“A Scheme of a Lottery”

In an “extract of a letter from a gentleman in Maryland,” published in the Philadelphia Gazette, the author noted that his colony had “been obliged once more to put off” the drawing of the 1753 Annapolis Dock Lottery. This particular lottery was “the first set on Foot” in that colony, and the author commented that because “many of our People know nothing about it in the Country, it was thought necessary to be drawn at a publick Time, that people from all Parts of the Province might see the Drawing.” The initial drawing was scheduled to coincide with the meeting of the Assembly, “but that has been prorogued twice” and would not meet again “till the Governor comes in.” The author was unsure when the lottery would finally be drawn, and believed the unknown recipient of the letter would “laugh at Maryland, for postponing twice, a Lottery for raising only 300 Pistoles, when in Philadelphia, you can fill one in a few Weeks, for four Times that Sum.” But the author reminded his reader that in Maryland, residents outside the cities had “no true Notion of the Nature of a Lottery.” ¹ The Annapolis Dock Lottery required six months and twenty-six advertisements in the Maryland Gazette to persuade adventurers to participate in the scheme, but evidently the “country folks” ultimately decided to support the lottery because it was successfully drawn in September of 1753.