"Race Horses Or..."

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A few race horses with names like:

"Irish Grove," "Merchant's Treasure," "Green field," "New Boston," "Priviledge," or "Adamses Chance" might be worth betting to win, place or show. However, I am not sure I would want to risk much on: "Wheatley's Second Addition," "Damp Swamp," "Wheatley's Difficult Purchase," or Little Worth!"

Opps! My bad! Those were not race horses, they are tracks of land that Sampson Wheatley of Somerset County, Maryland, back in the year 1773, left his daughter, Betty, in his will. Not sure how big the tracks were, but "Adamses Chance" was 17 acres. I would love to learn the story of "Wheatley's Difficult Purchase!"

- Written by JGWest