City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works School of Arts & Sciences Theses Hunter College Fall 1-5-2018 Consumption and Ceramics at the Rural Homestead of the Raddin-Badgley Family, New Providence, Union County, New Jersey Carissa A. Scarpa CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/264 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Consumption and Ceramics at the Rural Homestead of the Raddin-Badgley Family, New Providence, Union County, New Jersey By Carissa Scarpa Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology, Hunter College The City University of New York 2017 Thesis Sponsor: December 11, 2017 Dr. William Parry Date Signature December 11, 2017 Dr. Richard Veit Date Signature of Second Reader December 11, 2017 Matthew S. Tomaso Date Signature of Third Reader Abstract Consumption and Ceramics at the Raddin-Badgley House Site, a Rural Homestead in New Providence, Union County, New Jersey by Carissa Scarpa Hunter College, the City University of New York, 2017 Under the Supervision of Professor William Parry This thesis examines the expression of consumer behavior and choice through the ceramic assemblage from the Raddin-Badgley house site, a late-18th to mid-19th-century rural homestead located in Berkeley Heights, Union County, New Jersey. Emphasis is placed on the ceramic assemblage recovered from a 4- by 5-meter (13- by 16-foot) cellar hole, the primary feature remaining from the homestead. The analysis was focused on answering three questions. First, how does the ceramic assemblage reflect consumer behavior over time from the earliest period of occupation to the latest? Second, how does the ceramic assemblage reflect the consumption behaviors of specific individuals or family lifecycles? And third, how does the ceramic assemblage reflect the social and economic changes resulting from the establishment of Feltville, the industrial community founded nearby in 1845. Excavation of the cellar hole was carried out from the summer of 1999 to the summer of 2004 by staff and students of the Feltville Archaeology Project (FAP) of Montclair State University. An inventory of the ceramic sherds from the cellar hole was compiled and fragments were refitted to create a list of unique ceramic vessels for a minimum vessel count. Information 1 was collected about vessel form, ware, decoration and stratigraphic context. A historic context was developed through histories and primary documents relating to the communities of Peter’s Hill and New Providence, originally called Turkey, and historical documentation relating to the occupants of the house were gathered including historic maps, census records, marriage and death records, deeds, and wills. The sherds and unique vessels were sorted according to diagnostic type, function, and context to identify significant patterns. Various forms of analyses were conducted including a test of the stratigraphic model using diagnostic types and burned sherds and comparison of the latest stratigraphic context, the cellar floor assemblage, with stratigraphic contexts representing earlier occupational phases. The resultant data indicated that the Raddin family did conform to regional trends in consumer behavior. In terms of household lifecycles, the majority of the remains seem to date to the Hannah and William Raddin phase of occupation (1806-1832), a time when the household was largest and full of children. Finally, there is some indication that the occupant’s economic situation was improving in the last household lifecycle and that their consumer choices changed dramatically. This is interpreted by the author as reflecting the establishment of Feltville within the community and the trend toward an increase of material culture resulting from the growth of the market globally and the improved access to goods and services regionally. Specific items are associated with Hannah Raddin/Badgley and Phebe Raddin through the increase in the number of teaware vessels that date to the second and third household cycles. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 Research Goals .......................................................................................................................... 11 Expected Results ....................................................................................................................... 12 Thesis Organization ................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 16 Lifecycle Studies ....................................................................................................................... 22 Consumption and the Rural Domestic Site: 1775 to 1860 ........................................................ 23 Chapter 3: Historical Research ..................................................................................................... 29 History of the Raddin-Badgley House ...................................................................................... 35 Household Lifecycles: ............................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 4: Previous Research at Feltville and the Raddin-Badgley House Site .......................... 42 Chapter 5: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 6: Results ......................................................................................................................... 61 Food Preparation/Storage .......................................................................................................... 68 Food Service .............................................................................................................................. 70 Chapter 7: Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 86 Review of Research Goals ........................................................................................................ 86 Consumerism as a Theoretical Framework ............................................................................... 86 Adherence to Broad Consumer Trends ..................................................................................... 87 The Visibility of Individuals ..................................................................................................... 89 Evidence of Felville’s Influence ............................................................................................... 92 Future Research ......................................................................................................................... 93 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 95 Appendix A: Ceramic Vessels Appendix B: Ceramic Inventory 3 Table of Figures Figure 1: Location of the Raddin-Badgley House Site ................................................................... 7 Figure 2: 1795 Map of New Jersey .............................................................................................. 30 Figure 3: Map of Essex County, New Jersey ................................................................................ 32 Figure 4:Artists Interpretation of Feltville in 1847 ...................................................................... 33 Figure 5:Raddin-Badgley House Site and other 18th- and 19th-Century Features ..................... 36 Figure 6: Jeremiah Raddin Family Tree ...................................................................................... 38 Figure 7: Map of the Passaic Valley ............................................................................................ 40 Figure 8: Raddin-Badgley House Site in 1999 Before Excavation .............................................. 42 Figure 9: Miller's Interpretive Reconstruction of the Raddin-Badgley House Site ..................... 45 Figure 10: Excavation Units at the Raddin-Badgley House Site. ................................................ 50 Figure 11: Stratigraphic Model for the Raddin-Badgley Cellar Hole ......................................... 51 Figure 12: Vessels Representing the Food Preparation/Storage Functional Class .................... 70 Figure 13: Vessels Associated with the Food Service Functional Class ...................................... 72 Figure 14: Vessels Associated with the Hygiene Functional Class .............................................. 73 Figure 15: Vessels Associated with the Tableware Functional Class .......................................... 78 Figure 16: Vessels Associated with the Tea/Coffee Service Functional