Mathews (18CH350)
Site History
The Mathews site (18CH350) is a multicomponent site consisting of an early and late Woodland short-term camp and a late 18th- to 19th-century plantation house site on the Potomac River at Swan Point in Charles County, Maryland. H.C. Forman (1981) believed the cellar hole visible at this site was Wollaston Manor, built in 1661 by Captain James Neale. Instead, the site was likely occupied by Charles Neale, later Dr. Francis and Elizabeth Neale Matthews, and/or families associated with these property owners.
According to the archival research, 18CH350, it was situated on Tract 1 of the 1755 Wollaston Manor partition devised at the death of Raphael Neale, who was the son of Anthony Neale, the youngest brother of James Neale, Jr. A residence was built on this tract sometime in the third quarter of the 18th century. Edward and Monica (Neale) Digges occupied this residence. In 1811, Edward conveyed Tract 1 and other portions of Wollaston Manor, then known as "Poplar Point," to Charles H. Neale. Charles died shortly thereafter, leaving his estate, referred to as "Lone Holly," to his children.
Charles Neale's eldest daughter Elizabeth married Dr. Francis Matthews in 1831 and moved into the residence earlier built by the Digges family. The Matthews family made improvements to the property which included a rear addition to the dwelling. The property was occupied by and served as a plantation for the Matthews family up until 1860. Just prior to Dr. Matthews death, he bequeathed Lone Holly to his son James F. Matthews. Although James was a lawyer by profession, the family likely continued farming the land. Upon the death of James in 1905, his son F. Brooke Matthews inherited Lone Holly. The Matthews farmhouse burnt down shortly thereafter.
Archaeological Investigations
This site was initially identified in 1991 by Greenhorne & O'Mara during a Phase I survey of the Swan Point property. No 17th-century artifacts were found near the cellar hole and associated features, suggesting the Wollaston Manor hypothesis was incorrect. The historic artifacts recovered from the 13 shovel test pits dated to the late 18th and throughout the 19th century, however. A minor prehistoric component was found both in the shovel tests and from surface collecting along the beach.
In 2007, Archeological Testing and Consulting, Inc. conducted Phase II testing of the site, including the excavation of 146 shovel test pits at 25-foot and 12.5-foot intervals, 7 test units of varying sizes, and two exploratory trenches. During the excavation, 4,005 artifacts were recovered and documented. Non-diagnostic artifacts recovered in abundance were counted in the field and only samples retained.
Five cultural features were identified: a cellar hole with fill, an oyster shell midden, two brick foundation walls, and a domestic refuse deposit. The occupants of the site were thought to have a middle-to-high socioeconomic status based on research and artifact evidence.
Phase III data recovery fieldwork was conducted in 2008 and 2009, with three areas targeted for excavation, including the dwelling's main footprint and cellar hole, a rear addition to the dwelling where buried artifact deposits had been discovered, and an oyster shell midden situated in the rear yard east of the house. A total of fifteen 1.524 m (5 ft) squares was excavated within these three areas, with 9 units dedicated to the cellar hole, four to the addition area, and two to the oyster shell midden. Trenching was extensively used as a means of exposing intact masonry features.
Upon completing the Phase III fieldwork, it was determined that 22 natural and cultural features were identified. In addition to the dwelling foundation, cellar hole, and oyster shell midden, the feature discovery included a domestic trash pit and other pit features, several builder’s trench sections, a few brick piers and stone timber supports, a drainage trench, posts and postmolds, and a purposeful tree burn. In total, 30,198 artifacts were retained for analysis: 30,140 historic/modern objects and 58 precontact objects. The artifact recovery was mostly confined to the cellar hole fill and oyster shell midden soils.
The contact artifacts included 57 lithic artifacts and a single piece of Accokeek pottery. The lithic assemblage was composed of quartz and quartzite tools and waste. Lithics included the following types and associated quantities: side-notched projectile point (2), biface (1), scraper (1), axe (1) groundstone tool (1), expedient tool (1), other tool (1), fire-cracked rock (32), and debitage (17).
Although three intact areas were targeted by Phase III excavations (the main footprint of the house and cellar hole, the rear addition, and the shell midden), little of the historic landscape survived into the modern period. An overwhelming majority of the artifact were recovered from the cellar hole, buried yard soils and waste associated with the addition, and oyster shell midden. The cellar hole was composed of numerous occupational and fill layers and a domestic trash pit marking nearly 150 years of occupation by the Neales and related families. Such layers were capped by an early 20th century burnt destruction layer mostly composed of architectural debris. The diagnostic artifacts recovered from the yard soils surrounding the main block of the dwelling and underlying the addition and midden, as well as the midden itself appeared to be compatible with the 150-year occupation.
References
2010 Phase III Archeological Data Recoveries of Sites 18CH350 and 18CH354 as Part of the Villages at Swan Point, Swan Point, Charles County, Maryland. (Archeological Testing and Consulting, Inc.) MHT # CH 145.
2008 Phase II Archeological Evaluations of Sites 18CH350, 18CH351, 18CH352, 18CH353, 18CH354, 18CH355, 18CH724, and 18CH728 within the Swan Point/Horse Farm Properties Located Along Swan Point Road and Fronting the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. (Archeological Testing and Consulting, Inc.) MHT # CH 136.
1991 Phase I Archeological Survey of the Swan Point property, Charles County, Maryland. (Greenhorne & O'Mara, Inc.) MHT# CH 45.
