Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR580 Bowieville Mansion
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Site 18PR580 is the archeological remains associated with an early 19th-20th century plantation north of Upper Marlboro in Prince George’s County. The site is situated on the narrow ridge of a 14.7 acre rolling upland landform surrounding the still extant Bowieville Mansion (MIHP# PG-74A-18). The Bowieville Mansion is a large, brick, Federal-style house finished with a coat of yellow stucco. It stands on a high basement situated on the crest of a ridge with a panoramic view of the surrounding rolling countryside. The archeological site sits along the edge of this ridge, overlooking the floodplain of Black Branch. Until recently, a shed outbuilding, a ruinous block tenant house, and an unimproved access road were situated to the east. Remnants of a terraced garden encompassed the site and manor house on both the east and west. Although the setting was open when first examined archeologically, it was overgrown with patches of deciduous trees surrounded by low-lying overgrown terrain. Soils at the site are primarily Marr and Dodon Sandy Loams.
Bowieville probably dates from the peaceful period in American history shortly after the War of 1812, under the presidency of James Monroe. The builder was Mary Mackall Bowie, daughter of Maryland Governor Robert Bowie. Mary M. Bowie was born in 1776, was married twice, and was also widowed twice. She was first married to Turner Wootton from 1794 until his death in 1796. Together they had one son, William Turner Wootton. She then married her cousin, Thomas Contee Bowie, in 1800. He died thirteen years later in 1813. Mary M. Bowie and Thomas Contee Bowie had several children together.
In 1815, Governor Robert Bowie was awarded the deed for 329 acres he bought from a Thomas Buchanan in 1807. Buchanan was the trustee appointed by the Prince George’s Circuit Court in the Chancery cause over the estate of one Dr. Robert Pottinger. The land was described as, “All that dwelling plantation of the said Robert Pottinger containing 275 acres and 54 acres vacant land”. It is not known where on this plantation Dr. Pottinger resided, but it was possibly on a different portion of the estate acquired by someone else. In 1818, Governor Bowie devised the 275 acres to his daughter Mary M. Bowie.
The same year Mary M. Bowie inherited Dr. Pottinger’s land from her father she bought the adjacent property from her son, William Turner Wootton. This conveyance consisted of 510.25 acres out of various tracts that William had inherited from the paternal side of his family. By combining the tracts she received from her father and son, Mary M. Bowie created an 853 acre plantation she called “Bowieville”. Soon after consolidating the properties, she began construction of an extravagant mansion on that portion of the land she bought from her son.
The Bowieville plantation did not remain in operation for long, for Mary M. Bowie died unexpectedly in 1826. The plantation was left to her children and husband, Thomas Contee Bowie. The 1828 tax list for Collington and Western Branch Hundreds in Prince George
S County lists the heirs of Mary M. Bowie as having possession of a total of 849 acres.
Mary M. Bowie’s son, Robert Bowie of Cedar Hill, was hard pressed to settle his mother’s accounts, forcing him to sell much of her personal property. This property included numerous slaves living on the plantation. Robert Bowie also became indebted to many neighbors and family members by trying to buy his sister’s portions of Bowieville, forcing him to mortgage the property several times. In 1836, Robert Bowie was forced to sell portions of his real estate holdings in order to raise enough funds to meet his debts. In 1846, a Chancery Court cause was brought against him by Upton and Brooke Beall. Exhibits summoned in the cause included a confirmation survey by Robert Young on a 115 acre tract of Bowieville conveyed to Robert C. Brooke by Robert Bowie in 1836. The result of the Chancery cause was a court decree requiring the sale of the remainder of the Bowieville plantation.
In 1849, William J. Berry and his wife, Sarah E. Berry, purchased “Bowieville” from Thomas L. Alexander, Trustee, appointed in the Chancery cause. William J. Berry was a prominent property owner in the area. His land holdings included the neighboring Chelsea plantation. In his 1866 will, William J. Berry bequeathed the Bowieville plantation (where William was living at the time of his death) to his son Jeremiah Berry. Before his father’s death, Jeremiah Berry married Catherine Boggs of Georgetown. In 1876, as a means of securing the mansion and land in his wife’s name, Jeremiah Berry conveyed 350 acres to Ellen M. Boggs, who in turn immediately conveyed it as a gift to her daughter, Catherine Boggs Berry. Jeremiah Berry also conveyed 8 acres to the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in 1878 and 93 acres to James R. Herbert in 1879.
In 1907, Catherine (or Katherine) Berry conveyed 44 acres of “Bowieville”, known as “Church Lot”, to Irving L. Carrick. The remainder of this property was retained by Catherine Boggs Berry until 1927, when she bequeathed it to her youngest daughter, Mary (Berry) Lawrence. Soon after receiving Bowieville, Mary B. Lawrence sold another 105 acres to Irving L. Carrick. In 1933, Mary B. Lawrence sold a 216 acre tract, known as “the back farm of Bowieville” to Dr. Arthur Keene Meloy. She died later in 1933, at which time she bequeathed the remaining 220 acres of her property to her cousin, Francis Fairfax Roberts. Francis F. Roberts only held the property for five years before conveying it to Harold O. Knapp and his wife, Mary Page Knapp in 1935. The Knapps are believed to have occupied the site until sometime in the 1960s.
By the late 20th century, many of the portions of the Bowieville tract that had been sold off during the 19th and early 20th century were being re-assembled into a development tract. Eventually, a 925 acre parcel (including the site location) was assembled and plans were proposed to construct a combined golf course and residential development on much of the former Bowieville plantation lands. Survey of the 925 acre Oak Creek Club property began in 1999, due to the developers’ application for various required permits. The Prince George’s County Planning Board adopted a resolution stating that Phase I survey of a 14.7 acre “historically sensitive” portion of the country club property (that portion surrounding the still extant Bowieville mansion) be carried out as a special condition of the board’s assent to the development plans. In addition, the developers sought a wetland permit through the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment, which ultimately triggered Section 106 review of the country club plans and an eventual Phase II examination of the site.
Phase I work in 1999 involved the excavation of 150 shovel test pits (STPs) on a 9.14 m (30 ft) grid, a 46 cm X 4.6 m (1.5 X 15 ft) trench, and one 61 X 76 cm (2 X 2.5 ft) test unit. Shovel tests were laid out to encompass the mansion and extant outbuildings such as modern block houses, a tobacco barn, a wooden shed, corn crib, hog pen, and livestock barn. The trench was placed along the east wing of the mansion in a search for a garden wall. The test unit was placed near the entrance of the aforementioned wooden shed.
A total of 2,261 artifacts were recovered during the Phase I in 1999. Artifacts encountered in the field included creamware, pearlware, flow blue, blue transfer-printed whiteware, cut nails, manganese-tinted bottle glass, and faunal remains, however, most of the material recovered indicated 20th century occupation. Although the artifact recovery poorly reflects the Bowie family's 19th century occupation of the site, several below ground features were identified during the survey, including a brick foundation underlying the wooden shed sitting next to the mansion, a possible brick kiln area, a trash pit or sheet midden, and a dry-laid brick walkway.
Phase II work was carried out at 18PR580 in 2004 in association with the developer’s application for approval of a US Army Corps of Engineers wetlands permit. After reviewing the development plans for Oak Creek Club, it was determined that the portion of the site lying directly east of the mansion would be impacted by proposed development. This included such development activities as clearing, outbuilding demolition, and presumed excavation, grading and landscaping activities. Thus, only the eastern half of Site 18PR580 was examined during the 2004 evaluation.
Phase II work entailed the excavation of 75 STPs spaced apart at 9.1 and 4.6 m (30 and 15 ft) intervals. STPs were excavated manually, using spade shovels and trowels. The STPs were also excavated stratigraphically in order to maintain vertical control over the artifacts recovered. The soils removed were dry-screened in the field using hardware cloth. Cultural materials recovered during the screening process were retained for analysis and bagged according to provenience (i.e. by site number, STP coordinate, and stratigraphic or feature designation). The resulting material recovery was plotted on a field map in order to display the distribution of artifacts. A soil profile was also prepared on a standardized form for each STP to document soil characteristics, strata depths, and artifacts recovered per stratum. Soils were described by texture and color using standard methods and nomenclature.
Nearly all of the excavated shovel tests produced positive artifact recoveries. Based on the concentration of positive shovel test locations, the portion of 18PR580 lying east of the Bowieville mansion was estimated to have a dimension of 64 m north-south by 64 m east-west. A total of six formal test units were then placed within artifact concentrations at the site.
Test units were 91 cm square and were excavated manually, using flat shovels and trowels. These units were also excavated stratigraphically in order to maintain control over the vertical provenience of artifacts recovered. Selected strata in excess of 7.62 cm (3 in) were further excavated by arbitrary levels, which generally ranged in thickness from 5.08 to 10.16 cm (2 to 4 in). All excavated, non-feature soils were dry-screened in the field using hardware mesh. In the case of deeply excavated units (where safety became a concern), exploratory windows were initiated in validating the presence of subsoil. A standard report form was completed for each excavated stratum or arbitrary level within a stratum per test unit. As with shovel testing, soil characteristics, stratum depths and recovered cultural materials were documented on these forms. Included in the documentation of test unit soils was the preparation of a hand-drawn soil profile, which presented a more accurate view of the stratigraphy encountered. Only one profile was prepared for each test unit excavated and generally involved the wall with the clearest and most representative stratigraphy. Black and white photography was also used to document profiles.
Special excavation and documentation procedures were followed when possible cultural features were thought to have been identified within test units. Within reason, the overall goal was to expose the horizontal and vertical extent of these features. During the handling of potential features, a thorough documentation process was employed and included plan view hand-drawn sketches followed by photographs. In a few instances, soil samples were retained for possible examination in the laboratory. These samples were to be water-screened through 1/16 inch hardware mesh if a feature designation was made.
More than 60 STPs and all six test units produced positive artifact recoveries. The investigations recovered a large quantity (6,000 items) of architectural and domestic artifacts and identified several 20th century features including a brick patio and terraced garden. However, testing revealed considerable ground disturbance from demolition, excavation, grading, and landscaping activities in the eastern half of the site.
The full Phase II assemblage consisted of 10 activity items (including 7 hardware items and a toy marble), 4,061 architectural artifacts (2,196 brick fragments, 1,387 pieces of window glass, mortar, concrete, plaster, 32 hand-wrought nails, 47 machine-cut nails, 16 wire nails, 307 other nails, tar shingle, and a porcelain door knob fragment), 1 arms item (a French gunflint), 2 clothing items (a wooden button and a thimble), 1,031 kitchen-related artifacts (including 295 ceramic sherds, 562 pieces of container glass, a knife blade, an iron pot handle, 51 oyster shell fragments, and 121 pieces of bone/teeth), 1 personal item (a piece of jewelry), 14 tobacco pipe fragments, 919 miscellaneous objects (including 239 modern objects and 526 coal/clinker fragments), and 2 prehistoric artifacts. The ceramic assemblage consisted of 76 pearlware, 102 whiteware, 13 redware, 2 yelloware, 4 ironstone, 12 miscellaneous earthenware sherds, 45 porcelain sherds, 36 miscellaneous stoneware sherds and 5 other sherds.
In summary, the historic artifact recovery at 18PR580 was thought to be associated with the post 1800 occupation period. This occupation period likely began with the construction of the Bowieville mansion by Mary Mackall Bowie in ca. 1818, and ended with the mansion house being occupied by the Knapp family as late as the 1960s. The artifact recovery was mostly confined to the upper two or three organic strata overlying subsoil. In some cases, however, portions of the artifact recovery were found in deeper strata. The artifact-laden strata were generally classified as yard soils and buried organic layers impacted by modern construction-related activities such as demolition, excavation, grading, and landscaping.
Ultimately, due to the evidence of disturbance encountered during the Phase II the evaluated eastern portion of Site 18PR580 was not thought to be significant or offer additional research value to Prince George’s County or greater Maryland beyond that already presented during the 2004 investigation. However, because only a portion of this resource was evaluated, the National Register eligibility of 18PR580 (as a whole) is still considered undetermined.
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