Name/Title
Lock (Locke) Family CollectionEntry/Object ID
ARC695Scope and Content
Documents of the Lock/Locke family of Jefferson County, including merchant and mill records, financial and legal papers, correspondence (primarily on financial topics), and miscellaneous papers, dating from 1806 to 1906 with the great majority from the 1810s through the 1850s.
By far, most of the papers concern transactions of William French Lock(e) (1788-1850) and his son John James Lock(e) (1825-1866), who were merchants in Charles Town and operated Charles Town Mill on Evitts Run. The Locks (Lockes) also worked in partnerships, for example, Lock and Line, Lock and Cleveland, Lock and Hammond, Frame and Lock, and Lock, Cramer, and Line.
The documents are filed in multiple folders as follows:
Correspondence--1824-1879 and undated
Financial records--1806-1876 and undated
Financial records, estate of John Lock--1825-1854 (See below.)
Land-related document--1833
Legal documents--1818-1886
Miscellaneous--1854-1906 and undated
1860 presidential election, signed elector tickets
Charlestown Trustees--Orders for payment to various people for work and materials--1852-1853
The financial papers record transactions with people in the community as well as with Baltimore businesses to whom the Locks sold flour and from whom they bought goods for their mercantile businesses, including Johns Hopkins and Brothers and Fowler and Ziegler.
The records contain the names of many members of the Lock(e) family as well as many members of the local community who were merchant and mill customers.
A few records note the hiring and renting of enslaved African Americans.
Documents related to the estate of John Lock (1746-1831), father of William French Lock, were in 17 packets each secured by a paper wrapper, thread, thin rope, or ribbon. Photos of some of these packets are in Media. Documents from the packets are filed in folders by packet numbers 1 to 17. The 17th packet, a very large one, contained loose papers and 11 smaller packets of documents. The folder labeled Packet 17-1 to 17-11 contains documents from the 11 packets. The folder labeled Packet 17 (Loose papers) contains the wrapper for Packet 17 and loose papers in chronological order.Acquisition
Accession
552Source or Donor
Wysong FamilyAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Donated by C. Locke Wysong, Sr., Edna Wysong Harris, Lucy Carrell Wysong Saunier, Mary E. Wysong, and John J. Wysong, IV, descendants of John and Esther French LockeArchive Details
Date(s) of Creation
1806 - 1906Archive Size/Extent
approx 13 linear inchesArchive Notes
Date(s) Created: 1806-1906