William "Bill" Legrand was perhaps the biggest retailer of fine furniture in 1850s Baltimore. His life would have been perfect except for his continuing problems with his teeth, which began while he was still a young man. By the 1840s, Legrand had lost or had dentists pull all his lower teeth. He didn't mind since his lower plate fit tolerably well and he didn't need to worry about any other pain. However, he wanted to hold onto the upper teeth since an upper plate was held in place with springs and was another infernal invention (along with the implements of torture that dentists used).