Widow Running Business

October 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Boston-Gazette (October 29, 1770).

“SARAH DAWSON, the Widow of JOSEPH DAWSON, Gardener.”

Compared to their male counterparts, relatively few female entrepreneurs placed advertisements promoting their commercial activities in Boston’s newspapers in the early 1770s.  With the exception of clusters of advertisements placed by female seed sellers in the spring, commercial notices constituted a primarily male space in the public prints.  Esther Harrison was one of those female shopkeepers who did run advertisements.  Her notice in the October 29, 1770, edition of the Boston-Gazette listed a variety of “Shop Goods cheap for Cash,” similar to advertisements placed by Benjamin Church, Archbald Cunningham, Joshua Gardner, John Gore, Jr., John Head, William Smith, Thomas Walley, and others.

Two other women joined Harrison in advertising the businesses they operated in that edition of the Boston-Gazette.  Most likely by chance rather than by design, their advertisements appeared side by side, one in each column on the final page.  Abigail Davidson and Sarah Dawson both advertised trees, shrubs, and seeds.  Unlike Harrison, Davidson and Dawson connected their businesses to men who had once operated them.  Dawson identified herself as “the Widow of JOSEPH DAWSON, Gardener, lately deceas’d.”  Davidson noted that the trees she sold had been “grafted and innoculated by William Davidson, deceased.”  In both instances, the women likely contributed to the family business before the death of a male relation but did not become the public face for the business until after.  Davidson and Dawson made reference to those male gardeners in much the same way that male advertisers often described their credentials as they sought to convince prospective customers and clients that they were qualified for the job.

Harrison, Davidson, and Dawson all ran businesses.  Their entrepreneurial activities included marketing their wares via newspaper advertisements.  Harrison presented herself as the sole proprietor of her shop, but Davidson and Dawson adopted an approach often taken by women who found themselves responsible for the family business after the death of a husband or other relation.  They identified themselves in connection to the deceased relative, mediating their commercial message through the authority and expertise of men.  Even as female advertisers, their appearance in the public prints contributed to the depiction the marketplace as a predominantly masculine space when it came to producers, sellers, and suppliers.

September 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Boston-Gazette (September 17, 1770).

“To be sold one third Part cheaper than they can be purchased at any Place in Boston.”

Abigail Davidson was one of several women in Boston who placed newspaper advertisements offering seeds for sale in the late 1760s and early 1770s.  Their advertisements usually ran in multiple newspapers starting late in the winter and continuing through the spring.  Most of these female seed sellers, including Davidson, did not place advertisements for seeds or other goods at any other time during the year.  That made Davidson’s advertisement in the September 17, 1770, edition of the Boston-Gazette all the more notable.

Rather than marketing seeds exclusively, Davidson offered trees, bushes, and “all Sorts of dried Sweet Herbs” as well.  She proclaimed that she had “a large Collection of the best Sorts of young graffed and innoculated English Fruit Trees.”  That work had been done “by William Davidson, deceased.”  Abigail did not comment on her relationship to the deceased William, but expected that prospective customers were familiar with his reputation for horticulture.  She did not previously mention a husband, son, brother, or other male relation in her advertisements, but perhaps a recent death in the family prompted her to assume greater responsibilities that had her placing advertisements in the fall in addition to the spring.  Widows who operated family businesses following the death of their husbands frequently made reference to their departed spouses in their newspaper advertisements as a means of offering reassurance to prospective customers that the quality of their goods and services continued uninterrupted.

Davidson was determined to attract customers and set her prices accordingly.  In a nota bene that concluded her advertisement, she declared that she sold her trees, bushes, and seeds “one third Part cheaper than they can be purchased at any Place in Boston.”  In other words, she offered a deep discount to her customers.  If she feared the family business might lose customers following the death of William, this strategy stood to preserve those relationships as well as entice new customers interested in significant savings.  Davidson combined William’s reputation and bargain prices in her marketing efforts.

February 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Feb 4 - 2:1:1770 Maryland Gazette
Maryland Gazette (February 1, 1770).

“The Smith’s Shop is carried on … with the same Care and Dispatch as was in her Husband’s Lifetime.”

When Thomas Williams, a blacksmith in Prince George’s County, Maryland, passed away, his widow, Cave, served as administratrix of his estate, joined by another Thomas Williams, perhaps an adult son, as administrator. They jointly placed an advertisement in the February 1, 1770, edition of the Maryland Gazette, deploying standard language calling on “ALL Persons having any just Claims” against the estate to present them. At the same time they requested that anyone “indebted to the said Estate” settle accounts or else face legal action.

That advertisement featured an addendum that revealed the widow did not serve as administratrix of the estate merely in a ceremonial capacity. She assumed responsibility for her husband’s business and pledged to maintain it after his death. “The Smith’s shop,” she informed readers, “is carried on, by the Subscriber, with the same Care and Dispatch as was in her Husband’s Lifetime.” The widow most likely did not work as a blacksmith herself, though historians have identified some women who did pursue that trade in colonial America. She much more likely managed the business, continuing and expanding on contributions she made to the family business while her husband was still alive. She may have previously served in a role that Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has described as “deputy husband,” taking on tasks most often associated with men but undertaken by their wives when necessary. Those tasks might have included interacting with customers and ordering supplies on behalf of the business, exercising authority presumed to belong to her husband but seamlessly transferred to her as his representative. The widow certainly had a sense of what needed to be done for the “Smith’s Shop” to serve customers and succeed. She vowed that “all Gentlemen and others may depend on their Work being done faithfully.” She also asserted that she kept on hand “a Sufficiency of Coal and Iron, so as not to disappoint any Customer.” Even if Cave Williams did not pump the bellows or pound a hammer herself, she understood the operations of her family’s blacksmith shop. She aimed to convince previous clients of that, asking for “the Continuance of their Favours,” while simultaneously attracting new customers.