Newspaper Tidbit: Interesting Relics (1894)

Alexandria Gazette (Va)
11 December 1894

INTERESTING RELICS.

Mr. Luther Merchant, who lives in Dumfries, has in  his possession quite a collection of interesting relics. Among them are three keys, a spoon and a silver coin. In the long ago Dumfries was a place of importance, but it is now a very quiet little village with nothing much to boast of except its former glory. The history of some of the relics which Mr. Merchant has shows that it has been a place of importance. One of the keys belonged to the court house when Dumfries was the county seat. The other two belonged to a bank and a hotel which once flourished there but which passed out of existence long since. There is inscribed on the spoon the date 1766, and on the coin the date 1713.  

~ Manassas Gazette