Page 84 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

figure 27
Silver thread and pewter button from the New Waterford plantation (18ST677).
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the heated room. King’s Reach, built some thirty years later (ca. 1690), measured 20 by 30 ft in size with a 10 by 30 ft shed along the dwelling’s rear and provided 900 square ft in ground floor space. King’s Reach also had a wooden floor, glazed windows, and an end chimney. Additionally, King’s Reach had at least five or six small cellars or storage pits, with some found in the hall, some in the parlor, and one in a small attached dairy. The King’s Reach house appears to have also had a direct entry. Neither the Patuxent Point house
perhaps linked to changing political fortunes. In 1689, when a group of rebels known as the Prot- estant Associators seized control of the colony, Smith, Jr., who like his father had supported the proprietor, was imprisoned to prevent his sailing for England. Perhaps the seemingly more modest house occupied by Smith, Jr. reflected this tem- porary reversal of political fortune. Smith, Jr., abandoned his father’s 30-year-old house. Presumably, this was because it was no longer habitable and Smith appears to have decided that an investment in a more permanent dwelling, at least at this politically unstable time was unwise. Smith, Jr. did eventually abandon the King’s Reach house ca. 1711, opting at that time to build a new cross-shaped house at the mouth of St. Leonard Creek with considerable brick in its build.
While the structures at New Waterford and Moore’s Lodge have not been uncovered, room- by-room inventories survive for both. An inven- tory taken in 1684 for Stephen Murty’s estate at New Waterford reveals a two-room dwelling with a hall and adjoining bed chamber. Murty, a Catholic who was recorded as a merchant, plant- er, and innkeeper and whose wife had remained in Ireland, used the hall to entertain guests and the bed chamber for privacy. New Waterford appears to have been a modest affair, with little brick incorporated into its construction and a sin- gle fragment of window lead, indicating at least one glazed window. Still, as small as the house may have been, it was suitable enough to host a meeting of the Maryland Council in August 1676 at which Piscataway leaders appeared. The discus- sions of that meeting centered exclusively around colonial defense related to Bacon’s Rebellion.51 Perhaps more revealing of Murty’s standing (who was addressed as a gentleman in the records) are silver threads and an ornate pewter button. A nearby quarter was furnished with kitchen equip- ment and beds for Murty’s two male servants, suggesting that this building was the locus of food preparation.
An inventory taken twenty years later, in 1705, at Moore’s Lodge, revealed a dwelling house with of at least four rooms on the ground floor. Moore’s Lodge was the plantation of Thomas Hussey and his heirs (see figures 1 and 28), including his daughter and her husband, Samuel Luckett. The lower floor of the house included a hall, Mrs. Luckett’s room, a “little room” ad- joining Mrs. Luckett’s room, and a “New Room,” each with chambers above. Mrs. Luckett’s room
nor the King’s Reach house had plastered interior walls, nor does it appear that either building was substantially repaired before its abandonment. The owner or tenant at Patuxent Point remains unknown despite extensive research. King’s Reach is thought to have been the dwelling plantation of Richard Smith, Jr.
While the dwellings at the remaining five sites have yet to be uncovered, one — Richard Smith, Sr.’s dwelling — appears to have had a considerable amount of brick incorporated into its construction. Known only through surface collection, the Richard Smith, Sr. site yielded more than 500 brick fragments, including both red and yellow brick. A number of unglazed tile fragments were also recovered from the site’s surface, and the recovery of window glass sug- gests that the dwelling had glazed windows. The amount of brick evidently used in this building indicates that, although the earthfast Virginia house had become near-standard in the Chesa- peake, some householders continued to use architecture to make statements about their wealth and social standing. Richard Smith, Sr. was a wealthy planter who (for a short period) served as Lord Baltimore’s attorney, although he never served on the Maryland Council. He was also the father of Richard Smith, Jr., who later lived at King’s Reach. The two dwelling sites present a dramatic contrast with one another, a contrast
PHOTOGRAPH BY JULIA A. KING, COURTESY OF THE MARYLAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVATION LABORATORY.