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New Philadelphia : 2004 Archaeology Report |
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THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS: Block 7 Paul Shackel
Block 7, Lot 1 The earliest recorded sale of Block 7, Lot 1, occurred in 1848 when Frank McWorter sold the property to James Pottle. In total there are over 20 transactions involving this property until 1930. The purchasers of the property also found in the census data include: Pottle, Luce, Squire McWorter, and William Hadsell. There is strong likelihood that at least some of these families lived on this lot. The deed and census data follow and the italicized names are those that may have resided on the lot.
DEEDS
1850 FEDERAL CENSUS
1855 STATE CENSUS
1860 FEDERAL CENSUS
1865 STATE CENSUS
1880 FEDERAL CENSUS
Archaeology for Block 7, Lot 1 The structure identified on Block 7, Lot 1, on the 1939 aerial photograph and described by Burdick (1992) (see below and see Background History Chapter) was known as the Betsy house. The area has a heavy concentration of artifacts and the walkover survey indicates the presence of a small amount of early nineteenth-century ceramics and a significant number of artifacts dating to the late nineteenth century. Archaeologists worked on two excavation units in Block 7, Lot 1, in order to locate the structure and find features that may provide clues about nineteenth-century lifeways and the landscape (Figure 3.15 and 3.16). Excavation Unit 1, placed on the edge of the artifact concentration revealed by the walkover survey had very few artifacts (Gwaltney 2004). The plow zone extended to a depth of 1.1ft below the surface. This soil tended to be a very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) silty loam and silty clay. Subsoil exists below the plow zone.
Figure 3.15. Location of excavation units 1 and 2 in Block 7, Lot 1. (Courtesy, Likes Land Surveyors, Inc.)
Fig 3.16. Screening for artifacts at Block 7, Lot 1. (Courtesy, Gary Andrashko, Illinois State Museum.)
In Excavation Unit 2, artifact density increased significantly and the plow zone exists to a depth of about 1.3ft below the surface. The soil tended to be a very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) and archeologists located the remains of a fieldstone foundation, designated as Feature 3 (Figures 3.17 and 3.18). The soils next to the fieldstone foundation appear to be in an undisturbed cultural layer and many of the artifacts from this context date to the late nineteenth century. While Burdick (1992) observed that the earliest portion of the Betsy House dated to the middle of the nineteenth century, the foundation remains located by archaeologists may be the result of a late nineteenth-century addition. A local resident remembers tearing down a derelict house in the late 1930s/early 1940s and removing the fieldstone foundations (see oral history section). The foundation stones are below the plow zone and may not have been removed because they were below the plow zone. Because this foundation was probably substantial and deeper than a foundation that would have supported a cabin, the foundation is probably related to a late nineteenth-century substantial addition to the earlier structure. A mid-nineteenth century foundation likely would not have been as deep or as substantial as this foundation.
Figure 3.17. North Wall profile of Excavation Unit 2 in Block 7, Lot 1. (Image enhanced by William White.)
Figure 3.18. Planview of Feature 3 in Excavation Unit 2, Block 7, Lot 1. (Image enhanced by William White.)
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