James Drane House (18GA303)
Site History
The James Drane House site (18GA303) is a late 18th-20th century English and German-American homestead located east of the town of Accident in Garrett County, Maryland. The house is a log and frame dwelling, with the original portion of the house dating from the late eighteenth century. In 1989, an architectural history of the Drane House assessed structural changes in the building throughout its history. According to the report, the house underwent 5 major episodes of change from its initial construction in the late 18th century to its final renovation in 1901 (Reed and Reed 1989).
The tract came into the hands of William Deakins in 1775, who sold it in 1778 to Captain David Lynn. Lynn immediately contracted to sell the property to Colonel William Lamar, a sale which did not finally take place until 1817. Lamar took over the maintenance of the land, paying taxes on it and settling his brother-in-law, James Drane, on it in 1798.
James Drane was born in 1735 in Prince George's County. In 1779, he married Priscilla Lamar and served as a second lieutenant in the county militia. In 1790 Drane was listed in the census with one child and four slaves. By 1798, he was included in the Allegany County tax assessment rolls but had departed the county prior to the taking of the 1800 census. By 1801, they were in residence in a small timber-framed house on the Accident tract, where they commenced tobacco farming. With their 6 slaves, they successfully raised tobacco for several years.
Archaeological Investigations
In 1991, the town of Accident, Maryland received a grant from the Maryland Historical Trust to conduct Phase I and II intensive archaeological investigations as part of the stabilization and preservation efforts for house. Phase I survey was designed to locate activity areas and outbuildings associated with the structure through a series of 119 shovel test-pits and chemical testing of soil samples. Phase II testing involved the excavation of twelve 1.5 × 1.5 m test units to examine the nature of these activity areas and the excavation of an additional eight 1.5 × 1.5 m test units to answer specific research questions related to the structure of the house.
The Phase II investigations delineated 4 activity areas. Area 1 was located near the southwest corner of the project area and included a kitchen-related feature that also had a lot of architectural material. Activity Area 2, near the eastern perimeter of the property, was also kitchen related. Activity Area 3, at the north edge of the property was defined by a thin scatter of historic materials and 3 soil features, but no evidence of buildings. Occupation of this area postdates the first 2 activity areas. Activity Area 4 had high concentrations of ceramics with a mean ceramic date of 1860 in shovel tests. This is the location of a reputed oven, although remains of the oven were not located. One outbuilding with a deep kitchen midden and possible siltstone foundation was revealed and included large quantities of faunal bone from domestic and wild species.
Phase III investigation of the chimney area prior to its reconstruction took place in 1993 with an eye towards gathering data about the chimney size, method of construction and other construction details.
References
1993 Limited Phase II/III Archaeological Investigations of the James Drane House (18GA303) Chimney, Town of Accident, Garrett County, Maryland. (GAI Consultants, Inc.) MHT# GA 37.
1991 Phase I and II Intensive Archeological Investigations of the James Drane House, Accident, Garrett County, MD. (R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc.) MHT# GA 29.
1989 The James Drane House, Architectural History. Report prepared by Preservation Associates, Inc. for the Mayor and Council of Accident, Maryland.
