Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18FR808 Cannon Bluff Site G-1
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Cannon Bluff Site G-1 (18FR808) consists of the archeological remains associated with the standing 19th and 20th century Feaga-Albaugh Farmstead complex (MIHP# F-3-226). The site encompasses approximately 3.4 acres on the northern side of a low ridge above Little Tuscarora Creek and includes the log-and-wood frame, two storey, gable-roofed farmhouse, several outbuildings, and yard areas. The buildings and structures at the site have estimated construction dates ranging from the middle 19th century through the late 20th century, but earlier historic components and even prehistoric components are also present. The rolling topography and dissected stream drainages of the site are characteristic of much of the surrounding landscape. Soils at the site are primarily of the well-drained Penn Soil series.
The 67 acre Feaga-Albaugh Farmstead is part of a farm owned by William Michael Feaga in the second half of the 19th century. William Feaga’s farm included his family’s homestead and mill property, which he purchased in the 1860s, and a neighboring farm that he bought in the 1850s.
The Feaga family homestead and mill property was purchased by Philip Feaga, a millwright from Frederick County, in 1785. Philip was a German farmer who served as a Hessian ally for the British during the American Revolution. He rebuilt a mill previously located on the property and resided there until his death in 1829. An 1808 map of Frederick and Washington Counties depicted a grist and merchant mill, which was probably that of Feaga, along Tuscarora Creek. Tax records indicate that in 1825, Philip Feaga owned 28 acres, a log dwelling, and a grist and saw mill.
In 1833, Philip Feaga’s son George purchased his then 40 acre mill property. Tax records indicate that a log house and barn stood on the property in 1835, as well as a grist mill and saw mill. In 1850, George Feaga’s farm produced wheat, Indian corn, Irish potatoes, orchard products, butter, and hay. He owned two horses, two milk cows, and seven swine. An 1858 map of Frederick County depicted a mill and tan yard near George Feaga’s dwelling. George Feaga died in 1865, leaving his tan yard, six attached acres of land, and his grist mill to his son William. Census records of 1850 indicate that William operated the tan yard before his father’s death. He employed 3 workers and annually produced $2,570 sides of tan leather worth $7,660.
In 1855 and 1856, William Michael Feaga purchased the neighboring 87 acre farm of the late Jacob Angleberger in three transactions. Tax records indicate that a log house and barn were constructed on Jacob Angleberger’s farm between 1825 and 1835. In 1852, Angleberger owned 89 acres of land with improvements ($2,136), livestock ($129), and household furniture totaling $75.
In the 1860s, William purchased 33 acres of his family’s homestead and mill property, which was the portion that he did not previously inherit. Tax records indicate that in 1866, William owned 90 acres of land with a log house and an old barn (probably Jacob Angleberger’s former farm) and 38 acres of land with two log dwellings, a flouring mill, and a tan yard (the mill property). The original log section of the Feaga-Albaugh farmhouse may be Jacob Angleberger’s log house , which was constructed between 1825 and 1835, or one of the two log houses on the Feaga mill property. According to tax assessments, one of the log houses on the Feaga mill property was constructed by 1825, and the other was built between 1825 and 1866.
An 1873 Atlas of Frederick County depicts a merchant mill and tannery on the property of W.M. Feaga. Tax records from 1876 assessed William Feaga for 129 acres of land ($4,575), a grist and saw mill ($2,000), a brick house ($600), a frame and log house ($400), a frame barn and outbuildings ($200), and a tan yard building ($100). The frame and log house is most likely the expanded Feaga-Albaugh farmhouse, which was still standing at the time of the first archeological investigations in 2004. The brick house also survives today but is now part of a separate farm. William Feaga owned 25 shares of the Frederick and Catoctin Turnpike Company, four horses, one colt, five cows, seven young cattle, and eleven hogs. His household furniture was assessed at $150, and an organ was assessed at $100. William possessed two farm wagons, two spring wagons, one carriage, one cart, farming implements, and a harness.
William Feaga was reportedly born on the Feaga mill property in 1820 and milled and farmed there for decades. He married Susanna Maria Ramsburg in 1844, and they had 9 children. William practiced the Lutheran faith. During the Civil War, he supported the Union cause and changed his political party from Jackson Democrat to Republican at the end of the conflict. From 1866 to 1867, William served as collector and treasurer of Frederick County. Following Susanna’s death in 1877, William married Hester Ann Rogers Preston in 1881. Following his death in 1903, William’s son Elmer purchased 67 acres of the farm for $5,500, the same acreage as the modern-day Feaga-Albaugh Farmstead. The remaining 60 acres of the farm, which included the brick house and the portion of Tuscarora Creek where the mill was located, were sold to William’s son Josiah Feaga. This property is located south of 18FR808. The site remained in the Feaga family until 1963, when it was sold to William N. Albaugh. The farm was transferred to the current owner, W. Nicholas Albaugh, Jr. in 1987.
The site was first examined archeologically in 2004 during a Phase I survey conducted for the (then) proposed Cannon Bluff subdivision. Phase I work was required under direction of the Maryland Historical Trust to meet the requirements of a Joint Federal/State Application for the Alteration of Any Floodplain, Waterway, Tidal, or Non-Tidal Wetland in Maryland. The survey work was undertaken in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and to Article 83B, Sections 5-617 and 5-618 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
The 2004 Phase I survey included systematic surface collection within the cultivated field at 18FR808 and the excavation of 17 shovel tests (STPs) within the residential yard and farmyard surrounding the Feaga-Albaugh farmhouse. The results of the surface collection indicated a distinct scatter of historic artifacts within the cultivated field. This scatter decreased significantly in concentration as distance from the farmhouse increased. Apparently focused on the farmhouse, this scatter of historic artifacts extended into the residential yard, where 6 of the 12 STPs excavated within 20 m of the farmhouse yielded historic artifacts. In contrast, only one STP excavated greater than 20 m from the farmhouse yielded historic artifacts. No shovel tests were excavated within the cultivated field.
Artifacts recovered included 86 historic ceramics, 105 pieces of glass (counted as miscellaneous), 3 pieces of brick, 3 metal items (counted as miscellaneous), a fragment of animal bone, and a piece of plastic. Three pieces of rhyolite debitage were also recovered from the site.
Soil profiles from the Phase I STPs suggested plowzone or other disturbance east of the farmhouse, but possibly intact soils to the south and west. Along the northern side of the farmhouse, potentially intact soil horizons were detected, but were buried beneath a deposit of fill. Historic artifacts from the Phase I work supported an occupational period for the Feaga-Albaugh farmhouse extending from the early 19th century to the modern period. Some pearlware was recovered to suggest use of the site as early as the turn of the 19th century, but the overwhelming majority of the artifact assemblage post-dates 1820 and is consistent with the archival record for the site. Construction of the farmhouse is thought to have taken place during the second quarter of the 19th century. Based on these findings, Phase II testing was carried out in 2005 in order for the subdivision plans to proceed.
The Phase II investigation of 18FR808 included the delineation of the site boundaries through the systematic excavation of shovel tests at varying intervals across the site area. Controlled surface collection also was conducted within the cultivated field to assist in the delineation of the site boundaries and to provide supplemental data necessary for the further characterization and assessment of the site. A remote sensing survey was conducted within the residential yard surrounding the then extant farmhouse to assist in the identification of areas of subsurface disturbance that could indicate the location of discrete cultural features, such as wells or privies. Potential areas of cultural activity identified during the remote sensing survey or during the excavation of shovel tests were examined through the excavation of 1 X 1 m test units. Test units also were placed to examine the integrity of soils at various locations within the site and to provide supplemental necessary for a determination of the overall integrity and research potential for Site 18FR808.
Shovel test pits were excavated at 5 m intervals within the residential yard surrounding the farmhouse and at 10 m intervals in uncultivated portions of the farmyard. Shovel tests were excavated at 10 m and 20 m intervals within the cultivated agricultural field located east of the farmhouse. All STPs measured a minimum of 35 cm in diameter and were excavated to a minimum depth of 40 cm below surface. Or 10 cm into sterile soil, whichever came first. All soils were removed according to natural stratigraphic levels and screened through hardware mesh. Shovel tests were not excavated in areas in which the slope exceeded 15% or ground conditions, such as locations within a roadway, standing structure, or area of extensive surface disturbance, prevented excavation. The shovel test results, including the position in the testing grid, the depth of soil horizons, and the presence or absence of cultural materials were recorded on standardized shovel test recordation forms. A total of 201 STPs were excavated during the Phase II study.
Controlled surface collection was conducted in 5 m blocks in the eastern 40 m of the agricultural field, where previous Phase I survey had identified a concentration of historic artifacts. The remainder of the agricultural field was not surface collected. Timed surface collection was used, with a collection interval of 2 minutes undertaken in each block. All cultural materials recovered during surface collection were placed in paper bags labeled with appropriate provenience information and the contents of each collection bag. Cultural materials observed but not collected were also recorded on each collection bag. Recordation forms were also maintained for all collection squares, regardless of whether they yielded artifacts or not. Cultural materials not collected included brick, coal, and modern manufactured or synthetic materials.
The Geophysical work in the yard areas immediately around the farmhouse entailed an earth conductivity and magnetic susceptibility survey using a Geonics Limited EM-38B Ground conductivity Meter. The survey was carried out within a roughly 50 X 50 m area surrounding the farmhouse. Lanes were traversed grid north-south and spaced at 1 m intervals. Along these lanes, conductivity and susceptibility readings were taken every 50 cm. The EM-38B was operated in the vertical mode allowing maximum depth penetration. With the instrument carried 20 cm above the ground surface, the vertical mode of operation examined the conductivity of soils between 20-130 cm below ground surface. The magnetic susceptibility of the site was examined in the upper 55 cm soil package. This depth range allowed for maximum examination of soils containing potential historic features.
The EM-38B measured earth conductivity and magnetic susceptibility in the same pass, allowing for an overlay of both data sets. Upon completion of the survey, remote sensing data was downloaded with Geonics Limited software into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for processing and were plotted using GIS software.
Test units measured 1 X 1 m in size. Test unit excavation proceeded in 10 cm arbitrary levels within the natural stratigraphy. In areas where a historic plowzone was present, the plowzone was removed in a single natural level. Test units were excavated to a minimum depth of 10 cm into sterile subsoil. All excavated soil was screened through hardware mesh. Standard recordation during unit excavation included excavation level forms, unit summary forms, stratigraphic profiles, photographs, and plan drawings when warranted by the presence of features. A total of 11 test units were excavated during Phase II testing.
The surface collection revealed a low-density prehistoric artifact scatter across the entire collection area, and an historic artifact scatter that decreased in artifact density as the collection progressed farther from the farm complex. Systematic shovel testing of the residential yard and portions of the surrounding farmyard and agricultural field indicated diffuse scatters of an indeterminate prehistoric period component and of an early 19th to 20th century historic component. Test units placed to determine stratigraphic sequences and to investigate areas containing historic artifacts revealed significant subsurface disturbance from long-term cultivation of the site area. Isolated areas of limited stratigraphic integrity related to each component of the site were identified during the course of the Phase II investigation. However, these areas represented only the truncated basal expressions of cultural features or former ground surfaces. No intact living surfaces were identified.
Though the remote sensing survey did identify several anomalous signatures, most of these were determined to be related to buried road surfaces, modern utility lines, septic field, modern campfire pits, and other features of non-interest.
The prehistoric component of Site 18FR808 consisted of a generalized scatter of lithic debitage. The prehistoric component, however, lacks vertical depositional integrity, the quantity of material, and the diagnostic artifacts necessary to address questions related to prehistoric settlement and changing land-use patterns within the Tuscarora Creek drainage, or even to provide substantive comparative information necessary to refine regional prehistoric cultural contexts. The Phase II prehistoric assemblage consisted of 1 non-diagnostic rhyolite biface fragment, 119 pieces of debitage (quartz, rhyolite, and chert), and 1 piece of fire-cracked rock.
Temporally, the historic component of Site 18FR808 reflects the occupational period of the Feaga-Albaugh Farmstead. Although several (54) historic artifacts potentially related to late 18th century use of the property were recovered, these artifacts were found in association with diagnostic artifacts reflecting the later period of occupation of the farmstead and, as such, could not demonstrate that historic settlement occurred within the site area prior to the construction and occupation of the Feaga-Albaugh farmhouse by Jacob Angleberger between 1825 and 1835. Intensive cultivation of the site area during much of the period of historic occupation has truncated the upper extent of the soil column, thoroughly mixing all former occupation surfaces and preserving only the basal extent of one historic feature, a possible burning pit that had been excavated deeply into the subsoil horizon. No other intact historic depositional or stratigraphic sequences related to the historic development of the farmstead were identified.
The Phase II historic assemblage consisted of 4,287 objects: 6 activity items (1 lightbulb glass fragment, 1 piece of paper, and 4 golf balls), 113 architectural artifacts (35 window glass fragments and 78 pieces of brick), 1,707 ceramic sherds (13 creamware, 3 tin-enameled earthenware, 35 pearlware, 10 transitional pearlware/whiteware, 80 other earthenware, 376 whiteware, 1,019 redware, 31 yelloware, 36 ironstone, 27 porcelain, 1 German Westerwald stoneware, and 76 other stoneware sherds), 17 bottle glass fragments, 1 jar glass fragment, 12 other kitchen-related artifacts (1 soda can fragment, 1 foil fragment, and 10 animal bone/tooth fragments), 4 arms objects (pieces of shotgun shell wadding), and 2,427 other historic items (8 unidentified glass fragments, 40 skeet fragments, 1 iron fragment, 1 piece of coal, 39 pieces of plastic, and 2,338 other miscellaneous objects).
The prehistoric component of Site 18FR808 was found to lack vertical integrity, sufficient artifact quantities, or the diagnostic materials necessary to answer research questions related to Maryland’s prehistory. The site’s historic component, with the exception of a single intact but severely truncated burning pit feature, was also found to lack integrity. The site is not considered a significant archeological resource.
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