Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR557 Pentland Hills Plantation
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Pentland Hills Plantation (18PR557) is the cultural remains of a 18th-19th century plantation house and farmstead, possibly associated with the Whitaker and Hodges families. The site is located on a west-facing ridgetop east of Collington Branch north of Upper Marlboro in Prince George’s County. The site includes the ridgetop and a complex of buildings associated with it. The building complex includes the main dwelling (Building 1), four outbuildings, and the surrounding domestic landscape. The surrounding landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills and broad valleys. Vegetation at the site during the period of archeological work included areas of overgrown maintained landscape, with some older trees and younger growth including greenbriar and small hardwoods, mature high canopy forest, and active agricultural fields. The mixed hardwoods and evergreens include the following species: black cherry, sassafras, beech, sycamore, poplar, and Virginia pine. Soils at the site are primarily Westphalia Fine Sandy loams.
The primary façade of Building 1 faces south, and the southern portion of the yard exhibits evidence of late period landscaping in the form of terraces, shrubs, ornamentals and a shallow concrete “fish pond”. The main dwelling (PG:79-38) has a ‘U’-shaped footprint and consists of an original (southern) portion and a later (northern addition). Both structures are 1 ½ storey gambrel-roofed buildings in ruinous condition. The brick chimney at each west gambrel end has collapsed, leaving an opening in each wall. These two portions are connected by a smaller section that originally may have been an attached or semi-attached support structure (for ease of reference, during archeological testing, this portion of the house was referred to as ‘the hyphen’). This configuration forms a small courtyard, enclosed on 3 sides, and open toward the west.
The closest outbuilding (Building 2) is located west of the northwestern corner of the addition. The yard on this (western) side of the dwelling includes a large deciduous tree and the remnant of a possible concrete bench. The rear yard is defined on the west by a line of outbuildings (well building [#3], chicken coop [#4], and stable/barn [#5]) that extend northward from Building 2. On the east the yard is defined by an access road that passes along the eastern edge of the landform. Beyond the access road, the landform drops sharply toward the east. This portion of the landscape includes several mature evergreen and deciduous trees and several ornamental plantings, along with the remnant of a second concrete “fish pond”.
The site was first examined archeologically in 1998 pursuant to new housing construction, known as the “Beech Tree Development”. Construction of the development was likely to impact significant portions of the site. The work was conducted pursuant to Condition 15 of Prince George’s County Planning Board Resolution 9706, which stipulates archeological survey and evaluation of the area in anticipation of compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act as well as state preservation codes. The work immediately progressed to Phase II and eventually to a Phase III level of investigation. As part of these investigations, extensive archival research was conducted.
Pentland Hills initially was patented to Colonel Ninian Beall in 1671. By the middle of the 18th century, the property had been acquired by the Whitaker family. The 1798 Federal Direct Tax recorded an “old” frame house 48 X 32 ft belonging to Marjory Whitaker, a Robert Whitaker’s heir. The property was sold to Henry Harvey in 1803. Upon Harvey’s death in 1813, the Pentland Hills tract was purchased by John Hodges, who had also acquired “Thorpland” and other tracts adjoining Pentland Hills to the north. The elder Hodges bequeathed the Thorpland tract to his eldest son (also John), while the Pentland Hills tract went first to his wife, Rebecca, and through her, ultimately to his younger son, Benjamin T. Hodges.
Benjamin T. Hodges, who became the owner of Pentland Hills in 1836, appeared in the 1850 Federal Population Schedule for the Marlborough District as a 35-year-old planter whose household included his wife Maria (35), four children including Benjamin Jr. and three other (apparently unrelated) females ranging in age from 45 to 80 years old. The eldest female probably was Benjamin’s mother, Rebecca. A visitor to the Hodges household in 1844 described the house as “very small but neat”, and located “at the very summit of a lofty hill”. The structure observed is believed to be the original component of the extant structure, the southern gambrel-roofed section of the house. It was probably built sometime around when Benjamin acquired the property in the 1830s. The remaining sections of the house are believed to have been built “some years later” and prior to 1866. That same visitor also noted the presence in the household of “old Mrs. Hodges, (who) wheezes most distressingly”. Rebecca Berry Hodges died in 1849 at Pentland, and was interred at Trinity Episcopal Church. Several of the Hodges family slaves were also interred at the cemetery. In terms of economics, Benjamin’s operation at Pentland was sufficiently large to qualify him as a “planter”, according to the 1850 census. His real estate holdings were valued at $17,400. Two properties to the north at Omaha Hill lived Jonathan Hodges, Benjamin’s older brother. With property valued at $21,400, he and his wife Susan and their 11 children appeared also to maintain a more than comfortable household.
Even more interesting , however, are the two households listed immediately adjacent to the two Hodges’ plantations in the census schedule. One belonged to James Jones, whose occupation was given in the schedule as “Manager”. Similarly the head of the other household, William Strickland, is also given as “Manager”. Given that neither of these managers owned any real estate and given the locations of their households relative to the two plantation owners, it is likely that Jones and Strickland lived on the Pentland Hills and Omaha Hill properties and worked directly for the two Hodges brothers.
The agricultural schedules for the two neighboring plantations showed that their operations were very similar, particularly with regard to the output of each operation. Benjamin Hodges’ Pentland Hills property included 390 acres of improved (e.g. cultivated) and 85 acres of unimproved (wooded?) land on which he raised a variety of livestock valued at $1,945. The plantation produced wheat, rye, corn, oats, and wool, but its most important commodity was tobacco – a staggering 26,000 pounds of it in 1849. Jonathan’s plantation produced only slightly less.
Although both plantations were worked by slave labor, strangely, all of the slaves on both properties were credited to Jonathan Hodges. At Omaha Hill, Hodges kept a total of 42 slaves, the oldest of whom was 79. Fifteen male slaves were of working age, defined as over 10 years old. Pentland Hills housed an additional 36 slaves, and one of the managers, James Jones, also owned four slaves.
Benjamin Hodges sold Pentland Hills to his nephew, John Hodges, Jr. in approximately 1859, following his third marriage. An 1861 map shows John Hodges, Sr. living at Pentland Hills and John Hodges, Jr. residing just to the north. The 1860 census reflects this change in ownership. The agricultural census figures for the two adjacent plantations, now owned by father and son, showed little change in terms of their output. Both plantations were committed more solidly than ever to the production of tobacco, and in 1859, they jointly marketed a total of 79,000 pounds of it. However, all the agricultural commodities produced on the two adjoining operations were produced by the 49 slaves that were owned by John Hedges [sic] and housed in four “slave houses”, presumably located somewhere on the combined properties.
However, John Hodges, Jr. had mortgaged his farm to his uncle Benjamin and in 1866, after suffering financial reverses and defaulting on the loan, the younger Hodges left the property and moved to Baltimore. The property thus reverted to Benjamin, who at the time placed its management into the hands of a resident agent, James Lowe. The productive capacity of the property apparently declined significantly; only corn, tobacco, and a few livestock were produced on a tract now valued at only $9,000. The resident manager used paid labor to operate the farm.
Then in 1874, faced with financial difficulties, Benjamin Hodges returned to Pentland Hills. An 1878 map depicted Benjamin T. Hodges and John Hodges, Jr. as living at Pentland Hills and on the northern tract, respectively. In 1879, the eastern 135 acre portion was sold to William A. Coale, leaving only 130 acres in Hodges family ownership. Pentland Hills itself was inherited by Elizabeth Hodges Biays, Benjamin’s daughter, who resided elsewhere with her husband James, a state librarian and Deputy Clerk of the Court of Appeals. Elizabeth Biays leased Pentland to tenant farmers (one of whom reportedly burnt the woodwork for fuel), and finally sold the tract to Edward B. Danenhower in 1912. In the meantime, William Coale had sold the eastern portion to Augustine T. Brooke, who lived on that portion of the tract from 1896 to 1904, and who sold the eastern tract to Danenhower in 1916.
Edward Danenhower, the manager of an athletic club according to the 1920 census, lived on the property and reportedly renovated the dwelling. However, Danenhower had at least one and possibly two tenants on this tract. Two African-American families, headed by Thomas Carroll and Thomas Thant, lived adjacent to Danenhower. The 1920 census identified both as farmers who rented the tracts that they farmed. The Danenhower family continued its ownership of the Pentland Hills property until they sold both parcels to a developer, however, the house structure was abandoned in 1960.
The initial Phase I investigation consisted of a reconnaissance over the site and immediately adjoining land. At this time, a preliminary examination was made of the house and outbuildings to assess their age and obvious structural additions. The reconnaissance did not identify any structural remains other than the standing buildings. Based on the information obtained and a general research plan prepared prior to the initiation of field research, a subsurface excavation plan was implemented. The first action taken was to establish a 6.1 m (20 ft) interval grid over the site. From this, a site map was drawn and shovel test pit (STPs) locations were designated for excavation. A total of 93 STPs were dug and recorded with their intervals spaced at 6.1 m. Excavated soils were sifted through hardware cloth, and artifacts were plotted and bagged by their provenience. These STPs constituted a systematic point sampling method for examining the buried cultural material record distributed over the site. Artifact and food debris patterns of distribution were revealed, and areas were identified where more expansive excavation procedures were needed.
In areas where a greater exposure was required, a series of nine excavation units were dug as part of a Phase II testing program. The units ranged from 91.44 X 91.44 cm to 1.22 X 1.22 m (3 X 3 ft to 4 X 4 ft). These units were primarily used to provide a greater horizontal or vertical exposure of cultural features or cultural material concentrations.
As a result of these excavations, a buried architectural material deposit was found associated with a domestic artifact concentration. It was found just northwest of the house and appeared to indicate the location of an outdoor kitchen that dated from the 18th and early 19th century, a period which would have been under Whitaker ownership. Prior to field research, it was suspected that the Whitaker dwelling was located in a different part of the property, because the description of the residence did not correspond with the present house on-site. Domestic artifact refuse that would date from the Hodges occupation, post-1830s, was not common over the site. It appeared that such refuse may have been removed to an off-site location.
Artifacts encountered during the Phase I and II excavations at 18PR557 included 46 activity items, 1,583 architectural artifacts, 8 clothing artifacts, 1 furniture item, 875 kitchen-related artifacts, 13 personal items, and 7 tobacco-related artifacts. The Phase I activity items were a brass oil lamp, an iron rod, a garden tool blade, 4 redware flowerpot fragments, 2 pieces of barbed wire, and a horseshoe. Architectural artifacts were 155 brick fragments, 1 piece of mortar, a red asbestos floor tile, 2 tar roofing tiles, a piece of concrete, 2 pieces of plaster, 200 window glass fragments, 9 wooden fragments, 148 nails (43 cut, 37 wire, 2 handwrought, and 66 unidentified), a spike, a non-clothing grommet, a screw, and iron handle, an electrical fixture, an 2 plumbing pipes. The Phase I kitchen-related artifacts were 76 ceramic sherds (tin-glazed earthenware, 13 creamware, 30 pearlware, 1 buff earthenware, 7 porcelain, 3 pieces of 20th century china, 2 domestic gray stoneware, 2 white salt-glazed stoneware, 14 whiteware, 1 redware, and 2 unidentified), 58 glass shards (2 glass lid liner, 2 table glass, 4 machine-made container glass, 50 misc. container glass), a screw top, an aluminum beer can, 2 can tabs, a 20th century spoon, a foil and paper wrapper, a piece of wax paper, 2 paper bread bags, 15 faunal remains (a butcher-cut bone, 4 other animal bones, 10 oyster shell fragments), and a peach pit. The remaining Phase I artifacts were a plastic button (clothing), a cook stove handle (furniture), a perfume bottle and compact mirror (personal), a white clay stem and white clay stem & bowl (tobacco-related), and 153 miscellaneous objects (49 metal items, 67 pieces of glass, 5 fragments of tree bark, a twig, 21 pieces of plastic, a piece of paper, 4 pieces of coal, a clinker, and 4 pieces of slag). The Phase II activity items were 6 pieces of non-electrical wire, a tent grommet, a solder fragment, a plastic bolt, 3 metal rings, a carbon battery core, a draw knife blade, a gasket, 13 headlight lenses, a chain, 6 redware flowerpot fragments, and a horseshoe. The architectural assemblage consists of 266 pieces of brick (2 burned), 16 fragments of mortar, 5 pieces of concrete, 7 fragments of cement, 2 roofing slates, 2 shingles, 9 painted wood fragments, 7 other wood pieces (1 burned), 13 plaster fragments, 7 pieces of composite wallboard, 275 fragments of window glass, 439 nails (129 cut, 145 wire, 5 handwrought, and 160 unidentified), 1 construction staple, a screw, an iron hinge, an iron handle, a shutter latch, a pipe clamp, a plumbing pipe, and 2 ceramic pipe fixtures. The Phase II clothing objects were a glass button, 2 metal buttons, 2 leather shoe parts, and 2 cloth fragments. The Phase II kitchen assemblage consisted of 424 ceramic sherds (3 tin-glazed, 31 creamware, 133 pearlware, 51 porcelain, 10 late 19th/early 20th C porcelain, 26 domestic gray stoneware, 3 white salt-glazed stoneware, 1 miscellaneous stoneware, 145 whiteware, 4 yelloware, 16 redware, and 1 unidentified ceramic), 177 pieces of glass (1 lid liner, 2 table glass, 3 mold-made, 3 machine-made, 168 other container glass fragments), a plastic dish, a rubber canning jar seal, 2 tin can fragments, 2 aluminum can tops, an aluminum screw cap, a pull tab, 2 crown caps, a coffee can base, 2 foil/paper wrappers, 100 faunal remains (1 butcher-cut bone, 2 boar tusks, 42 animal bones, and 55 oyster shells), and a piece of walnut shell. The eleven Phase II personal items were 9 pieces of mirror glass and 2 chamberpot fragments (whiteware). Tobacco-related artifacts were 4 white clay pipe stems and 1 red clay stem. Miscellaneous objects recovered during Phase II work were 39 pieces of metal, 113 unidentified glass pieces, 2 pieces of tree bark, 2 twigs, 1 stone, 1 wood fragment, 13 pieces of plastic, a fragment of Styrofoam, 4 snail shells, 2 pieces of charcoal, 9 coal fragments, a clinker, a piece of slag, and a soil sample.
In general, the Phase I/II work indicated that the major archeological component at 18PR557 did not appear to relate to the extant but dilapidated post-1830s Hodges plantation and farmstead, but was associated with outbuildings and a sheet midden from the mid or late 18th to early 19th century Whitaker occupation of the property. Initial investigations had indicated that, based on the presence of structural remains and stratigraphically discrete yard deposits, the site possessed sufficient stratigraphic integrity and sufficient quantities of diagnostic materials to locate features, to distinguish discrete activity areas, and to place them within a temporal framework. Based on the Phase I/II findings, preservation in place or Phase III data recovery was recommended.
Researchers did not return to 18PR557 until 2006 to conduct data recovery prior to construction of the Beech Tree housing development. During Phase III data recovery, a combination of shovel testing and unit excavation was used to examine the cultural deposits in the yard area surrounding the main dwelling at Pentland Hills. The project area was first subjected to a general reconnaissance of the surrounding area to identify natural and man-made landscape features, followed by a focused program of subsurface investigation around the house and its outbuildings. Subsurface testing consisted of a combination of shovel testing and test unit excavation in an extended area around the house and the outbuilding.
The Phase III fieldwork strategy was developed with a series of specific research questions/goals in mind. The first goal was to assess the refuse disposal patterns that have been employed at the site and how they may have changed over time. The second goal was to determine the subsistence strategies that were employed by site inhabitants and how they may have changed over time. Another goal of research was determining the socio-economic status of the site occupants and comparing it to what is known from the historic/archival record. Another goal was to assess whether construction of the rear addition on the main structure “masked” the locations of previous outbuildings. A fifth goal was to determine if the present outbuildings were placed in the footprint of earlier outbuildings. Researchers also sought to assess the likelihood of determining the temporal association and function of the outbuildings. And the final two goals were to determine if any evidence for slave or servant accommodations is present within or in the immediate vicinity of the main domestic complex, and if yard patterns are present, determine if there is evidence present at the site for change in landscape use over time.
Because new outbuildings were discovered during the initial pedestrian reconnaissance (to the west of the main yard), and to examine general disposal patterns throughout the site, another shovel testing program was undertaken in a wide area around the main building complex. Of 149 planned shovel tests, 131 were excavated west of the house and north and northwest of the stable utilizing a 6.1 m (20 ft) grid. Eighteen planned shovel tests were not excavated due to excessive slope. STPs measured approximately 35 cm in diameter, and were excavated to 40 cm or 10 cm into subsoil. Soils were removed by natural strata and were screened through hardware mesh.
Following the shovel testing, a 3.05 X 4.57 m (10 X 15 ft) block, subdivided into six 1.524 X 1.524 m (5 X 5 ft) test units, was established in the artifact concentration northwest of the house. Ten additional test units were excavated in the general environs of the house. All test units were excavated in 10.16 cm (4 in) levels within natural strata. Requisite field records, including feature and level forms, were completed for each excavation unit. Field recordation also included scale drawings of unit plan views and profiles, as appropriate, and field photography.
Few features or intact deposits were found. Although the soil stratigraphy initially seemed relatively intact, closer examination showed a great deal of mixing of modern and historic artifacts in the upper stratum and a low volume of artifacts in the lower stratum. The outbuildings still extant on the property were relatively modern. The construction/renovation of these buildings has largely obscured the archeological signature of any possible earlier activity or occupation in the main yard area. Aside from some possible earlier construction materials, mostly nails, no traces of older outbuildings were observed. The only exception was the seemingly older foundation below the modern foundation of Building 2 (see above), and the reused timbers in the stable/barn. No clear structural evidence or archeological signature for slave or servant quarters was found in the yard area, either in the main yard or in the extended western portion. The slaves owned by the Hodges family must have been housed in some other portion of their property, probably nearer to the actively cultivated agricultural fields. Although there was no clear yard disposal pattern and the cultural materials were numerous but temporally and functionally mixed, the data concerning the extant yard patterns and variety of cultural materials has been documented. Additional analysis was conducted for selected types of cultural materials, and although these analyses did not provide sufficient information to address research questions concerning socioeconomic status and foodways, the variety of materials associated with long-term historic domestic occupation at Pentland Hills has been documented.
The artifacts encountered during the course of Phase III work include 18 activity items, 5,542 architectural artifacts, 3 furniture items, 13 clothing remains, 3,146 kitchen-related artifacts, 3 personal items, 4 tobacco-related artifacts, 3 arms objects, and 2,721 miscellaneous objects. The activity items were nuts, bolts, washers, brackets, hooks, screws, a piece of small hardware, twist ties, and a spark plug. The Phase III architectural assemblage included 14 asphalt pieces, 878 pieces of brick, 3 fragments of cement, 13 pieces of concrete, 50 pieces of mortar, 7 fragments of plaster, 6 stoneware drainage tiles, 2 roofing tins, 2 particle board fragments, 2,397 window glass fragments, 2,152 nails (1,058 cut, 721 wire, 18 handwrought, 355 unidentified), 2 hinges, 4 spikes, 2 staples, a pipece of copper wire, and 9 other architectural objects. Furniture items were 2 tacks and a burner from a gas range. Clothing-related artifacts include a brass button, 4 shell buttons, a zipper, a grommet, a snap, 4 textile fragments, and a leather boot with rubber sole. Kitchen-related artifacts recovered during Phase III work were 1,676 ceramic sherds (1 Astbury, 3 Jackfield, 1 tin-enameled earthenware, 36 ball clay, 1 gray-bodied earthenware, 6 buff-bodied earthenware, 287 creamware, 160 pearlware, 193 ironstone, 20 transitional pearl-whiteware, 604 whiteware, 1 other earthenware, 161 porcelain, 11 Rockingham, 15 yelloware, 44 redware, and 132 miscellaneous stoneware), 911 pieces of likely kitchen glass, 2 aluminum can tops, 2 pull tabs, a fork, a knife blade, 549 faunal artifacts (14 bird bones, 279 mammal bones, 240 oyster shell fragments, and 16 clam shell fragments), 3 nut shells, and 1 other floral object. The personal items were a key and two 1960 pennies, the tobacco-related artifacts were clay pipe fragments, and the arms objects were a brass cartridge and 2 shotgun shells. And finally, the miscellaneous objects include 820 metal objects, 1,538 unidentified pieces of glass, a wood fragment, 217 synthetics (mostly plastic and rubber), a piece of charcoal, 127 pieces of stone, 5 pieces of slag, and 12 unidentified objects.
Although the field investigations did not produce distinct or intact features or deposits that reflected the use or changes in use over time of the yard area, archeological data recovery has documented the scope and scale of the archeological signature of domestic activity associated with the dwelling at Pentland Hills. This signature reflects active use of the domestic complex over an extended time span that included general domestic activity as well as maintenance of the landscape and the outbuildings, and the abandonment and deterioration of the building complex. Most of site 18PR557 was heavily impacted and or destroyed by construction of the Beech Tree Development following Phase III work. The site is incapable of addressing ongoing research questions related to Maryland history.
|
