Site History

The main portion of the Rousby site dates to the second half of the 17th century and was most likely the residence of John Halfhead and his family. Halfhead was one of the original settlers to arrive in Maryland aboard the Ark and the Dove in 1634. He was an illiterate brick-maker who served as an indentured servant to pay for his passage to Maryland and then claimed land in return for his service and for transporting other settlers to the colony.

In 1649 Halfhead was awarded approximately 250 acres at the mouth of the Patuxent River, a tract that is currently located aboard the Naval Air Station Patuxent River not far from the Mattapany-Sewall site. As his plantation was already established by the time Charles Calvert moved to Mattapany-Sewall, it is possible that Calvert hired his new neighbor Halfhead to fire the bricks for his new dwelling. Such skilled labor was scarce in the mid-17th century in Maryland.

By 1684, the property may have been acquired by Christopher Rousby, a prominent settler who held several public offices but who suffered a falling out with the Calvert proprietary. Though Rousby also owned other tracts in the area, the site was named for him because its proximity to his grave indicated that he might have resided there until his scandalous murder at the hands of Charles Calvert’s cousin, George Talbot, in October 1684. If Rousby did live at the site, however, his tenure there was short and the majority of the 17th-century occupation may be attributed to the Halfhead family.

After Rousby’s death, the parcel seems to have been abandoned. By the 19th-century, members of Maryland’s well-known Carroll family had inherited the land. Although they lived about a quarter mile away at Susquehanna (18ST399), artifacts indicate that the northeastern portion of the site may have been used during the Carroll occupation, possibly for creek access or oyster processing.

Archaeology

Archaeologists identified the Rousby Site during a Phase I survey of Harper’s Creek aboard the Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Phase II excavations to follow up on the Phase I survey placed 14 test units in areas of high-artifact concentration. Notable 17th-century features indentified included a refuse pit and an intact tile-paved floor, both dating to the second half of the 17th century.

Nineteenth-century artifacts scattered across the site indicate some use during the period, but no evidence of a 19th-century structure has been found. The northeastern portion of the site contained a mid-19th century pit feature with a great deal of oyster shell. A silver-handled utensil with a bird engraved on it was recovered in a nearby test unit, and it may indicate that the area was used during the Carroll occupation of Susquehanna. The engraved bird matches the Carroll family crest found on bottle seals from the Charles Carroll House in Annapolis.

References

The Rousby Site archaeological collection is owned by the Naval District Washington, Naval Air Station Patuxent River and curated at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory.