Page 165 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

As previously mentioned the Mattapanian settlement encountered by Captain John Smith in 1608 was likely the Nottingham South site in present-day Prince George’s County. The pres- ence of Contact period Colono-wares, appears to indicate that at least part of the site was being occupied into the 17th century. Land records for a tract just north of this site, on the south side of Mataponi Creek beginning in 1664 reference be- ing “formerly called Mattapain Town.”60 A deed for a portion of this original patent recorded in 1703 refers to a specific property boundary corner being “a pear tree to be planted in the Indian Fort.”61 The location of this specific prop- erty boundary corner is located on what is now the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.
The first reference to the Mattapanian in this area comes in 1650 when the mariner Michael Tainter requests permission from the colonial government to transport corn to the Mattapa- nian “who were gone to seate towards the head of Patuxent River.”62 This suggests that at some point prior to 1650 the Mattapanian had relo- cated further upriver from where they were likely settled before at the Nottingham South site. A reference to a fort being at this location comes in 1658 when the Provincial Court met to discuss the alleged running away of two English inden- tured servants. James Jolley and William Howes reported that they had gone to the “Mattapanian ffort” along the Patuxent where they encountered the alleged runaways.63 The Mattapanian appear less frequently in the records than the Chopti- co or Piscataway, likely lending to the fact that they are so far upriver in the Patuxent, which was not settled as early as the Potomac by English colonists.
When exactly the Mattapanian abandoned their settlement in the freshes of the Patuxent is unclear. It is possible that they relocated with other groups to Choptico sometime after 1658. The land, as previously mentioned, appears in a patent in 1664 to Thomas Brooke. The association of Brooke with the property may provide import- ant evidence into the motivations of the political establishment for putting pressure on the Mat- tapanian to vacate their lands. By 1666 when the Articles of Peace and Amity were signed between the English and various Native groups, the Mat- tapanian are not listed as signatories, suggesting that they may have joined with others such as the Choptico at their reservation or the Piscataway who were then located on Piscataway Creek.
Augustine Herman’s 1670 map (published in 1673) depicts English settlements at the freshes of the river which he labels as Mount Calvert of Calvert Manor (see figure 25). A few miles to the south of this he indicates a place or creek called “Mattapanye” in the general location of what is now known as Mataponi Creek. His depiction of settlement in the area of Mount Calvert is interesting given that it is relatively far removed and up the river from other colonial settlements. Mount Calvert Manor was established in 1658 with 1,000 acres granted to Philip Calvert, who was then Secretary of the colony.64 Interestingly, the Calvert and Brooke families were allied, with several of Thomas Brooke’s children directly con- nected to the Calvert family by marriage through the Sewell and Digges families. Thomas Brooke’s son, also Thomas, would later go on to serve as the 13th proprietary governor of the colony in 1720.
The closest English settlements south of
figure 24
Copper bead from Choptico.
figure 25
Augustine Herman’s map of Maryland showing the Patuxent River.
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