Page 81 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

and political authority of the Calvert family and its agents.
Mattapany and Notley Hall were not the only places where the Calverts were seeking to establish their authority. In 1672, Charles Calvert built a “summer house” at the headwaters of the Wicomico (Zekiah Run), an effort he soon con- ceded was more expensive than he had antici- pated. Zekiah House (see figure 1), which has not been archaeologically identified, served in part to afford protection from pirates and other ma- rauders plying the Patuxent (one of the inherent dangers of rivers).44 Meanwhile, a major building campaign was underway in St. Mary’s City, where the Jesuits were building a brick chapel, a brick state house was under consideration, and Gover- nor Calvert’s uncle, Philip, was planning his own grand brick dwelling.
Further up the Chesapeake, archaeologists from the University of Delaware have uncovered traces of My Lord’s Gift, the dwelling plantation of Henry Coursey, a member of the Maryland Council who was well-regarded for his work negotiating with the many Native groups in and beyond the colony. Located in Queen Anne’s County on the Chester River, the plan of Coursey’s dwelling is strikingly similar to Notley Hall, consisting of a main block measuring 25 by 50 ft in plan with a porch and a back room measuring approximately 25 by 25 ft.45 My Lord’s Gift appears to be a “straightforward lobby-entry house with [a] porch and heated back room,” a style typical for this period in both England and in New England.46 Although the Council nev- er met at My Lord’s Gift, its association with a councilor, its location at the mouth of the Chester River, and its striking similarity in plan to Notley Hall and probably to Mattapany gave it a form and political symbolism no doubt familiar to the colony’s settlers.
A fourth plantation site associated with one of the Calvert family’s most troublesome ene- mies — Josias Fendall — reveals how some of the political work the Calverts were undertaking among the plantations was designed to under- mine their enemies. Fendall had led the “pygmy rebellion” in 1660 when he tried to remove Lord Baltimore’s Upper House from any role in gov- ernment. Threatened at that time by Lord Balti- more with banishment, Fendall maintained a low profile through the 1660s and most of the 1670s. Fendall’s plantation was located at the mouth of the Wicomico River directly across from Notley
Hall. When Fendall once again began agitating the Calvert government in the late 1670s, he was (in 1681) banished from the colony — this time for good. William Digges, the son-in-law of Charles Calvert, “acquired” Fendall’s property and began the development of a town he named Charleston after his father-in-law. Digges and his family ultimately moved into the “Great House” at Charleston, but never actually paid Fendall (or his widow) for the property, completing the era- sure of Josias Fendall. The quantity of brick re- covered from Charleston is comparable with that recovered from Mattapany and Notley Hall (see table 1), suggesting that Digges, not only the son- in-law of the proprietor but the son of a gover- nor of Virginia, was living in a very comfortable dwelling.47
Mattapany, Notley Hall, Charleston, and My Lord’s Gift were the residences of elite households, a fact evident in the buildings’ sizes, styles, and furnishings. Mattapany and Notley Hall, with their brick walls and chimneys, council chambers, weapons magazines, and standing as
figure 23
Plan of My Lord’s Gift (18QU30).
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IMAGE BY SCOTT STRICKLAND AFTER MILLER AND CUSTER (2018).