SAN FRANCISCO - County clerk offices across California opened for their first full day of same-sex marriages on June 17, with hundreds of gay and lesbian couples ready to take the plunge in what in some cities was a party atmosphere. A gay men's chorus was singing on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall, brightened up by rainbow flags and supporters handing out cupcakes to happy couples.
For four centuries, they were the ultimate pack rats. Now a Maryland family's massive collection of letters, maps and printed bills has surfaced in the attic of a former plantation, providing a firsthand account of life from the 1660s through World War II.