"Convenient houses and fine springs of water": St. Mary's City in the Late 18th Century

July 14, 1776, and the months that followed were undoubtedly unforgettable for the people of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. On this day in mid-July Lord Dunmore and his fleet of over 70 vessels were first observed “lying off between St. Mary’s River and Point Look Out” by Alexander Somerville in his report to the Council of Safety. They continued up the St. Mary’s River, covering roughly 8 nautical miles before reaching St. George Island. The following months saw the British focusing their efforts on St. George Island in search of fresh water and provisions.

During this time period, the surrounding landscape of St. Mary’s County was characterized by a mix of small family farms and large rural plantations, forming an agricultural economy that shaped the region’s social and economic structure. Crop diversification was well underway, with corn and wheat supplementing tobacco. The wealthier estates owned land, had enslaved individuals, and were increasing craft production such as blacksmithing. By the second half of the 18th century the region was significantly altered by the large increase of enslaved individuals. While the enslaved population comprised approximately 12 percent of the total population in 1720, it had grown dramatically to nearly 40 percent by 1774, reflecting the increasing reliance on enslaved labor during this period.

Lord Dunmore’s fleet raided properties along the St. Mary’s River, including the Jesuit plantation in St. Inigoes, located just south of St. Mary’s City. Raids continued well after the fleet left St. George Island, and large plantations continued to be targeted until 1783. The raids were often violent and destructive, including actions such as the British forces burning the houses, fields, and woods on their departure from St. George Island.

What was happening in St. Mary’s City during the American Revolution? There are no surviving accounts of raids occurring on the property. Two years prior to the 1776 events, over 700 acres of St. Mary’s City land had been purchased by John Mackall, who left Calvert County to live on the property he purchased from William Hicks. A Maryland Gazette ad from February 1774 describes St. Mary’s City as “once the metropolis of Maryland,” referring to its role as the colony’s original capital before the capital was moved to Annapolis in 1695. Figure 1 depicts this ad which provides a detailed description of the structures that stood at St. Mary’s City during the late 18th century, including: “… a good dwelling house…; kitchen, meat, and milk-houses. Store house… counting house, granary, barn, two quarters for negroes, and all other convenient houses and fine springs of water…”

Figure 1: Maryland Gazette Advertisement (February 3, 1774)

While this advertisement and a few other historical documents survive that provide a glimpse into the landscape during the second half of the 18th century, we often rely on archaeological evidence to help aid in our understanding of the time period. One of the buildings described in the advertisement was recently found, and evidence suggests it may have been a 16-foot by 24-foot storehouse. Figure 2 depicts a brick lined cellar that was excavated on the east end of the building. This was likely a wooden structure underpinned by a narrow brick footer, with a brick hearth on the west end. All of the bricks related to this building were recycled from an earlier building that likely dated to the 17th-century occupation of the town. In St. Mary’s City 17th and 18th-century sites are often found on the same parcels of land due to the proximity of freshwater springs, which are abundant throughout the landscape.

Figure 2: Brick Cellar of an 18th-century Building from the Hicks-Mackall Plantation

This structure was located near a natural spring, where numerous well-preserved artifacts were recovered from a filled-in ravine. Large sherds of pottery were recovered, including fragments of white salt glaze stoneware that date from ca. 1720-1780 (Figure 3). In addition to ceramics, bottle glass, and tobacco pipes, a significant amount of animal bone was recovered from the ravine. This data provides a better understanding of diet and consumer patterns during this time period, information that is sparse in the surviving written documents.

Figure 3: White Salt Glaze Stoneware, Decorated Plates

John Mackall’s landholdings in St. Mary’s City grew to a considerably large plantation by the time of his death in 1813. As the enslaved population increased, archaeological data suggests that a significant reorganization of the landscape occurred. A granary that had been built by William Hick’s in 1758 became the location that centers the agricultural landscape. Enslaved individuals were housed in multiple structures dispersed across the property rather than tightly clustered in a single location.

Significant impacts occurred in St. Mary’s City from the War of 1812. Nineteen enslaved individuals self-emancipated to the British. This occurred around the same time that the Mackall family had a series of deaths, with John Mackall Jr. dying soon after his father. The St. Mary’s City lands are then inherited by John Jr.’s daughter Margaret, who in turn died childless in 1816. Her husband, James Mackall Brome, inherited the property and when he died in 1823 his second wife was left with three young children. One of those children, Dr. John Mackall Brome significantly reorganized the landscape in 1840.

Vestiges of the 18th-century landscape endure today. The 1758 granary had to be dismantled due to its condition, but a large barn from 1785 still stands and is an exhibit known as the Mackall Barn Exhibit. While the 1774 advertisement refers to ten different buildings, their precise locations remain undocumented (except for the granary). Several recent projects have aided our understanding of where a few of those buildings once stood. Archaeological evidence provides the most reliable means of identifying and interpreting the placement of these structures on the landscape since most of them are no longer standing. The “convenient houses and fine springs of water” that Mackall purchased in 1774 have been the subject of recent archaeological investigations that have shed new light on the landscape. The archaeological record from these sites has substantially enhanced our understanding of the social, economic, and architectural aspects of life during the late 18th century and into the early 19th century in St. Mary’s City.