Page 121 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

TABLE 1 — Buildings constructed at Charles Town based on historical and archaeological research.
Building Type
Name
Location
Probable Builder
Date
Mid-1690s- 1703
Historical Reference
Features
Artifacts
Dwelling
Beall’s Gift
Adjacent to Charles Town
James Stoddert
1704-1720s
X
X
Dwelling/ Cellar
Terrace C
Adjacent to Charles Town
James Moore
1700-1720s
X
X
X
Unidentified
Terrace C
Adjacent to Charles Town
Unknown
Unidentified
X
Multifunctional
Terrace B
Charles Town
Ninian Beall/James Stoddert
Mid 1680s – 1720s
X
X
Dwelling
Terrace A
Charles Town
James Stoddert
1697-1720s
X
X
Quarter
Terrace A
Charles Town
James Stoddert
1700-1720s
X
X
Cellar
Terrace A
Charles Town
Unknown
Unidentified
X
X
Store
Area D
Charles Town
Thomas Hollyday
X
X
Ordinary
Tracy’s Ordinary
Adjacent to Charles Town
Charles Tracy
1695-1698
X
X
Unidentified
Area B
Charles Town
Unknown
Unidentified
X
Courthouse
Courthouse
Charles Town
Robert Brothers
1698-1721
X
Jail
Jail
Charles Town
Josiah Wilson
1710-1721
X
Church
First St. Paul’s Parish Church
Charles Town
Unknown
Before 1692-1701
X
Church
Second St. Paul’s Parish Church
Charles Town
Unknown
1701-1745
X
Roundhouse
Roundhouse
Charles Town
Unknown
Before 1704-?
X
Dwelling
Wilson’s House
Charles Town
Josiah Wilson
After 1708-1717
X
Warehouse
Wilson’s Warehouse
Charles Town
Josiah Wilson
After 1708-1717
X
Dwelling
Boteler’s House
Charles Town Lot 10
Charles Boteler
?-1713
X
Dwelling
Bean’s House
Charles Town Lot 43
Christopher Beans
1707-1716
X
Dwelling
Bradley’s House
South of Charles Town
Robert Bradley
Before 1696 to 1720
X
Dwelling
Davis’ House
Adjacent to Charles Town
John Davis
Before1696-1710
X
Dwelling
Billingsley
North of Charles Town
Thomas Hollyday
1695-1703
X
X
X
Store
Small’s Store
Charles Town
David Small
1697-1700
X
James Stoddert was another powerful mer- chant politician who used Charles Town to ad- vance his interests. Stoddert chose to live on a lot within the town itself, rather than on an adjacent parcel like Bradley, Hollyday, and Small. James Stoddert entered and improved, or outright pur- chased, many of the lots and most of the unim- proved land in and around Charles Town between 1697 and 1705. Stoddert used his position as Chief Justice of the court to advance his politi- cal career, dabbled to a lesser extent in mercantile trade at the town, and profited from a short-lived public ferry which crossed the Patuxent to Anne Arundel County.9 There was also some money to be made off the ordinary business and Stoddert may have syphoned off profits from keepers oper- ating out of buildings situated on his lots. Stod- dert appears to have moved to another location along the Potomac River in Charles County by 1713, but between 1705 and 1711, Charles Town was a speculative enterprise controlled almost
entirely by Stoddert.
County Sheriff was one of the most lucra-
tive positions in county government during the early eighteenth century. Two individuals who held this position lived at or near Charles Town during the first quarter of the eighteenth centu- ry. Josiah Wilson served as the Sheriff of Prince George’s County from 1702 to 1705, and 1708 to 1711 when he was replaced by his broth- er-in-law Henry Boteler who served until his death in 1713.10 Wilson’s house was located on the 250 acres he leased from William Groome Jr. in 1704 and most likely on the eastern side of Mount Calvert road, just beyond the boundaries of Mount Calvert Historical and Archaeologi- cal Park. This house was likely standing until the 1760s. Wilson also owned a “warehouse down by the water side at Mount Calvert” when he died in 1717.11 This may have been one of the earli- er stores owned by Small, Hollyday, or another merchant. The location of Henry Boteler’s house
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