Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR707 Fairview
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Fairview site (18PR707) is the archaeological deposits associated with the historic Fairview plantation owned and operated by the Bowie family in north-central Prince George’s County. The site is situated primarily in a grassy field on the former Fairwood Turf Farm near Bowie, Maryland. This field extends along the crest of a small ridge with the standing manor house situated at the northern end. It sits amidst a modern landscape of rolling topography that is made up primarily of agricultural fields. Soils at the site are Collington sandy and silt loams.
The field within which much of the site is situated was used for turf cultivation until recently, which involved occasional deep chisel-plowing, up to 61 cm (2 ft) in depth, as well as regular disking. Other portions of the site include a manicured lawn adjacent to the Fairview manor house, and an overgrown woodlot to the northwest. The woodlot is the reported former location of “cook’s cabin”. A small drainage crosses the northern portion of the site and marks the southern bounds of a residential parcel that was distinct from the manor house in the 20th century. Until recently, a structure stood at the top of the rise above this drainage. Uninhabited for several decades, this building was razed in 2003. The area surrounding the former structure is grassy, with a few old garden plots still marked off by whitewashed railroad ties. Construction rubble is visible on the surface, remaining from the demolition of the house.
The manor house at Fairwood, known as the Fairview mansion (MIHP: 71A-13), is a stately Federal dwelling, thought to have been built ca. 1800 by a Baruch Duckett. The dwelling is a two-storey, five-bay, central-passage building constructed of brick and clad with stucco. The house is covered with a gable roof, with stepped parapet end walls on either side of paired end chimneys. A single-storey porch extends across both the front and rear elevations of the dwelling. Duckett willed the property to his son-in-law William Bowie, whose descendants retained ownership and occupied the residence until at least 1978.
The site was first examined archeologically in 2004 during the course of a Phase I survey conducted on portions of the former turf farm slated for development. The Fairwood Development was a planned mixed-use community, offering a variety of home styles, recreational amenities, and future retail and commercial components. It encompassed more than 1,000 acres in the Bowie area and was planned to accommodate approximately 1,800 housing units. It was to include a broad system of paths and more than 350 acres of community-use land. The development intended to maintain a park-like setting that would preserve much of the aesthetics of the existing woodlands and historical farm lanes. However, plans for the 18PR707 site area at the time of the Phase I and II studies called for the construction of a cul-de-sac and residential development in portions of the site area.
A number of archeological methods were utilized during Phase I examination of the Fairwood Development property including surface collection, mechanical trenching, shovel test pits, and small test units. In the vicinity of 18PR707 fieldwork consisted of shovel testing. In total, 135 shovel test pits (STPs) were excavated in the vicinity of the site. Ninety-three of the 135 STPs were mapped in at 10 meter intervals and excavated. STPs were 35 to 40 cm in diameter and were excavated in natural stratigraphic layers to sterile subsoil, with alls soils being screened through hardware mesh. The additional 42 STPs were radial tests placed at 5 meter or 2.5 meter intervals in the vicinity of two former structures identified at the site. The two structures that were more intensively examined were the aforementioned “cook’s cabin” (hereafter referred to as Structure 2), as well as the building to the north razed in 2003 (Structure 1). Of the 135 shovel test pits, 127 were positive for artifacts. The heaviest concentrations of artifacts were recovered in the vicinity of the two former structures. Brick, mortar, shell, and coal were only sampled from each shovel test, but all other artifacts were retained for analysis and interpretation.
In addition to the shovel tests, three 50 cm square test units and one 1 m X 50 cm unit were excavated at the site. Structure 1 was investigated with the 1m X 50 cm test unit, while Structure 2 was investigated with at least one of the 50 cm square units. Both investigations revealed the presence of brick and limonite concentrations, some of which appeared to be laid in situ. Artifact concentrations were also evident in the vicinity of each structure. The full site report does not provide a definitive location for two of the 50 cm square units.
A total of 5,018 historic artifacts and 2 prehistoric artifacts were recovered during Phase I operations at 18PR707. The historic artifacts include 24 activity items, 2,502 architectural remains, 21 clothing artifacts, 2,059 kitchen-related artifacts, 18 tobacco-related artifacts, and 381 miscellaneous objects. The activity item were a glass marble (toy), a porcelain doll foot, 5 pieces of lighting glass, 1 metal gear, 1 washer, 4 metal tool parts, 1 battery part, 1 clothespin spring, 1 bean seed, an automotive safety glass fragment, 4 pieces of wood, and 3 horseshoe fragments. The architectural remains were 428 pieces of window glass, 4 wrought nails, 1 early machine cut nails, 574 cut nails, 722 wire nails, 264 unidentified nails, 3 screws, 1 spike, 3 pieces of metal sheeting, 1 hinge, 22 pieces of wire, 10 wire hooks, 32 pieces of miscellaneous hardware, 26 pieces of conduit, 8 porcelain electrical insulators, 1 tile, 275 fragments of brick, 2 pieces of stone, 6 cinder block fragments, 12 pieces of slate, 49 pieces of synthetic wood sheeting, 4 pieces of plywood, 1 plastic roller, 6 asphalt shingles, 5 pieces of plaster, and 42 pieces of mortar. The clothing artifacts were 18 buttons (7 prosser, 7 metal, 1 bone, 1 shell, 1 wood, 1 plastic) and 3 assorted fasteners or decorative elements. The kitchen-related artifacts were 511 ceramic sherds (2 creamware, 9 pearlware, 82 porcelain, 191 whiteware, 126 ironstone, 52 miscellaneous earthenware, 2 Rhenish stoneware, 2 Albany slip stoneware, 45 miscellaneous stoneware), 21 jar lids and lid liners, 3 pieces of table glass, 1,359 pieces of bottle glass, 8 crown caps, 11 pieces of aluminum can, 2 metal canning jar lids, 2 spoon fragments, 1 metal utensil handle, 5 plastic dish/utensil pieces, 94 animal bone/tooth fragments, and 42 shells and shell fragments. The tobacco-related artifacts were 13 kaolin pipe stems and 5 kaolin pipe bowl fragments. And finally, the 381 miscellaneous objects were 122 pieces of melted glass, 149 fragments of unidentified metal, 27 charcoal samples, 45 coal samples, 2 chunks of slag and 36 unidentified objects. The two prehistoric artifacts recovered were a quartz flake and a possible groundstone tool fragment.
Based on the results of the Phase I survey, a Phase II testing program was carried out at 18PR707 in September of 2004. The study focused on the remains of Structure 2, which along with Structure 1 was thought to possibly represent a former slave/tenant cabin on Fairview Plantation. As a result of changes to the site development plan, Structure 1 was no longer going to be impacted by construction and was preserved in place, although sod was removed so that the extant foundation could be better mapped. As a component of the Phase II work, extensive archival background research was conducted on the site history.
The research conducted confirmed that Fairview was associated with two individuals who were important figures in local and state history, Governor Oden Bowie (term 1862-1872) and his father, William D. Bowie. Both men served in the state legislature and were prominent in state politics and business in the middle of the 19th century. Both men were also large slaveholders and large landowners. While it is difficult to determine how many slaves resided at Fairview (as opposed to other properties held by these men in the county), both individuals owned more than 100 slaves in the antebellum period. Somewhere between three and 12 slave cabins may have stood at Fairview plantation. Research shows that the plantation was focused on tobacco cultivation, but during the antebellum period was also invested in raising horses and other livestock, as well as the production of grains. The research also determined that while Prince George’s County was the largest slave-holding county in Maryland leading up to the Civil War, few slave quarters have been investigated archeologically. Due to modern population growth in the county (and the associated development), the slave quarters may be a vanishing resource.
Structure 2, according to oral history, was the residence of a cook from the manor house during the early 20th century, hence the name “Cook’s Cabin”. The investigations consisted of the initial exposure of the brick concentration (by removal of the sod) to reveal chimney remains, followed by test unit excavation. A total of 11 test units were excavated in and around the cabin area. Test units included seven 1.524 X 1.524 m (5 X 5 ft) units, three 61 cm X 1.83 m (2 X 6 ft) units, and one 91 cm X 1.524 m (3 X 5 ft) unit. Each unit was excavated in levels following natural stratigraphy. No thick natural strata required the use of arbitrary levels. Each test unit was excavated to contact sterile subsoil. Subsoil was sampled in at least 2/3 of the test units. Scaled plan drawings were made as needed to document cultural features and the excavations. A soil sample was taken from an artifact rich subsurface sediment in one test unit, but otherwise no soil samples were taken from non-feature contexts. All excavated soils were screened through hardware cloth. Brick artifacts were sampled and discarded in the field.
All features were exposed horizontally within the excavation units, drawn in plan view, photographed, and excavated following natural stratigraphy. Where features extended from one test unit into an adjacent test unit, the features were sub-divided along the unit boundaries. Soil samples were collected from larger features with sufficient volume of feature matrix. However, the results of any archeobotanical analysis are reported in appendices to the full site report which MHT does not have in its possession. Postholes were bisected and drawn in profile. The excavations (of both test units and features) were also documented through 35 mm photography.
The Phase II investigations at Structure 2 of 18PR707 appear to have revealed a structure and archeological deposits compatible with interpretation as a slave quarter. The brick concentration at Structure 2 identified during Phase I was excavated and found to be the remains of a two-sided fireplace. The fireplace was in the center of a cabin measuring approximately 4.88 m (16 ft) east-west by 9.14 m (30 ft) north-south. Double-sided slave quarters identified elsewhere in Prince George’s County have been roughly this size, albeit not quite as long. Ironstone/limonite was used as a foundation material on the north and south walls of the quarters. The east and west walls of the quarters were post-in-ground construction. Occupation of the quarters appears to have begun in the first quarter of the 19th century and terminated in the first or second quarter of the 20th century. African American slaves and tenant farmers appear to have been the occupants of the structure.
While no direct evidence was found of a dividing wall between the eastern and western portions of Structure 2, it can be assumed that such a division existed, and that the structure consisted of a room on each side of the central chimney. All of the units in this area exhibited pervasive evidence of rodent burrowing and disturbance. The chimney fall was identified and excavated as Feature 1. The matrices in the western and eastern fireplace openings were excavated as Features 2 and 3, respectively. Feature 4 was determined to be non-cultural. Turning to the exterior walls of the structure, a partial foundation made of ironstone (limonite) was identified and excavated as Feature 5. Posts comprised the eastern and western walls of the structure, and postholes were identified as Features 7, 8, and 9. A drainage trench followed the exterior walls of the structure and was excavated as Feature 6. A pocket of carbonized wood (the remains of flooring or a wall) was excavated as Feature 10.
Artifacts recovered during the excavation of test units and features in the vicinity of Structure 2 included 141 activity items, 10,385 architectural artifacts, 146 clothing items, 11 furniture objects, 7,842 kitchen-related artifacts, 36 personal items, 27 tobacco-related artifacts, 6 arms objects, and 3,134 miscellaneous objects. The activity items were 2 toy teacups, 7 doll parts, 8 harmonica parts, 2 marbles, 69 pieces of drawing slate, 8 pencil fragments, 2 axe or hoe parts, 1 mattock, a saw, a lantern, 4 clothes hangers, 2 metal bells, a piece of unidentified hardware, 17 license plate fragments, 2 pieces of machinery, 1 metal cutting wheel, 3 metal buckle fragments, a tube, a metal handle, a flat iron, a piece of barbed wire, a flower pot, and 5 miscellaneous objects. The architectural assemblage included 16 pieces of brick, 6 pieces of mortar, 30 fragments of plaster, 996 pieces of window glass, 7,220 nails (2,635 cut, 3,451 wire, 1,134 unidentified), 304 tacks, 2 spikes, 2 bolts, 137 miscellaneous hardware, 5 pieces of wire, and 1,667 unidentified architectural items. The clothing items were 36 buttons (), 10 fasteners, 15 pieces of fabric, 4 buckles, 2 pairs of scissors, a thimble, a shoe heel, and 77 unidentified objects. The furniture items were a facing and 10 unidentified furniture objects. The kitchen assemblage consisted of 1,185 ceramics sherds (3 possible colonoware, 9 Jackfield, 1 manganese mottled, 21 creamware, 37 pearlware, 313 porcelain, 2 ironstone or porcelain, 3 ironstone, 624 whiteware, 19 yelloware, 29 redware, 23 unidentified earthenware, 6 Bristol stoneware, 19 domestic stoneware, 65 miscellaneous stoneware, 1 Rockingham, and 10 unidentified ceramics), 5,123 pieces of kitchen glass, 3 bottle caps, a can top, 4 kitchen container caps, 2 kitchen tool handles, 634 animal bones, a piece of horn/antler, 8 eggshells, 40 pieces of shell, 13 floral remains (a corncob, a nut shell, 2 fruit pits, and 9 other), and 828 miscellaneous kitchen items. Personal items include 14 beads, a hasp lock, 2 keys, 3 ornaments, a locket, a cosmetic tin, an Indianhead Penny, a 1916 Penny, 3 other Pennies, a folding knife, a watch part, a plastic/rubber comb, and 6 other items. Tobacco-related items include 7 pipe stems, 6 pipe bowls, a 19th Century crossed rifles pipe bowl, a possible Masonic pipe bowl, and 12 unidentified tobacco-related objects. The arms objects were a bullet casing, 2 pieces of lead, and 2 unidentified items. And finally, the miscellaneous objects encountered during excavation include 33 unidentifiable pieces of glass, 2 unidentified lithic objects, 274 unidentified pieces of metal, 32 pieces of slag, 28 pieces of charcoal, 40 pieces of coal, and 2,725 objects not identified in the full site report.
In addition to the excavations carried out at Structure 2, very limited work was carried out surrounding Structure 1. As mentioned previously, this essentially entailed removal of the sod to better expose the brick concentration noted there. Structure 1 is the reported remains of a slave cabin located on a hill set to the north of the Fairview manor house. Informant interviews revealed that the original structure burned at some point in the 20th century and was rebuilt with cinderblock elements. The rebuilt structure was demolished in 2003. The sod was removed by hand and the foundation was found to have been largely destroyed during the demolition process, with one partial wall remaining intact.
Artifacts were collected as they were exposed during the sod removal, but no means of horizontal or vertical control was established during the sod removal. A total of 41 artifacts was removed from the Structure 1 area. The artifacts include 15 architectural items, 20 kitchen items, and six miscellaneous objects. The architectural items include 10 pieces of window glass, one cut nail, one wire nail, and 3 unidentified objects. Kitchen items include 10 pieces of bottle glass, 2 porcelain sherds, five fragments of whiteware, and 3 unidentified objects.
Archeological investigations on Site 18PR707 were focused on one of the two cabins present at the site, known as “Structure 2” and also as the “Cook’s Cabin”. According to oral history, a cook for the manor house resided at the cabin during the early 20th century. Archeological evidence suggests that domestics may have also lived in the cabin in the late 19th century, if not earlier. The testing yielded a rich artifact assemblage spanning from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. The excavations determined that structure 2 had a central brick fireplace and a partial foundation made of ironstone/limonite. Two of the walls of the structure had no evidence of a stone foundation and appear to have been post-in-ground. The remains of an earthen floor were documented, as was the presence of a drainage ditch following the outline of the structure. The architectural design of the cabin is similar to other slave cabins in Prince George’s county, but somewhat unique as it is slightly longer than other double-sided forms. Also, no other evidence for post-in-ground construction of slave cabins has been documented in the county.
Additionally, the investigations found that the residents of Structure 2 had great access to higher status ceramic wares that may have been given as gifts from residents of the manor house. In fact, the residents of the cabin may have served as domestics in the manor house or in its kitchen. Children’s toys were recovered from the structure, showing the presence of families in the late 19th century (based on the date of some of the doll parts) and the presence of post-emancipation interaction between children of the manor house and children of tenant farmers (these “fashion” dolls were imports from France and Germany). Additionally, the presence of certain artifacts (blue beads and possible colonoware) does speak to the continuance and preservation of certain African and African-American traditions at the quarters.
While disturbances have adversely affected the deposits at Structure 2, the deposits still have substantial integrity. Rodent and tree activity were substantial in the structure area, and the stratigraphic integrity of the deposits is only moderate; many artifacts appear to have moved upward and downward in the profile due to these processes. Also, the demolition of the structure appears to have involved machinery pushing the structure over and thereby truncating the profile in one area of the structure. Nonetheless, the cultural deposits are generally intact and archeological features have been preserved.
The development plans changed to avoid impacts to Structure 1, and only minimal work was conducted at this locale. The investigation found that only a portion of the structure’s foundation apparently survived demolition. Artifacts recovered from the structure area are from the 19th and 20th centuries. The integrity of the structure’s foundation is poor, and the integrity of the surrounding yard is unknown. But given that landscape features such as garden patches are still evident surrounding the foundation area, it is likely that the yard of the structure contains research potential relating to antebellum and post-bellum life on the plantation. Thus, 18PR707 continues to be a significant archeological resource.
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