Chapter V: Part 5

He informed George that after his return from Mr. Selden's on September 23 he was for "several days under strong delerium and had the rattles." By the beginning of 1768, however, he was able to boast that "I think I may safely aver that I have not been in a better [state of health] any time these twenty years past, & tho' I am not so young, my youngest daughter ... was born the 20th day of last January."

On April 22, 1766, he noted in the journal that the "Kitchen roof catched fire" and on May 15 that he "Took Possion [sic] of my summer house." The latter was probably located in the garden, where, during his convalescence in the spring, he was able to make a meticulous record of the blooming of each plant, flower, tree, and shrub, constituting a most interesting catalog of the wild and cultivated flora of 18th-century Marlborough. The catalog is indicative of Mercer's ranging interests and his knowledge of botanical terms (see Appendix L). That the garden was perhaps as interesting as the house is borne out by the fact that in 1750, as the house was reaching completion, Mercer had brought from England a gardener named William Blacke, paying Captain Timothy Nicholson for his passage.

Mercer's close attention to the natural phenomena around him began with his illness in 1766. On January 4, only a few days after he had become ill, he installed a thermometer in his room, and eight days later moved it to his office. Regularly, from then until the close of his journal, except when he was absent from Marlborough, he recorded the minimum and maximum readings. One has only to look at the figures for the winter months to realize that "heated" rooms, as we understand them, were little known in the 18th century. Only on Christmas Eve in 1767 did the temperature range from a low of 41° to as high as 63°, because, as Mercer noted, "A good fire raised the Thermometer so high."

Although Mercer apparently found surcease from his cares in the peaceful surroundings at Marlborough, his responsibilities went on nevertheless. The cost of keeping slaves remained an enormous and wasteful one: "Every negroes cloaths, bedding, corn, tools, levies & taxes will stand yearly at least in £5," he wrote to George. In his letter he placed an order through George for clothing, which included 25 welted jackets "for my tradesmen & white servants," indicating the large number of white workmen on his staff. It also included 20 common jackets, 45 pair of woolen breeches, 1 dozen greatcoats, 5 dozen stockings, 1-1/2 dozen for boys and girls, 4 dozen "strong felt hats & 600 Ells of ozenbrigs. We shall make Virg^a cloth enough to cloath the women and children, but shall want 50 warm blankets & 2 doz of the Russia drab breeches." Against the advice of his merchant friend Jordan, he declined to order a superior grade of jacket for his Negroes that would last two years, since "most negroes are so careless of their cloathes & rely so much on a yearly support that I think such jackets as I had are cheapest & last the year very well."

He ordered George to buy new sheeting for family use, including "84 yds of such as is fit for comp^a," inasmuch as "my wife is ashamed of her old sheets when any strangers come to the house." He also placed an order for windmill sails, which, he observed, were costly in the colony, and could be made only at Norfolk.

My millwrights directions were
The Drivers 3 foot 6 inches broad }
} 23 feet long.
The leaders 3 3 }

A Suit I had made at Norfolk by those dimensions proved too long,
something, they should be of Duck N^o. 2.

In addition, he ordered nails, 50 yards of haircloth, a yard wide, for the malt kiln, a "drill plow with brass seed boxes for wheat, turnips, lucarn pease &c," and a considerable number of books, particularly for his children. "Bob. Newbery at the Bible & Sun in S^t. Paul's churchyard can best furnish you at the cheapest rate with books best adapted to the real instruction as well as amusement of children from two to six feet high."

The long letter was finally finished on January 28, 1768, its great length partly dictated by the fact that the river had frozen, immobilizing the posts. He noted in his journal that on February 16 he was in Fredericksburg and "dined at my Sons being my birthday and 63 y^{rs} old." On the 24th he attended a meeting of the Ohio Company at Stafford courthouse and on March 14 returned there for a court session. The next day he went home to Marlborough, perhaps never to leave again. The journal ended at the close of the month. The next that we hear of him appeared in Rind's _Virginia Gazette_ on October 27:

On Friday, the 14th instant, died at his house in Stafford County,
John Mercer, Esq., who had practiced the law with great success in
this colony upwards of forty years. He was a Gentleman of great
natural abilities inspired by an extensive knowledge, not only in
his profession, but in several other branches of polite literature.
He was of a humane, generous and chearful disposition, a facetious
companion, a warm friend, an affectionate husband, a tender parent,
and an indulgent master.

FOOTNOTES:

[139] All quotations and sources not otherwise identified in
this section are from John Mercer's letter to George,
December 22, 1767-January 28, 1768. _The George Mercer
Papers_, op. cit. (footnote 51), pp. 186-220.

[140] Grandfather of President James Monroe.
"Tyler-Monroe-Grayson-Botts," _Tyler's Quarterly Historical
Genealogical Magazine_ (Richmond, 1924), vol. 5, p. 252.

VI

_Dissolution of Marlborough_

JAMES MERCER'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE ESTATE

James Mercer was now "manager" of John Mercer's estate. George, heavily in debt, remained in England never returning to Virginia. The staggering task of rescuing the estate from bankruptcy was left to James. The immediate necessity was to reduce wasteful overhead at Marlborough and to liquidate non-essential capital investment. On December 15, 1768, James advertised in Rind's _Virginia Gazette_:

A large and well chosen collection of BOOKS, being all the library
of the late _John Mercer_, Esq., deceased, except such as are
reserved for the use of his children. Those to be sold consist of
more than 1200 volumes now at home, with which it is hoped may be
reckoned upwards of 400 volumes which appear to be missing by the
said _Mercer's_ catalogue.... The borrowers are hereby requested to
return them before the 19th of _December_ next, the day appointed
for the appraising of the estate....

Also to be sold, about 20 mares and colts, and 40 pair of cows and
calves. The colts are the breed of the beautiful _horse Ranter_,
who is for sale; his pedigree has been formerly published in this
Gazette, by which it will appear he is as well related as any horse
on the continent. He cost 330 l. currency at his last sale, about 4
years ago, and is nothing worse except in age, and that can be but
little in a horse kept for the sole use of covering....

Except for attempting to dispose of the library and the horses and livestock, no significant changes were undertaken until after September 7, 1770, when John Mercer's widow, Ann Roy Mercer, died. Reduction of the plantation to simpler terms then began in earnest. Purdie & Dixon's _Virginia Gazette_ published the following advertisement on October 25, 1770:

_To be SOLD on MONDAY the 19th of NOVEMBER, if fair, otherwise next
fair day, at MARLBOROUGH, the seat of the late JOHN MERCER Esq:
deceased._

The greatest part of his personal estate (except slaves) consisting
of a variety of household furniture too tedious to mention; a
number of well chosen books, in good condition; a very large and
choice flock of horses, brood mares, and colts, all blooded, and
mostly from that very beautiful and high bred horse _Ranter_ a
great number of black cattle, esteemed the best in the colony,
equal in size to any beyond the Ridge, but superiour to them,
because they will thrive in shorter pastures; also 700 ounces of
fashionable plate, and a genteel family coach, not more than seven
years old, seldom used, with harness for six horses. Those articles
were appraised, in December 1768, to 1738 l. The horses and black
cattle are since increased, and now are in very good order; so that
any person inclinable to purchase may depend on having enough to
choose out of.

Also will then be sold several articles belonging to a BREWERY,
_viz._ a copper that boils 500 gallons, several iron bound buts
that contain a whole brewing each, coolers, &c. &c. and a quantity
of new iron hoops and rivets for casks of different forms, lately
imported.

Purchasers above 6 l. will have credit until the _Fredericksburg
September_ fair, on giving bond with security, with interest from
the day of sale; but if the money is paid when due, the interest
will be abated.

Proper vessels will attend at _Pasbytansy_, for the conveyance of
such as come from that side of _Potomack_ Creek.

It is clear that Ranter and his colts, as well as the cattle, had not been disposed of at the former sale. Further, it is obvious that there was an end to brewing at Marlborough, a result which James must have been all too glad to bring about.

This sale, however, was also unsuccessful. In the May 9, 1771, issue of Purdie & Dixon's _Virginia Gazette_ we learn that "The wet Weather last _November_ having stopped the Sale of the personal Estate of the late _John Merser_, Esquire, the Remainder ... will be sold at _Marlborough_, on Monday, the 27th of this Month, if fair...." We learn that the family beds, apparently alone of the furniture, had been sold, and that the chariot had been added to the sales list. Apparently the library still remained largely intact, as "a great Collection of well chosen Books" was included. Ranter was still for sale, now at a five percent discount "allowed for ready money."

But again--so an advertisement of June 13 reads in the same paper--the sale was "prevented by bad Weather." June 20 was appointed the day for the postponed sale. This time an additional item consisted of 200 copies of Mercer's "old Abridgment" (doubtless the 1737 edition), to be sold at five shillings each.

In the meanwhile, James had employed one Thomas Oliver, apparently of King George County, as overseer for the four plantations which were in his custody--Aquia, Accokeek, Belvedere, and Marlborough. On May 31, 1771, Oliver made a detailed report to Mercer on "the true state & Condition of the whole Estate and its Contents as they appear'd when this return was fill'd up".[141] Included in it was an inventory of every tool, outbuilding, vehicle, and servant. The Marlborough portion of this is given in Appendix M. Oliver added an N.B. summarizing the condition of the animals and the physical properties. The following of his remarks are applicable to Marlborough:

... The work of the Mill going on as well as Can be Expected till
M^r. Drains is better, the Schoo and Boat unfit for any Sarvice
whatsoever till repair'd. if Capable of it. the foundation of the
Malt house wants repairing. the Manor house wants lead lights in
some of the windows. the East Green House wants repairing. the west
d^o wants buttments as a security to the wall on the south side.
The barn, tobacco houses at Marlbrough & Acquia must be repaired as
soon as possible.... five stables at Marlbrough plantation must be
repair'd before winter. we have sustai'd no damage from Tempest or
Floods. it will Expedient to hyer a Carpinder for the woork wanted
can not be accomplish'd in time, seeing the Carpenders must be
taken of for harvest which is Like to be heavy. I will advertise
the sale at Stafford Court and the two parish Churches to begin on
the 20th of June 1771.... P.S. The Syder presses at Each plantation
& Syder Mill at Marlborough totally expended.... Negro Sampson
Marlbro Company Sick of the Gravel.... Negro Jas Pemberton at
Marlb^h Sick Worme Fever.

The sale as advertised and, presumably, as posted by Oliver was again a failure. Apparently no one attended. The situation must have been regarded then as desperate, for James advertised on August 29, 1771, in Purdie & Dixon's _Virginia Gazette_ substantially the same material as before. This time, however, it was "To be SOLD, at the Townhouse in _Fredericksburg_, on the 24th day of _September_ next (being the second Day of the Fair)." Added to the former list were "About two Hundred Weight of HOPS of last Crop," "About four hundred Weight of extraordinary good WOOL with a variety of Woollen and Linen Wheels, Reels, &c.," as well as "A Number of GARDEN FLOWER POTS of different forms. Some ORANGE, LEMON and other EVERGREENS, in Boxes and Pots." The valuable but unwanted Ranter was again put up.

But once more bad luck and an apathetic (and probably impecunious) populace brought failure to the sale. On October 24, 1771, Purdie & Dixon's _Virginia Gazette_ printed the following advertisement and James Mercer's final public effort to convert some of his father's estate into cash:

_To be SOLD to the highest Bidders, some Time Next Week, before the
RALEIGH Tavern in Williamsburg,_

The beautiful Horse RANTER, a genteel FAMILY COACH, with Harness
for six Horses, also several Pieces of FASHIONABLE PLATE, yet
remaining of the Estate of the late John Mercer, Esquire, deceased.
Credit will be allowed until the 25th of April next, the Purchasers
giving Bond and Security, with Interest from the Sale; but if the
Money is paid when due, the Interest will be abated.

Any Person inclinable to purchase RUSHWORTH'S COLLECTION may see
them at the Printing Office, and know the Terms. At the same Place
are lodged several Copies of the old Abridgment of the VIRGINIA
LAWS, containing so many Precedents for Magistrates that they are
esteemed well worth five Shillings, the Price asked for them.

JAMES MERCER

_Williamsburg, October 24._

N.B. The Plate is lodged with Mr. Craig, and may be seen by any
inclinable to purchase.

James did not attempt to sell the plantation itself or the slaves, but evidently sought to reestablish Marlborough on an efficient and profitable basis. That he failed to do so is brought out in a letter that George Mason wrote to George Washington on December 21, 1773. In it is expressed the whole tragic sequence of debt compounding debt in the plantation economy and the insurmountable burden of inherited obligations:

The embarrass'd Situation of my Friend Mr. Jas. Mercer's Affairs
gives Me much more Concern than Surprize. I always feared that his
Aversion to selling the Lands & Slaves, in Expectation of paying
the Debts with the Crops & Profits of the Estate, whilst a heavy
Interest was still accumulating, wou'd be attended with bad
Consequences, independent of his Brother's Difficulties in England;
having never, in a single Instance, seen these sort of Delays
answer the Hopes of the Debtor. When Colo. [George] Mercer was
first married, & thought in affluent circumstances by his Friends
here, considerable purchases of Slaves were made for Him, at high
prices (& I believe mostly upon Credit) which must now be sold at
much less than the cost: He was originally burthened with a
proportionable part of his Father's Debts: most of which, as well
as the old Gentleman's other Debts, are not only still unpaid, but
must be greatly increased by Interest; so that even if Colo. Mercer
had not incurr'd a large Debt in England, He wou'd have found his
Affairs here in a disagreeable Situation. I have Bye me Mr. James
Mercer's Title-Papers for his Lands on Pohick Run & on Four-mile
Run, in this County; which I have hitherto endeavoured to sell for
Him in Vain: for as he Left the Price entirely to Me, I cou'd not
take less for them than if they had been my own.[142]

FOOTNOTES:

[141] _A Documentary History of American Industrial Society_,
edit. John P. Commons (New York: Russell & Russell, 1958),
vol. 1, facsimile opp. p. 236.

[142] _Letters to Washington_, and _Accompanying Papers_,
edit. S. M. Hamilton (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin,
1901), vol. 4, p. 286.

MARLBOROUGH DURING AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Despite the seeming unwisdom of doing so, James Mercer held on to Marlborough until his death. He was an active patriot in the Revolution, serving as a member of the Virginia Committee of Safety. Marlborough, too, seems to have been a participant in the war, when Lord Dunmore, on a last desperate foray, sailed his ships up the Potomac and attacked several plantations. That Marlborough was a target we learn from the widow of Major George Thornton of the Virginia militia, who "was at the bombardment of Marlborough, the seat of Judge Mercer, on the Potomac...."[143] In Purdie's _Virginia Gazette_ of August 2, 1776, we read:

Lord Dunmore, with his motley band of pirates and renegradoes, have
burnt the elegant brick house of William Brent, esq., at the mouth
of Acquia Creek, in Stafford county, as also two other houses lower
down the Potowmack River, both the property of widow ladies.

Marlborough was no longer the property of a "widow lady," but accurate reporting even today is not universal, and Marlborough may have been meant. In any case, the mansion was not destroyed, although we do not know whether any other buildings at Marlborough were damaged or not.

John Francis Mercer, James' half brother, appears to have lived at Marlborough after his return from the Revolution. He served with distinction, becoming aide-de-camp to the eccentric and difficult General Charles Lee in 1778. When Lee was court-martialed after the Battle of Monmouth, John Francis resigned, but reentered the war in 1780.[144] He apparently settled at Marlborough after the surrender at Yorktown, at which he was present. In 1782 he was elected to both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress. General Lee died the same year, stipulating in his will:

To my friend John [Francis] Mercer, Esq., of Marlborough, in
Virginia, I give and bequeath the choice of two brood mares, of all
my swords and pistols and ten guineas to buy a ring. I would give
him more, but, as he has a good estate and a better genius, he has
sufficient, if he knows how to make good use of them.[145]

It is not probable that John Francis' "genius" was sufficient to make profitable use of Marlborough. He moved to Maryland in 1785, and later became its Governor.[146]

James Mercer died on May 23, 1791. In 1799 the Potomac Neck properties were advertised for sale or rent by John Francis Mercer in _The Examiner_ for September 6. We learn from it that there were overseer's houses, Negro quarters and cornhouses, and that "the fertility of the soil is equal to any in the United States, besides which the fields all lay convenient to banks (apparently inexhaustible) of the richest marle, which by repeated experiments made there, is found to be superiour to any other manure whatever." "30 or 40 Virginia born slaves, in families, who are resident on the lands" were made "available."

FOOTNOTES:

[143] GEORGE BROWN GOODE, _Virginia Cousins_ (Richmond,
1887), p. 213.

[144] Ibid.

[145] "Berkeley County, West Virginia," _Tyler's Quarterly
Historical and Genealogical Magazine_ (Richmond, 1921), vol.
3, p. 46.

[146] Ibid.

THE COOKE PERIOD: MARLBOROUGH'S FINAL DECADES

The plantation was bought by John Cooke of Stafford County. Cooke took out an insurance policy on the mansion house on June 9, 1806, with the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia.[147] From this important document (fig. 43) we learn that the house had a replacement value of $9000, and, after deducting $3000, was "actually worth six thousand Dollars in ready money." The policy shows a plan with a description: "Brick Dwelling House one Story high covered with wood, 108 feet 8 Inches long by 28-1/2 feet wide, a Cellar under about half the House." Running the length of the house was a "Portico 108 feet 8 Inches by 8 feet 4 Inches." A "Porch 10 by 5 f." stood in front of the "portico," and another was located at the northeast corner of the building, "8 by 6 feet." The policy informs us that the house was occupied not by Cooke, but by John W. Bronaugh, a tenant or overseer.

The records do not reveal how long the mansion survived. That by the beginning of the century it had already lost the dignity with which Mercer had endowed it and was heading toward decay is quite evident. After John Cooke's death Marlborough was again put up for sale in 1819, but this time nothing was said of any buildings, only that the land was adapted to the growth of red clover, that the winter and spring fisheries produced $2500 per annum, and that "Wild Fowl is in abundance."[148]

Undoubtedly as the buildings disintegrated, their sites were leveled. There remained only level acres of grass, clover, and grain where once a poor village had been erected and where John Mercer's splendid estate had risen with its Palladian mansion, its gardens, warehouses, and tobacco fields. Even in the early 19th century the tobacco plantation, especially in northern Virginia, had become largely a thing of the past. Within the memory of men still alive, the one structure still standing from Mercer's time was the windmill. Except for the present-day fringe of modern houses, Marlborough must look today much as it did after its abandonment and disintegration.

FOOTNOTES:

[147] Policy no. 1134. On microfilm, Virginia State Library.

[148] _Virginia Herald_, December 15, 1819.

ARCHEOLOGY

AND

ARCHITECTURE

VII

_The Site, its Problem, and Preliminary Tests_

The preceding chapters have presented written evidence of Marlborough's history and of the human elements that gave it life and motivation. Assembled mostly during the years following the excavations, this information was not, for the most part, available in 1956 to guide the archeological survey recounted here. Neither was there immediate evidence on the surface of the planted fields to indicate the importance and splendor of Marlborough as it existed in the 18th century.

In 1954, when Dr. Darter proposed that the Smithsonian Institution participate in making excavations, he presented a general picture of colonial events at Marlborough. He also provided photostats of the two colonial survey plats so frequently mentioned in Part I (fig. 2). From information inscribed on the 1691 plat, it was clear that a town had been laid out in that year, that it had consisted of 52 acres divided into half-acre lots, and that two undesignated acres had been set aside for a courthouse near its western boundary. It was known also that John Mercer had occupied the town in the 18th century, that he had built a mansion there, that a circular ruin of dressed lime-sandstone was the base of his windmill, and that erosion along the Potomac River bank had radically changed the shoreline since the town's founding 263 years earlier. But nobody in 1954 could point out with any certainty the foundation of Mercer's mansion, nor was anyone aware of the brick and the stone wall system, the two-room kitchen foundation, or the trash pits and other structures that lay beneath the surface, along with many 18th-century household artifacts. It remained for the archeologist to recover such nonperishable data from the ground.

In August 1954 Messrs. Setzler, Darter, and Watkins spent three days at Marlborough examining the site, making tests, and, in general, determining whether there was sufficient evidence to justify extended excavations. The site is located in the southeastern portion of what was known in the 17th century as Potowmack Neck (now Marlborough Point), with the Potomac River on the east and Potomac Creek on the south (map, front endpaper). It is approached from the northeast on Highway 621, which branches from Highway 608 about 2-1/2 miles from the site. Highway 608 runs from Aquia Creek westward to the village of Brooke, situated on the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad about four miles east of the present Stafford courthouse on U.S. Route 1. Highway 621 takes a hilly, winding course through the woods until it debouches onto the flat, open peninsula of the point. The river is visible to the east, as the road travels slightly east of due south, passing an intersecting secondary road that runs west and south and then west again. The latter road ends at the southwestern extremity of the Neck, where Accokeek Creek, which meanders along the western edge of the Neck, feeds into Potomac Creek. At the point near the Potomac Creek shore where this road takes its second westerly course lies the site of the Indian village of Patawomecke, excavated between 1938 and 1940 by T. D. Stewart.

Beyond this secondary road, Highway 621 continues southward to a small thicket and clump of trees where it curves sharply to the east, its southerly course stopped by fenced-in lots of generous size (with modern houses built on them) that slope down to Potomac Creek. After the highway makes its turn, several driveways extend from it toward the creek. One of these driveways, obviously more ancient than the others, leaves the highway about 200 feet east of the clump of trees, cutting deeply through high sloping banks, where vestiges of a stone wall crop out from its western boundary (fig. 22), and ending abruptly at the water's edge. Highway 621 continues to a dead end near the confluence of creek and river.

Some 200 feet west of the turn in the highway around the clump of trees, is a deep gully (or "gutt" in 17th-century terminology) that extends northward from Potomac Creek almost as far as the intersecting road that passes the site of the Indian village. This gully is overgrown with trees and brush, and it forms a natural barrier that divides the lower portion of the point into two parts. A few well-spaced modern houses fringe the shores of the point, while the flat land behind the houses is given over almost entirely to cultivation.

Since the two colonial land surveys were not drawn to scale, some confusion arose in 1954 as to their orientation to the surviving topographic features. However, the perimeter measurements given on the 1691 plat make it clear that the town was laid out in the southeastern section of the point, and that the "gutt" so indicated on the plat is the tree-lined gully west of the turn in the highway.

Bordering the clump of trees at this turn could be seen in 1954 a short outcropping of brick masonry. A few yards to the north, on the opposite side of the road, crumbled bits of sandstone, both red and gray, were concentrated in the ditch cut by a highway grader. In the fields at either side of the highway, plow furrows disclosed a considerable quantity of brick chips, 18th-century ceramics, and glass sherds.

In the field east of the clump of trees and north of the highway, opposite the steep-banked side road leading down to Potomac Creek, could be seen in a row the tops of two or three large pieces of gray stone. These stones were of the characteristic lime-sandstone once obtained from the Aquia quarries some four miles north, as well as from a long-abandoned quarry above the head of Potomac Creek. It was decided to start work at this point by investigating these stones, in preference to exploring the more obvious evidence of a house foundation at the clump of trees. This was done in the hope of finding clues to lot boundaries and the possible orientation of the survey plats. Excavation around these vertically placed stones disclosed that they rested on a foundation layer of thick slabs laid horizontally at the undisturbed soil level. Enough of this wall remained _in situ_ to permit sighting along it toward Potomac Creek. The sight line, jumping the highway, picked up the partly overgrown stone wall that extends along the western edge of the old roadway to the creek, indicating that a continuous wall had existed prior to the present layout of the fields and before the construction of the modern highway.

The excavation along the stone wall was extended northward. At a distance of 18.5 feet from the highway the stone wall ended at a junction of two brick wall foundations, one running north in line with the stone wall and the other west at a 90° angle. These walls, each a brick and a half thick, were bonded in oystershell lime mortar. Test trenches were dug to the north and west to determine whether they were enclosure walls or house foundations. Since it was soon evident that they were the former, the next question was whether they were lot boundaries matching those on the plat. If so, it was reasoned, then a street must have run along the east side of the north-south coursing wall. Accordingly, tests were made, but no supporting evidence for this inference was found.

Nevertheless, the indications of an elaborate wall system, a probable house foundation, and a wealth of artifacts in the soil were enough to support a full-scale archeological project, the results of which would have considerable historical and architectural significance. Determining the meaning of the walls and whether they were related to the town layout or to Mercer's plantation, learning the relationship of the plantation to the town, discovering the sites of the 1691 courthouse and Mercer's mansion, and finding other house foundations and significant artifacts--all these were to be the objectives of the project. The problem, broadly considered, was to investigate in depth a specific locality where a 17th-century town and an 18th-century plantation had successively risen and fallen and to evaluate the evidence in the light of colonial Virginia's evolving culture and economy. Accordingly, plans were made, a grant was obtained from the American Philosophical Society, as recounted in the introduction, and intensive work on the site was begun in 1956.

VIII

_Archeological Techniques_

The archeologist must adopt and, if necessary, invent the method of excavation best calculated to produce the results he desires, given the conditions of a particular site. The Marlborough site required other techniques than those conventionally employed, for instance, in excavating prehistoric American Indian sites. Moreover, because the Marlborough excavations constituted a limited exploratory survey, the grid system used customarily in colonial-site archeology was not appropriate here, and a different system had to be substituted. It was decided in 1956 to begin, as in 1954, at obvious points of visible evidence and to follow to their limits the footings of walls and buildings as they were encountered, rather than to remove all of the disturbed soil within a limited area. By itself this was a simple process, but to record accurately what was found by this method and relate the features to each other required the use mainly of an alidade and a stadia rod. Only to a limited extent were some exploratory trenches dug and careful observations made of the color and density of soil, so as to detect features such as wooden house foundations, postholes, and trash pits. Once located, such evidence had to be approached meticulously with a shaving or slicing technique, again taking careful note of soil changes in profile.

All this required the establishment of an accurate baseline and a number of control points by means of alidade and stadia-rod measurements. Then eight points for triangulation purposes in the form of iron pipes were established at intervals along the south side of the highway, east of its turn at the clump of trees, on the basis of which the accompanying maps were plotted. The full extent of the excavations is not shown in detail on these maps, particularly in connection with the walls and structures. The walls, for example, were exposed in trenches 5 feet wide. Similar trenches were dug around the house foundations as evidence of them was revealed.

IX

_Wall System_

DESCRIPTIONS OF EXCAVATIONS

On April 2, 1956, the junction point of the three walls found in the 1954 test was reexcavated. The bottom layer of horizontally placed stones 1.8-1.9 feet wide was found _in situ_, while most of the vertical stones from the second course had been broken or knocked off by repeated plowing. Construction of the highway had completely removed a section of the wall. The corner of the two brick walls was revealed to have been superimposed on the northernmost foundation block of the stone wall, thus indicating that the stone wall preceded the building of the brick ones. The upper stone block that had been removed to make room for this brick corner still lay a few feet to the east where it had been cast aside in the 18th century. This part of the stone wall, together with its continuation beyond the highway to the creek, was designated Wall A (figs. 21 and 24).

Exposure of the brick wall running westward from Wall A (designated Wall A-I) disclosed broken gaps in the brickwork, the gaps ranging from 1.8 to 3 feet in length, and the intervening stretches of intact wall, from 7.33 to 8 feet. Eight-foot spacings are normal for the settings of modern wooden fence posts, as such a fence south of the highway illustrated. It is assumed, therefore, that, following the destruction of the exposed part of the brick wall, a wooden fence was built along the same line, requiring the removal of bricks to permit the setting of fence posts (fig. 26).

Wall A-I intersected the modern highway at an acute angle, disappeared thereunder and reappeared beyond. South of the clump of trees it abutted another wall of different construction which ran continuously in the same direction for 28 feet. Because of their manner of construction, the two walls at their point of juncture were not integrated and, hence, probably were constructed at different times. The 28-foot section later proved to be the south wall of the mansion, designated as B. (This wall will be considered when that structure is described, as will another section that continued for less than 4 feet to the point where a 12-foot modern driveway crossed over it.)

To the west of the driveway another wall (B-I), still in line with Wall A-I, extended toward the "gutt." Of this only one brick course remained, a brick and a half thick. About midway in its length were slight indications that the wall footings had been expanded for a short distance, as though for a gate; however, the crumbled condition of the brick and mortar fragments made this inference uncertain.

Near the edge of the "gutt," 146 feet from the southwest corner of the Structure B main foundation, Wall B-I terminated in an oblique-angled corner, the other side of which was designated Wall B-II. This wall ran 384 feet in a southwesterly direction under trees and beneath a boathouse along the "gutt," ending at the back of Potomac Creek. It was constructed of rough blocks of the fossil-imbedded marl that underlies Marlborough and crops out along the Potomac shore. Walls A, A-I, B-I, and B-II, together with the creek bank, form an enclosure measuring a little over two acres.

Returning to the point of beginning excavation, the brick wall which is extended north from stone wall A (designated as Wall A-II) was followed for a distance of 175 feet. Like Wall A-I, it was a brick and a half thick (a row of headers lying beside a row of stretchers), and was represented for a distance of 36 feet by two courses. Beyond this point for another 30 feet, a shift in the contour of the land, allowing deeper plowing in relation to the original height of the wall, had caused the second course of bricks to be knocked off. From there on, only occasional clusters of bricks remained, the evidence of the wall consisting otherwise of a thin layer of mortar and brick.

Wall A-II terminated in a corner. The other side of the corner was of the same construction and ran westerly at right angles for a total distance of 264.5 feet, passing beneath the highway (north of the turn) and stopping against the southeast corner of a structure designated E. Extending south from Structure E was an 84-foot wall (Wall E) a brick and a half thick, laid this time in Flemish bond (header-stretcher-header) in several courses.

Another east-west wall, of which only remnants were found, joined Wall E and its southern terminus. Six feet west of Wall E this fragmentary wall widened from three to four bricks in thickness in what appeared to be the foundation of a wide gate, with a heavy iron hinge-pintle _in situ_; beyond this it disappeared in a jumble of brickbats.

Upon completion of the wall excavations, a return was made to Wall A, where a visible feature had been observed, although not investigated. This feature was a three-sided, westward projection from Wall A, similarly built of Aquia-type stone, forming with Wall A a long, narrow enclosure. The southern east-west course of this structure meets Wall A approximately 62 feet north of the creek-side terminus of Wall A and extends 59 feet to the west. The north-south course runs 100 feet to its junction with the northern east-west segment. The latter segment is only 55 feet long, so the enclosure is not quite symmetrical. No excavations were made here. However, in line with the north cross wall of the enclosure, trenches were dug at four intervals in a futile effort to locate evidence of a boundary wall in the present orchard lying to the east of the road to the creek.

SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH WALLS

_Date_
_Artifact_ _of Manufacture_ _Provenience_

Wine-bottle base. Diameter, 1735-1750 Adjacent to junction
5-1/8 inches. of Walls A, A-I,
(USNM 59.1717 fig. 29; ill. 35) A-II, 13 inches
above wall base and
undisturbed soil.

Wine-bottle base. Diameter, 1750-1770 Surface
4-5/8 inches.
(USNM 60.117)

Polychrome Chinese-porcelain 1730-1770 In disturbed soil
teacup base. between junction of
Blue-and-white porcelain sherds. Walls A, A-I, A-II,
(USNM 60.118; 60.121) and modern Highway
621.

Buckley coarse earthenware. (USNM Surface
60.80; 60.108; 60.136; 60.140)

Staffordshire white salt-glazed ca. 1760 Surface
ware.
(USNM 60.106)

Brass knee buckle. (USNM 60.139; ca. 1760 Surface
fig. 83e; ill. 49)

Hand-forged nails. Surface

Scraping tool. (USNM 60.133; fig. Surface
89b; ill. 76)

Fragment of bung extractor. (USNM Surface
60.134; fig. 89d)

Sherds of heavy lead-glass decanter ca. 1720 Trenches beside Wall
and knop of large wineglass or B-2.
pedestal-bowlstem. (USNM 60.149)

Westerwald stoneware. before 1750 Surface
(USNM 60.104; 60.121)

Tidewater-type earthenware. (USNM
60.141; 60.154)

Iron gate pintle. (USNM 60.90; figs. Wall E gateway, 6
29 and 88) inches from west
end, south side,
13 inches above
undisturbed soil,
in bricks in
second course.

Brass harness ring. (USNM 60.53; 2 inches west of
figs. 29 and 83i) Wall E gateway, on
top of third course
of bricks, 7 inches
above undisturbed
soil.

Bridle bit. (USNM 60.67; figs. 29 5 inches west of
and 91c) Wall E gateway,
first course, 4
inches above
undisturbed soil.

Bottle seal, marked with "I^[C.]M" (See matching Underneath bridle
and first three digits of date seal dated 1737 bit (see above).
"173...." (USNM 60.68) on wine bottle,
USNM 59.1688;
fig. 78; ill. 37)

Fragment of iron potlid (USNM 60.69; Southwest corner of
fig. 87a) Wall E gateway, 7
inches above
undisturbed soil,
at lowest brick
course.

Indian celt, with hole drilled for 16 inches east of
use as pendant. (USNM 60.87) southwest corner of
Wall E gateway, at
undisturbed soil,
7 inches below wall
base.

Iron loop from swingletree. (USNM 30 inches east of
60.86) southwest corner of
Wall E gateway, at
undisturbed soil,
7 inches below wall
base.

Wine-bottle base. Diameter 4-1/2 1735-1750 Wall E gateway. Top
inches (USNM 60.83) course of bricks,
16 inches north of
pintle (see above).

Iron plow colter. (USNM 60.88, Wall E gateway. Top
ill. 79) course of bricks,
5.5 feet east of
pintle (see above).

In addition to the artifacts listed above numerous others were excavated from the trenches, although few of these have archeological value for purposes of analyzing the structures. Only the finds accompanied by depth and provenience data are significant in evaluating these structures, and in the case of the gateway few are helpful to any degree. The fragmentary bottle seal found there matches exactly a whole seal that occurs on a wine bottle described in a subsequent section. That seal is dated 1737, and thus this seal must have been similarly dated. Its presence near the lowest level suggests that the wall was in construction at the time the seal was deposited. Bottles were used for a long time, however, so the seal may have reached its final resting place years later than 1737. The Indian celt no doubt fell from the topsoil while the trench in which the wall was built was being excavated. The swingletree gear next to it probably was left there during the construction. The colter, although it appears to be of early 18th-century origin, may have been in use late in the 18th century after the wall had been removed. Since the colter is badly bent, it may have struck the top of the underground wall foundation, and, having been torn off from the plow, perhaps was left on the bricks where it fell.

HISTORICAL DATA AND INTERPRETATION OF WALL SYSTEM

John Mercer commented with exasperation in his Land Book about the unresolved discrepancies between the Buckner survey of 1691 and the missing Gregg survey of 1707 (p. 14). There are as many disparities between Buckner's plat and the plat resulting from the Savage survey of 1731. In the latter a new row of lots is added along the western boundary, pushing the Buckner lots eastward. Where in the Buckner plat the lots and streets in the lower part of the town west of George Andrews' lots turn westerly 1° from the indicated main axis of the town, paralleling the 30-pole fourth course of the town bounds which runs to the creek's edge, the Savage map shows no such change. Yet Savage, in describing the courses of the survey in a written note on the plat, shows that he followed the original bounds. He does note a 4°, 10-pole error in the course along Potomac Creek, "which difference gives several Lots more than was in the old survey making one Row of Lots more than was contained therein each containing two thirds of an Acre." This was doubtless a contrivance designed to reconcile the Gregg and Buckner surveys and also to benefit John Mercer.

In any case, it is clear that the plats themselves are both unreliable and inaccurate. What was actual was shown in the archeological survey of 1956 with its record of boundary walls and at least one street. An attempt has been made in figure 14 to give scale to the Buckner survey by superimposing the archeological map over it. There, Wall B-II, if extended north for 111 feet beyond its length of 384 feet to equal the 30 poles (495 feet) of the fourth course, would exactly touch the southwest corner of lot 21 where the fourth course began. But, in spite of this congruence, the other features of the plat are distorted and disagree with the slightly northwest-southeast basic orientation of the street and wall system. The simplest explanation might be that the layout was made on the basis of the 1707 Gregg survey. Since it was following the second Act for Ports of 1705 that the town achieved what little growth it made prior to Mercer's occupancy, it is probable that the town's orientation was made according to this survey.

Whether or not this is the case, the road to the creek side was fundamental to the town, and probably was built early in its history and maintained after the town itself was abandoned. We know from archeological evidence that Wall A antedates the brick walls that were connected with it. Further evaluation of the wall system in relation to the entire site will be made later. It may be concluded for now that Wall A and the road beside it represent the main axis of the town as it was laid out before Mercer's arrival, that the stone walls were built before that event, that Wall B-II follows the fourth course somewhat according to Buckner's plat, and that the brick walls may date as late as 1750, as some of the associated artifacts suggest.

X

_Mansion Foundation_

(_Structure B_)

DESCRIPTION OF EXCAVATIONS

With the exception of Wall A, the protruding bit of brickwork near the clump of trees (where Highway 621 makes its turn to the southeast) was the only evidence remaining above ground in 1956 of Marlborough's past grandeur. Designated Structure B, it was plainly the remains of a cellar foundation, which the tangled thicket of vines and trees adjacent to it tended to confirm. Since its location corresponded with the initially estimated position of the courthouse, it seemed possible that the foundation might have survived from that structure.

Excavation of Structure B began accidentally when the excavators began following the westward course of Wall A-I, as described in the preceding section on the "Wall System." Wall A-I abutted, but did not mesh with, the corner of two foundation walls, one of which ran northward and the other continued on for 28 feet in the same direction as Wall A-I. The brickwork in the 28-foot stretch of Wall A-I was laid in a step-back, buttress-type construction. At the bottom course the wall was 2.65 feet thick, diminishing upward for five successive courses to a minimum of 1.5 feet. A wall running northward--the east foundation wall--was exposed for 16 feet from the point of its junction with Wall A-I until it disappeared under the highway. It was found to have the same buttress-type construction. There was no evidence of a cellar within the area enclosed by the foundation walls south of the highway.

Excavation of the east foundation wall was resumed north of the highway, but here no buttressing was found, with evidence of a cellar visible instead. This evidence consisted of a curious complex of features, comprising remnants of two parallel cross walls only 4.5 feet apart with a brick pavement between 4.8 feet below the surface. The east wall and the cross walls had flush surfaces. The northerly cross wall was tied into the brickwork of the east wall, showing that it was built integrally with the foundation. The northerly cross wall had been knocked down, however, to within five courses on the floor level. The pavement was fitted against it.

The southerly cross wall was not tied into the brickwork of the east wall, and the pavement had been torn up next to it. Thus it was evident that this wall had been erected subsequent to the building of the foundation, that it had shortened the cellar by 4.5 feet, and that the cellar extended southward to a point beneath the highway where it was impossible to excavate. Documentary evidence to confirm this alteration will be shown below (p. 91).

Extending 12.5 feet north of the original cross wall was another cellarless section, with step-back buttressing again featuring the foundation wall. Another paved cellar was in evidence north of this, extending for 26 feet, with a final 14.25-foot cellarless portion as far as the north wall of the structure. The interior of the cellar, to the extent that inviolate trees and shrubs made it possible to determine, was filled with brickbats and debris, large portions of which were removed. Evidence, however, of construction of cross walls and of floor treatment remained concealed.

The entire length of this extraordinary foundation totaled 108 feet.

The northwest corner of Structure B was not excavated because it was hidden beneath a group of cedar trees which could not be disturbed. South of the trees, however, the section of the west-wall foundation was exposed to a length of 15.5 feet. This section was situated partly in, and partly north of, the north cellar area. The cross measurement, from outer edge to outer edge, was 28 feet, the same as the length of the south foundation wall. Another short section of the west foundation wall also was exposed from the southwest corner as far as a private driveway which limited the excavation.

Abutting the exterior of the north wall of the foundation a flagstone pavement was found, extending 8.45 feet northward and 16 feet westward from the northeast corner. Against the foundation, within this space, was a U-shaped brick wall, forming a hollow rectangle 5 feet by 3.6 feet (inside). The space was filled with ashes, loose bricks, and other refuse. This brickwork was the foundation for a small porch, the lime-sandstone slabs surrounding it having been an apron or a small terrace.

Extending westward from the cedar trees, beyond the projected 28-foot length of the north wall, was a short section of brick wall foundation, the outer surface of which was faced with slabs of red sandstone and dressed on the top with a cyma-reversa molding. The tops of the slabs were rough, but each had slots and channels for receiving iron tie bars (ill. 3) that were still in place. This wall was inset four inches to the south of the alignment of the main north foundation wall.

The northwest corner of this additional structure was hidden under the highway. Even now, however, the discerning eye can pick up the contour of a wall running parallel with the west foundation wall under the blacktop pavement. For a brief distance, between the point where the road swings eastward from it and the private driveway covers it again, excavation exposed this wall. Designated Wall C, it was 22 inches thick, entirely of brick, with no evidence remaining of red sandstone on the outside. The exterior surface was 9.5 feet beyond the west foundation wall.

At the southwest corner of the foundation, evidence matching that at the northwest corner was found. Here, again inset 4 inches from the line of the main south foundation wall, were to be seen the tops of red-sandstone slabs like those found at the north end (fig. 36), in this case with one tie rod still in place. The driveway obscured the point to which the corner of this extending structure could presumably be projected. Subsequent construction against the sandstone slabs had covered their surfaces with a rubble of brick and mortar that appeared to be the foundation for masonry steps (fig. 35). Projecting out from the southwest corner of the foundation was a rectangular red-sandstone block which appeared to be the corner of these superimposed steps. Although situated under the driveway, it was apparent by projection that Wall B-I joined the southwest corner of Wall C. It will be demonstrated from surviving records that Wall C, with its connecting sections, was the foundation of a full-length veranda.

The belief which persisted for a time that Structure B might have been the courthouse was dispelled by documentary evidence showing that it was John Mercer's mansion.

SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH STRUCTURE B

_Date
_Artifact_ of Manufacture_ _Provenience_

2 rim sherds from ca. 1730 Beneath flagstone in
brown-banded; porch apron north
"drab," stoneware of Structure B.
mug (USNM
59.1754; fig. 67b)

Iron candle-snuffer 1730-1750 Debris at south end
(USNM 59.1825; ill. 62) of Structure B.

Small crescent-shaped Debris at south end
chopping knife of Structure B.
(USNM 59.1837; fig. 85a)

Silver teaspoon ca. 1730-1750 Wall debris near
(USNM 59.1827; fig. 86d) north end.

In addition, there was the usual variety of 18th-century delftware, Nottingham and white salt-glazed stoneware, pieces of a Westerwald stoneware chamber pot, and much miscellaneous iron, of which only a hinge fragment and a supposed shutter fastener probably were associated with the house. None of this material has provenience data, nearly all of it having turned up in the process of trenching. Little of it, therefore, throws much light on the history of the structure. The most important artifacts found in and around Structure B are those of an architectural nature, and these will be considered primarily in the following section.

ARCHITECTURAL DATA AND ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURE B

That the "manor house," as Thomas Oliver called it in 1771, was an extraordinary building is both revealed in the Structure B foundation and confirmed by the insurance-policy sketch of 1806. Long, low, and narrow, fronted by a full-length veranda and adorned with stone trim for which we can find no exact parallel in 18th-century America, it was as individualistic as John Mercer himself. Yet, far from being a vernacular anachronism or a mere eccentricity, it was apparently rich with the Georgian mannerisms that made it very much an expression of its age.

The measurements made of the foundation when excavated, as we have seen, show a length of 108 feet and a width of 28 feet for the main structure, with an overall width, including the projecting Wall C, of 37 feet 6 inches. The insurance policy states a length of 108 feet 8 inches and a width of 29 feet 6 inches for the main foundation, plus a separate width for the "portico" (as the structure above Wall C was called) of 8 feet 4 inches. These small discrepancies probably lie in the differences between measuring a standing house and a foundation.