I represent Polly Carman, a woman who lived in Pensacola during the British colonial period. My name appears in the 1767-68 ledger of Pensacola merchants Richard and Caleb Carpenter. I purchased one pair of women’s shoes for one dollar. Information on women in the British colony of West Florida is hard to come by so it’s difficult to know my role in Pensacola. I might have been a soldier’s wife or camp follower; I may have been an indentured servant or the family member of a merchant. Simply having my full name recorded, though, is more of a mark than most women of the period left behind.
Sources: 49