Chiswell-Bucktrout Property (17th-Century House, Block 2GA)
Site History
The Chiswell-Bucktrout House is a reconstructed 18th-century dwelling located on Francis Street in the Historic Area of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The reconstructed dwelling is based on a structure that was built at some unknown date in the mid-18th century by Colonel John Chiswell. The property was later owned by Benjamin Bucktrout, a skilled cabinetmaker and undertaker. Today the property serves as an overnight lodging experience for visitors to Williamsburg.
Archaeological investigations done in 1940 not only uncovered traces of the 18th- and 19th-centuries development of the property during the Chiswell and Bucktrout ownerships, but also a structure that dated to the Middle Plantation period settlement before the town of Williamsburg was established in 1699. Documentary research suggests that this property was owned first by James Bray I (between 1670 and c. 1691) and Thomas Bray I (c. 1691-1700).
Merchant and attorney James Bray I (1609-1691) arrived in Virginia in 1657. His first landholdings were in New Kent County, but by 1671 he purchased land at Middle Plantation. He had constructed a house there by 1677 and had been named to Governor William Berkeley's council. He later became a member of the House of Burgesses, representing James City County.
Archaeological Investigations
Archaeologists working for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation conducted cross-trenching on this lot in 1941 and uncovered the brick foundations of a rectangular structure with a porch tower. Artifacts featured on the Diagnostic Artifacts website date to the Middle Plantation Bray period of lot ownership.
References
1941 Archaeological Report Chiswell-Bucktrout House. Block 2, Building 17 (Archaeological Area H). Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Series 1020.
1984 Kingsmill Plantations, 1619-1800; Archaeology of Country Life in Colonial Virginia. Academic Press, New York.
1959 Chiswell-Bucktrout House Block 2. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series 1018.