Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18BA330A Dolfield Farmstead
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Dolfield Farmstead (18BA330a), also known as the Caretaker’s House, is the location of a late 19th to 20th century farmstead and tenant house. It is located within the Red Run drainage southwest of Owings Mills, in Baltimore County, Maryland. The site is situated on a level ridge, inland from Red Run, but relatively near a larger tributary on the west and the headwaters of a smaller one on the east. It overlooks the Dolfield summer house (18BA330) located approximately 70 meters to the north across a farm road. Besides the house, the site also consists of a barn and pen area that is situated to the northeast about 35 meters and overlooks a small, second order stream to the west that runs northeast/southwest. The pen area is marked in part by split rail fence sections located to the east of the barn area. The barn has experienced intensive destruction and consists of rock and concrete elements as the only above-ground evidence of its presence. Soil at the site is moderately eroded Glenelg loams.
In 1859, Frederick Dolfield purchased a 160 acre tract of land. Dolfield, originally a cooper, worked the land as a farmer. The 1876 Tax Assessment showed that structures on the land consisted of a frame dwelling, corn house, stable and a tenant house (probably Site 18BA331) which appears on maps from that time period. The McClure family was depicted at this location on maps dated from 1877 to 1915. The Moser family is thought to have lived in that house, as estate caretaker’s, during the later part of the Dolfield ownership. Site 18BA332 (see associated synopsis report), a second tenant house on the property (also known as the “black tenant” house), was not listed on the tax record nor on maps but may also have dated from this time period. Frederick Dolfield’s son, Alexander, grew up to become a successful banker.
Alexander built the Dolfield summer house (see synopsis report for 18BA330) in the 1880s. It was a Victorian three-story structure used as a vacation home. Alexander Dolfield died in 1918, at which time probate proceedings divided the estate amongst a number of heirs. Those heirs transferred title of the property over to Dolfield’s son, Frederick A. Dolfield. The 1923 tax records showed that F. A. Dolfield owned 200 acres containing a dwelling, barn, other buildings and houses, and a corn crib. The dwelling, barn and one of the houses are thought to relate to Sites 18BA330 and 18BA330a. One of the other houses is Site 18BA331 and the black tenant house is Site 18BA332. This is the earliest specific mention of the black tenant house in the historic record. Site 18BA330a was originally classified as the “caretaker’s house”, however, additional study suggested it might be the location of Frederick Dolfield’s 1860s farmstead. It is believed that the Dolfield summer house was destroyed by fire sometime in the 1940s. In 1951, the property was sold to one-time caretaker Raymond Moser. F. A. Dolfield died a few years later. During the Dolfield ownership, several black and white families squatted on the Dolfield property and adjacent properties. These families lived on the western side of the property and were engaged as chrome miners. Several of the structures in which these families lived burned down. The Moser family never took up residence in the summer house, prior to its destruction. Finally in 1986, the Dolfield/Moser property was acquired by a local developer in Owings Mills.
In the 1980s, Baltimore County set up the Owings Mills Growth Area wherein areas were specified for either residential or commercial development. The Lakeside Development was a 432 acre residential development within the Growth Area. To facilitate the building of the development, the land owner was to fund the construction of the extension of two roads, which would cross over Red Run and its tributaries. In order to obtain the permits for the road construction, the developer was required to conduct a preliminary archeological and structural survey of the entire project area. The Phase I reconnaissance survey was divided into 2 stages of work: Stage 1 consisted of the survey of the proposed road alignments and ca. 150 acres of the development slated for construction in 1988 and Stage 2 consisted of the survey of the remaining 282 acres during the spring of 1988 while construction began in the Stage 1 area.
Stage 1 fieldwork was conducted during the winter of 1987 and halted in December due to cold conditions. The Phase I survey strategy entailed testing all geologic formations and all environmental zones within the Lakeside project area. The center line of the two proposed road alignments served as the north-south and east-west grid lines for the shovel testing program in the 150 acre Stage 1 area. A total of 135 shovel test pits (STPs) were excavated on slopes of less than 15%. On slopes greater than 15%, instead of digging an STP, a two m² area was raked, first to remove the overburden then to break the ground a few inches below surface in order to locate any materials near the surface. In areas where artifacts were present, one meter test squares were opened up.
Site 18BA330 was identified during a hike up to the Stage 1 survey area but was itself located in the Stage 2 area. At that time the foundation remnants thought to be associated with the “caretakers house” were simply considered a part of the larger Site 18BA330 and had not been assigned a unique site number. In fact, the site was simply recorded in 1987 and no STPs were excavated within its boundaries.
A Phase I/II archeological testing program was undertaken within the Owings Mills New Town project area from March through June of 1989. Additional research had been requested by the Maryland Historical Trust for a portion of the Stage 1 area of the residential development project, as well as new investigations in the southern part of the section and in a Wetland Mitigation Exchange Area east of the Stage 1 section. The housing developer was initiating their construction phase at this time.
During the planning stages for the 1989 Phase I/II work, it was decided to assign a separate site number to the “caretaker’s house” and, thus, 18BA330a was excavated as a separate site. Five STPs were excavated around the structure during the Phase I portion of the 1989 testing. All tests yielded similar artifacts to those encountered around the main house. The Phase II testing that immediately followed consisted of the excavation of 22 STPs and two 1 m² test units. As surface scatters were more evident in the rear and side yards of the property, testing focused there. One test unit was placed straddling the house foundation and a second was placed in the backyard where surface artifacts and food refuse was observed in quantity. Excavation at the house foundation revealed that a cellar hole extended to a depth of about 1 meter at which point a concentration of building materials restricted further investigation without enlarging the unit. It was speculated that the structure had a full or at least half cellar. Two posthole features and a large amount of artifacts including animal bone and oyster shell were encountered in the backyard unit. Three trenches were also mechanically stripped of their topsoil behind the house. The most southerly trench uncovered a semi-circular soil stain in association with several boulders. Ten STPs were excavated immediately east of the barn and in the area of the barn yard and pen. Few artifacts were recovered and those that were consisted mainly of architectural and domestic types. No artifacts related to agricultural or animal husbandry were found.
In all, 47 historic artifacts were collected from 18BA330a during combined Phase I/II work. There were 3 activity items (1 flowerpot sherd, 1 horse or mule shoe, and 1 metal file). The 34 architectural materials consisted of 3 brick fragments (discarded), 8 pieces of window glass, 5 cut nails, 6 wire nails, and 12 pieces of (modern) asbestos exterior siding. Kitchen-related items included 5 bottle/container glass fragments, 1 glazed redware sherd, and an animal bone fragment. Miscellaneous materials consisted of 1 piece of unidentified metal and 2 strands of metal wire (discarded).
Results of the Phase I/II testing indicated primarily a late 19th and early 20th century occupation at the site. Although the domestic materials recovered from 18BA330a were similar to those from 18BA330, the artifact assemblage from the Summer House site contained a greater frequency of high economic status ceramic types. Also unlike the summer house, refuse was evident in the rear yard of the structure. There was also some artifactual evidence to suggest the pattern of disposal dated as early as the mid-19th century. It was suggested that the house site may actually have been the location of the Dolfield homestead from ca. 1859, the oldest known structure on the property, which may have served later as a “caretaker’s house”.
As the site was scheduled for development, all planned earthmoving activities would destroy it; therefore, a Data recovery Program was recommended. The collection of additional data could provide information on the socioeconomic practices of early farmers and reveal the stratified economic and social rank of those living at the summer house and the caretaker’s house.
Late in 1989 a combined testing and data recovery was conducted at several sites in the development area including 18BA330a (see synopsis reports for 18BA328, 18BA330, 18BA331, 18BA332, 18BA354, and 18BA394). Previous investigation suggested that these sites were potentially eligible for listing to the National Register of Historic Places. Phase III data recovery operations focused on securing architectural, land-use, material cultural, and dietary information from the site and relating the data to questions concerning social, economic, and ethnic practices. The goal of the Phase III intensive recovery at 18BA330a was to obtain a representative sample of the site’s cultural record and in doing so, preserve a record of the information as an adverse impact mitigative action. Other general research goals were the interpretation of site-specific and inter-site variability (such as history, settlement, ethnicity, diet, and socioeconomic practices) and hypotheses creation and testing.
Prior to the stripping of topsoil to locate subsurface shaft and trash features, six 1 meter units were dug to examine the house exterior and interior as well as to obtain a stratigraphic record of the yard deposits. One privy-like deposit and three buried trash deposits were located and excavated. The house foundation and possible cellar (or cistern) feature from the Phase II study were also located, as well as the remains of a smokehouse.
Machine stripping of 740 square meters of topsoil was concentrated in the rear and side yards of the house. After locating the house foundation remains, a small backhoe was used to trench and locate the corners of the building. The foundations and walls of the unit were then cleaned, photographed, and drawn. A concrete wall that had been discovered during the Phase II work was explored further with a 1 meter unit placed in the wall’s interior, in hopes that a floor could be found. However, the base of the wall continued farther down than could safely be excavated within a single unit. Using a backhoe, a trench was then excavated along the southeast section of the wall in order to locate the bottom of the concrete structure, as well as a possible water pipe complex that led to the interior structure. Upon excavation, the floor and wall of the structure was then cleaned and photographed. A horizontal view drawing was made; however, no profiles were drawn since the entire floor and wall was concrete. In order to locate mid 19th century deposits, an area was opened up between the concrete structure and the north wall of the house foundation.
Features located during stripping (or in the units) were mapped and photographed, with a small soil sample taken for chemical analysis and flotation. One-half of the feature was removed and screened, and the remaining sectioned half was profiled and photographed.
The Phase III field investigations identified 20 architectural features and an artifact yard scatter related to domestic and agricultural practices. Many of the features contained cultural material deposits. These consisted of the house foundation, an outbuilding with plastered cellar, a smoke house, a privy (drawer –type), trash pits, post holes, and buried soil stains of uncertain function (some of which were determined to likely be tree roots). The immediate yard area was designated as the location of activities closely related to daily domestic household practices carried out by all members of the tenant family in residence.
As with Site 18BA330, the artifacts recovered from Site 18BA330a ranged in date from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, spanning the period of occupation as the caretaker’s house for the Dolfield family’s summer residence. No earlier deposits were identified to support the hypothesis that the caretaker’s house may have been the original Dolfield farmhouse, erected after 1859. Datable artifacts included fragments of pottery and porcelain bearing marks indicative of early 20th century manufacture. A few fragments of course red earthenware and gray stoneware of ubiquitous type were also recovered. Although these utilitarian wares may date as early as the mid 19th century, they appeared in contexts containing artifacts dating to the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Recovered nails were both machine-cut and wire in type, indicating that the building was constructed using materials during the transition of the nail types at the latter part of the 19th century. A nickel dated 1966 and a penny dated 1953 were also recovered.
The full Phase III assemblage consisted of 85 activity items, 1,035 architectural, 11 clothing items, 7 furniture objects, 701 kitchen-related artifacts, 13 personal items, 15 arms objects, and 457 miscellaneous objects. The activity items include 2 toys (a negro doll’s head and a toy wheel), 13 lighting objects (1 light bulb part, 2 brass burners from oil lamps, and 10 pieces of lamp glass), 2 whetstones, a screwdriver, a mattock, a metal file, a metal spindle, 3 pieces of non-electrical wire, 2 iron bars, a possible barrel hoop, 3 metal hooks, 3 metal rods, an iron rod, and iron link, a brass rivet or pin, a padlock part, a spark plug, a possible carriage or auto part, a metal container fragment, 31 redware flowerpot fragments, 3 pieces of possible horse tack, a harness buckle, 3 horseshoes, 4 pieces of wire fencing, and 3 lumps of lime. The architectural assemblage consisted of 12 brick fragments, a piece of slate, a piece of mortar, 326 window glass fragments, a piece of glazier’s lead, 7 pieces of composition wall board, 4 wood fragments, 639 nails (299 cut, 304 wire, and 36 unidentified), 1 washer, 9 staples, 7 hinges, 4 screws, a nut, 10 bolts, 2 slide bolt door latches, a shutter hinge, a piece of decorative hardware, a ceramic electrical fixture, 3 ceramic doorknobs, a piece of ceramic sewer pipe, 2 metal pipe fragments, and a metal lightning rod wire. Clothing remains include a bone button, a brass button, a suspender fastener, 3 clothing grommets, 4 pieces of shoe leather, and a coat/boot fastener. The furniture remains were 2 drawer/cabinet pulls, an iron furnace handle, a drapery weight, and 3 clock gears. The kitchen assemblage consisted of 479 ceramic sherds (34 porcelain, 10 vitreous china, 358 whiteware, 7 yelloware, 1 redware, 19 buff stoneware, and 50 gray stoneware), 123 glass fragments (14 table glass, 27 glass lids or lid liners, 14 miscellaneous jar glass fragments, 7 olive green bottle glass shards, 4 late 19th to early 20th century bottle glass shards, and 57 other bottle glass fragments), 14 metal bottle/jar caps, a metal canning jar lid, a plastic bottle cap, a metal salt shaker top, a table knife handle, a food mill part, 10 metal can/lid parts, 2 can keys, 66 faunal remains (20 animal bones, 9 clam shells, and 37 oyster shells), and 2 peach pits. The personal artifacts were a Parian figurine fragment, a 1953 penny, a 1966 nickel, the back of a brass case watch, 6 cosmetic jar fragments, a perfume bottle, a bone toothbrush handle, and a pen knife. The arms objects were 7 brass cartridges, a silvered cartridge, and 7 shotgun shells. And finally, the miscellaneous objects were 42 unidentified pieces of metal, 404 other glass fragments, 2 pieces of plastic, and 9 fragments of coal.
Very little was recovered that touched on the research questions set out at the outset of the Phase III work (related to socioeconomic status, diet, etc.). Site 18BA330a is the apparent remains of the tenant house occupied by black caretakers for the nearby Dolfield Summer House (18BA330) dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the site played a role in verifying the history of the area otherwise documented through oral history and written records, it did not provide a large assemblage for further study or even comparison to similar sites. Several features were identified and the site did exhibit good integrity. However, the research potential of 18BA330a has largely been exhausted. The housing development has subsequently moved forward resulting in significant impacts to the site.
|
