Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18CV175 Trueman's Appeal
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Trueman’s Appeal site (18CV175), also known as Route 2/4 Check 18, is the remains of an apparent 19th century farmstead north of Lusby in Calvert County. The site is situated on a small knoll near an intersection with MD Route 2/4. It was first identified by a cluster of architectural and domestic debris located in a plowed field. A late 19th or early 20th century house was located some 200 meters distant. Soils at the site are Matapeake and Sassafras silt loams.
The site was first identified in 1974 during the preliminary survey of a highway improvement project corridor. At that time the Maryland State Highway Administration was proposing realignment and dualization of the MD Route 2/4 corridor. The study area consisted of a roughly 17 km (11 mile) stretch of the route. Improvements to the roadway would result in significant impacts to any archeological resources within the project corridor. Because the highway project was publically funded, the SHPO requested that Phase I survey be conducted.
The site was immediately recognized in the field during preliminary reconnaissance work, because of a cluster of architectural and domestic debris, as well as some prehistoric lithics, in a plowed field. Subsequently, a surface reconnaissance was carried out in the field which identified a number of artifacts. At the time, the field was planted in corn and archeological personnel walked the fields in a “criss-cross” pattern and collected a sample of 1 quartz scraper, 1 quartz core, a ground and chipped object of unknown function, 4 other prehistoric lithics, 3 brick fragments, 3 fieldstone fragments, a gray stoneware sherd , 5 whiteware sherds, a dark green bottle glass shard, a piece of clear bottle glass, an iron hollowware leg, an aluminum bottle cap, and 8 oyster shell fragments. Interviews with a local farmer who had plowed the field indicated the potential for in situ architectural remains because of difficulty when plowing this portion of the site.
This preliminary survey work was followed up with a more systematic survey of 18CV175 in 1980. A controlled surface collection of a 15.24 X 15.24 m (50 X 50 ft) section of the corn field was gridded into 3.05 X 3.05 m (10 X 10 ft) collection/sampling squares. Artifacts collected from these sampling squares included 307 fragments of brick, 91 pieces of architectural stone, 77 mortar pieces, 9 plaster fragments, 15 nails, 2 buttons, 61 ceramic sherds, 29 shell fragments, 45 unidentified glass fragments, and 14 miscellaneous objects. The preponderance of building and habitation materials led to probing of the area with a metal rod and (eventually) exposure of a U-shaped brick and sandstone feature.
Based on the systematic surface collection and subsurface probing, thirteen test units and trenches of varying sizes were excavated atop potential features and artifact concentrations or surface finds warranting further investigations. One test unit and a trench were excavated in the “house area” which previous investigation (informant interviews and probing) suggested contained historic features. The result was the exposure of a U-shaped brick and sandstone feature, roughly 1 X 1.52 m in size. A builder’s trench was also encountered nearby. The 1980 excavators interpreted the brick feature to be a chimney base (subsequent researchers have disagreed), which combined with the builder’s trench represents the remains of a 19th century “pioneer house”.
Artifacts encountered in the Phase I test units and trenches included 4 activity items (a porcelain doll shoe, an iron plow tip, a broad axe blade, and a bronze bell), 741 architectural artifacts, 5 clothing items (a plastic button, 3 other buttons, and a copper suspender buckle), 1 furniture item (a clock gear), 207 kitchen-related artifacts, 2 personal items (copper comb parts), 2 pipe stems, and 184 miscellaneous objects. The architectural assemblage consisted of 229 brick fragments, 233 mortar fragments, 13 pieces of architectural stone, 128 pieces of plaster, a piece of slate, 134 nails (6 hand-wrought roseheads, 16 other hand-wrought, 2 square, 59 cut, 1 wire, and 50 unidentified), a spike, a bolt, and a bronze hinge. Kitchen-related artifacts include 108 ceramic sherds (2 agateware, 2 Buckley, 14 pearlware, 64 ironstone, 16 whiteware, 8 domestic stoneware, 1 English Brown stoneware, and 1 redware), 7 glass items (1 18th C. bottle, 2 free-blown bottle, 4 bottle glass), a crown cap, and 91 faunal remains (1 split deer bone, a hollow bird bone, a bone chip, 3 other animal bones, 5 oyster shells, and 80 miscellaneous shell fragments). The miscellaneous items were 109 unidentified glass fragments (probably includes many bottle and window glass fragments), 5 iron fragments, a bronze fragment, a human tooth, 10 wood fragments, 9 stones, 45 charcoal fragments, and 4 miscellaneous items.
Upon review of the survey work carried out in 1974 and 1980, led to more questions than answer. The SHPO questioned the sampling strategies employed and concluded that the survey coverage had been inadequate. Based on these findings a resurvey and subsequent Phase II testing were initiated in 1984.
The 1984 project was carried out by personnel at the Maryland Geological Survey, Division of Archeology (late absorbed by the SHPO, the Maryland Historical Trust) and entailed archival research, controlled surface collection, and the excavation of test squares and trenches. The archival research revealed that Trueman’s Appeal was the residence of the Blunt family in the last half of the 19th century. The house ceased to exist by 1897. It is possible that the site was the residence of the Pardoe family before it came into the ownership of the Blunts. However, this is really conjecture based solely on the nearby grave of a William Dowell (age 22 at death), who was a member of the Pardoe Residence in the 1850s. Land records that might support Pardoe ownership were destroyed, along with many other early county records, in a courthouse fire in 1882.
Documentary evidence of a structure at the site is confined to a reference in tax sale documents of 1892, which describes the property as being 24 acres with a “comfortable dwelling house” listed as existing in 1889. The house appears to have been no longer extant by 1897, as documents from that year do not reference a structure. Nor do later documents. No historic maps depict the house. The best estimate for its construction is sometime in the 1850s, as the Blunt family shows up in the cesnsus records for Calvert County around that time. They are present in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 US census lists. It was James E. Blunt who defaulted on his mortgage in 1892, necessitating the tax sale which records the presence of the house. The property was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Grover. The Grovers sold the property to H. Gordon Trueman in 1919. Trueman’s estate would eventually pass to his daughter, Mrs. Larry Forman, who is the one who sold the property to the State Highway Administration.
The 1984 Phase I surface collection began with the establishment of a controlled collection grid of 3 X 3 m squares across the entire site area. Artifacts were collected from each square and their distribution plotted on site maps. A “core area” of the site was defined which consisted of two concentrations: the main concentration of artifacts on the south end and a secondary concentration on the slope to the north. The southern artifact concentration, particularly mortar, gives a strong definition to the location of a former structure. The secondary concentration downslope was viewed as a potential outbuilding location and was tested with test square excavations.
Test square excavation concentrated on relocating the subsurface features identified in 1980, to obtain more information on the construction and demolition dates. Additionally, test squares were placed across the site in areas of artifact density in a search for outbuildings (such as the north slope) or other outlying features. A total of eleven 1 m test squares, and one 5 m X 50 cm trench and another smaller trench were excavated throughout the site. The trenches and several contiguous test squares were situated in the area of the previously identified features.
The trench and outlying squares yielded negative results. Some root disturbances were originally identified as potential features, but subsequent excavation proved them to be non-cultural. In the trench there was mottling at the base of the plowzone and some very shallow pockets of brick, mortar, and oyster shell. These were likely related to demolition of the structure and were heavily disturbed by plowing. In the area of the secondary concentration, downslope and north of the main concentration, evidence of severe erosion was encountered. The concentration was determined to be the result of erosion and downslope dumping. Downslope dumping was also suggested by the high proportion of oyster shell in that area.
The features encountered during the 1980 excavation were encountered in the aforementioned block of contiguous test squares. The feature described as a mortared fieldstone “chimney” by the earlier researchers was determined to be a cellar bulkhead entrance. Such an entrance may have either housed steps or a simple ramp to provide exterior access to a cellar under a domestic structure. The previously identified construction trenches were also noted. In addition, several pockets of cellar hole fill were identified. No evidence of a cellar lining or foundation was encountered. Soil augering was used to determine the approximate extent of cellar hole fill. The evidence points to a small, unlined, shallow cellar filled with occupational and demolition debris which has been truncated by repeated plowing.
No detailed description of the artifacts recovered during the Phase I/II work at 18CV175 is provided in the full site report, but an analysis of the diagnostic artifacts revealed that the vast majority date to the mid-late 19th century.
Given the presence of subsurface features it would appear that 18CV175 has reasonably good integrity. With the exception of plowing and erosion, the site had not been adversely impacted. The plowing doubtlessly affected shallow features at the site, incorporating their contents into the plow-disturbed horizon. The extent of the plow disturbance and erosion is indicated by the absence of features with the exception of the remnant of the cellar hole. Hence, while the site has reasonably good integrity, unplowed or less deeply plowed sites from the same period would have much greater integrity and hence greater significance. Since the site appears to date to the late 19th century, it is not a scarce resource. Many far better preserved late 19th century sites (many with standing architecture) can be found throughout Calvert County. Taken together, the integrity, research potential, historical significance, and the site scarcity suggest that 18CV175 is not a significant site under criteria for listing on the National Register. Additional archeological research at the site was not recommended and the site may have been destroyed during construction of the improved highway.
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