"I send you two fine boats": Stephen Steward's Shipyard

On March 31st of 1781, in the midst of the American Revolution, British soldiers from two ships named the Monk and the Hope came up the West River, South of Annapolis, with the intent of destroying Stephen Steward’s Shipyard. The Maryland Gazette reports the burning a few days later, noting that British troops “... gloriously completed the destruction of everything valuable to Mr. Steward.....The loss is not yet to be estimated; every hour they discover their [Steward’s] loss greater.” Why bother burning it at all? This is one of the few recorded confrontations with the British during the American Revolution in the area.

Stephen Steward owned this shipyard beginning in the 1750s. Ships at his yard were constructed by a dedicated crew of tradesmen, servants, enslaved men and women, and convict servants. Holding prominent connections to American Revolutionary Maryland, Steward’s Shipyard designed, constructed, repaired, and stored ships for the cause. Up until the early 1990s the existence of this shipyard was largely unknown to the public. The commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence encourages us to revisit the archaeological collections from sites like this one, integral to early nationhood building but perhaps not as well known as other stories.

Of the many people who worked at the shipyard there are a few we know more details about from ads linked to the property. One of these is Harry, enslaved at the shipyard, who was about 24 years old when he ran away in June of 1779 with a woman named Cass. According to the advertisement Steward submitted to the Maryland Gazette, they may have been headed to Philadelphia. It is unknown if they evaded capture and succeeded in reaching Philadelphia gaining their freedom. Regardless, Harry was likely able to use the geographic knowledge he gained traveling with Steward in the plans to secure his own and Cass’s freedom. Other ads from around the same time note small ships utilized by freedom seekers using their knowledge of sailing and local waterways to escape.

We know the British attacked this shipyard, burning at least part of it to the ground in 1781. Despite its attempted destruction, Steward’s Shipyard continued to maintain an active role in ship construction and maintenance throughout the American Revolution, falling into obscurity after the death of its owner. That is until, “one day, archaeologists…just crawled out of the creek and said that he had found a shipyard” recounted former property owner Dean Hall. The archaeologists who “just crawled out of the creek” were part of the Maryland Maritime Archeological Program (MMAP) tasked with surveying Maryland’s waterways to evaluate, identify, and record potentially significant archaeology sites at risk of erosion. This discovery prompted oral histories, archival research, and terrestrial and underwater archaeological investigations. The 1993 Maryland Historical Trust Field Session in Archaeology focused on the Steward Shipyard site, including professional archaeologists, students, and volunteers from the general public all contributing to this one-of-a-kind excavation. So, how much of it remains now after 200-some years? Ultimately, these excavations discovered domestic features, shipyard work related features and two launching ways (Figure 1). These launching ways were used to launch ships sideways into the West River, bridging the gap between working on land and launching ships into the water.

Figure 1: Steward's Shipyard Collage. Background: the launching ways site plan map (Bruce Thompson 1993); Top Left Photo: the discovery of the dogshore; Top Right Photo: Terrestrial excavation at the site in 1993; Bottom Photo: Underwater investigations at the site in the early 90s.

In January of 1776, Steven Steward traveled to Philadelphia, comparing notes on how their defenses could be used in Annapolis, Maryland. This trip prompted the design and ordering of seven galleys to be built for the state Navy, the work was divided between multiple shipyards, including Steward’s. Other records from the period describe the many trips and trade agreements Steward had across the state and the Caribbean securing needed materials to complete or repair ships. According to documentary records, one of the galleys constructed by Steward named the Conqueror, operated in the Chesapeake Bay throughout its service with the Maryland Council of Safety before it was sold at the end of the war. Notably, archaeologists recovered a large wooden dogshore, which would have been used to aid in temporarily holding a ship in place before launching into the water. Other materials from the excavations illustrate the ties with other Maryland industries at the time; several pig iron bars, likely used as ship ballast, were recovered. One of these has the text “LEGH”, linking them to the Legh Foundry, in Carroll County, Maryland (Figure 2).

Figure 2: “LEGH” Cast Iron (Pig Iron) Drawing recovered from Steward’s Shipyard site (1994 Lynch, Davidson, & Davidson) and photograph of the same artifact before conservation

In a 1777 letter to the Maryland Council of Safety in Annapolis Steward wrote, “I send you two fine Boats to carry the soldiers over the Bay”. Sites like this one are integral to understanding early nationhood and Maryland’s important involvement in this history. Steward’s Shipyard and its people played an important role in our state’s revolutionary history, a story that

may have been left largely untold if it were not for the archaeological investigations that have taken place there and are continuing to be researched. To learn more, visit this storymap via the QR code (Figure 3).

Figure 3: QR code for Steward's Shipyard StoryMap, "I send you two fine boats"