Archaeology Dig Diary September 29, 2005

Archaeology Dig Diary - September 29

As this year’s dig season comes to an end we are focusing our efforts in and around the dwelling disturbed by the ice house. The only architectural elements that survived the construction of the icehouse were the cellar and its stone entryway.

The Cellar

Overall view of cellar
Overall view of the cellarThe cellar measured 17 feet east-west and 10 feet north-south and appears to part of a domestic structure. Made of mostly dry laid fieldstone, the cellar featured a dirt floor and crudely dressed stone walls. A narrow exterior entranceway into the cellar was situated on the southern end of the east wall suggesting the structure faced the river. Both the walls and stairs of this entryway were made of stone, with sandstone being used for thin foundation walls and fieldstone for the steps. Ceramics show that the cellar was built sometime after 1827.

The cellar was filled with architectural material including bricks, mortar, stones, and plaster along with domestic artifacts. Burning on the bricks indicate they were once part of a chimney, that may have been part of this structure.

Inkwell

The cellar fill contained several Civil War related finds including a complete glass ink well. The presence of these items indicates war-time destruction for the house.

North and East Side of the Cellar

Hearth
Working on the hearthOn the north and east side of the cellar are the remains of brick paving suggesting the area was used as a workspace. Just north of the paving was the remains of a support structure – probably a kitchen. The only surviving architectural features were a chimney base and a hearth. This structure either sat on piers or was constructed using logs. Large quantities of plaster, originally lining the fireplace, had fallen into the hearth. No signs of burning were evident, suggesting a raised fireplace. Excavators found artifacts in the hearth that postdate 1820.

The dwelling and kitchen appear to be part of the Bray’s farm. Newspaper records show Bray owing the property as early as 1849. Further research should reveal details about his life and who owned the farm when the Union army arrived at Ferry Farm in 1862.

Before dawn on December 11, 1862, Union engineers swept across Ferry Farm to the waterfront, broke through a skim of ice on the river, and started constructing a pontoon bridge to carry the Union army into Fredericksburg. The Confederates resisted fiercely from houses and gardens on the Fredericksburg side of the river. Union infantrymen swarmed the western riverbank, trying to quell the Confederates. Union artillerymen moved their guns to the crest at Ferry Farm overlooking the river. All told, nearly 150 Union cannon bombarded the town—probably a dozen of them from what are today Ferry Farm and Pine Grove—with dozens more on the heights east of modern-day Route 3. The bombardment left Fredericksburg a wreck. By day’s end, Union engineers finished the bridge at the Ferry landing—the so-called “middle crossing”—one of three pontoon crossings the Federals constructed that day. The Union army started across, headed toward disaster at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Four days later, the army returned, battered and discouraged, leaving thousands of dead and wounded on the field. (Read More)

Graffiti on plaster The Bray farm did not survive this battle. Union troops dismantled every structure to build shelters for themselves; cut down every tree for firewood, and in the process destroyed the manmade landscape. Slave laborers would have abandoned the farm, and the farm owner sought refuge elsewhere. The house was reduced to a ruin. Evidence of two small fires turned up within the cellar fill, indicating that someone was using the cellar as a place to get warm. The house’s broken plasterwork featured graffiti crafted using red grease pencil, charcoal, and pencil lead. Union soldiers frequently left this type of testimonial during their occupation of the South.

Next Year

Next year, we will turn our attention to the structure(s) found on the hill. At least a portion of these remains appears to date to the 18th century. Stay tuned.