Notes
This two-scruple brass weight comes from a larger set in the Henry family medicine chest (01.31.1).
The weight would have been used to measure and weigh the medicine contained inside the chest, along with a scale.
This set of weights abides by the Apothecaries' System, a system of measurement of weight and volume used by apothecaries, physicians, and scientists for prescriptions. It divides a pound into twelve ounces, an ounce into eight drachms, and a drachm into three scruples of twenty grains each. This weight, being two scruples, would have weighed forty grains.
"Scruple" comes from the Roman "scrupulum" unit, meaning small pebble. This system was used through to the Industrial Revolution, where it eventually went through metrication. Because each state in Europe had its system of measurement, there was a growing need for a universal system. In the United States, the Apothecaries' System was used until it was replaced with the Metric System in 1971.
The symbol on the back, ℈ÿ, means two scruples.
This chest and its contents belonged originally to John (1796–1868) and Elvira McClelland Henry (1808–1875) during their years at Red Hill. The chest was passed down in the family to John and Elvira's daughter, Margaret Ann Henry Miller (1827–1881), and then to her daughter, Elvira Henry Miller (1850–1955). It was then given to Rose Miller Gammon Garrett (1946–) through her father, William Miller Gammon Sr. (1900–1970). William Gammon Sr. was a nephew to Elvira Miller. His daughter, Rose Garrett, is a third great-great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry.
On September 4, 2001, Rose Gammon Garrett donated the medicine chest (01.31.1) and its contents (01.31.2-25) to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation.