In the Daily Lives of Monticello's "Nail Boys"
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2011 A House But Not A Home? Measuring "Householdness" in the Daily Lives of Monticello's "Nail Boys" Shannon Lee McVey University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the United States History Commons Scholar Commons Citation McVey, Shannon Lee, "A House But Not A Home? Measuring "Householdness" in the Daily Lives of Monticello's "Nail Boys"" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3244 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A House But Not A Home? Measuring “Householdness” in the Daily Lives of Monticello‟s “Nail Boys” by Shannon L. McVey A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Thomas J. Pluckhahn, Ph.D. Brent Weisman, Ph.D. Lori Collins, Ph.D. Date of Approval March 28, 2011 Keywords: Archaeology of Slavery, Chesapeake, Thomas Jefferson, Children, Consumption Copyright © 2011, Shannon L. McVey Dedication I dedicate this thesis to the people who have supported me the most throughout both this project and my life. My parents have always encouraged me to achieve my highest goals. They taught me that I can accomplish anything with hard work, self- discipline, and a positive attitude. I am so grateful for their unconditional love and support. My sister is a constant source of inspiration. She encouraged me to keep going through the most frustrating and stressful times during this project. I know I can always depend on her when I need a shoulder to lean on. My fiancé is my best friend. His love has enriched my life in more ways than I can count. He has been so patient, no matter how much I talked about this project. I am so grateful for all the days he helped me to laugh and relax. I hope this thesis makes all of them proud! Acknowledgments I am grateful to many people who made this project successful. I am indebted to my committee chair, Thomas Pluckhahn, for giving me the opportunity to do research at Monticello. He has been a steadfast supporter of this project and has given much thoughtful guidance. Committee members Brent Weisman and Lori Collins were very encouraging. Their critiques and insights have greatly improved this work. I am so grateful to Karen Smith, who was instrumental in developing and implementing this research. She bore my many questions with patience and a smile. I am grateful to Fraser Neiman and Jillian Galle for reviewing my preliminary results and suggesting new avenues of investigation. Their recommendations shaped the project in important ways. Many friends and mentors at Monticello gave encouragement, advice, and time. Alexandra Massey and Elizabeth Sawyer assisted me in innumerable ways. Their kindness and patience were extraordinary. Katharyn Gadient and Katherine Evans helped me find and photograph hundreds of nailery artifacts. Chris Mundy and Don Gaylord answered many questions. Derek Wheeler provided important images. Anna Berkes granted me access to documents that significantly expanded the nailery story. I am very grateful to the Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, Inc. for granting me the Chuck Wilde Award. The award was instrumental in funding this project. Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................... ii List of Figures .............................................................................................................iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ v Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Historical Context ..................................................................................... 7 History of Slavery ........................................................................................... 7 History of Monticello and the Nailery ......................................................... 18 Chapter 3: The Archaeology of Slavery, Households, and Children .................... 47 Archaeology of Slavery ................................................................................ 48 Household Archaeology ............................................................................... 51 Archaeology of Children .............................................................................. 58 Chapter 4: Previous Archaeological Work .............................................................. 72 Chapter 5: Measuring “Householdness” .................................................................. 80 Abundance Indices and Pearson Residuals ................................................. 85 Ware Type Groups ........................................................................................ 89 Ceramic Form ................................................................................................ 93 Utilitarian Ceramic Material ....................................................................... 108 Specific Ware Types ................................................................................... 110 Glass Containers and Tableware Glass ...................................................... 113 Utensils ........................................................................................................ 117 Building l: The Storehouse for Iron ........................................................... 119 Distribution Maps ........................................................................................ 120 Discussion .................................................................................................... 127 Chapter 6: Conclusion ............................................................................................. 131 References Cited ...................................................................................................... 135 Appendices ............................................................................................................... 152 Appendix A: Counts of Ceramics by Ware Type ..................................... 153 Appendix B: Comparative Sites ................................................................. 162 i List of Tables Table 5.1: List of Ceramic Vessel Forms and their Categorization as Tableware, Teaware, or Utilitarian.......................................................... 88 Table 5.2: Mean Ceramic Date, Function, and Occupant data for comparative sites ...................................................................................... 89 Table A1.1: Counts of Creamware, Chinese Porcelain, Pearlware, and Dutch/British Delftware ...................................................................... 153 Table A1.2: Counts of White Salt Glaze, English Bone China Porcelain, Porcellaneous English Hard Paste, and Westerwald ......................... 154 Table A1.3: Counts of Whieldon-Type Ware, Black Basalt, Astbury-Type, Faience ................................................................................................. 155 Table A1.4: Counts of Staffordshire Brown Stoneware, Jasperware, Jackfield Type, and Canary Ware ...................................................... 156 Table A1.5: Counts of Whiteware, Nottingham, Rosso Antico, and Wedgwood Green ................................................................................ 157 Table A1.6: Counts of American Stoneware, British Stoneware, Redware, and Buckley ......................................................................................... 158 Table A1.7: Counts of Fulham Type, German Stoneware, and Staffordshire Mottled Glaze ............................................................... 159 Table A1.8: Counts of Iberian Ware North Midlands/Staffordshire Slipware, and Frechen Brown ............................................................ 160 Table A1.9: Counts of Yellow Ware, Ironstone/White Granite, and Bennington/Rockingham .................................................................... 161 ii List of Figures Figure 2.1: The location of Monticello in the Eastern United States .................... 18 Figure 2.2: Phase 1 of Mulberry Row ...................................................................... 24 Figure 2.3: Phase 2 of Mulberry Row ...................................................................... 25 Figure 2.4: Phase 3 of Mulberry Row ...................................................................... 26 Figure 2.5: Locations of all possible nail-making activities on Monticello plantation are shown in purple ............................................................... 30 Figure 2.6: Location of Stewart-Watkins site to the south and west of the mansion .................................................................................................... 33 Figure 2.7: Part of Jefferson‟s records of each boy‟s nail production.................... 38 Figure 4.1: Photograph