C Doll

Conrad's Uncles

Joseph (carpenter) and Conrad (cabinetmaker), were raised in Lancaster, PA. They moved to Frederick Town, MD in ca 1765 and 1761, respectively. Joseph left a ledger dating to 1761-1789. The ledger is presented in Chipstone Foundation's publication; Crossroads of Cultures; 18C Furniture from Western MD by Sumpter Priddy III and Joan K. Quinn. 

Here's Joseph Doll's ledger information from the Crossroad of Cultures article by Priddy and Quinn:

"Joseph Doll’s ledger (written in phonetic English) indicates that he provided a wide range of products and services for his Germanic and British neighbors between 1761 and 1789. The largest portion of his business involved the production of an astonishing variety of building materials, including sills, joists, flooring, studs, lath, rafters, and shingles. Except for an occasional door or window sash, Joseph Doll was not involved with finish carpentry or interior woodwork. Similarly, furniture making was only a small part of his business. His ledger indicates that he constructed less than twenty pieces between 1773 and 1777 and a few scattered examples in the following years.[21]

Doll produced more bedsteads than any other form: Six had low posts, one had high posts, and two were cradles. The low-post bedsteads ranged in price from eleven shillings to twelve shillings eight pence. Four were made in pairs, one of which was “Painted Green.” The “bedStid with high Posts painted blue with four Scroos” was the only example assembled with bed bolts. Made in 1787, it cost £2.7.6—over twice as much as any bedstead from the prior decade. The second most expensive bedstead was purchased by Christian Weaver. In 1774, he paid £1 for a “Greadle to Rog his Chylde.” The other cradle, made the following year, cost John Brunner 18 shillings.[22]

Doll’s ledger also records the production of seven tables that ranged in price from £1 to £1.8. Although two of the tables were not described, two were “walnut,” one had “2 Drawers and brass hands,” one was referred to as a “Kitchin Table,” and one was described as a “Larch Pobler Table for a workebench with Two Trawers in it with divicions.” John Hoober, a glass engraver at Amelung’s New Bremen Glassmanufactory, paid Doll £1.7 for the latter in 1775. [23]

Doll produced only four case pieces, but they were the most expensive furniture forms recorded in his ledger. John Brunner paid £3.15 for a “Kitchin Cobert” in 1775; Casper Mantz paid £3.5 for a “Chest with drawers” for his “Daughter Caety” in 1775; Peeter Brunner paid £7 for a “Kitchen Dresser with glas and furniture” in 1776; and John Kyle paid £4.10 for a “Corner Cobbert” in 1789. The dresser Doll made for his neighbor Brunner was twice as expensive as any piece he had made prior to that time, and over two and a half pounds more than any recorded later in his career.[24]

Like many other woodworkers, Doll made coffins. Between 1775 and 1789 he made seven at prices ranging from five shillings to £1.15. He also repaired furniture and made a variety of kitchen goods, including a door for a fireplace, a cutting box, and a bread tray with a lead liner. His ledger indicates that he mended several chairs and made Henry Cronier “a Sidepeese to his bedStid paint blue.” Regrettably, none of the surviving household furnishings from western Maryland can be associated with Doll’s ledger entries.[25]

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[21] Joseph Doll Ledger, 1772–1805, Historical Society of Frederick County, Inc., Frederick, Maryland.

[22] Joseph Doll’s ledger contains the following entries for bedsteads: Henry Shover, October 1773, “one pair of bedSteds Painted Green... £1.5”; Francis Mantz, January 10, 1775, “one bedstid . . . 12s”; John Brunner, Jr., July 8, 1775, “one pair of bedStids at 3 dollars . . . £1.2”; John Hummel, March 29, 1777, “one Little bedStid . . . 12s”; Michael Christ, February 1787, “one bedStid with high Posts painted blue with four Scroos . . . £2.7.6. ”Doll’s ledger contains the following entries for cradles: Christian Weaver, November 26, 1774, “one Greadle to Rog his Chylde . . . £1”; John Brunner, Jr., July 8, 1775, “a Creadle . . . 18s.”

[23] Joseph Doll’s ledger contains the following entries for tables: Francis Mantz, September 1773, “one Walnut Table with Two Drawers . . . £1.5”; John Brunner, Jr., July 8, 1775, “making a Table at 20 . . . £1”; Caspar Mantz, September 26, 1775, “one Table for his Daughter Caety . . . £1.2.6”; Jacob Stealey, October 11, 1775, “one Table with 2 Drawers and brass hands . . . £1.7.6”; Peeter Brunner, March 18, 1777, “one Walnut Table at Three dollars . . . £1.2.6”; Mathias Zimmer, February 10, 1786, “one Kitchin Table . . . £1.5.0”; John Hoober, February 2, 1775, “one Larch Pobler Table for a workebench with Two Trawers in it with divicions . . . £1.7.”

[24] Joseph Doll’s ledger contains the following entries for case furniture: John Brunner, Jr., February 6, 1775, “one Kitchin Cobert . . . 3.15”; Caspar Mantz, September 26, 1775, “one Chest with drawers for ditto [daughter Caety] . . . £3.5”; Peeter Brunner, February 16, 1776, “one Kitchen Dresser with glas and furniture . . . £ 7”; John Kyle, March 7, 1789, “one Corner Cobbert . . . £4.10.”

[25] Joseph Doll’s ledger contains the following entries for coffins: John Breidenbach, May 15, 1775, “To one Coffin . . . 10s”; Peeter Brunner, December 8, 1775, “To one Coffin . . . 10s”; Peeter Brunner, February 16, 1776, “To one Coffin for his Son John at 25/ . . . £1.5”; Christian Weaver, November 26, 1776, “One Smol Coffin for his Childe . . . 5s”; Peeter Brunner, March 18, 1777, “To one Coffin for his Father . . . 1.15”; John Brunner, Jr., undated, “one Coffin for his Father . . . £1.10”; Phillip Friegi, January 14, 1788, “One Coffin for M [illegible] Wittman . . . £1.5.” In 1774, Doll charged Thomas Preise 1s 6d for “mending Two Chairs.” On June 16, 1790, Doll charged Henry Cronier 2s 9d for “Making a Sidepeese to his bedStid paint blue.”