Megan E. Springate

Resorts and Reform: Archaeology at the Wiawaka Holiday House, Lake George, New York

Megan E. Springate — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:48:39 PST

The Wiawaka Holiday House on Lake George, New York is among the oldest continuously operating women’s holiday retreats in the United States. The Holiday House was founded on the grounds of a failing resort hotel at the turn of the twentieth century by wealthy women largely from industrial families to provide factory “girls” opportunities for healthful vacations in the countryside. Before the Holiday House was established, the property was the site of two resort hotels; their histories, spanning much of the nineteenth century, reflect the rise and transformations in the Adirondack resort hotel business. Presented in the early stages of doctoral research, this paper describes the current state of history and historical archaeology at the property and explores avenues of research related to the meanings and uses of leisure time in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as questions of gender, class, power, and labor.

Where The Tinder Was Lit: Archaeological Excavations at the Wesleyan Chapel, Women's Rights National Historical Park, Seneca Falls, New York

Megan E. Springate — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:00:11 PDT

The Wesleyan Chapel, built in 1843, was the location of the First Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. It is now one of several significant structures that make up the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York. Over time, the form and the function of the Chapel building has changed – often dramatically. Archaeological investigations at the Wesleyan Chapel have revealed both the extent of these changes and information about the people associated with the property. Results of these excavations, particularly those conducted in 2008, are presented in the context of the site’s history and significance as the birthplace of the formal struggle for equal rights for women.

Coffin Handles from the African Burial Ground New York City: Notes on Their Source and Context

Megan E. Springate — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:33:33 PDT

Coffin hardware refers to both functional and decorative elements, generally metallic, used on coffins and caskets in historic mortuary contexts. Examples of coffin hardware include handles, hinges, caplifters, thumbscrews, name plates, and decorative elements. Although the British industry was well-established in the eighteenth century, the mass-produced coffin hardware industry did not take hold in North America until the middle of the nineteenth century. Coffin hardware use in North America pre-dating the establishment of a domestic industry is not unknown; it is, however, uncommon, and generally has been associated with the burials of high social status or wealthy individuals. That said, exceptions to this include iron handles recovered from two burials at the African Burial Ground in New York City, which date to the middle decades of the eighteenth century. Research into the British antecedents of the nineteenth-century American coffin hardware industry led to the identification of a likely British source for the African Burial Ground handles. Imported British coffin hardware also has been found in African-American burials pre-dating the domestic industry in Philadelphia. Both the Lower Manhattan and Philadelphia examples suggest a series of questions requiring further research and data to address.

Early Settlement at Bombay Hook, Kent County, Delaware

Megan E. Springate — Tue, 17 May 2011 10:55:06 PDT

This paper describes early colonial settlement in the vicinity of the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Kent County, Delaware spanning the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. Included is a discussion of the archaeological sensitivity of sunken soils in the marshlands.

A Concealed Shoe Recovered at the Updike Farmstead, Princeton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Megan E. Springate — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:34:55 PDT

This paper describes a protective shoe concealment deliberately placed in the walls of a Princeton, New Jersey farmhouse during the nineteenth century.

The Power of Choice: Reflections on Economic Ability, Status, and Ethnicity of a Free Black Family in Northwestern New Jersey

Megan E. Springate et al. — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:28:18 PDT

Foodways reflect, among other things, ethnicity, status, and consumer choice. Results of excavations conducted within a free black household in an historically white town in northwestern New Jersey explore these issues. Four generations of the Mann family owned and occupied a small house in Sussex Borough from 1862-1909. Analysis of the archaeological resources indicates a dramatic shift in the family’s social status in the late nineteenth century. Faunal remains, tablewares, and vessels associated with food preparation are compared with other contemporary free black house sites in the Mid-Atlantic. This assemblage is found to vary from models generally proposed for free black sites. Reasons for these differences are proposed. The foodways assemblage is also discussed in relation to the changing status negotiations of the Mann family as understood by both white and black communities.

Keeping it Cool: Investigations Around the Benares Icehouse, Mississauga, Ontario

Megan E. Springate — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:29:16 PDT

This thesis presents description and analysis of the structure known as the icehouse and associated artifacts from the Benares site (AjGv-30), Mississauga, Ontario.

An architectural analysis of this semi-subterranean stone structure indicates that it was constructed by the Harris family as an icehouse in 1857, and modified in the early 1900s. A total of 9,593 artifacts from around this structure were analysed. Following Leone and Potter (1988), connections between material objects, economic ability, and social status are explored. Results indicate that the Harrises' economic ability was compromised by devastating fires in 1855 and 1856. In isolation, this suggests that the Harris family became members of a lower class after the fires; the documentary record, however, indicates that despite financial difficulties, they remained members of the 'country gentry'. Social and economic status, while linked, cannot be considered equivalent. Despite Jouppien's (1980:27) hypothesis, artifact analysis indicates that mean date calculations using sherd frequencies are more accurate than those using minimum vessel counts.

The Sexton's House Has A Ritual Concealment: Late Nineteenth-Century Negotiations of Double Consciousness at a Black Family Home in Sussex County, New Jersey

Megan E. Springate — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:54:56 PDT

Squatters Budgeree: Pipes for the Australian Market Recovered at the Homestead of a Free Black Family in Sussex County, New Jersey

Megan E. Springate — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:57:49 PDT

An archaeological data recovery was recently completed by Richard Grubb & Associates, Inc. at the Cooper-Mann House site (28-Sx-399), owned from 1862 through 1909 by a single free African-American family in Sussex Borough (formerly known as Deckertown), Sussex County, New Jersey. These excavations were done in advance of a New Jersey Department of Transportation project to realign State Route 23 through the area; the Cooper-Mann House site was considered significant for its long association with the Mann family. Excavations were conducted in 1999 around the exterior of the house, and in 2008, in the building's interior prior to demolition (Richard Grubb & Associates 2001, 2010a). Among the artifacts recovered were two white clay stem fragments from Squatters Budgeree pipes – a design manufactured in England and perhaps in Scotland specifically for the Australian market. No other examples of these smoking pipes are known on sites outside of Australia, New Zealand, and a manufacturing site in England. This article presents background information about the Mann family and a summary of what is known about Squatters Budgeree pipes, endeavors to explain how these pipes arrived at the site, and assesses their implications.

Observations on the Aboriginal Remains in Eastern New Jersey: The Notebook of Charles F. Woolley, 1878-1881

Megan E. Springate — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:59:22 PDT

Charles F. Woolley was a school teacher and avocational archaeologist in New Jersey in the late nineteenth century. One of his notebooks, which survives in a local history repository, includes details of his collection, which was largely prehistoric. Information from the notebook was used to identify site locations, and to track down several artifacts that Woolley had donated. I have removed specific site location information from this publicly available version of the conference paper.

Steamboats of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Lecture presented at the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, November, 2003.

Megan E. Springate — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:43:48 PDT

Steamboats provided a critical commercial link between Monmouth County, New Jersey and New York City from the early nineteenth through the third quarter of the twentieth centuries. Over 200 vessels have been documented as plying Monmouth County's waters, carrying farm goods to market and leisure patrons to the shore. This presentation summarizes the steamboat's history in Monmouth County, and provides several examples of vessels that ran in the area.

Documenting the Wooden Stick Lighter/Deck Scow MARICOPA: A Vestige of the Lighterage Era in the Port of New York

Megan E. Springate — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:13:43 PDT

In 2005, Richard Grubb & Associates mitigated the wreck of a wooden deck scow (an unpowered barge), abandoned in the Arthur Kill at Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, NJ. Built in 1923, the stick lighter MARICOPA was later converted to a deck scow. She served her entire career in New York Harbor, part of the large fleet of largely undocumented lighterage vessels that was critical to the area’s economy throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This discussion will include the MARICOPA’s mitigation, her role in the history of the area and the concept of significance applied to these vessel types.

Steamboats in Monmouth County [NJ] : A Gazetteer

Megan E. Springate — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:30:03 PDT

Contains a chronological list, by date built of over 200 steamboats that operated in and around Monmouth County, New Jersey between 1816 and 1968 together with notes about date and place built, builder, vessel specifications, routes, years in service, personnel, name changes, and other historical data. Illustrations of many vessels are included as are facsimilies of newspaper advertisements and notices.

Some Brief Notes on the Tobacco Tag

Megan E. Springate — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:25:50 PDT

Tobacco tags have been found on archaeological sites throughout North America, in shapes ranging from circles to ovals, rectangular with an embossed horse, stars and hearts. Tags recovered archaeologically are usually no more than a rusty bit of iron alloy with two triangular tines. Originally, however, these tags were enameled with bright colors and product information.

The use of tobacco tags began in the United States in the 1870s. An overabundance of cheap chewing tobacco caused pipe smokers to switch to "chaw." Manufacturers developed the tag as a means of branding their plugs of tobacco.

Cellulose Nitrate Plastic (Celluloid) in Archaeological Assemblages: Identification and Care

Megan E. Springate — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:11:53 PDT

Invented in the mid-19th century, cellulose nitrate (celluloid) is commonly regarded as the earliest synthetic polymer or plastic. As increasing numbers of historical sites dating from the mid-1800s are excavated, cellulose nitrate objects are more frequently found in archaeological assemblages. The inherent instability of cellulose nitrate makes proper handling, storage, and display conditions vital to the longevity of recovered objects. In this paper, the composition, manufacture, and means of identifying cellulose nitrate are summarized. The processes of degradation and means of slowing those processes through preventive conservation are also elaborated.

Setting A Publick Table: Food and Food Service at a Colonial and Early American New Jersey Tavern

Megan E. Springate — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:02:40 PDT

The Blue Ball, a tavern located in Shrewsbury, New Jersey served primarily a local clientele from 1754 through 1814. Excavations on the site of the still-standing structure have revealed a wealth of information regarding the preparation and service of food from the late Colonial through the Early American period. Using documentary and archaeological evidence, this paper will explore the menu and the table settings found at The Blue Ball. The Blue Ball, open to the public as The Allen House, a colonial tavern interpretation, is owned by the Monmouth County Historical Association.

Mass-Produced Coffin Hardware in Eastern North America: A Synthesis

Megan E. Springate — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:12:13 PDT

Mass-produced coffin hardware is commonly found during excavations or relocations of historic cemeteries in eastern North America dating from ca. 1850. An analysis of data from a sample of excavated sites and trade catalogues was undertaken for three regions: the southeastern United States, the northeastern United States, and Ontario. Following an introduction to the various types of coffin hardware, the sequence of functional and stylistic changes will be summarized for each region, and compared. The resulting temporal sequences for each region will aid archaeologists in assigning dates to unmarked burials.