Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18AP53 John Brice II House
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The John Brice II House, also known as the Jennings-Brice House (18AP53), is the archeological deposits associated with a standing historic townhome in downtown Annapolis. The precise construction date of the standing house (MIHP# AA-659) is unknown, but is largely believed to have been built in the early 1700s based on the early Georgian style of the brick house and its standing seam Gambrel roof with double end chimneys, popular from around 1700 to 1730. It is an exceptional example of an early Georgian townhouse of modest scale, set back on a well-kept lawn. The site is on an urban city block, at 195 Prince George Street in the National Historic Landmark of Annapolis. The surrounding landscape is heavily developed as an urban area. Soils at the site are Monmouth fine sandy loams.
According to the 1718 Survey of the City of Annapolis, the lot on which 18AP53 is located (Lot #85) was owned by Amos Garrett, the first mayor of Annapolis, and consisted of just under ¾ of an acre. In a 1737 conveyance of the lot, from Garrett’s heirs to John Brice II, a house is mentioned and valued at £55. This 1737 document, unfortunately, is the earliest surviving mention of a house on the property. It is worth noting that many documents dealing with late 17th century life in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County were destroyed in a fire in 1704. In addition to the loss of documentation, what has also been lost is the linking logic or translation/transportation of lot numbers between various early surveys of the city. For this reason, the exact date of construction of the John Brice II House is uncertain. There is some contention that it is actually of late 17th century construction rather than early 18th century as the style as it appears today would suggest.
Also of note is the fact that in 1740, just three years after acquiring the Prince George Street property, John Brice II began his career of public service. He held several offices within the county, among them: Chief Justice of the Provincial Court, Alderman of Annapolis, and Judge of the Western Shore Circuit. He was also Clerk of the Court, an office he resigned shortly before his death in favor of his son, John Brice III. In addition to his administrative and judicial duties, John Brice II ran a small store. No longer standing, it is known to have been located close to the extant house, and later served as John Brice III’s law office.
A room-by-room inventory of the house and storehouse, completed in 1765, values the household goods at £452 and the store’s goods at £373. John Brice II’s will, recorded in 1766, devised the house and lot to his wife Sarah, for life. At this time, John II’s store was left to his son, John III. Upon Sarah’s death in 1782, the house and lot descended to John Brice III. The first real clue concerning the house’s configuration comes in the form of the Federal Direct Tax of 1798. At that time an assessment was entered in the amount of $1,200 for a 40 X 34 ft. two storey brick dwelling, a brick outhouse, a stable, and a one storey outhouse.
John III’s will, dated 1820, devised ownership of his lots and buildings in Annapolis to his daughter, Margaret C. Smith. A transfer of ownership from Margaret C. Smith to John T. Barber notes: “For $3,000 current money…he is granted all land in the city of Annapolis beginning on Prince George Street…running with said street”. In 1853, Barber enlarged his Prince George Street property by purchasing an adjoining lot from Catherine Chaney, but in the following year he conveyed the two houses and lots along Prince George Street (those acquired in 1841 from Margaret Smith) to his wife Mary. Mary Barber died, intestate, in 1863, and after an ensuing Equity case and John Barber’s death, her lands along Prince George Street were to be sold. In 1866, Frank H. Stockett and James Revell were appointed Trustees to Mary E., George, and John T. Barber to sell their mother’s real estate. By court order John T. Barber’s Prince George Street property, with buildings and improvements, was granted with equal interest to each of the aforementioned surviving children. Six years later, in 1872, Mary E. Barber (Carter) and her brother George sold their lands to their brother, John T. Barber.
The Prince George Street properties remained in Barber’s hands for only a few more years, and in 1875 he sold them to Catherine Spottswood Berkely Iglehart for $2,000. Catherine S.B. Iglehart died intestate in 1912, and a deed dated 1917 recorded the lot’s sale by her heirs to Katrina Halligan for $5,500. In 1955, Katrina Loomis Halligan, then widowed, conveyed the properties at 191 and 195 Prince George Street, as well as a 4 X 140 ft strip of land in-between, to her daughter Katherine Halligan Adair and her 4 grandchildren. The grandchildren remained under joint tenancy and still jointly owned the property in 1989 when the first archeological excavations were carried out at 18AP53.
In the fall of 1989, staff at the Historic Annapolis Foundation was contacted by the owners of the John Brice II House. Water damage in the basement of the house would necessitate excavation in the front yard, up against the early 18th century house’s foundation. The owners suggested that perhaps professional archeologists, in consultation with the contractor undertaking the repair work, would like to excavate a unit or units in the area to be impacted. The area was of great archaeological promise as there was no evidence of utility lines, pipes, or other significant below-ground disturbance. Researchers with Archaeology in Annapolis (AIA) were called in to perform the work. The AIA consortium’s work is largely publically funded both through state funds (the University of Maryland) and grants from the City of Annapolis.
Excavation work entailed the excavation of a single 1.524 X 1.524 m (5 X 5 ft) test unit in the area that would be disturbed by the contractor making the repairs to stop basement flooding. This single unit was excavated according to natural stratigraphic layers, with natural levels arbitrarily subdivided in any natural layer that was thicker than 15.24 cm (6 in). Excavation was conducted by shovel skimming and trowelling, and all soil was screened through standard hardware cloth. All artifacts were saved, washed, labeled, and cataloged. Soil and flotation samples were collected for each layer and for each feature excavated, but the results of their analysis are not reported in the full site report.
Four archeological features were uncovered during the course of the 1989 excavations at the John Brice II House. The features were; 1) a 20th century planting hole/stain, 2) a 20th century dripline, 3) a late 19th century soil stain that may be associated with the re-pointing of bricks at the window well, and 4) the edge of an early 18th century rubble/midden feature of undetermined extent.
The archeological remains and features brought to light in the course of this study indicate that the site is intact and promises to provide specifics about landscape alteration and changes in land use. While excavation did not uncover evidence of the builder’s trench that excavator’s hoped to find, it did provide tangible evidence of landscaping changes to the front yard in the mid-to-late 18th century. To account for the absence of a builder’s trench, the following hypotheses are offered: 1) perhaps the builder’s trench is on the inside of the house under the brick floor in the basement (the structure’s 18th century kitchen), 2) a taproot that was encountered during excavation may have obliterated any remnant of the builder’s trench, and 3) there may have been no external builder’s trench (perhaps the builder’s worked right up against the house’s foundation. In any event, the testing revealed a fairly simple stratigraphy in the front yard of the house with little evidence of subsequent disturbance. Further, the layers were rich in cultural materials from the early 18th century through the present.
A complete artifact catalog is provided in the full site report for 18AP53. Unfortunately, the catalog is coded and no key is provided. A minimum of 3,943 objects were recovered.
Site 18AP53 generally appears to be intact and does contain 18th century deposits. Intact features were encountered. The site should be considered a significant archeological resource.
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