An item in my bucket list is: Clean up your,stuff – don’t leave that to those who come after you! That leads to a story. In 1911 my grandfather married my grandmother and moved to a small farm in Clarksburg, Mass. They kept two or three cows, some chickens, and a vegetable garden. The farm supplemented my grandfather’s income from work in a cotton mill. They lived there until my grandfather died in 1957 leaving me the toolbox and the 125 basic farmhand tools. Following my bucket list, I have decided that it’s time to sell the box on eBay.
Their age is uncertain. Presumably, the collection was started in 1911 and new items were added and some were replaced as they wore out. The toolbox, which I think is made of oak, is incredibly strong and well constructed. It has a heavy latch and carrying handles and a large tray for smaller items.The dimensions are: outside 40″ wide, 15″ deep, 14″ high; inside: 36″ wide, 11″deep, 12″ high. The contents are exactly the same as they were when he died. The photos show the toolbox and its contents. The contents include a large ax head; a hatchet; a mallet; hammers and saws many descriptions; a vice, which I remember fastened to his workbench; trowels; wire cutters; planes; a level, numerous clamps, bits, files, and wedges; scissors; various measuring tools; and the list goes on. To me, this collection has historic value. It is well documented and represents the basic set of hand tools needed to maintain a farm in the first half of the twentieth century.
I am not a collector, but I believe some of the individual items could be valuable collector’s items. The toolbox alone is likely to be able to survive another 100 years of hard usage. The entire set weighs over 200 pounds so I have listed it for local pickup, but would be willing to work with the
buyer on shipping arrangements.
Here are high-resolution images of the toolbox and the 125 items in the collection.
It has an excellent map showing Lee’s Invasion of Maryland and the Union response over the September 3-13, 1862 time period. Frederick was in a strategic location. Lee’s goal was to ” keep the enemy occupied north of the Potomac until the approach of winter would make an enemy advance into Virginia difficult”. After crossing the Potomac near White’s Ford (the “Places” folder at the bottom has a list of Google Earth Placemarks in alphabetical order), the main part of the Army of Northern Virginia reached Frederick by September 7. About 45,000 confederate troops camped in and around Frederick mostly to the south near the Best farm, which later become a focal point of the Battle of Monocacy. On September 10, Lee’s army left Frederick to execute the plan that led to the bloody battles of South Mountain and Antietam. It was probably this day that the photograph was taken.
I have not yet found any other photos or descriptions of the store so I can’t find the exact location of the sign. It could be anywhere in front of the store on either Patrick or Market street. However, the structure behind the sign at the right edge of the photo provides a clue. The detail shows how the sign was attached to the structure. 
The downward slanting beams behind the sign were probably supports for an awning in front of the store. The structure is probably a porch (or boardwalk) in front of the store. The sign is fastened to the end of the porch and projects out into the street. Historical lore and other clues in the photo place the photo’s location on Patrick Street. From this, the most likely location is just east of 5 East Patrick Street, near the corner of the store. In Google Earth, double-click the “Market and Patrick Street” link to show the area near the Market and Patrick Street corner. The figure 
shows other features that I will discuss later. Now check the box next to the Pittar Map item to show a map overlay that is a detail from the Pittar Map drawn later in the century. It shows the map in the area near the corner. 
He is in foreground slightly to the left of center. Unlike the other men in the unit, he did not believe in carrying his weapon unless it is absolutely necessary. He is resting with his rifle butt on the ground. This tells me that the unit has halted, which would have been necessary for cameras at that time. Another detail shows three men, two in front and one at the back, staring directly into the camera. Something, probably the photographer yelling or waving, must have attracted their attention. So there we have it, one unknown unit from Robert E. Lee’s force of 45, 000 on the way to bloodiest battle in American history paused briefly on the streets of Frederick to be recorded in this historic photo.
corner. In Google Earth, turn off the map layer by un-checking the box next to “Pittar Map” and checking “3D Buildings” in the “Layers” panel. Then double-click the “Perspective View” link. This picture shows the relative positions of the camera, the sign, and the soldiers in the foreground of the picture. Google Earth constructs this view by combining satellite and Google Street View images. The green patches in the foreground are actually satellite images of the beautiful trees that line the city streets. Frederick for the last 25th years has been designated as a “Tree City U.S.A.”
rendering of the south side of Patrick Street is in the background. In the distance, Patrick Street becomes Md. Route 144, Old National Pike, which leads to Antietam. The corner location where Rosenstock’s store stood is in the foreground at the left. In the middle is the reconstruction of the scene viewed through the eyes of the photographer when he captured this unknown unit on its way to join in this historic battle. This completes the reconstruction, but there is much more to be said about the content of the photo.
parallels Patrick Street appears to bend off to the left. I interpret that point as the corner of Patrick and Market. I interpret the erect figure standing nearby as a sentinel posted to guard the intersection. To the left of the sentinel, there appears to be a figure seated on the ground. Is he lost or strayed from his unit? Is the figure standing at his left and leaning over him asking questions, yelling at him, or both? We will never know the ending of this little drama accidentally caught in the photographer’s lens. I interpret the structure in the left background to be the building on the southeast corner across from 
Rosenstock’s store. Unfortunately, so far, I have not found any clear photographs or drawings of the building, so I can not compare the real building to the fuzzy shapes in the photo. There seem to be two figures in the center background, seated on steps or a porch in front of the structure. What was their business in Frederick? Perhaps they were driving supply wagons and had stopped to give way to the more glamorous fighting troops.
all the other hat styles in the picture. I was looking at a hat store full of styles. Look at the man fourth from the left near the middle. What a hat!
curiously directly at the camera. They look barely old enough to shave. They stand near the rear of the unit, close together but slightly separated from the others. I imagine that they are brothers. Are they recruits who have just joined their unit? I don’t think their officers appreciate their show of curiosity. I know that they, with the other solders in the photo, will soon be engaged in the bloodiest battle in American history. I wonder what happened to them. Because nations always send their youngest men to fight their battles, sadly when they die, they leave this world with wives never embraced, children never born, whole lives never lived. Their backward look at Frederick could be the last time their eyes fell on any civilized place. I hope their fate was different. I hope they survived the war, lived long and prolific lives, and now have hundreds of descendants wondering what their ancestors did in the war.
