Mystery Building Part 2

Could the mystery be solved?? Maybe!

Thanks to Elsie for sending this along to us.

The "Clax Rice Shanties"

The attached photograph appearing in the Maryland Independent 12/11/69 for whatever reason was printed in obverse (hold it up to a mirror for the correct perspective). It show the Baptist Chapel and the first of the "Clax Rice shanties" as they appeared in the early 1940's. R. Claxton Rice, a local brick mason, worked on converting the South Wing of the original 1819 Courthouse into the Baptist Chapel, as shown in the photograph, around 1906. He obtained part of the Courthouse lot and sometime thereafter constructed his first shanty from original materials in the North Wing which was demolished. This first shanty stood somewhat in front of the original North Wing.

In 1947, the site of the first Rice shanty was obtained by Robert T. Barbour and his wife Phyllis, and later transferred to the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco. The first Clax Rice shanty was dismantled and rebuilt on the far west side of the old Jailhouse lot and beyond the original Jailhouse foundation. The Jailhouse lot and second "Clax Shanty" was obtained by Robert T. and James L. Barbour in 1960 and later demolished. Consequently, the two "Clax Rice Shanties" were built and demolished in the 20th Century and would not appear on any of the earlier maps of the village. The foundations of these two buildings should not be confused with the foundations of the original Courthouse or Jail even though the original bricks and other materials from such buildings may have been used in the "Clax Shanties."

The Baptist Chapel, built in 1906 from the original South Wing of the Courthouse was deeded to the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco in 1949. It was later dismantled and incorporated in the present restored 1819 Courthouse.

Prepared by: James L. Barbour, 10/23/07

(Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco)

I fooled with the image a little bit to show you both the original picture as it appeared in the Maryland Independent (left side) and as it was originally shot (right side). The building in question is circled in red and although its hard to make out, it looks like the Chimney House in the background.

- Peter

Maps

We have used various resources in our research of Port Tobacco including maps. For centuries, maps have been used throughout the world for varying reasons.

I had the pleasure of attending an exhibit at the Walters Art Museum a few months back that was dedicated to maps. There were maps of the universe taken from space, a map of the first internet, a map from 15th Century China showing all the Buddhist temples along routes in and out of Peking, even a map of the fictional Hundred Acre Woods from Winnie the Pooh!

So why am I talking about maps?

Simple. Maps make up a large part of the work we do. We use them to recreate a site and to help us look for foundations, roads, fences, and any other marker to help us find our way. However, maps don't just show up on our doorstep. Sometimes maps are drawn from memory for others to use, as in the case of the Barbour map that we have used and posted here before. Others are found in land records or the state archives that give us dimensions of land. A few maps have been created as well. The land records don't always have a drawn map but do have a written one with metes and bounds for us to reconstruct on the computer using AutoCAD. These maps can then be scaled to fit existing historical plats and help us pinpoint the location of whatever it is we are looking for. Maps can also be used to help in the reconstruction of not only towns and roads but also geological features such as rivers and streams.

Maps alone will not always help you find what you are looking for but they are a great tool to utilize in archaeology!

- Peter

Photography in Port Tobacco

As I was sitting here today thinking about our blog and our work, I kept looking at the same things over and over. Those "things" I was looking at were the photographs. Are they interesting? Who took them? hmmm...who did take them? Some were done by us, some by visitors, newspapers, etc. But then I started to look at the older photographs, the ones from the 19th Century and early 20th Century and I thought about it some more.

Early in 2007 while still in school I worked on a museum exhibit focusing on the photography of late 19th Century techniques. This got me thinking about the ones taken of Port Tobacco during that time.

We must remember that not everyone was carrying around a cell phone with a camera on it like we do today. The equipment then was very cumbersome and a time consuming process. I looked at the Barbour map and noticed everything from hotels to a smithy to the shops that were in the town. What about a portrait studio? Surely as the county seat with so many different commercial opportunities there would have been a portrait studio, right? Not necessarily.

So who took these early photographs? Was there a portrait studio? Did one of the newspapers employ a photographer or have the equipment themselves? Was there a resident in the county or the town itself who was skilled in photography?

These are a few of the questions on the subject that would be interesting to learn about. We haven't done any research on the subject yet, but we will and we would love to know anything that anyone else knows on the subject too!

- Peter

Wade Smithy

And here, the last bit from the 1880 Manufacturing Schedules of the US Census...at least for now.

The census marshal recorded C.Edward Wade in the Population Schedule as a wheelwright...a craftsman who makes and repairs vehicle wheels. (Having written my master's thesis on these guys, and a wheelwright shop in New York in particular, I might regale our readers with wagon and wheelmaking trivia in a future post.) In the Manufacturing schedules, however, wheelwright is struck and blacksmithing inserted. The two crafts are closely related.

Wade's shop operated full time 10 months of the year, part-time the remaining two months. He was assisted by one man, whom he paid at either skilled ($1.35/day) or unskilled (.75) rates.

We don't know where his shop was located. We do know that Mr. Barbour identified Coombs blacksmith shop directly across the drive from the Burch House. We don't know if Coombs occupied an earlier shop used by Wade. We are fairly certain that we found traces of a blacksmith shop at that location and hope to explore it further.

Jim

Centennial Hotel Update

After looking at our AutoCAD map, the Barbour map, and the Page survey plat along with the surrounding STP’s from that area I have come to the conclusion that we don’t know any more than we already thought. I was attempting to redefine the Centennial Hotel site for more accurate excavations in the future. I looked at the surrounding STP’s in 4 separate clumps of 6-8 STP’s to look at the distribution of 18th Century ceramics, nails, and brick rubble. What I found was that no one area separate or combined with others is any more distinct than any others. So what does this say? We know that the hotel sat next door to the Wade House and offsets the old Christ Church. Distinguishing between where the hotel was and where the Wade house was is something that can’t be done by looking at artifact distribution alone. STP collection data alone can not differentiate the two areas since they are too close together and don’t give any clear cut site locations.

The next step is to look at the STP log books to see if anything pops out of them. Brick rubble layers, depth of excavation, and oyster shell volume might help define the parameters or outline of our hotel and house locations. Further in depth excavations will be needed in the future to help solve this problem.

-Peter

Burch House Addition?

Scott e-mailed me today, asking about what appears to be an addition to the Burch House as seen on the far left of this photograph, in the background. (That's the Wade House in the right foreground.) I think he is right: it is a 1½ story addition, the brick floor and foundation of which we uncovered in November 2006.



Wade House (right foreground) and Burch House (far left background). The white building in the middle background may be the 'Colored Hall' noted on one of the versions of the Barbour map of 1942.
1942.

Archaeological plan of the Burch House showing remains of addition on left side.

Detail of 1942 Barbour map. Burch House, with its addition, and the hall are directly above the scale.

We do not know the purpose or purposes to which this addition was put, but I think a few well-placed excavation units could help us figure it out.

Jim

Burch House Lives!

Restoration work on the Burch House is nearly complete and it looks marvelous. This is one of three surviving 18th-century buildings in Port Tobacco. I toured it several weeks ago and found it remarkably spacious and solid. It occurred to me, however, that we conducted archaeological investigations around the building but never really talked about what we found, apart from discussions of sedimentation in town. (There is a technical report on the work, but who reads technical reports?)

Burch House prior to restoration in 2006.

In November 2006, Scott and I dug 20 shovel tests around the Burch House, principally in the rear yard, and that is where we found the surprisingly deep archaeological deposits that we have since encountered throughout the southern part of town.

We also uncovered a brick pavement, at least three courses deep, and a brick foundation on the downstream side of the house.

Burch House and remains of addition.

We might have expected it because the 1960 redrawing of the 1942 Barbour map shows an addition in exactly this location. Why three courses of brick paving? Why was the addition removed? What does it date to and how was it used? All good questions. Hopefully, the team will have the opportunity to examine this structure and its associated deposits in the years ahead.

Jim

Wacky Find of the Week

We haven't done a 'Wacky Find of the Week' before, and we probably will not make a habit of it, but here we go.

Volunteers Carol, Elsie and Phil tolerated some very cold, windy, and snowy weather this past week, along with April, Pete, Scott, and me. In partial reward, we found the spoon pictured above. Very likely it belonged to one of the Barbour children...we found it in a shovel test pit (#418) in front of Stagg Hall.

The photograph does not do it justice, but it is a Snow White Spoon, the sleepy princess appearing at the top of the obverse side and the seven dwarf's on both sides of the handle. Bashful, Sneezy, and Doc are on the obverse side, Grumpy, Happy, Dopey and Sleepy on the reverse. The spoon is marked "1847 Rogers Bros" and bears the copyright mark of WD (Walt Disney).

This is a highly significant find. As soon as we figure out why, we will let you know. Anyone care to research it and find out when it was made (not 1847, obviously)?

Jim

Robert Guy Barbour Describes the Swann House

While the Port Tobacco maps of the late 1800s contain a lot of detail concerning the center of town, the southwest area of town is not as detailed. I find two of these vague structures particularly intriguing. One is an unlabeled building in the field where we identified the remains of a structure built with post supports instead of the common brick foundations. The other is labeled "Swann" and is currently located in an area of brush we have yet to test, although foundation remains are visible. It is likely that these two structures were relatively old, compared to the others in town in the 1800s, and their archaeological deposits may provide us with important insight into the earlier history of Port Tobacco.

The Swann House is simply described by Barbour as:
"An attractive old dwelling situated on the extreme Southwest corner of the village on the Port Tobacco-Warehouse Road".

Two photographs of the Swann House, in a less attractive time, are below.


The above photograph bears little resemblance to the sketch of the Swann House made by Barbour.

-April

The Hotels of Port Tobacco

R.G. Barbour provides descriptions of the two hotels, the Centennial and the St. Charles, that served Port Tobacco in the late 1800s. His descriptions are as follows.

Centennial
"Opened in 1876. George Hunt, its proprietor, names it in honor of the Centennial Exposition taking place at the same time. It was a comfortable place and a haven for the weary traveler. On "co't" days it accommodated throngs. All of the young bachelors of the village who had no homes dwelt here."

St. Charles
"The St. Charles hotel belonged to the Burch family in its last years. It was torn down in the 90's. It had 25 large bedrooms on the upper floor. The lower floor had a dining room that seated 200 people, a breakfast room, card room, bar room, double parlor, and kitchens. There was also a living room and bedroom for the proprietor. There was another bar room in the basement for the rough customers along with the servants quarters. The trees were very old aspens. This hotel contained the finest ballroom in Southern Maryland and all of the County balls were held here."

These differences in function and clientele should be quite apparent from the archaeological record of each property. The relatively young age of the Centennial (likely open for less than 20 years) and the fact that it was used as a boarding house too may complicate our analyses. While the extravagant artifacts of the St Charles should be easily differentiated from the domestic artifacts of neighboring properties, the more commonplace artifacts I'd expect to find at the Centennial may look a lot like those from the neighboring houses and whatever occupied the property before it.

-April

Chandlerstown

The beginnings of Port Tobacco can be traced back to the mid-1600s. Job Chandler and his brother Simon Oversee were granted rights to a tract of land on the east bank of the Port Tobacco River. Job constructed a two-room cabin on a hill overlooking the river, a property now known as Chandler's Hope. Soon afterwards, the settlement of Chandlerstown began on the bank of the river.

Upon his death, Job Chandler was buried a short distance from the cabin. The land of Chandler's Hope was patented in 1674 by William Chandler, who held the property until 1725. At this time the property passed to his nephew, William Neale. W. Neale and his wife raised five sons at Chandler's Hope. The Neale boys all became priests. Father Leonard Neale was the second Archbishop of Baltimore and president of Georgetown University. Father Francis Neale late took Leonard's post at the University. Father Charles Neale helped found the first women's convent in the United States, the Discalced Carmelite Monastery.

The property of Chandler's Hope remained in the hands of the Neale family until 1836. A sequence of events lead to the division of the property from 760 acres in 1782 to 450 acres in 1867. Those who came into posession of sections of Chandler's Hope are familiar to anyone who has studied the Barbour map of Port Tobacco; the Brawners, Matthews, and Boswells.

Before Chandlerstown became Port Tobacco it was known as Charlestown. But that is a story for another day.

-April

P.S. For a recent news article about the Carmelite Nuns, click here.

Robert Guy Barbour Describes the Port Tobacco Times

In past blog entries we have made reference to "the Barbour map" of Port Tobacco. Robert Guy Barbour (1885-1958) was a resident of Port Tobacco. Robert took the time to document the Port Tobacco he remembered as a child. These recollections were compiled into a booklet by James L. Barbour, Sr.

The booklet, "Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, Prior to 1895: A Collection of Sketches of Early Structures and the Town Plan" has provided the Port Tobacco Archaeological Project with important insight into the town's layout circa 1894. In addition to the overall town map, Barbour sketched many of the buildings that are no longer standing. Each sketch is accompanied by a caption that provides some background on the structure.

One of the structures sketched by Barbour is the home of the Port Tobacco Times, a local newspaper. Barbour describes it as follows:

"The printing press was in the basement and was turned by hand. John Hawkins got $1.00 to turn the press for each edition. It took about six hours every Thursday night. Type was set on upper floor, then was lowered to the basement through a hole in the floor. The basement was of brick, the upper story was frame with wood shingles."

Descriptions such as this are invaluable to archaeologists as they excavate building remains. Thanks to Robert and his son Jim for sharing their knowledge with us.

-April

Report from the Field

Today we excavated a series of shovel test pits (STPs) south of the courthouse. Most of the STPs contained a foot or more of plowzone just below the surface. The plowzone contains varying amounts of brick, coal, and oyster shell that has been broken by decades of field plowing. Below the plowzone we usually encounter what we call subsoil; a natural soil that has not been modified by human activity. Occasionally we encounter undisturbed deposits below the plowzone, such as building foundations, cellars, wells, or trash pits.

One of today's STPs contained an undisturbed deposit below the plowzone. Ceramics, glass, metal, and animal bone were quite abundant. The depth of the deposit and the high density of brick and nails suggest that this is a cellar that was filled in by trash and demolition debris.

Based on the Barbour map, we may have located the cellar of the Wade Store.

-April

Finding the Blacksmith Shop

Several circa 1890 maps of Port Tobacco exist, most of which are based on the recollections of one resident, R.G. Barbour. The Barbour map is noticeably different from an 1892 survey of the town by H.C. Page. One of the goals of our initial archaeological survey of Port Tobacco is to ground truth these maps by locating the remains of landmarks such as roads and buildings.

One of the buildings that we had hoped to locate is the Coombs blacksmith shop which is depicted on the Barbour map as a small rectangular structure across from the Burch House. However, the Page map depicts what may be the blacksmith shop as a larger rectangular building and places it much closer to the old High Street road. This road has been widened to form Chapel Point Road; construction of which may have destroyed what remained of the blacksmith shop.

During our shovel test pit survey we paid particular attention to the density of slag and metal that was being recovered. The density of both seemed to increase north of the Burch House but it was not until we excavated test pit number 53 that we were sure we had located the blacksmith shop. Here the fragments of slag and metal were very large and numerous. We even recovered a partial horse shoe!

The blacksmith shop does sit relative directly across from the Burch House, just as Barbour remembered it.



-April