The Search for the Jesuit Mission of Father Andrew White Along the Potomac River

Dr. Julia King

At the CCASM November 16 meeting Dr. Julia King talked about recent investigations done in Chapel Point State Park along the Potomac River.  They were looking for evidence of the Jesuit Mission in that area was associated with Father Andrew White.  Julie's talk was so interesting and informative that I forgot to take any notes.  I do remember  - an old map showing the location of a dwelling that could be overlaid on a current map,  artifacts made by Native Americans (that's why the Jesuits wanted a mission there), seventeenth century artifacts from the time period Father White and/or his successor would have been there, but there was so much more.

Julie has a grant to continue investigations at the site next year.  So stay tuned.
(CCASM was written into the grant, and members will be able to volunteer.)

Native American and
early Colonial artifacts recovered

Two recovered sherds similar
to mid-seventeenth century mug

Julia King is a professor of anthropology at St Mary's College of Maryland and was the principle investigator for investigations that found Charles County's first Courthouse and that found the Piscataway's Zekiah Fort. 

Several CCASM members had volunteered for at least a day on the site early this year.   Julie thanked them by taking them to dinner prior to the meeting.  A really nice thank you.

Before the meeting

Attendance: 15

 

Documenting an African American Cemetery

Recording Coordinates
(Total Station)

Monday November 13 the locations of the grave depressions that had been found in October were recorded.  Jim Gibb used his Total Station to record the coordinates of the head and foot of the individual depressions found previously as well as those of a few new ones found today.  He was assisted by Ned and Esther.  Jim will use this data to create a map of the cemetery.

Thanks to Jim for doing this.

Thanks to Ned for the info and photos.

 Monday October 9 CCASM members Denise, Elsie, Linda, Carol, and Ed joined Esther Reed to mark graves on a property along Old Stage Coach Road.  There was one marked grave on this property that is privately owned.  The rest of the graves were just depressions in the ground.  We flagged seventy-seven possible graves. This appears to be a cemetery associated with the Mount Zion Colored Episcopal Church that was formed in the 1870s
For more about the site see Finding Charles County Blog- Mount Zion

Flagging the head
of a grave depression

Volunteering for
a day in the woods

Volunteering for Maxwell Hall Grant Archaeology - Continuing

The Friends of Maxwell Hall received a grant titled "Maxwell Hall: Discovering and Raising New Voices".  The goal was to learn more about the African/African American experience at Maxwell Hall. The first half of the project is archival and landscape research headed by Esther Read. The second half is a community outreach headed by Cathy Thompson to locate descendants of those who lived and worked at Maxwell Hall in an effort to tell a more complete story and to build relationships with the community. 

Esther completed the interim archaeology report in May that also included identification of Native American sites.  In September she received the permit that allows surveying.  So the archaeological work on the grant continues.

CCASM members are providing volunteer hours for the archaeological part of the grant.  Volunteer hours count as an in-kind match ($29.95/hr).

Locations: Maxwell Hall Park Equestrian Area
                  Hughesville, MD (but near Benedict,MD)  map

                  
Next dates:  Check Lab post

Monday November 6 we returned to the Equestrian Park.  The farmer had just harvested soybeans in part of a field that supposedly had an early colonial building.  CCASM members Ned, Peggy, Linda, Elsie, and Carol along with two repeat volunteers Doria and Melaney joined Esther to surface collect for part of the day.  We only found two small bricks, but only a small part of the field had been harvested.  The field was continuing to be harvested while we were there.  After lunch we walked the bluff and on the shore.  Esther found at least two new shell middens, and Linda recorded the locations.  

Surface Collecting

Recording shell midden location

But the most interesting thing found were two U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey Reference Marks that had fallen down onto the shore of the  Patuxent..  They were labeled Fodder No. 1 and Fodder No. 2 and were dated 1943.  Two reference marks are needed to determine a boat's location on the River.

Geodetic Survey Reference Markers.

Thanks to Ned for the additional photo and for the photos of the markers.

Monday October 23 we were able to finish surveying this site (18CH101).  CCASM members Mary, Peggy, Denise, Elsie, Ned , and Jim continued digging STPs today.  There were three teams - Elsie and Denise; Peggy and Jim; and Ned and Mary (although Mary helped Esther part of the time).  We did some additional STPs in the road where it bends along the Patuxent and out on the field's edge.
Thanks to Ned for the info and photo.

Monday October 16 was another beautiful but cooler day to be in the field.  CCASM members Mary, Linda, Peggy, Denise, Carol, and Ned joined Esther at the site to dig nine additional STPs.  After laying out the grid we divided into two teams with Ned assisting where needed, especially when the digging through the root filled soil became difficult.  The STPs did start to define the edges of the shell midden with some STPs having essentially no shells and at least one having a buried layer of densely packed shells.  A small amount of worked lithics were recovered.

On Monday September 19, a beautiful day to be in the field,  CCASM members Elsie, Mary, Linda, Pat, Carol, and Ned joined Esther to dig shovel test pits (STPs) at the Chalk Point Site in an area above where a shell midden had been found on the shore.  We dug eight STPs and found lots of shells in at least three of them as well as a small amount of worked lithics.  

Laying out grid

STP Team A

STP Team B

STP Team C

Documenting

Shells from STP

Thanks to Ned and Pat for the additional photos.

For archaeology done during the initial part of the grant
Volunteering for "Maxwell Hall: Discovering and Raising New Voices"