:

Missing punctuation has been added and obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.

Archaic spellings and typographical errors have been retained with the exception of those listed below.

Page 9: "bee" changed to "be" (to be approved by an able surveyor).

Page 21: "thiry-one" changed to "thirty-one" (one thousand seven hundred and thirty-one).

Page 39: "an" changed to "a" (he made a large purchase of silver).

Page 55: deleted duplicate "as" (as I have the satisfaction to).

Footnote 123: incorrectly references Footnote 115. This has been corrected to reference Footnote 66.

Footnote 140: "Geneaological" changed to "Genealogical" (Tyler’s Quarterly Historical Genealogical Magazine).

Page 88: "18-century" changed to "18th-century" (we can find no exact parallel in the 18th-century America).

Page 96: "expance" changed to "expanse" (a small gilded cupola to break the long expanse of the roof).

Page 124, Illustration caption: "plan" changed to "pan" (a, milk pan).

Page 135: "homogenous" changed to "homogeneous" (thus making possible a homogeneous white body).

Page 144: "18-century" changed to "18th-century" (that 18th-century China-trade porcelain sherds).

Page 154: "chows" changed to "shows" (from a long-stemmed cordial glass shows the termini).

Page 154: "somprised" changed to "comprised" (threads that were comprised in a double enamel-twist).

Page 169, illustration caption: "probaby" changed to "probably" (b, chain, probably from whiffletree).

Page 173: "expecially" changed to "especially" (especially as the few 17th-century artifacts).

Page 178: "acitvity" changed to "activity" (the rigid boundar to domestic activity).

Page 178: "apparrently" changed to "apparently" (perhaps the bar apparently were located to the north.)

Page 188: "romall" changed to "Romal" for consistency (To 1 Romall handkerchief).

Page 188: "handkercheif" changed to "handkerchief" (To 1 silk Romall handkerchief).

Page 190: "handkercheifs" changed to "handkerchiefs" (To 4 Soosey handkerchiefs).

Page 209: "curran" changed to "currant" (Wild currant).

Page 214: "bookplate, John Mercer's, iv (illustr.)" changed to "bookplate, John Mercer's, 2 (illustr.)" to be consistent with its actual location in the original.

Page 217: "Fallmouth" changed to "Falmouth" (Falmouth (Virginia)).

Page 217: "Grorge" changed to "George" (George Mercer Papers Relating to).