Mattapany-Sewall (18ST390)

The Mattapany-Sewall site (18ST390) is a multi-component site consisting of Early Archaic and Early and Late Woodland short-term camps, as well as a manor house and armory dating to c. 1663-1700. Various archaeological projects conducted there have revealed evidence of a major structure, probably the residence of Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, and a colonial armory. This plantation served as a governmental meeting place and Colonial arsenal, and was the scene of the 1689 battle in which Maryland's Proprietary government was overthrown.

The site is located on what was a 1,000 acre land grant to Henry Sewall, who acquired the land in 1663, with 200 additional acres obtained the following year. Sewall, a wealthy merchant and government official, was dead by April of 1665. His estate included a large, well-appointed house, a kitchen, a quarter and 21 servants.

Governor Charles Calvert married Sewall’s widow, Jane, in 1666 and moved to Mattapany-Sewall. Calvert built another home on the property, described as "a fair house of Brick and Timber, with all Out-houses, and other Offices thereto." It is likely that the plantation included a landing, formal gardens, barns, a stable and a host of other outbuildings. During Calvert's tenure, the property would have also served governmental functions, as well as being the location of the principal armory for the colony from the 1670s to 1689.

The site is located on a relatively level terrace south of the Patuxent River on the Patuxent Naval Air Station property. The area is largely wooded with cleared expanses in grass and no structures located in or near the site. The area had been cultivated for decades (probably centuries) prior to acquisition by the Navy. The relative impact of farming and later gravel road construction activities on the site integrity appears slight.

Archaeological excavations in the 1980s and 1990s concentrated on two areas of the Mattapany-Sewall site: the dwelling erected during Charles Calvert's occupation of the property and the magazine. Excavations at the dwelling identified a structure with a 25' by 50' brick foundation and a tiled cellar floor. Features around the house included a possible kitchen cellar, scattered postholes, and a hastily-erected defensive palisade that may date to 1689, when Protestants overthrew the Catholic Calvert family and raided the Mattapany magazine. Based on diagnostic artifacts and historical documents, this portion of the site dates to ca. 1666-1740.

The first archaeological investigation of the property occurred in 1981, with the systematic excavation of approx. 100 shovel tests and nine 5x5' test units. The following year, additional shovel tests (300 STPs) and large-unit test excavations (16 units, including several features) were excavated in advance of pipeline construction.

The work done in the 1980s revealed a number of large, trash-filled borrow pits containing 17th-century ceramics, table glass, window leads, lead shot, a gun barrel filled with molten lead shot and pantile.

Funding from the Navy allowed further archeological work in 1993-4 by Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum: 81 5x5-foot units, 12 in the eastern portion in the location of the armory where Pogue's excavation had been, and 69 in the western portion, at the site of the house. A number of features, most of which appeared to be trash pits, were recorded, but not excavated.

Stratigraphic layers included two plowzones (more modern and a lower, earlier plowzone) above a rubble-filled occupation layer, over brown silt or loam, over subsoil. Excavations yielded a diverse mixture of domestic and structural materials suggesting a relatively wealthy household. Items recovered included white and red clay tobacco pipes, a variety of ceramics, wine and case bottle glass, gun flints, brass straight pins and furniture tacks, iron tool fragments, fine table glass, a brass candle holder, and a copper tobacco box and coin weight. That the house was more substantial than most is supported by the quantities of red and Dutch yellow brick, both flat tile and pantile, window glass and turned lead, nails, and other structural hardware. The assemblage points to a circa 1665-1700 occupation, corresponding with the 1663-1695 span attested to by the documentary evidence.

The archaeological investigations at Mattapany in 1993-94 confirmed that 18ST390 was the site of Charles Calvert's home. The house measured 52 feet by 25 feet (large for the time), and incorporated features rare in the 17th-century Chesapeake, and which could be afforded only by the very wealthy. The building was described as being made of "brick and timber." However, the amount of brick recovered suggests that a substantial portion of the structure was masonry. Included were unusual pieces, rubbed and gauged bricks that were intended for use as decorative elements. For example, beveled bricks used in a jackarch over a window or door were recovered. This style of masonry was relatively new in England, and its use at Mattapany represents one of its earliest appearances in America. Rounded water-table bricks were also found. Pointed mortar fragments were recovered, indicating that masons took the trouble to score the brick joints with their trowels, producing a more pleasing visual effect. Clearly, Mattapany was a house fit for a lord.

Given the size of its foundation, Mattapany was probably at least two stories tall. The roof was pantile. The chimneys must have been masonry, while the fireplaces probably included Dutch yellow bricks and were decorated with tin-glazed tiles. A stone hearth apparently fronted at least one fireplace. Another unusual element of the house was its full cellar, with a tile floor, whitewashed walls and probably lit by small ground-level windows.

The Calvert house site has artifacts dating from the 1660s to the second quarter of the 18th century. A smaller amount of materials dating to later in the 18th and 19th centuries show that the site was still being used long after the building had been abandoned, possibly for trash disposal or by visitors to the ruins. Historical evidence suggests that the Calvert house was still occupied into the 1730s, while architectural evidence indicates that Quarters A was built by Nicholas Lewis Sewall in the 1740s. Artifacts from 18ST390 support the idea that the site was largely abandoned by the 1740s.

The 1993-94 work also demonstrated the accuracy of oral traditions which placed the colonial magazine 100 yards from the house. This work concluded that the 1981 testing incorrectly identified the armory as the Calvert House. The amount of military items recovered from the area support its interpretation as an armory; nevertheless, Pogue's assumption is easy to understand. The magazine area produced large numbers of domestic artifacts, even more than Calvert's house site. However, the structure may have begun life as the Sewall house; a substantial structure for its time, and just a few years old when Charles Calvert moved to Mattapany and built his own house. Using it for the magazine would have made sense and it could also have been used to quarter Calvert's servants or slaves, or to provide rooms for visitors or members of his staff. In addition, we know that garrisons of up to 39 troops were stationed there at times, and these men would have been provided with the necessities of life. All of this activity no doubt resulted in a great amount of domestic refuse being scattered around the site.

The armory had a pantile roof, glass windows, and at the very least a brick chimney and fireplace. Whether the rest of the building was masonry is unknown, but no evidence of a foundation has been uncovered to date. It appears to have been occupied from the 1660s to around 1700, which fits in well with the documentary evidence about the magazine.

An outbuilding was located south of the main house. It was probably a quarter or kitchen. It had an earthen cellar with a brick floor, which was lined with shelves and/or boards. The structure over this cellar was probably timber-framed and earth-set, and its interior walls were plastered. Running from this building to the southeast corner of the Calvert house was a large palisade fence, as well as what was probably an earlier paled fence ditch running in the same orientation as the palisade. The palisade was not original to the site, and it is possible that it was thrown up for protection during the Revolution of 1689, which is the only time Mattapany is described as fortified.

One of the unusual things about the Calvert house site is its relative paucity of artifacts, given that this was the residence of one of the most powerful men in the colonies. There are several possible reasons for this. One, Charles Calvert had been educated in Europe, and was exposed to new Enlightenment ideas about architecture and the use of space. He may have desired the yard around his house, which was a public space, be kept relatively clean. Trash disposal might have occurred in the further reaches of the yard. Our recovery of numerous artifacts in test units located some distance from the house supports this hypothesis. Alternatively, there was once a ravine just north of the house, which has been filled in by the Navy. This ravine may have been the preferred location for trash disposal while the site was occupied.

A sizable number of prehistoric artifacts were recovered from the site (per Pogue, 1987), including 24 ceramic sherds, 5 projectile points, 1 jasper scraper, 5 bifaces, 1 slate gorget fragment w/tally marks, and 276 flakes. A possible Palmer point, a possible Calvert point, 5 Potomac Creek sherds, and 17 Townsend sherds were among the items found.

(Prepared by Patricia Samford)