ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

AT LINCOLN HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE:

THE HENSON ROBINSON AND JESSE K. DUBOIS HOUSE LOTS

By

Vergil E. Noble

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MIDWEST ARCHEOLOGICAL CENTER

Technical Report: No. 135

United States Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Lincoln, Nebraska

2014

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORICPROPERTIES 

AT LINCOLN HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE: THE 

HENSON ROBINSON AND JESSE K. DUBOIS HOUSE LOTS

By

Vergil E. Noble

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Midwest Archeological Center

Technical Report No. 135

United States Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Midwest Archeological Center

Lincoln, Nebraska

2014
This report has been reviewed against the criteria contained in 43CFR Part 7, Subpart 

A, Section 7.18 (a) (1) and, upon recommendation of the Midwest Regional Office

and the Midwest Archeological Center, has been classified as

Available

Making the report available meets the criteria of 43CFR Part 7, Subpart A, Section 7.18 

(a) (1).
i

ABSTRACT

This report briefly summarizes minor archeological testing associated with the 

restoration of three historic structures located on two different house lots located within 

Lincoln Home National Historic Site. The structures include the Henson Robinson 

House, the Jesse K. Dubois House, and the Walter Aitken Barn, which stands at the rear 

of the Dubois lot. Field investigations performed about those structures were carried 

out in the summers of 1991 and 1993. They were designed to gather specific information 

about known or suspected historic structural features associated with the properties and 

to acquire more general information that would aid the evaluation of potential adverse 

effects to other cultural resources, possibly present, that might result when restoration 

plans became more definite.
ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The archeological investigations described in this report benefited from the 

contributions of numerous individuals. A key contributor to the success of the projects 

was Norman D. Hellmers, superintendent of Lincoln Home National Historic Site at 

the time of these field investigations. Superintendent Hellmers put the entire park staff 

and facilities at our disposal while we were working in the field. In particular, Deputy 

Superintendent Lawrence Blake, now retired as superintendent at Dayton Aviation 

National Historical Park, and Historical Architect Francis O. Krupka, since deceased, 

had considerable input into the direction and progress of fieldwork at the time. Several 

current Lincoln Home staff members, particularly Park Historian Tim Townsend and 

Museum Curator Susan Haake, were also very helpful in providing answers to various 

inquiries while I prepared the final report. I also thank the various Lincoln Home 

superintendents who succeeded Mr. Hellmers for their great patience while awaiting the 

production of this long-overdue report.

Mark J. Lynott, Midwest Regional Archeologist during the period of fieldwork 

and recently retired as manager of the Midwest Archeological Center, oversaw various 

administrative aspects of the projects from our offices in Lincoln, Nebraska. Supervisory 

Archeologist Jeff Richner, as manager of the Park Archeology Program and acting 

Center manager, oversaw completion of the project report.

The field and laboratory assistants who worked on these projects deserve special 

thanks for procuring, analyzing, and organizing the archeological data. Those directly 

involved with the field excavations on the Dubois House and Aitken Barn were Todd 

Ahlmann, Eric Kadahl, Dennis Naglich and Kim Accardi, whereas those who worked 

at the Robinson House included Cheryl Busatil, Julie Schablitsky, Harold Roeker, Eric 

Kaldahl, and Kim Accardi. Several individuals assisted with the routine laboratory 

and cataloging duties at our facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, but Todd Ahlmann deserves 

special mention for completion of the initial laboratory processing of the archeological 

materials reported here, and Linda Plock completed the final ANCS catalog input. Jeff 

Larson worked on the layout, composition, and illustrations for this report under the 

general supervision of Allan Weber and Jill Lewis.
iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract.........................................................................................................................................i

Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... ii

List of Figures............................................................................................................................. v

Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1

Background................................................................................................................................. 3

Henson Robinson House ................................................................................................. 4

Jesse K. Dubois House...................................................................................................... 6

Field Methods............................................................................................................................ 11

Excavation Results .................................................................................................................... 13

Henson Robinson House ................................................................................................ 13

Jesse K. Dubois House..................................................................................................... 16

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 21

References Cited........................................................................................................................ 23

APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ 27

APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ 47

APPENDIX C............................................................................................................................ 53
iv
v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Map of Lincoln Home National Historic Site ....................................................... 73

Figure 2. Henson Robinson House, 2006............................................................................... 73

Figure 3. Jesse K. Dubois House, 2006 ................................................................................... 74

Figure 4. Walter Aitken Barn, 2006.......................................................................................... 74

Figure 5. Detail of McManus Plat, City of Springfield, 1854............................................... 75

Figure 6. Detail of Sides Plat, City of Springfield, 1858........................................................ 75

Figure 7. Detail of Ruger's Springfield, Illinois, Drawn from 

Nature, 1867............................................................................................................................... 76

Figure 8. Detail of Beck and Pauli's Map of Springfield, 1870 ............................................ 76

Figure 9. Detail of Koch's Bird's Eye View of Springfield, 

Illinois, 1873............................................................................................................................... 77

Figure 10. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1884....................................................................... 77

Figure 11. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1890....................................................................... 78

Figure 12. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1896....................................................................... 78

Figure 13. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1917....................................................................... 79

Figure 14. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1941....................................................................... 79

Figure 15. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1952....................................................................... 80

Figure 16. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1884........................................................................... 80

Figure 17. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1890........................................................................... 81

Figure 18. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1896........................................................................... 81

Figure 19. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1917........................................................................... 82

Figure 20. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1941........................................................................... 82

Figure 21. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1952........................................................................... 83

Figure 22. Robinson Lot Excavation Unit Locations ........................................................... 84
vi

Figure 23. Robinson Back House Area Excavations............................................................. 85

Figure 24. Location of Robinson Parking Pad (1991) 

and Brick Walk (1993) Units .................................................................................................... 86

Figure 25. Robinson Herringbone Walk, Looking 

West toward House ................................................................................................................... 87

Figure 26. Robinson Herringbone Walk, Looking 

East toward Alley....................................................................................................................... 87

Figure 27. Dubois Lot Excavation Unit Locations................................................................ 88

Figure 28. Dubois Test Unit 1, Level 1 .................................................................................... 88

Figure 29. Dubois Test Unit 2, Level 3 .................................................................................... 89

Figure 30a. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites ...................................................... 89

Figure 30b. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites...................................................... 90

Figure 30c. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites ...................................................... 90

Figure 31. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites ........................................................ 91

Figure 32. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites ........................................................ 91
1

INTRODUCTION

This report summarizes the limited archeological investigations carried out 

within Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Sangamon County, Springfield, Illinois. 

Authorization to establish this unit in 1971, under terms of Public Law 92-127 (84 Stat. 

347), set in motion a subsequent transfer of the Lincoln Home from the State of Illinois 

in 1972. The National Park Service then began acquiring the other historic structures 

that were still present within the four-block area surrounding the Lincoln Home 

itself. The process of establishing the National Historic Site through acquisition of 

neighboring properties has been complete for many years, but the systematic restoration 

of those structures is a long-term program that continues to this day. The archeological 

investigations reported herein were conducted in conjunction with efforts to restore 

or improve three structures present on two house lots in the four-block neighborhood 

(Figure. 1): the Henson Robinson House (HS-10), the Jesse K. Dubois House (HS-15), and 

the Walter Aitken Barn (HS-16) located at the rear of the Dubois lot. It should be noted, 

however, that restoration plans for all structures investigated were still in the formative 

stages when the archeological field work occurred. Accordingly, the excavation 

projects were designed only to gather general information that would be useful to the 

planning process. They were not intended to assess potential adverse effects or to bring 

the proposed undertakings into compliance with section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966, as amended.

The Henson Robinson property (Figure. 2), at its largest, once included Lots 6, 7, 

and 8 of Block 11 in Elijah Iles’ Addition to the City of Springfield, which is the next city 

block south of the Lincoln Home. The house itself, which dates to the 1850s, is confined 

to Lot 6. Although the frontage street has been closed as a public thoroughfare for many 

years, the Henson Robinson House retains 520 S. Eighth Street as its official postal 

address.

The Jesse K. Dubois House (Figure. 3), which dates to 1858, is across the street 

and slightly north of the Robinson House at 519 S. Eighth Street. The Dubois property 

originally was a two-lot parcel described as Lots 11 and 12, Block 6, of the Iles Addition, 

but the house itself stands on Lot 12; outbuildings formerly associated with the property 

once extended south onto the adjacent Lot 11. The so-called Walter Aitken Barn (Figure. 

4), which survives, is situated at the rear of Lot 12 along the alley. That ca. 1920 structure, 

however, is not directly associated with the Dubois Family ownership of this property. 

Its rather tenuous connection to the historic occupancy is limited to the supposition 

that a subsequent owner of the Dubois property, Walter Aitken, salvaged construction 

materials for its construction from the original Dubois Barn and also from the Dubois 

House when he built it as an automobile garage.

The excavations reported here were performed under direction of the author 

with crews from the National Park Service’s Midwest Archeological Center. The 

Robinson House investigations took place in 1991 and 1993, whereas the Dubois House 

fieldwork was undertaken in 1993. An earlier archeological project was carried out 

at the Robinson House in 1981 (Perry 1984), but the project described here was the 

first such investigation of the Dubois property. It is worth noting that supplementary 
2

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

investigations were performed in the late fall and early winter of 2009-2010 by Fever 

River Research of Springfield, Illinois, in conjunction with restoration of the Aitken 

Barn at the rear of the Dubois lot (Mansberger 2010). It should also be noted that limited 

test excavations took place around a structure known as the Solomon Allen Barn (HS21) in 1985 (Mansberger 1987). That extant structure is located on Lot 8 immediately 

south of the Robinson House and was once owned and used by the Robinson family.

Collections and field records from the present excavations are currently stored 

at the Midwest Archeological Center (MWAC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, under a temporary 

loan agreement with the park, but it is anticipated that they will be returned to Lincoln 

Home National Historic Site (LIHO) after distribution of this report. The 1991 Robinson 

House materials are cataloged under MWAC Accession Number 492 and LIHO 

Accession Number 124. The 1993 Robinson House materials are cataloged under MWAC 

Accession Number 506 and LIHO Accession Number 157. The Dubois House materials 

are cataloged under MWAC Accession Number 630 and LIHO Accession Number 158.
3

BACKGROUND

Much is known about the historic properties that still stand or once stood within 

the boundaries of Lincoln Home National Historic Site, thanks to the diverse research 

efforts carried out by National Park Service personnel and various contractors over 

the past 35 years or more. Since the park’s very inception numerous studies have been 

undertaken to ascertain information about this four-block neighborhood, particularly 

the extant 19th-century residential structures and their surrounding cultural landscape. 

The late Francis Orlando Krupka, who retired as the Lincoln Home staff historical 

architect shortly before his passing in 1999, initiated several Historic Structure Reports 

for the park, including basic research on the two properties that are the subjects of 

this excavation report. Although both the Robinson and Dubois documents remain 

unfinished long after Krupka’s separation from government service, the incomplete 

drafts do contain a great deal of very useful background information—particularly 

related to the ownership history for both properties and the evolution of the buildings 

and grounds (Krupka 1992 and 1996). The following summary draws liberally from 

those file documents and other sources. Adjustments of 19th-century dollar values for 

inflation for comparative purposes are derived entirely from S. Morgan Friedman’s very 

useful website “The Inflation Calculator” <http://www.westegg.com/inflation/>, which 

can determine approximate historical values based on constant dollars (for this report 

all values are compared with buying power in 2010). Source data pre-1975 are derived 

from the Consumer Price Index statistics from the 1975 edition of Historical Statistics 

of the United States. All data since then are from the annual Statistical Abstracts of the 

United States.

All lands currently within Lincoln Home National Historic Site were ceded to 

the United States in 1820. The Springfield “commons” continued in public domain until 

parcels were sold to private individuals at auction, often in quarter-section parcels. 

Pascal P. Enos, appointed Receiver in the land office at Springfield by President Monroe, 

became the first private owner of the 160-acre parcel that today includes this Lincoln 

Home neighborhood on November 7, 1823, at the first auction of government lands held 

in Sangamon County. A certificate of full payment was deposited with the General Land 

Office on April 10, 1824, giving him clear title to the NW 1⁄4 of Section 34, Township 

16N, Range 5W, Third Principal Meridian. Krupka points out that the $200 Enos paid 

for those lands at the standard rate of $1.25 per acre means that each of the typical 

0.14-acre house lots, once platted, would have cost him less than 18 cents. Adjusting for 

inflationary trends over time, the entire 160-acre quarter-section parcel would have cost 

an equivalent of approximately $3,918 in 2010 dollars.

Enos was one of four land speculators (along with Elijah Iles, John Taylor, and 

Thomas Cox), who together held title to the section on which Springfield would be 

founded. According to Bearrs (1973), on April 15, 1824, five days after the initial land 

auction, Elijah Iles secured patent to the west half of the Enos quarter-section at the 

same price of $1.25 per acre (80 acres for $100, or about $1,959 in today’s dollars). Some 

18 months later, Enos sold Iles another parcel of 29 acres, more or less. The fact that this 

much smaller parcel (a little more than a third the size of his previous sale) also went for 

the consideration of $100 suggests that land values were rising quickly (almost tripling to 
4

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

$3.45 per acre) in this speculators’ market. Adjusted for fluctuating inflationary trends 

after 1824, $100 in 1826 would have the buying power of almost $1,902 in 2010.

Eleven years later, in 1836, Iles platted his holdings as Elijah Iles’ Addition to the 

City of Springfield in anticipation of a real estate boom. Each of the 27 full blocks would 

be divided into 16 lots measuring 40 ft wide and 152 ft deep from the street frontage to the 

alley. As noted earlier, a 6,080 square ft lot would be roughly a 0.14-acre parcel. Lincoln 

Home National Historic Site consists of Blocks 6, 7, 10, and 11 of the Iles Addition, and 

the properties that are the subjects of this report are in Block 6 and Block 11, which lie 

east and west of one another.

Henson Robinson House

In contrast with most of the properties situated within the boundaries of Lincoln 

Home National Historic Site, the lot on which the Henson Robinson House stands was 

held among the same extended family for much of its early history. John B. Weber bought 

the platted Lot 6, Block 11, from Elijah Iles on May 15, 1837, for $75 (worth about $1,427 

in 2010 dollars). Krupka notes that this price is consistent with early sales for standard 

lots in the Iles Addition. Corner lots went at a premium of $90 (roughly $1,712 today), 

and in the 1840s, once the addition became partly occupied, sales of undeveloped midblock lots also fetched higher prices.

Five months after the Webers bought Lot 6, they sold it to James W. Keyes for 

the consideration of $200 (approximately $3,804 in 2010 dollars). Keyes in turn sold it 

along with several other tracts to James F. Reid, a brother-in-law, about one year later, in 

1838, for a total of $2,600 (or about $52,556 in terms of buying power today). Keyes would 

reacquire Lot 6 in another multi-lot transaction eight months later in April of 1839. 

Krupka was unable to determine what other lots were involved in the two reciprocal 

Keyes-Reid exchanges, but the timing and consistent price ($2,600 for both transactions) 

piqued his curiosity. He speculated in his draft Historic Structure Report (Krupka 

1992) that Reid, a builder, might have improved one or more of the lots, so that fewer 

lots actually changed hands in the second transaction. It could also be, however, that 

a different combination of the same number of lots was involved, or that even identical 

lots were returned to Keyes for some unknown reason. Be that as it may, the daughter of 

James and Lydia Keyes, Henrietta Maria, would marry Henson Robinson in 1861, and 

apparently the couple then lived in a house built by her parents on Lot 6.

There is no indication of any structure on either of the early plat maps of the City 

of Springfield (McManus 1854 and Sides 1858; Figs. 5 and 6), but a house does appear 

on the 1867 bird’s-eye-view (Ruger 1867; Figure. 7). This suggests that the Robinson 

House was built in the closing years of the 1850s or the early years of the next decade. 

Krupka points out, however, that the structure depicted looks so little like the Robinson 

House in its configuration that it must reflect an artistic error or liberal interpretation. 

Nevertheless, the 1867 panorama is the first graphic representation of any structure on 

the property.

Two more panoramic “bird’s-eye” views were produced for Springfield in the late 

19th-century. Beck and Pauli’s panorama of 1870 (Figure. 8) depicts a story-and-a-half 
5

structure with a single-story east wing, which is consistent in form and configuration 

with the oldest known photograph of the Robinson House. It also shows a small 

outbuilding adjacent to the alley. As evident from a Sanborn fire insurance map of 

that year, this structure disappears after 1884, either removed for construction of the 

Robinson carriage house or incorporated into that later outbuilding. With the 1873 

panorama, published by Augustus Koch, the house has grown to two stories with two 

one-story extensions off the rear (east) elevation (Figure. 9). An outbuilding also appears 

at the alley. It is worth noting, however, that depictions such as these may be idealized 

and certainly they were drawn from information gathered well before their publication. 

The most detailed graphic documentation of the Henson Robinson property 

is a series of six Sanborn fire insurance maps covering the period 1884 through 1952 

(Figs. 10-15). Those maps are particularly useful for understanding how the house 

was reconfigured over the span of nearly 70 years and for chronicling the addition and 

removal of various outbuildings during that period. It should be noted again, however, 

that these maps also would have been drawn from surveyor’s notes made prior to 

publication, and there easily could be a lag of a year or more between the field surveys 

and publication dates.

The 1884 Sanborn map (Figure. 10) depicts a house that had grown considerably 

since it first appeared on the panorama of 1867. At the rear, a square room is joined to the 

main house by what may be an enclosed porch. This room is likely to be a laundry shed 

and/or summer kitchen that once stood as a separate structure. At the alley, there is also 

a long and narrow, single-storied outbuilding (perhaps a combined shed and carriage 

house, measuring about 12 ft x 60 ft) that extends across all of Lot 6 and onto half of 

Lot 7, where it meets a nearly square, two-story structure that still survives today as the 

so-called Solomon Allen Barn. 

One major change to the property, with certain archeological implications, is 

evident from examination of the 1890 Sanborn map (Figure. 11). The outbuilding noted 

above is replaced by, or expanded into, a wider structure, which measures approximately 

26 ft x 60 ft. The roofing of that structure has also been changed from wooden shingles 

(as indicated by an “X” marked in one corner of the structure) to slate or tin (as indicated 

by an open circle).

The 1896 Sanborn map (Figure. 12) reveals several changes to the main house, 

most notably the addition of three open porches. For the first time, a porch is present 

at the southwest corner of the house, though it does not yet connect to the front porch. 

Porches have also been added by this time to the north and south sides of the small 

room at the rear of the house (that room was probably once a separate laundry shed or 

summer kitchen, joined to the main house sometime before the 1884 Sanborn map was 

produced). A small bay, or perhaps a closed porch, has been added to the south elevation 

between the earlier two-story and one-story additions. This map also clearly labels the 

large single-story outbuilding as a carriage house.

By 1917, when the next Sanborn map (Figure. 13) was published, the southwest 

corner porch had been expanded to form a true wrap-around porch. The small bay 

on the south elevation of the main house appears to have been enlarged, and the open 
6

porch on the south side of the former laundry shed appears to have been reduced in size. 

Furthermore, a notation on the carriage house indicates that it is now one-and-a-half 

stories in height, rather than one.

Thirty-one years later, the 1941 Sanborn map (Figure. 14) shows the house 

virtually unchanged. The carriage house, however, is now labeled with an “A” to 

indicate its use as an automobile shed or garage, consistent with that newer mode of 

transportation, and it has a new addition to the east side. That single-story addition 

appears large enough to have accommodated one automobile, suggesting the need to 

accommodate an additional vehicle and perhaps use of the property by more than one 

family. It does not seem likely that it could have been approached by a separate drive, 

however, so entry may have been through the former carriage house from the rear alley.

The last Sanborn map in this series (Figure. 15), published in 1952, again shows 

the house essentially the same as it looked in 1917. The annotation on it, however, 

now indicates subdivision of the building as a duplex, and also use as an office. More 

important is the absence of any outbuilding at this time, the former carriage house 

having been removed sometime in the four years since publication of the 1948 Sanborn. 

Krupka (1992: II-13) notes, in his unfinished draft Historic Structure Report, that the 

property was unchanged when acquired by the National Park Service twenty years later 

in 1972, except for the addition of a four-car parking pad off the alley after 1963.

Jesse K. Dubois House

After the present Dubois tract left the public domain, as part of the large land 

parcel purchased from the U.S. Land Office at Springfield, Illinois, in 1824 by Pascal P. 

Enos, the property passed through a long line of various owners beginning with Elijah 

Iles. It was Iles, of course, who in 1836 platted the addition to the City of Springfield that 

defined the Dubois property as Lot 12, Block 6, with a 40 ft frontage on South Eighth 

Street and a depth of 152 ft to the alley right-of-way at the rear.

Myers F. Truit (sometimes spelled “Truitt” in public records) purchased lots 11, 

12, 13, and 14 of Bock 6 from Elijah and Melinda Iles for the sum of $450 (about $8,560 

today) on May 8, 1837. Since these represent the middle four lots of the 8-lot east half 

of Block 6, it is probably safe to assume that all were of equal value at this point in time. 

Thus, the average price of $112.50 per lot was considerably higher than the $75 figure 

Krupka held as typical for internal lots for the neighborhood in 1837. Indeed, John Weber 

purchased Lot 6, Block 11—directly across the S. Eighth Street from Lot 11, Block 6—for 

$75 eight days after the Truit transaction. It is likely, therefore, that the premium paid by 

Truit owed to the fact that he acquired a set of four contiguous lots on speculation.

Truit held the property until 1842, and over the next 13 years Lot 11 changed 

hands five more times. James Catlin, the new owner of record in 1855, bought lots 9 

through 12 from Mason Brayman for the sum of $2,500 (the equivalent of about $57,771 

in 2010 dollars). The Catlin family is believed to have moved into a house Brayman built 

around 1850 on Lot 9 (the corner lot) while lots 11 and 12 were still undeveloped. Krupka 

(1996) believed that Catlin began construction of a small, two-room cottage on Lot 12 

late in 1855 or early 1856, selling lots 11 and 12 with improvements to Alexander Graham 
7

on March 13, 1856. That original structure still survives within the greatly expanded 

Dubois House that stands today.

According to Krupka, Graham built a single-story addition to the west side of 

the cottage after his purchase of 1856 and then rented out the property later that year. In 

1857, he began a much more substantial addition to the structure’s east side, taking a year 

to complete it, and also built a large barn at the rear of the property. Coincidentally, Jesse 

K. Dubois moved his family to Springfield in 1857 after his election as State Auditor. At 

that time he rented a house about a half-mile away at the corner of Fourth and Monroe.

On June 2, 1858, after fire destroyed the stable at his rental property, Jesse K. 

Dubois purchased lots 11 and 12, with improvements, for the consideration of $5,410 

(almost $134,615 in 2010 dollars). That staggering sum, however, reflects the fact that 

owner Alexander Graham apparently invested a considerable amount of money 

improving the property, borrowing $5,270 (equivalent to about $121,821 today) at 10% 

interest in 1857 for the house addition and barn construction. If Graham actually spent 

the entire loan amount on improving the property, which seems unlikely, it would 

suggest that he may have sold to Dubois at a loss.

Dubois and his family continued to occupy the property for another four years, 

adding other improvements such as a barn and attached shed shortly after the initial 

purchase. In August of 1862, he bought a place in the country and put his S. Eighth 

Street house up for sale. Failing to find a willing buyer, he opted to rent the house. After 

renting the property for five years, Dubois again advertised it for sale in the Illinois State 

Journal during October of 1867, and this time he quickly closed a deal. James Ragland 

bought the property on November 4, 1867, for $6,750. Although that figure represents a 

modest increase over the price Dubois paid for the property in 1858, in consideration of 

inflationary forces at work over the nine-year interim, that sum would be equal to about 

$103,950 in 2010 dollars. Thus, the real value of the property eroded considerably (about 

15%) during the time that Dubois owned it, perhaps because of indifferent upkeep while 

it was a rental property or a glut of available real estate on the market at the time of sale.

Although some minor changes were made to the house during the Ragland 

ownership, such as extending and enclosing the south porch, no major additions were 

made to the property that would have obvious archeological implications. The property 

changed hands again in 1880, when the widowed Virginia Ragland conveyed it (less 10 ft 

of Lot 11 sold off three years earlier) to James Barkley for $4,000 (about $89,216 in 2010 

dollars). Combining the sale price of that narrow parcel from Lot 11 (sold for $250 in 

1877 or about $5,056 in 2010 dollars), Mrs. Ragland recouped a total of only $4,250, or 

about two-thirds of the original purchase price for the property. Buying power of the 

dollar improved from 1867 to 1880, however, and it appears that together the two sales 

recouped almost 91% after adjusting the values to 2010 dollars.

Barkley owned and occupied the Dubois property through 1900, when Howard 

Weber purchased it for use as a rental. Two years later Walter Aitken contracted for 

the purchase of Lot 12, and in 1905 Weber sold off the north 30 ft of Lot 11, having 

demolished the south 25 ft of the Dubois Barn. Aitken would buy out Weber’s interest 

in 1906 and subdivide the house into upstairs and downstairs duplex units. Eventually 
8

both the first and second floor units were subdivided, thus creating four apartments in 

what had been a single-family dwelling.

By 1920 Walter Aitken apparently had demolished all of the outbuildings still 

present on the Dubois property at the time of his purchase and constructed a new 

barn, which survives and now bears his name in the List of Classified Structures, using 

materials from the earlier barn and the house. Aitken sold the property in 1923, and it 

changed hands many times thereafter with no major subsequent changes to the house 

and lot except for the creation of one more apartment on the second floor in 1947. The 

structure continued to be used as five-unit apartment house until its acquisition as part 

of Lincoln Home National Historic Site in 1978.

As one might readily conclude from the brief chronology above, neither of the 

early plats of Springfield show any structures on what would later become the Dubois 

property. The McManus (1854) land use map of 1854 shows only three occupied lots (9, 

15, and 16) in the west half of Block 6 of the Iles Addition, with the central lots all vacant 

(Figure. 5). This is also the case four years later, as depicted on the Sides (1858) map of 

1858 (Figure. 6). This may reflect slower residential development on streets farther from 

the business district, as Block 7 immediately to the north is almost fully occupied on 

both of the early plats.

The series of bird’s-eye-view panoramas produced after the Civil War provide 

the first evidence of a structure on the Dubois lot, but the depictions are not detailed and 

provide little useful information (Ruger 1867; Beck and Pauli 1870; Koch 1873). Further, 

it should be understood that the source material used in producing those illustrations 

was likely gathered well before the panoramas were published.

It is clear from the first of these that a house was present in 1867, where none 

stood in 1858 (Figure. 7). No outbuildings are shown at that time, though it is logical 

to assume that minor dependencies, such as a privy and barn, would have stood along 

the alley. The 1870 depiction shows some additions were made to the house during 

the intervening years, but still no outbuildings are shown (Figure. 8). Only the 1873 

panorama shows an outbuilding (Figure. 9), and the property then appears much as it is 

depicted in the first of several Sanborn fire insurance maps for the City of Springfield.

As is the case for all house lots in the Lincoln Home neighborhood, the series 

of six Sanborn maps of Springfield provides an excellent record of changing conditions 

over the span of 68 years from 1884 to 1952 (Figs. 16-21). Although those maps do not 

necessarily reflect actual conditions in the precise year of publication, they are very 

useful for documenting the evolution of the Dubois House over time.

The 1884 map depicts the Dubois House as a rectangular dwelling on Lot 12, 

with a full front porch, a partial back porch, and a small bay on the south side (Figure. 

16). A large 2-story barn or stable is at the alley, partly on Lot 12 and partly on Lot 11 

to the south. There is an enclosed shed addition on the north side of that outbuilding 

and what appears to be canopy or open shed along the entire east side, perhaps used for 

the storage of firewood. Of particular note is a small, rectangular structure between the 

house and barn, apparently built of brick, which may be a laundry shed and/or summer 
9

kitchen. If so, a cistern for the collection of rainwater running off the shed roof probably 

lay between that structure and the main house to the east. The separate structure also 

has a small, square appendage on the west side, which may be one of the rare depictions 

of a privy on Sanborn maps.

The 1890 Sanborn map (Figure. 17) shows the Dubois property unchanged six 

years later; the only discernable difference is the annotation of its modern street number 

(No. 519) at edge of the frontage. The 1896 fire insurance map, however, shows several 

important changes that carry archeological implications. First, the open shed on the 

east side of the barn now has been ex-panded slightly to meet the apparent privy and 

also seems to have absorbed what was a closed shed on the north side of the barn. The 

open rear porch of the main house also has been reconfigured, creating a small room in 

its north end and extending the open porch a few feet farther west. In addition, a new, 

single-story outbuilding of unknown function appears for the first time near the south 

boundary line of Lot 11.

It is also worth noting that the other outbuildings now seem to hug the north 

property line of Lot 12, though they were depicted on the earlier maps about 2 ft south 

of it (consistent with local building codes of the time). Their depiction relative to the 

north property line on the 1896 Sanborn map (Figure. 18), therefore, probably owes to 

careless drafting of that map, rather than actual movement of those structures. This 

discrepancy also calls into question the true location of an outbuilding shown for the 

first time against the south property line. A rather interesting notation, which appears 

only on this 1896 Sanborn, indicates a width of 38 ft for Lot 11 instead of the standard 40 

ft for lots in this Springfield neighborhood.

Radical changes to the Dubois property are evident from the next Sanborn map, 

which was published 21 years later in 1917 (Figure. 19). The small bay on the south side 

of the main house has now been removed, and the open rear porch reduced to its earlier 

size (retaining the small enclosed room at its north end). The small, square appendage 

to the probable laundry shed, presumed to be a privy, also has been demolished by this 

time, perhaps reflecting the introduction of indoor plumbing early in the new century. 

More obvious is the apparent removal of the old Dubois barn and attached open shed 

area and construction of a new 1.5-story, nearly square barn, which has its southern 

edge within Lot 12. This is not the present Aiken Barn, but seems unlikely to be simply 

a reduction of the original Dubois Barn, either. A new dwelling has been constructed 

on Lot 11 by 1917, consistent with subdivision of the property documented elsewhere. A 

single-story shed is present at the alley behind it, wedged between the Aiken Barn and 

a large two-story brick structure identified as “The City Steam Bakery.” The northeast 

corner of that building extends over the same ground where an unidentified outbuilding 

was shown on or near the property line between lots 11 and 10.

Twenty-four years later, the Sanborn map of 1941 (Figure. 20) indicates several 

important changes had been made to both Lot 12 and Lot 11 in the interim. The brick 

laundry shed near the north property line of Lot 12 is now gone, and the Aitken Barn 

has by this time replaced the service structure shown on the 1917 Sanborn. A large “A” 

notation indicates its use as an automobile garage, but the fact that it is noted as a twostory structure suggests the presence of a loft or full second story. Further, an “F” (for 
10

“flat”) notation on the main house indicates its conversion from a single-family dwelling 

to a duplex. On Lot 11, the shed depicted in 1917 has been replaced by a large structure 

that has an east-west dimension equivalent to that of the adjacent bakery. In addition, 

the main house on that lot apparently was divided into two flats with the addition of an 

interior wall.

The last map in the Sanborn series (Figure. 21), published in 1952, shows Lot 12 

virtually unchanged in basic form. Indeed, the Dubois property at that time must have 

looked much as it would when acquired by the National Park Service and, still, during the 

1993 investigations. The only known changes to the lot and its structural improvements 

from that time forward were relatively subtle and superficial.
11

FIELD METHODS

The archeological field strategy and excavation methods employed in the 

investigations carried out on both the Dubois and Robinson house lots were typical of 

those used at several other house lots studied elsewhere within Lincoln Home National 

Historic Site over the years. That means that the placement of test units was dictated 

more by the proposed design of contemplated construction activities associated with 

restoration of the standing structures than by any academic curiosity. In other words, 

the field strategy was determined largely by the presumed locations of new ground 

disturbance, though planning at that point was still in its earliest stages and did not 

yet have any specificity. In a few instances, the test units excavated were intended to 

search for evidence of particular known or suspected structural features to inform the 

preparation of historic structure reports on the subject properties. Accordingly, the locations of some test units were determined in consultation with the late Francis Orlando 

Krupka, the park’s staff historical architect at the time of the field excavations described 

herein took place. Other test units sought to ascertain additional information on features 

or deposits encountered in the initial exploratory phase.

A metric coordinate grid system provided horizontal control for the retrieval 

of archeological data in a systematic fashion at both properties; the point of origin 

employed for each survey grid was a fixed point on the nearby structure, such as a 

particular corner of the building. Test units were numbered in order of their excavation 

during the field season or designated using terms evocative of each unit’s location or 

purpose. Many were identified simply by using their grid coordinates.

Test units for the most part measured 2 m x 1 m, though the contiguous placement 

of units could combine to form large block excavations. Arbitrary levels of 10 cm below 

surface (cmbs) were used in the absence of natural or cultural soil stratification, and 

features or other discrete soil zones were collected apart from the general levels. All soil 

was passed through quarter-inch mesh hardware cloth, and each level excavated within 

a particular unit was documented with photographic images and measured drawings. 

The cultural materials collected were bagged according to their site provenience.
12

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES
13

EXCAVATION RESULTS

Henson Robinson House

As stated in the introduction to this report, the Henson Robinson House 

excavations reported here took place in the summers of 1991 and 1993. Like most other 

archeological investigations that have been conducted within Lincoln Home National 

Historic Site, those excavations were designed principally to examine areas likely to be 

disturbed during the effort to make this property ready for adaptive reuse. Precise areas 

of disturbance, however, were not yet known when the investigations took place. In 1991, 

our focus fell upon two general areas: the rear of the property along the service alley 

and the area that lies a short distance from the back of the house. Excavators discovered 

a segment of a brick herringbone walkway while working near the alley, and in 1993 a 

crew returned to expose that partial feature in place. Fieldwork at the Henson Robinson 

House entailed the excavation of numerous discrete test units, but they were clustered 

in large blocks and are described according to area rather than individually (Figure. 22). 

Artifacts collected from this house lot are summarized in Appendix A (1991 field season) 

and Appendix B (1993 field season) of this report.

Back House Area

Because certain modifications contemplated in close proximity with the rear 

of the Robinson House would likely involve ground disturbance, much of the initial 

archeological work focused on that part of the backyard. During earlier investigations 

conducted while the major restoration effort was underway in 1981, and subsequently 

reported by former MWAC staff archeologist Leslie A. Perry (1984), preliminary 

surface collection and systematic shovel testing about the entire structure contributed 

to a general understanding of the property. A single excavation unit examined the area 

immediately behind the house, which she called the East Quadrant, and it revealed 

the location of a 19th-century well apparently associated with a cistern that still had 

a structural element visible on the ground surface (namely, a concrete cap over the 

cistern’s oculus).

Excavators intensively examined the same area in 1991 to determine if any other 

major features might be located proximate to the rear of the house (Figure. 23). Other 

house lots within the Historic Site had revealed the presence of several cisterns used 

at various times, and it was reasoned that the Robinson House might follow that same 

pattern. Further, many houses in the neighborhood once had small, detached utility 

buildings that were used alternately as summer kitchens and laundry sheds. A series 

of three 1-m-x-2-m test units, placed end to end, effectively served as an exploratory 

trench to search for such features. Additional contiguous units expanding that “trench” 

brought the total area excavated in the block at the rear of the house to 9.0 sq m. No 

additional remains of any significance, however, were disclosed in this examination of 

the area where construction disturbances were expected to occur.

The artifact assemblage deriving from this block is largely unremarkable, 

comprising a variety of domestic refuse and construction materials from the late 19th 

and early 20th centuries. Only a very few items have recognizable attributes that permit 
14

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

the estimation of narrower time frames, and even those are generally mixed with 

materials that are clearly later in age (e.g., a milk glass liner for a storage jar lid found in 

S2-4/E3-4. Level 2, conceivably could have been used over a span of 100 years, though 

not before the granting of Lewis Boyd’s 1869 patent). Further, certain artifacts could 

have been used well after their known periods of manufacture and deposited in years 

later than the date ranges indicated below.

Test Unit S3-4/W4-6, Level 3, yielded a hard-rubber button manufactured by 

the Novelty Rubber Company of New Brunswick, New Jersey, which was in operation 

during the period 1855-1870 (Luscomb 1967:140). The button is decorated with a Maltese 

cross and is marked with the maker’s name in raised letters on the back. A metal shank 

for sewing the button to a garment is embedded in the rubber.

An undecorated sherd of whiteware ceramic from S0-2/E3-4, Level 1, and 

another from Level 2 that mends to it, bear the partial maker’s mark used for their “Royal 

Premium” semi-porcelain wares during the period 1890-1906 by T & R Boote, Ltd., of 

Burslem, England (Godden 1964:84). Finally, Unit S0-2/E2-3 produced several dark 

green glass sherds that refit to form a bottle shoulder fragment embossed “...RESS & 

EMPIR...” in an arc. This is the partial mark of the Congress & Empire Spring Company 

of Saratoga, New York, which was a major bottler of mineral water in the years 1867-1874 

(Fike 1987:56, 243). 

An interesting item found in unit S0-2/E3-4, Level 2, is a wedge-shaped siding 

ventilator made of thin-gauged sheet aluminum. This was used behind the siding of 

frame buildings to prevent the accumulation of moisture that commonly leads to the 

blistering and peeling of paint applied to wooden siding; one advantage of the device is 

that it could be inserted without removal of the siding. Paint manufacturer Gustave E. 

Jarvie of Seattle, Washington, applied for a patent on May 29, 1951, and No. 2,634,463 

was granted on April 14, 1953. Wedge vents of a different design and make are still used 

to mitigate moisture under wood siding, but an end date for the manufacture and use of 

these particular Jarvie vents is not known.

Alley Area

Three excavation units were opened in 1991 at the rear of the lot in proximity 

to the modern outbuilding and adjacent parking pad that today are situated along the 

alley (Figure. 23 and 26). As Krupka (1992) points out, a small outbuilding is shown at 

the Robinson House alley in the Beck & Pauli Panorama of 1870, but its precise location 

is not clear from the image. He also notes a single shed on the alley at the extreme 

northeast corner of the property as depicted in the 1873 Augustus Koch Panorama 

(Figure. 9). That shed was apparently removed and replaced by (or perhaps incorporated 

into) a much larger structure spanning the entire width of the lot by 1884, as shown on 

the Sanborn fire insurance map of that year and all subsequent versions until 1952 (Figs. 

12-15). This general location, of course, would also be a likely place for historic trash 

pits and privies that would not be depicted on typical historic maps and diagrams of this 

Springfield neighborhood.
15

EXCAVATION RESULTS

The three so-called parking pad units (Figure. 26) yielded a wide variety of 

historic artifacts ranging in age from the late 19th century through recent times. Few 

of the items recovered, however, can be tightly dated, and only one could represent the 

primary period of historical significance. One bottle fragment found in the third level 

of Parking Pad Unit #1 bears a maker’s mark used by the Brockway Machine Bottle Co. 

of Pennsylvania after 1925 (Toulouse 1971:59). Of greater interest, however, is a bottle 

fragment in that same level embossed with the words “S. H. MELVIN / SPRINGFIELD 

/ ILL.” Mr. Melvin ran a wholesale and retail apothecary under his own name at the 

corner of Fifth and Washington, easy walking distance from the Lincoln Home NHS 

neighborhood, from 1859 to at least 1868, when he took H. H. Glidden as a partner. 

The 1874 City Directory records H. H. Glidden only at this street corner, so the name 

of the drug store had been changed by that time—perhaps as early as 1868, when the 

men first formed their partnership <http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmaga/newspapers/

melvindrugs.html>. S. H. Melvin, a Mason, also joined his fellow lodge brothers in the 

October 5, 1868, ceremonial laying of the cornerstone of the Illinois capitol <http://www.

ilstatehouse.com/cornerstone_ceremony.htm>.

Herringbone Walk

Excavations in the alley vicinity during the 1991 field season (Figure. 24) exposed 

a small section of brick paving not far from the extant storage shed and only a few 

centimeters below the current ground surface. This proved to be part of a walkway 

that once led from the backdoor of the house to the alley and, presumably, one or 

more outbuildings situated along it. The brickwork, laid in a herringbone pattern, was 

otherwise unremarkable, as none of the exposed bricks bore markings that would assist 

in determining a good construction date for the feature. For that matter, even if datable 

marked bricks were noted among those in the walkway, they conceivably could be 

replacements added to the pattern long after the feature was first put in service. At some 

point in time, bricks at both ends of walkway were pulled up and removed so that the 

surviving section no longer reached either original terminus.

Because tentative plans for the Robinson property initially called for installation 

of a modern rustic-looking boardwalk in this same area, which would have resulted 

in destruction of the historic brick walk, the archeological team returned to it in 1993 

(Figure. 24) and took considerable pains to expose the entire feature for recordation 

before it was to be removed (Figs 25-26). However, park administrators, after seeing the 

totally exposed feature, decided that it was more desirable to preserve the herringbone 

walk in place, and plans for the boardwalk were modified in order to accomplish that 

end. Accordingly, the historic brick feature now lies unseen but preserved as it was 

before the archeological field crew first exposed and photographed it in 1993.

Some test units excavated to expose this walk yielded a few temporally diagnostic 

artifacts. Brick Feature Unit 8, for example, produced a medicine bottle fragment bearing 

the embossed mark “T.C.W. Co.” That mark represents the T. C. Wheaton Company of 

Millville, New Jersey, which began manufacturing apothecary glasswares in 1888. Such 

artifacts, however, were found in soils above the brickwork, not in close association with 

the feature. Accordingly, they are not helpful for dating the walk’s construction or its 

main period of use.
16

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

 Jesse K. Dubois House

The 1993 archeological investigations at the Dubois House were limited in 

scope and purpose, as confirmed by the relatively narrow placement of excavation 

units (Figure. 27). Only one 1-m-x-2-m test unit was placed against the house itself, 

and another was located against the Aitken Barn. Two other 1-m-x-2-m test units were 

positioned in the backyard to search for former outbuildings suggested by documentary 

records. Both of those units, furthermore, were expanded by the addition of a 1-m-x-1-m 

unit adjacent to each (adjacent units are discussed in the text together, rather than in 

the order of their numerical designation). A third 1-m-x-1-m test unit was placed at the 

rear of the Dubois property against a modern lumber shed that stands on the adjacent 

lot. Accordingly, the total area excavated in 1993 was only 11 sq m. Collections deriving 

from the Dubois excavations are summarized in Appendix C of this report.

Test Unit 1 (TU1)

This 1-m-x-2-m test unit was located against the east side of the Aitken Barn, with 

its north end at the northeast corner of that structure (Figure. 27). The very first 10-cm 

level revealed a line of bricks along the entire west profile of the unit, which is to say 

against that 2-m segment of the barn (Figure. 28). The bricks are arrayed with the long 

axis of each lying east and west. The bricks are not uniform, but all except one are solid, 

common (possibly paving) bricks; the odd brick is of the three-hole structural variety. 

In all likelihood, the bricks were salvaged and reused as part of a spread footing for the 

barn foundation.

In the northeast corner of the test unit there appeared some more bricks that 

also formed an alignment. Those four are not as tightly laid, however, and their function 

does not seem as clear. It could be that they provided support for a post or that they 

are remnants of a section of paving. Either speculative use would be consistent with 

that fact that there was once a shed roof over an open area on this side of the Aiken 

Barn, possibly used for firewood and/or equipment storage, which Krupka refers to as 

an “open-walled shed.”

The floor of this TU 1 is otherwise unremarkable. The collection of artifacts 

derived from this test unit, however, does include some items especially worthy of 

remark. Most unusual is a Roman Catholic miraculous medal bearing the Italian phrase 

“O MARIA CONCEPITA SENZA PECCATO PREGATE PER NOI CHE RICO RIAMO 

A VOI.” This may be freely translated into English as, “O Mary, conceived without sin, 

pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Although the Immaculate Conception of Mary is 

a belief widely held since before the Middle Ages, it was not official dogma of the Roman 

Catholic Church until the 1854 papal bull of Pope Pius IX.

Found in Level 1 (0-10 cmbs), this particular Catholic medallion is frequently 

associated with the rosary and commemorates the 1830 apparition of the Blessed Virgin 

to Ste. Catherine Labouré in Paris. Declared a saint in 1947, Sister Catherine was a 

member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul and, according to her tale, was 

told by the Blessed Mother Mary’s apparition to strike a medal after the model presented 

in Catherine’s vision. It was to be worn about the necks of the devout, and some believe 
17

EXCAVATION RESULTS

that all who wear it will receive great graces. Church teachings do not consider the medal 

to be magical, but rather a sign of the wearer’s devotion. Such medals began to be struck 

in 1832 at Paris and quickly became popular in Europe, but it cannot be determined 

when they first began appearing in the United States.

The presence of this particular personal item at the Dubois House lot suggests 

an association with the Catholic faith and, perhaps, connections to Perryville, Missouri, 

about 175 miles from Springfield, Illinois. Vincentian fathers first came to America in 

1815, migrated west as missionaries, and established a church, St. Mary’s of the Barrens, 

at Perryville in 1818. A Vincentian seminary was founded there in 1823, but closed in 1863 

only to reopen in 1888. The Association of the Miraculous Medal was first recognized by 

Pope Pius X in 1905 and chartered in 1909. Fr. Perry established the Central Association 

at Philadelphia in 1915, and the Association at St. Mary’s of the Barrens was established 

in 1918. Certainly the Miraculous Medal would have enjoyed much wider distribution 

after founding of the Association, suggesting that the artifact found on the Dubois lot 

in TU 1 is more likely to be of 20th-century origin. Additional information about the 

Vincentian Order, in general, and the Miraculous Medal, in particular, can be found at a 

number of websites: http://www.amm.org/, www.cammonline.org, www.vincentian.org, 

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous_Medal.

 Other materials recovered from this excavation level combine to represent a 

mixed deposit containing various items spanning a period of some 100 years. A U.S. 

penny bearing a 1944 D mint mark is the most readily datable. In addition to some 

ceramic and glass fragments that could derive from the latter decades of the 19th 

century, there was also an aluminum pull-tab, several fragments of plastic picnic ware, 

and what appears to be speaker wire from a modern component stereo system. The 

ringed pull-tab certainly dates no earlier than 1963, which is the year that pop-top 

beverage can technology for beer and soft drinks was widely introduced in the United 

States. Subsequent levels contain greater proportions of 19th-century artifacts, but 

none is tightly datable, and some more recent materials continue to appear through 

Level 4 (30-40 cmbs). Only the next and final level, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs) contained no 

clearly modern materials.

Test Unit 2 (TU2)

The only test unit excavated against the Dubois House foundation, TU 2 was a 

1-m-x-2-m unit nestled in the second setback from the northwest corner of the structure, 

so that the south and east profiles were both adjacent to the house (Figure. 27). It was no 

surprise to find evidence of a builder’s trench along the foundation, the edge of which 

paralleled the south profile of the test unit. Its width was approximately 24 cm (ca. 9.5 in), 

and the soil consisted of a loosely compacted brown clay loam. At Level 4 (30-40 cmbs) 

a metal pipe, probably an abandoned waterline, was found to cross-cut the builder’s 

trench, entering the basement from the north (Figure. 29).

Once the builder’s trench was well defined in the unit floor, the artifacts in 

it could be collected separately. The identifiable specimens, although not narrowly 

diagnostic, are generally in the range of 100 years old. Several ceramic sherds are 

typical of the late 19th-century, including grey salt-glazed stoneware with a brown slip 
18

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

and yellowware decorated with a Rockingham glaze. Of particular interest are bottle 

glass fragments that appear to be solarized (tinted an amethyst color from prolonged 

exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, also known as “sun purple”), which are generally 

indicative of the 1880-1920 period before supplies of manganese oxide (a mineral that 

commonly replaced lead as a clarifying agent in glass making) were cut off by events of 

World War I, forcing most U.S. manufacturers to turn to selenium.

Test Unit 3 (TU3)

This 1-m-x-1-m test unit was placed in the open space between the Aiken Barn 

and a modern structure on the next lot north that was used in 1993 for lumber storage 

(Figure. 26). Although situated against the modern structure, 3-4 m west of the southeast 

corner of the lumber storage structure, the unit was intended to search for evidence of 

what Krupka called the “north stable shed.” This one-story enclosure, measuring 10 ft 

x 30 ft, appears on the 1884 and 1890 Sanborn maps (Figs. 16-17) as an attachment on 

the north end of the larger two-story stables. Krupka points out that the inclusion of a 

street address notation (16541⁄2) next to the outbuilding on the 1884 Sanborn strongly 

suggests that the building was occupied as a residence. He further speculated that 

a hired hand may have lived in the 300 sq ft shed addition at the time. Support for 

interpreting the shed as a residence is found in the fact that the enclosure has been 

removed by 1896 (Figure. 18), and the Sanborn map for that year no longer includes a 

street address for the outbuilding.

This test unit was positioned in order to intersect a corner of the shed, the north 

wall of which should have been approximately 2 ft (0.6 m) from the property line as 

shown on the Sanborn maps (and according to late 19th-century city building codes). 

There appeared no clear indication of a structural wall in the unit, there was a presumed 

post mold along the west profile, centered approximately 20 cm from the northwest 

unit corner. There was also a linear deposit of ashy fill and a pocket of gravel near the 

center of the unit, which could be related to the addition. Additional excavation to the 

west of this unit might have been informative, but time constraints did not allow further 

exploration of the matter.

Artifacts retrieved from the small unit include a wide range of domestic items, but 

it cannot be determined whether these represent trash from the main house or possible 

occupation of the shed addition. The assemblage is fairly mixed in terms of age, with 

identifiable material ranging from the late 19th century to after World War II. There are 

both cut and wire nails, for example, and a bottle base fragment bears the embossed 

Owens plant code for Alton, Illinois, which manufactured glass bottles after 1930.

Test Unit 4 (TU4) and Test Unit 7 (TU7)

Test Unit 4 was a 1-m-x-2-m test unit placed approximately midway between 

the Aitken Barn and the Dubois House, and slightly more than 1 m south of the north 

property line (Figure. 27). It was oriented with its long axis east-west, with the west 

end 6 m from the gated fence separating the backyard from the alley. It was hoped 

that this unit would perhaps encounter evidence of the brick shed (possibly a laundry 

shed) that appears on the four Sanborn maps produced from 1884 to 1917 (Figs. 10-13). 
19

EXCAVATION RESULTS

The first three of those maps also show a small, square structure on the west side of 

that rectangular outbuilding. Speculation that this might be the rare Sanborn map 

representation of a privy seems to have been confirmed by our excavations.

At the western extreme of Test Unit 4 there was what appeared to be two partial 

post molds, one in each both corners of the unit. These could very well be indicative of 

the posts that held up the shed roof attached to the original Dubois Barn, which came 

within a couple feet of the apparent privy. A large squared area in the northeast quarter 

of the unit eventually took on more definite shape with greater depth. In Level 7 (60-70 

cmbs), the privy shaft could be discerned as a zone of grey-brown clayey silt with an 

east-west dimension of approximately 45 cm. The distinctive zone of fill ran into the 

north profile of the unit, which precluded the taking of a north-south dimension while 

excavating TU4, but excavation of TU7 showed that the north-south dimension was 

approximately 30 cm in width (Figure. 30).

It should also be noted that an apparent second feature was also visible from 

Level 1 (0-10 cmbs) through Level 5 (40-50 cmbs) in TU4. This was a linear stain of dark 

grey-brown clayey silt, very similar in character to the fill that marked the privy shaft. 

The deposit extended from the southeast corner of the unit to a point approximately 

60 cm west. Unfortunately, only the northern edge of the feature could be observed 

some 12 cm into the unit, with the remainder lying beyond the south profile. Several 

bricks haphazardly arrayed in the fill, suggest that it may be part of a wall trench, but its 

location does not conform precisely to any known structure depicted on historic maps 

of the house lot—unless it might be part of the privy enclosure.

Materials collected from the apparent privy shaft were not readily diagnostic of 

any narrow time period. Many could derive from the last quarter of the 19th century or 

the first quarter of the 20th century. Of course, the upper reaches of the shaft would be 

fill introduced when the privy was filled after abandonment and not associated with its 

actual period of use. Complete excavation of the feature at some future date (efforts were 

halted at a depth of 80 cmbs in 1993) might result in the collection of more temporally 

diagnostic materials deposited through unintentional loss or purposeful discard while 

the privy was still in use.

The excavation of Test Unit 7, a 1-m-x-1-m unit adjacent to the east half of Test 

Unit 4 (Figure. 27), showed that the north edge of the privy shaft was coincident with 

the grid line separating the two units (Figure. 30). Of particular interest was a line of 

brick placed end-to-end, which ran east-west through the north end of the unit. These 

did not appear to have been bonded with mortar, but four more courses were eventually 

exposed below the one that was first visible at the base of Level 4 (30-40 cmbs). Certainly 

not sturdy enough to be a structural wall, the bricks may have served to line a shallow pit 

associated with the privy (Figure. 31). Artifacts collected from the unit lend no insights 

into this speculative interpretation. Further work in this area would be required in order 

to be more conclusive.
20

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Test Unit 5 (TU5) and Test Unit 6 (TU6)

Test Unit 5, a 1-m-x-2-m test unit a short distance off the northwest corner of the 

Dubois House (Figure. 27), was excavated with the intent of intersecting the east end of 

the brick outbuilding depicted on the earliest four Sanborn maps (1886-1917) between 

the house and barn on this lot (Figs. 16-19). As it turned out, this effort was successful, 

though the full meaning of the archeological deposits here and in the adjacent Test Unit 

6 (Figure. 27) is not entirely clear. In Level 2 (10-20 cmbs), for example, a narrow trench 

approximately 20 cm wide ran a nearly true east-west course through the entire unit. It 

was presumed at first encounter that this was the trench for a utility line running from 

the alley to the house. Continued excavation of the unit through Level 4 (30-40 cmbs), 

however, failed to expose a conduit of any sort (perhaps the line was removed whenever 

it was taken out of service).

It was at the floor of Level 4 that clear evidence of the outbuilding first became 

apparent. In the northwest corner of the unit excavators exposed a section of brick 

pavement, which probably was the flooring of that structure. The ragged south edge of 

this pavement suggests that some of the flooring was pulled up. Moreover, it appeared 

that the pavement extended further east toward the house, but a mass of tree roots in the 

eastern two-thirds of the unit precluded excavation any farther in that direction.

Excavation of Test Unit 6 (Figure. 27), a 1-m-x-1-m unit adjacent to the west half 

of Test Unit 5 to 40 cmbs, did not lend much greater definition to the feature (Figure. 32). 

The pavement of brick continued into that unit a short distance, but the north edge is 

also ragged as if the flooring had been partly removed—perhaps when the structure was 

razed. Tree roots were not quite as dense in this unit, however, so the pavement could be 

traced a little father east. None of the materials found in either test unit can be used to 

gain insights into the function of this structure, though additional excavations in this 

area at some future date could be more revealing.
21

CONCLUSION

The archaeological excavations at the Henson Robinson and Jesse K. Dubois 

houses are now some two decades past, and all relevant information derived from those 

investigations was conveyed to managers and planners long ago. Indeed, restoration of 

the Robinson House was completed some years ago, and it is now used as office space 

through the park’s historic leasing program. The Dubois House restoration is also now 

completed. Nevertheless, it is important for current and future managers at Lincoln 

Home National Historic Site to be mindful of the results of this study, for they provide 

some important cautionary insights bearing upon any future development that may 

occur anywhere in the park.

The findings of our investigations at both house lots amply demonstrate that the 

Lincoln Home NHS neighborhood retains considerable archeological integrity despite 

the many radical changes that have transpired in the 150 years since the man who 

would become our 16th president last walked its streets. Although it may be tempting 

to conclude that the continued occupation and use of historic properties over that long 

period, including numerous modifications to the built environment, has obliterated 

their associated cultural resources, it should be abundantly clear that disturbance does 

not necessarily denote destruction. Areas in close proximity to standing structures may 

reveal clues to their structural evolution, and backyards in all likelihood still contain 

evidence of former outbuildings long since removed.

Perhaps even more tempting, however, is the marked propensity of planners to 

focus attention principally on certain cultural features that are known to have existed 

in the neighborhood without sufficient regard for the high potential presence of 

unrecorded associated archeological deposits. Because of the wealth of cartographic 

and photographic records that survive in archives and private collections, we do indeed 

know a great deal about the historic built environment here and elsewhere in Springfield. 

What those and other documentary sources do not tell us, however, is where common 

but otherwise unremarkable cultural features were located. Privies, wells, and cisterns 

were substantial and necessary early 19th-century domestic features that should occur 

somewhere on all house lots that were occupied, but they are almost never depicted on 

maps and only rarely are some of them glimpsed in the background of photographs of 

various residential structures in the Lincoln Home neighborhood. It is also the case, 

especially in the days before routine trash removal in Springfield, that refuse might 

be burned and/or buried in backyards. This certainly has proven true of all house lots 

examined to date in the four-bock area, and such features typically contain a wealth of 

archeological materials that may tell us much about the times they represent.

Findings from the investigations reported briefly here can best be described as 

representing basic information about the content and layout of the house lots in question. 

In the Dubois backyard, excavators found physical remains of a brick outbuilding that 

appears on several late 19th- and early 20th-century maps of the neighborhood, as 

well as the filled shaft of a nearby privy. Furthermore, in the Robinson backyard the 

archeological field crews partly exposed a beehive cistern, the foundations of a razed 

rear addition to the house, and a brick walkway laid in herringbone pattern that once 
22

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

ran from the back steps to the outbuildings located at the service alley. This is not to 

say, of course, that those specific project highlights represent an exhaustive inventory of 

cultural features associated with the two house lots. In both instances, the archeological 

investigations focused narrowly on discrete areas for immediate planning purposes and 

were neither objectively systematic nor comprehensive. Not only were those features 

only partly excavated in 1991 and 1993, there are doubtless others still relatively intact 

yet to be found elsewhere on those premises. Planners and managers, therefore, would 

do well to be mindful of the potential impacts of future undertakings on both known 

and unknown cultural resources at these properties.

Of the many archeological investigations carried out at Lincoln Home National 

Historic Site in the last 25 years, none may be singled out as having produced remarkable 

insights into 19th-century life. This is not surprising, given the rather limiting scopes 

of those projects. The archeological data continue to accumulate, however, and when 

taken together they may yet inform an analytical synthesis that will shed much greater 

light on the early years of this Midwestern community that Abraham Lincoln knew 

so well.
23

REFERENCES CITED

Banton, Albert W., Jr., Ellen Carol Balm, and Jill York O’Bright

1987 Blocks 7 and 10, Elijah Iles Addition, Springfield, Illinois: Historic Resource 

Study and Historic Structures Report, Lincoln Home National Historic Site. 

National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, Omaha, Nebraska.

Bearss, Edwin C.

1969 Historical Base Map: Proposed Lincoln Home National Historical Park. 

National Park Service, Washington, DC.

1977 Historic Resource Study and Historic Structure Report: Historical Data, Blocks 

6 and 11, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois. National Park 

Service, Denver Service Center, Denver.

Beck and Pauli

[1870] Map of Springfield. A. C. Geiseler, Milwaukee. Undated map reposited at 

Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield.

Fike, Richard E.

1987 The Bottle Book: A Comprehensive Guide to Historic, Embossed Bottles. 

Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ferry and Henderson Architects, Inc.

1980 Historic Structure Report on the Henson Robinson House, Carriage House, 

and Allen Barn. Prepared for the National Park Service, Lincoln Home National 

Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois. Ferry and Henderson Architects, Inc., 

Springfield, Illinois.

Friedman, S. Morgan

2000 The Inflation Calculator <http://www.westegg.com/inflation/>.

Godden, Geoffrey A.

1964 Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks. Crown Publishers, Inc., 

New York.

Koch, Augustus

1873 Bird’s Eye View of Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at Illinois State Historical 

Library, Springfield.

Kovel, Ralph M, and Terry H. Kovel

1961 A Directory of American Silver, Pewter and Silver Plate. Crown Publishers, Inc., 

New York.
24

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Krupka, Francis Orlando

1992 Historic Structure Report - Henson Robinson House (Historic Structure No. 

10), 520 South Eighth Street. Incomplete Draft Document. Department of the 

Interior, National Park Service, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, 

Illinois.

1996 Historic Structure Report - Jesse Kilgore Dubois House (Historic Structure 

No. 15) and Walter Aitken Barn (Historic Structure No. 16). Incomplete Draft 

Document. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Lincoln Home 

National Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois.

Luscomb, Sally C.

1967 The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Buttons. Bonanza Books, New York.

Mansberger, Floyd

1987 Archeological Investigations at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, 

Springfield, Illinois. Report prepared for National Park Service, Midwest 

Archeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska. Northern Illinois University, Dekalb.

2010 Results of the Phase III Archaeological Investigations for the Aitken Barn 

Mitigation at the Dubois Site (Lincoln Home National Historic Site), Springfield, 

Illinois. Report prepared for National Park Service, Lincoln Home National 

Historic Site, Springfield, Illinois. Fever River Research, Springfield, Illinois.

McManus, M.

1854 City of Springfield, Sangamon County, Ills. Hart and Mapother, New York. Map 

reposited at Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield.

Newman, T. Stell

1970 A Dating Key for Post-Eighteenth Century Bottles. Historical Archaeology 4:70-

75.

Noble, Vergil E.

1989a Memorandum to Chief, Midwest Archeological Center, dated August 23, 1989 

[H2215 (MWAC)]; Trip Report, June 26 - August 9, 1989.

1991 Memorandum to Chief, Midwest Archeological Center, dated September 6, 1991 

[A26 (MWAC)]; Trip Report, July 8 - August 30, 1991.

1992 Memorandum to Chief, Midwest Archeological Center, dated August 4, 1992 

[A2624 (MWAC)]; Trip Report - Lincoln Home, July 13-31, 1992.

1993 Memorandum to Chief, Midwest Archeological Center, dated April 6, 1993 

[A2624 (MWAC)]; Trip Report, March 29 - April 3, 1993, Lincoln Home.

Osborn, Alan J.

2001 Archeological Overview and Assessment of Lincoln Home National Historic 

Site, Sangamon County, Springfield, Illinois. Midwest Archeological Center, 

Technical Report No. 72, National Park Service, Lincoln, Nebraska.
25

REFERENCES CITED

Ruger, A.

1867 Springfield, Illinois, Drawn from Nature by A. Ruger. Chicago. Map reposited at 

Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield.

Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.

1884 Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at the Illinois State Historical Library, 

Springfield.

1896 Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at the Illinois State Historical Library, 

Springfield.

1917 Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at the Illinois State Historical Library, 

Springfield.

1941 Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at the Illinois State Historical Library, 

Springfield.

1952 Springfield, Illinois. Map reposited at the Illinois State Historical Library, 

Springfield.

Sides, William (Surveyor and Publisher)

1858 City of Springfield, Sangamon County, Ills. R.L. Barnes, Philadephia. Map 

reposited at Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield.

http://www.ilstatehouse.com/cornerstone_ceremony.htm accessed August 8, 2006

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmaga/newspapers/melvindrugs.html accessed August 8, 

2006

http://www.amm.org accessed September 18, 2007

http://www.cammonline.org accessed September 18, 2007

http://www.vincentian.org accessed September 18, 2007

http://www.westegg.com/inflation accessed February 16, 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous_Medal accessed February 21, 2012
26

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES
27

APPENDIX A

ARTIFACT INVENTORIES, ROBINSON HOUSE, 1991

Table 1a. Parking Pad [1], Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

2 flat glass

1 clear curved glass

1 clear curved glass embossed “2” and “5”

1 glazed ceramic drain tile frag.

1 lead clamp with embossed “A” (possible window hardware)

1 cut nail fragment

4 wire nail

1 ferrous washer

1 hard-rubber grommet

12 slate fragment

2 slag

Table 2a. Parking Pad [1], Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 blue curved glass

3 clear curved glass

3 dark olive curved glass

1 mold-dec. whiteware

1 blue annular whiteware

1 hand-painted polychrome whiteware

15 undec. whiteware

1 Rockingham glaze yellowware

2 unglazed earthenware

3 stoneware

1 white clay tobacco pipestem

10 cut nail frament

- tin can fragment (67.9 g)

1 ferrous strap fragment

2 unid. corroded ferrous metal

3 bone fragment

1 brick fragment

1 slate fragment
28

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 3a. Parking Pad [1], Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

27 clear flat glass

10 amber curved glass

2 dark green curved glass

4 olive curved glass

9 aqua curved glass

34 clear curved glass

2 clear pressed glass star pattern

1 clear pressed glass sunburst pattern

1 clear medicine bottle fragment embossed “S.H. MELVIN/SPRINGFIELD, ILL.”

47 undec. whiteware

1 purple trans.-print whiteware

2 undec. porcelain

11 glazed redware

1 unglazed redware

8 glazed stoneware

1 white clay tobacco pipestem

1 non-ferrous screw eye

4 unid. lead scrap

7 unid. non-ferrous metal

1 screw and nut assembly

2 ferrous screw

3 cut nail fragment

3 wire nail

25 unid nail fragment

1 ferrous 2-hole plate

1 ferrous latch fragment

1 ferrous square nut blank

- unid. ferrous scrap (95.1 g)

7 bone fragment

2 mammal tooth

1 coal

- charcoal 

4 slate fragment

1 brick fragment

1 mortar fragment
29

APPENDIX A

Table 4a. Parking Pad [1], Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

6 clear flat glass

3 amber curved glass (one embossed)

6 olive curved glass

9 aqua curved glass

5 clear curved glass

1 clear pressed glass

1 aqua bottle finish fragment

1 large molded whiteware handle

6 blue trans.-print whiteware

1 polychrome sprig dec.whiteware

2 black spatter-dec. whiteware

18 undec. whiteware

7 brown glazed earthenware (Rockingham?)

1 glazed stoneware

- unid. nail fragment (32 g)

5 bone fragment

1 slate fragment

Table 5a. Parking Pad [1], Level 5 (40-50 cmbs).

1 clear flat glass

1 olive curved glass

1 blue trans.-print whiteware

1 polychrome sprig dec. whiteware

1 undec. whiteware

3 brick fragment

Table 6a. Parking Pad 2, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

1 blue curved glass

1 aqua curved glass (embossed)

7 clear curved glass

1 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 undec. whiteware

1 glazed redware

1 non-ferrous chain link frag.

1 triangular sheet brass frag.

7 cut nail fragment

13 wire nail

1 duplex head wire scaffolding nail

1 roofing nail
30

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 6a. Concluded.

1 slate fragment

1 asphalt shingle fragment

Table 7a. Parking Pad 2, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

72 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

2 green curved glass

5 olive curved glass

1 red curved glass

2 aqua curved glass

1 aqua bottle finish frag.

21 clear curved glass

1 curved milk glass

1 brown medicine bottle w/ plastic lid

1 blue sponge-dec. whiteware

3 blule & black slip dec. whiteware

18 undec. whiteware

1 glazed redware

4 unglazed redware

1 .22 long rim-fire cartridge casing

1 non-ferrous fitting marked “3/8 LAGSTAR” and “5/8 HOLE”

1 aluminum pop-top can pull tab

1 copper wire

15 unid. non-ferrous metal

5 cut nail

18 wire nail

6 unid. nail fragment

3 roofing nail

2 ferrous screw

1 ferrous hex-head screw w/ 2 washers and nut

1 ferrous washer

- unid. ferrous scrap (424 g)

1 flared lead pipe fragment 

1 rubber washer

2 unid. rubber scrap

4 bone fragment

1 mollusk shell fragment

1 limestone fragment

3 slate fragment
31

APPENDIX A

Table 7a. Concluded.

5 brick fragment

2 mortar fragment

1 plaster fragment

2 asphalt shingle frag.

Table 8a. Parking Pad 3, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

13 clear flat glass

9 clear curved glass (3 w/ mold patterns)

1 polychrome sprig whiteware

3 undec. whiteware

1 stoneware

2 cut nail

10 wire nail

1 unid. ferrous sheet metal

1 bone fragment

1 slate fragment

1 brick fragment

2 asphalt shingle frag.

Table 9a. Parking Pad 3, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

1 aqua curved glass

28 clear curved glass

8 curved milk glass

2 undec. whiteware

1 non-ferrous slotted screw

1 ferrous washer

1 unid. thin non-ferrous metal

- unid. ferrous scrap (17.7 g)

2 unid. ferrous object

1 ferrous spike

17 cut nail

18 wire nail

2 roofing nail

1 bone fragment

1 burned bone fragment

1 wood

3 charcoal
32

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 9a. Concluded.

5 slate fragment

2 brick fragment

2 asphalt shingle frag.

2 plastic button

Table 10a. S 0-2 / E 2-3, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

5 clear curved glass

1 blue trans.-print whiteware

2 undec. whiteware

2 glazed redware

1 lead scrap

7 cut nail

1 wire nail

1 roofing nail

2 unid. nail fragment

1 ferrous staple

7 unid. ferrous scrap

1 shell button

2 mollusk shell frag.

1 coal fragment

2 brick fragment

4 mortar fragment

1 wire insulation

Table 11a. S 0-2 / E 2-3, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

5 clear flat glass

3 clear curved glass

1 amber stippled curved glass

1 blue curved glass

1 aqua curved glass

3 dark green curved glass

1 dark green curved glass bottle shoulder (6 refitted sherds) marked “...RESS & 

EMPIR...”

1 undec. prcelain

2 metal washer

11 cut nail

2 wire nail

1 roofing nail

- unid. nail frag. (56.2 g)
33

APPENDIX A

Table 11a. Concluded.

- tin can fragment (33.3 g)

22 bone fragment

6 mollusk shell frag.

Table 12a. S 0-2 / E 2-3, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

6 clear curved glass

2 aqua curved glass

2 olive curved glass

1 clear goblet base

1 blue slip-dec. whiteware

15 undec. whiteware

1 blue painted porcelain

1 undec. porcelain

1 glazed redware

1 stoneware

13 unid. non-ferrous metal scrap

7 unid. nail fragment

10 unid. ferrous scrap

9 bone fragment

1 burned bone fragment

1 shell button

2 brick fragment

Table 13a. S 0-2 / E 2-3, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

2 clear flat glass

4 olive curved glass

1 mulberry trans.-print whiteware

1 blue & black slip dec. whiteware

5 undec. whiteware

1 undec. porcelain

1 yellowware

2 glazed redware

2 stoneware

1 unid. non-ferrous metal scrap

1 unid. nail fragment

3 tin can fragment

17 bone fragment

1 pig tooth

1 brick fragment
34

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 14a. S 0-2 / E 2-3, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs).

1 clear flat glass

1 undec. whiteware

1 unid. ferrous scrap

2 bone fragment

Table 15a. S 0-2 / E 3-4, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

5 clear flat glass

8 clear curved glass

7 aqua curved glass

1 blue trans.- print whiteware

1 blue edge-dec. whiteware

5 refitted undec. whiteware

1 whiteware vessel base marked “T. & R. Boo...”

1 lead scrap

- cut nail fragment (28.9 g)

5 wire nail

1 lg. folded ferrous sheet metal

2 bone fragment

1 fibrous washer

2 slag

Table 16a. S 0-2 / E 3-4, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

23 clear flat glass

2 olive curved glass

2 amber curved glass

4 aqua curved glass

1 amethyst curved glass

1 curved milk glass

30 clear curved glass

1 clear curved glass stenciled “16 ou.”

1 clear bottle finish frag.

1 black glass button

1 mold-pattern whiteware

1 blue-trans.print whiteware

2 light blue moss trans.-print whiteware

1 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 decal dec. whiteware

1 whiteware vessel base marked “...OTE’S ROYAL PREMIU...”

1 undec. porcelain
35

APPENDIX A

Table 16a. Concluded.

1 glazed ornamental ceramic tile

1 flat head slotted non-ferrous screw

1 non-ferrous siding ventilator stamped “JARVIE U.S. Patent No. 2634463 SEATTLE”

1 non-ferrous metal hex nut

1 shell cabochon in non-ferrous setting

2 unidentified composite metal object

1 cut nail

5 wire nail

2 roofing nail

14 unid. nail fragment

2 unid. ferrous screw

1 ferrous spike

- tin can fragment (83.8 g)

1 ferrous wire w/ end flattened

1 possible triangular file

1 triangular ferrous metal plate

6 bone fragment

1 tooth fragment

2 shell button

1 perforated scrap leather 

2 slate fragment

4 brick fragment

1 mortar fragment

1 gray linoleum fragment

Table 17a. S 0-2 / E 3-4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

9 clear flat glass

2 olive curved glass

1 green curved glass

5 aqua curved glass

8 clear curved glass

1 curved milk glass

1 aqua bottle finish (wide mouth)

1 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 blue slip-dec. whiteware

10 undec. whiteware

1 yellowware
36

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 17a. Concluded.

2 glazed redware

1 unglazed redware

2 stoneware

5 unid. nail fragment

1 roofing nail

3 ferrous tube fragment

- unid. metal (23.5 g)

18 bone fragment

2 pig tooth fragment

2 brick fragment

Table 18a. S 0-2 / E 3-4, Level 3 (10-20 cmbs) Inside Brick Semicircle.

1 clear flat glass

2 undec. whiteware

1 cut nail

1 unid. ferrous scrap

1 bone fragment

2 brick fragment

Table 19a. S 2-4 / E 3-4, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

8 clear flat glass

1 blue curved glass

11 clear curved glass

4 undec. whiteware

1 glazed redware

1 non-ferrous metal washer

7 cut nail

6 wire nail

1 modern annular ring shank nail

1 roofing nail

1 triangular file

- unid. ferrous mjetal scrap (2.5 g)

2 bone fragment

1 slate fragment

2 brick fragment

2 mortar fragment

1 concrete fragment
37

APPENDIX A

Table 20a. S 2-4 / E 3-4, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

50 clear flat glass

14 aqua curved glass

1 amber curved glass

43 clear flat glass

1 clear Mason jar rim

1 clear jar fragment w/ embossed scroll and “...med...”

1 aqua English ring bottle finish

2 clear glass Mason jar lightning closure cap

1 milk glass Mason jar liner “BOYD’S GENUINE PORCELIAN LINED CAP”

3 glass bead

4 mulberry trans.-print whiteware

1 lt. blue trans.-print whiteware

2 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 polychrome trans.print whiteware

2 yellowware

2 undec. Porcelain

3 unglazed redware

3 stoneware

1 clay marble

1 brass finger ring

1 unid. non-ferrous metal 

25 cut nail

5 wire nail

1 ferrous tack

2 roofing nail

1 crown cap

1 ferrous S-hook

1 possible machine part

- unid. ferrous metal (41.1 g)

38 bone fragment

2 shell button

1 agate marble

1 brick fragment

1 mortar fragment

1 hard rubber fragment
38

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 21a. S 2-4 / E 3-4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

5 clear flat glass

9 olive curved glass

1 aqua curved glass

8 clear curved glass

1 blue slip-dec. whiteware

6 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 blue trans/-print whiteware

11 undec. whiteware

1 undec. porcelain

12 glazed redware

1 white clay pipebowl frag.

9 cut nail fragment

1 crown cap

- unid. ferrous scrap (37.5 g)

35 bone fragment

3 shell button

7 wood

2 brick fragment

Table 22a. S 2-4 / E 3-4, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs) Brown granular clay area.

1 clear flat glass

1 blue slip-dec. whiteware

1 undec. whiteware

5 unid. nail fragment

1 brass garment rivet

4 unid. ferrous scrap

13 bone fragment

1 shell button

1 brick fragment

2 concrete

Table 23a. S 2-4 / E 3-4, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs) Trench area.

3 unid. nail fragment

3 unid. ferrous scrap

14 bone fragment
39

APPENDIX A

Table 24a. S 3-4 / E 4-6, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

3 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

1 clear curved glass

1 cut nail

1 wire nail

1 possible ferrous staple

1 bone fragment

1 shell button

2 brick fragment

Table 25a. S 3-4 / E 4-6, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

51 clear flat glass

6 olive curved glass

2 aqua curved glass

27 clear curved glass

5 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 blue trans.-print whiteware

1 mulberry trans.-print whiteware

1 blue painted whiteware

2 blue feather-edge whiteware

24 undec. whiteware

1 yellowware

2 glazed redware

2 stoneware

1 milk glass button (Prosser?)

2 non-ferrous connector/screw

1 brass garment rivet

4 sheet lead scrap

3 unid. non-ferrous metal

- cut nail scrap (54.4 g)

2 roofing nail

6 tin can fragment

1 6-gauge wire

1 ferrous drill bit

1 ferrous tool w/Bakelite handle

33 bone fragment

2 shell button

1 slate with 2 drilled holes

1 ceramic electrical outlet

1 hard-rubber object
40

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 25a. Concluded.

1 hard-rubber comb tooth

1 coal

1 brick fragment

4 mortar fragment

1 slag

1 plastic button

Table 26a. S 3-4 / E 4-6, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

24 clear flat glass

5 olive curved glass

2 aqua curved glass

22 clear curved glass

2 milk glass button (Prosser?)

3 lt. blue trans.-print whiteware

8 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 painted sprig-dec. whiteware

26 undec. whiteware

14 glazed redware

3 stoneware

4 non-ferrous metal scrap

4 cut nail fragment

1 spike

1 ferrous wire

1 ferrous coiled spring

- unid. ferrous scrap (59.9 g)

28 bone fragment

1 bone button

1 wood

4 slate fragment

2 brick fragment

1 gray linoleum fragment

1 hard-rubber button with non-ferrous metal shank, Maltese cross design, back 

marked “GOODYEAR’S P=T*1851 / N.R.Co.”
41

APPENDIX A

 Table 27a. S 3-4 / E 6-8, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 clear flat glass

2 aqua curved glass

5 clear curved glass

1 undec. whiteware

1 cut nail fragment

2 wire nail

1 twisted ferrous wire

1 pig tooth fragment

Table 28a. S 3-4 / E 6-8, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

16 clear flat glass

5 aqua curved glass

1 amber curved glass

21 clear curved glass

1 brown trans.-print whiteware

1 dk. blue trans.-print whiteware

1 gilt whiteware tea cup handle

1 polych. decal-dec. whiteware

7 undec. whiteware

3 unglazed redware

1 .22-cal. rim-fire cartridge casing

5 cut nail fragment

9 wire nail fragment

4 roofing nail

2 ferrous flat-head slotted screw

- unid. ferrous scrap (41.3 g)

1 unid. ferrous sheet metal

1 ferrous button fragment

6 bone fragment

1 mollusk shell fragment

2 wood

5 slate fragment

2 mortar fragment

5 unid. hard-rubber fragment
42

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 29a. S 3-4 / E 6-8, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

14 clear flat glass

3 amber curved glass

2 olive curved glass

3 aqua curved glass

28 clear curved glass

5 pressed glass bowl frag.

1 purple trans.-print whiteware

4 undec. whiteware

1 unglazed unid. earthenware

2 unglazed redware

1 19-gauge non-ferrous metal wire

- unid. ferrous scrap (63.3 g)

3 wire nail

2 roofing nail

1 ferrous spike

2 ferrous pipe fragment

7 bone fragment

2 mortar fragment

Table 30a. S 3-4 / E 6-8, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs) Brick concentration.

1 clear flat glass

2 olive curved glass

1 amber curved glass

17 clear curved glass

1 lt. blue trans.-print whiteware

3 undec. whiteware

- unid. nail fragment (42.9 g)

1 wire nail

11 bone fragment

1 coal

3 slag

Table 31a. S 4-6 / E 3-4, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

5 clear flat glass

2 clear curved glass

1 curved milk glass

1 yellowware

1 stoneware

1 unid. non-ferrous sheet metal
43

APPENDIX A

Table 31a. Concluded.

3 cut nail

1 wire nail

- unid. ferrous scrap (10.8 g)

1 unid. ferrous handle or strap

1 bone fragment

1 wood

1 slate fragment

1 brick fragment

1 concrete

1 tar blob

Table 32a. S 4-6 / E 3-4, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

10 clear flat glass

2 olive curved glass

1 green curved glass

1 blue curved glass

12 clear curved glass

2 blue slip-dec. whiteware

1 green trans.-print whiteware

1 brown trans.-print whiteware

10 undec. whiteware

1 Rockingham glazed yellowware

1 glazed redware

2 stoneware

2 21-gauge non-ferrous wire

1 11-gauge non-ferrous wire

4 cut nail

5 wire nail

1 roofing nail

- unid. nail fragment (16.4 g)

4 unid. ferrous scrap

10 bone fragment

2 brick fragment

3 mortar fragment
44

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 33a. S 4-6 / E 3-4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

3 clear flat glass

2 aqua curved glass

2 clear curved glass

2 mocha-dec.whiteware

1 purple trans.-print whiteware

1 green trans.-print whiteware

1 lt. blue trans.-print whiteware

8 undec. whiteware

2 glazed redware

1 stoneware

2 unid. nail fragment

- ferrous scrap (92.5 g)

41 bone fragment

19 wood

1 slate fragment

4 brick fragment

3 mortar fragment

Table 34a. S 4-6 / E 6-7, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

3 clear flat glass

1 non-ferrous wire w/ plastic insul.

1 wire nail

3 brick fragment

Table 35a. S 4-6 / E 6-7, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

12 clear flat glass

1 olive curved glass

1 green curved glass

9 clear curved glass

2 blue trans.-print whiteware

11 undec. whiteware

5 unid. unglazed earthenware

2 undec. porcelain

3 stoneware

1 pocketknife with antler handle

9 cut nail

5 wire nail

1 roofing nail

1 2-strand twisted 12-gauge ferrous wire

- unid. ferrous scrap
45

APPENDIX A

Table 35a. Concluded.

3 bone fragment

3 slate fragment

1 brick

1 mortar sample

1 gray linoleum fragment

Table 36a. S 4-6 / E 6-7, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

7 olive curved glass

3 aqua curved glass

3 clear curved glass

1 mulberry trans.-print whiteware

1 yellow glazed whiteware

1 blue shell-edge dec. whiteware

1 mold-dec. whiteware

10 undec. whiteware

2 glazed redware

5 stoneware

1 non-ferrous mortis lock key

4 non-ferrous flat wire

- unid. nail fragment (4.5 g)

8 unid. ferrous scrap

9 bone fragment

Table 37a. S 6-7 / E 3-4, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

1 brown dec. whiteware

1 yellow glazed whiteware

2 undec. whiteware

1 stoneware

2 unid. nail fragment

3 bone fragment

2 charcoal

1 slate fragment

3 brick fragment

1 slag
46

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 38a. S 6-7 / E 3-4, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

1 green curved glass

2 amber curved glass

1 olive curved glass

1 blue curved glass

3 aqua curved glass

3 clear curved glass

4 blue slip-dec. whiteware

11 undec. whiteware

2 yelloware

4 glazed redware

2 stoneware

1 non-ferrous metal scrap

1 cut nail

- unid. ferrous scrap

25 bone fragment

- wood (1.6 g)

1 charcoal sample

6 slate fragment

1 gray linoleum fragment

Table 39a. S 6-7 / E 3-4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

2 green trans.-print whiteware

1 blue slip-dec. whiteware

7 undec. whiteware

24 bone fragment

1 slate fragment

1 quartz debitage (?)

1 brick fragment
47

APPENDIX B

ARTIFACT INVENTORIES, ROBINSON HOUSE, 1993

Table 1b. Brick Feature Unit 1, Level 1 (0-20 cmbs).

14 clear curved glass

1 porcelain electrical insulator

3 porcelain

5 whiteware

1 exfoliated whiteware

1 yellowware

1 lead-glazed redware w/ brown slip

1 grey salt-glazed stoneware w/ int. slip

17 slate fragment

1 bone

1 butchered bone

3 mortar/cement

5 charcoal (2g)

Table 2b. Brick Feature Unit 2, Level 1 (0-15 cmbs).

13 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

1 green curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 green feather-edge decorated whiteware

8 undecorated whiteware

1 porcelain

2 lead-glazed redware

1 small automotive light bulb

1 4-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

1 non-ferrous grommet

2 wood screw

2 galvanized roofing nail

27 wire nail

9 cut nail fragment

1 molten lead

4 bone

1 butchered bone

1 plastic crap

14 brick fragment

3 clinker

12 charcoal (11g)
48

Table 3b. Brick Feature Unit 3, Level 1 (0-20 cmbs).

8 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

6 clear curved glass

4 undecorated whiteware

1 lead-glazed redware

1 iron rod

1 threaded nut

4 sheet metal scrap

14 cut nail

18 wire neail

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 clinker

Table 4b. Brick Feature Unit 5, Level 1 (0-15 cmbs).

13 clear flat glass

1 frosted privacy glass

11 clear curved glass

1 curved cobalt glass

1 enamel-decorated tumbler glass

2 undecorated whiteware

1 brown earthenware

1 unidentified earthenware

4 wire nail

7 cut nail fragment

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 wing nut

1 iron wire

2 iron scrap

1 scrap plastic marked “CAT EYE”

2 brick fragment
49

Table 5b. Brick Feature Unit 6, Level 1 (0-20 cmbs).

24 clear flat glass

3 green curved glass

1 amber curved glass

1 clear bottle neck with tooled finish

1 clear panel bottle section “---OODS”

5 undecorated whiteware

1 yellowware

3 lead-glazed redware

1 porcelain

1 iron coat hook

1 bolt and nut

1 wire

5 iron scrap

8 cut nail fragment

23 wire nail

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 plastic insulated wire

1 plastic “pry-off” cap

3 bone

1 tooth

2 chert

10 slate shingle fragment

2 brick fragment

1 clinker

2 charcoal (neg.)

Table 6b. Brick Feature Unit 7, Level 1 (0-12 cmbs).

6 clear flat glass

13 clear curved glass

4 amber curved glass

1 green curved glass

4 undecorated whiteware

1 blue-and-white porcelain

1 salt-glazed stoneware

2 rubber tire scrap

7 aluminum foil scrap

1 plastic scrap

1 electrical box knock-out slug

1 gutter spike
50

Table 6b. Concluded.

1 gutter spike sheath fragment

1 wire nail

4 cut nail

1 iron chain link fragment

1 bone

7 slat shingle fragment

1 mortar

5 brick fragment

1 clinker

Table 7b. Brick Feature Unit 8, Level 1 (0-15 cmbs).

36 clear flat glass

1 frosted flat privacy glass

36 clear curved glass

3 solarized clear curved glass

3 green curved glass

2 milk glass curved glass

1 small clear glass medical vial “T.C.W. CO USA”

1 glass tube

16 undecorated whiteware

1 red transfer-printed whiteware

1 flow blue whiteware

9 lead-glazed redware

2 unglazed redware

1 brown stoneware

1 brown stoneware w/ brown slip interior

1 slip-decorated salt-glazed stoneware

1 porcelain

1 small 4-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

2 tin scrap

11 cut nail

40 wire nail

2 galvanized roofing nail

250 iron scrap

19 bone

1 butchered bone

12 slate shingle fragment

6 mortar

7 charcoal (15g)
51

Table 8b. Brick Feature Unit 9, Level 1 (0-15 cmbs).

11 clear flat glass

10 clear curved glass

1 milk glass lid liner fragment

7 undecorated whiteware

1 wood screw

1 cut nail fragment

3 wire nail

2 brick fragment

3 slate shingle fragment

2 plastic scrap

10 clinker

1 mortar

6 charcoal (8g)

Table 9b. Brick Feature Unit 10, Level 1 (0-15 cmbs).

36 clear flat glass

28 clear curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 green curved glass

4 undecorated whiteware

2 lead-glazed redware

1 salt-glazed stoneware w/ slip interior

1 porcelain

3 ceramic drain tile fragment

1 glass marble

1 button face

1 metal strip

1 drilled and grooved iron bar

1 3-inch lag screw with washer

1 wood screw

1 hydraulic fitting

1 hex nut

1 washer

1 pipe fitting

1 grommet

1 crown cap fragment

1 twist-off bottle cap

1 wire

31 wire nail
52

Table 9b. Concluded.

12 cut nail

10 galvanized roofing nail

1 charcoal (4.5g)
53

APPENDIX C

ARTIFACT INVENTORIES, DUBOIS HOUSE, 1993

Table 1c. Test Unit 1, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 Miraculous medal

1 U.S. Lincoln penny, 1944D

7 plain whiteware

1 brown-glazed whiteware

1 plain porcelain

1 porcelain with gilt rim

2 grommet

2 aluminum foil

2 aluminum pull-tab

11 clear flat glass

51 clear curved glass

3 milk glass canning jar lid liner frag.

1 milk glass

1 amber glass

2 painted clear tumbler glass

12 short galvanized roofing nail

9 long galvanized roofing nail

9 wire nail

7 cut nail

1 gutter spike sheath

1 crown bottle cap

1 twist-off bottle cap

1 can key

1 tin can lid fragment

1 ferrous tube

1 charcoal

1 shell

3 paint chips

1 composite shingle fragment

2 plastic comb fragment

1 plastic picnic fork fragment

1 adhesive bandage

7 miscellaneous plastic fragment

1 stereo speaker wire with plug

2 brick fragment

10 Portland cement fragment
54

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Table 2c. Test Unit 1, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 whiteware

1 rubber cushion

1 four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

4 clear flat glass

11 clear curved glass

2 amber curved glass

2 clear cut glass

1 clear improved-tool bottle finish

4 foil

1 non-ferrous rod

2 iron scrap

2 iron ring

10 cut nail

3 wire nail

14 bone

5 butchered bone

4 plastic scrap

2 mortar

1 clinker

2 charcoal

Table 3c. Test Unit 1, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

3 porcelain

1 mold-decorated whiteware

19 plain whiteware

13 decal-decorated whiteware w/ luster rim

2 flow blue whiteware

1 annular-decorated whiteware

1 possible pearlware

2 unglazed redware

27 clear flat glass

1 Mason jar fragment embossed 185--

1 circular beveled flat glass (clock face?)

1 solarized curved glass

2 fully-automatic clear bottle finish

2 milk glass

1 amber curved glass

6 iron scrap

11 cut nail
55

Table 3c. Concluded.

3 wire nail

3 wire (?)

1 shoe heel fragment

4 brick fragment

1 mortar

17 bone

3 butchered bone

Table 4c. Test Unit 1, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

7 plain whiteware

2 mold-decorated whiteware

1 black transfer-printed whiteware

2 flow blue whiteware

9 porcelain

277 clear flat glass

51 clear curved glass

2 amber curved glass

2 cobalt glass

1 milk glass

1 iron scrap

30 cut nail fragment

1 wire nail fragment

1 perforated lead disc

1 non-ferrous cap

4 bone

1 butchered bone

6 charcoal

Table 5c. Test Unit 1, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs).

1 whiteware

1 porcelain

1 clear curved glass

1 green bottle neck w/ improved-tool finish

4 clear flat glass

13 cut nail

1 charcoal sample
56

Table 6c. Test Unit 2, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 U.S. Roosevelt dime, 1967

3 clear curved glass

1 solarized curved glass

2 amber curved glass

20 flat glass

4 whiteware

2 unglazed redware

8 cut nail

7 wire nail

6 short galvanized roofing nail

6 long galvanized roofing nail

1 machine screw

3 brick fragment

1 mortar

1 composite shingle frag.

1 wood with paint

Table 7c. Test Unit 2, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

5 solarized curved glass

29 clear flat glass

1 brown salt-glazed stoneware

1 white ironstone

2 cut nail

3 wire nail

1 galvanized roofing nail

3 machine screw

1 large iron leaf hinge frag.

3 mortar

2 plastic tubing

1 rubber scrap

1 stamped asbestos (?)

1 wood with paint

2 charcoal
57

Table 8c. Test Unit 2, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

2 whiteware

2 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

2 brown salt-galzed stoneware

11 clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

14 solarized curved glass

33 clear flat glass

6 cut nail fragment

2 wire nail fragment

1 burned bone

2 rubber scrap

2 blue plastic tubing

4 stamped asbestos (?) or tire rubber (?)

Table 9c. Test Unit 2, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

1 large four-hole shell button

31 clear flat glass

13 clear curved glass

18 solarized clear curved glass

1 milk glass collar button (Prosser?)

1 porcelain doll’s head, small

5 whiteware

2 flow blue whiteware

2 yellowware

7 porcelain

2 grey salt-glazed stoneware w/ brown slip

1 Albany slip-decoraetd stoneware

1 drain tile fragment

9 cut nail fragment

1 U bolt (muffler hanger?)

1 shoe heel fragment

1 slate

1 plastic tubing

2 tire fragment

2 bone

2 burned bone

1 charcoal
58

Table 10c. Test Unit 2, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs).

1 small four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

1 small two-hole bone button

51 clear flat glass

1 cut glass

11 clear curved glass

26 solarized clear curved glass

10 green curved glass

2 yellowware

1 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

1 Albany slip-decorated stoneware

2 drain tile fragment

1 non-ferrous hose coupling

13 cut nail

1 galvanized roofing nail

2 wire

3 brick rubble

15 burned bone

1 butchered bone

3 shell fragment

3 wood

1 cellophane wrapper scrap

Table 11c. Test Unit 2, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs), pipe trench.

10 clear flat glass

1 amber curved glass

1 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

1 cut nail fragment

1 mortar

1 brick rubble

1 charcoal sample

1 burned bone

Table 12c. Test Unit 2, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs), builders’ trench.

10 clear flat glass

5 clear curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 porcelain

1 yellowware

1 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

1 iron bar
59

Table 12c. Concluded.

4 cut nail fragment

2 tire fragment (?)

1 mortar

4 bone

10 burned bone

Table 13c. Test Unit 2, Level 6 (50-60 cmbs).

1 small four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?) 

17 clear flat glass

1 clear curved glass

3 amber curved glass

1 green curved glass

2 unglazed redware

6 whiteware

2 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

1 cut nail fragment

1 iron scrap

4 brick rubble

47 burned bone

3 bone

1 carved bone

Table 14c. Test Unit 2, Level 6 (50-60 cmbs), builders’ trench.

4 grey salt-glazed stoneware w brown slip

1 whiteware

2 black transfer-printed whiteware

1 annular-decorated whiteware

1 Rockingham glaze yellowware

1 unglazed redware

12 clear flat glass

1 clear curved glass

2 solarized clear curved glass

1 green curved glass

1 shoe heel

1 cut nail

4 burned bone

1 brick rubble
60

Table 15c. Test Unit 3, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 ceramic insulator w iron hardware

2 whiteware

1 drain tile fragment

5 clear flat glass

4 clear curved glass

1 milk glass

1 amber rect bottle base (Parke-Davis)

1 clear canning jar base

1 iron spike

1 large cut nail

1 cut brad

1 wire finishing nail

1 galvanized roofing nail

2 corrugated iron

1 door latch hardware

1 large gauge copper wire

1 half spherical lead

4 bone

2 butchered bone

1 portland cement

1 brick rubble

Table 16c. Test Unit 3, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

8 flat glass

2 clear curved glass

1 threaded jar lid frag.

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 rolled tin

1 brick spall

1 ceramic tile

1 bone

Table 17c. Test Unit 3, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

10 whiteware

2 whiteware rim

1 whiteware cup handle

1 Albany slip-decorated stoneware

1 porcelain

13 clear flat glass

1 mirror glass
61

Table 17c. Concluded.

28 clear curved glass

1 cobalt glass (Bromo Seltzer)

1 milk glass (“N”)

1 clear bottle base

4 amber curved glass

1 clear etched curved glass

1 can key

7 cut nail

8 wire nail

1 wood screw

1 iron rod

1 twisted wire

1 insulated copper wire

1 brick fragment

29 bone

1 cut bone

Table 18c. Test Unit 4, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

1 four-hole bone button

25 clear flat glass

18 clear curved glass

2 clear cut glass

1 clear molded/etched glass

2 clear embossed glass

4 thin milk glass

1 cobalt curved glass

3 amber curved glass

10 whiteware

2 whiteware w gilding

1 mold-decorated white porcelain

1 iron scrap

2 brick fragment

1 strip rubber

6 bone

1 butchered bone
62

Table 19c. Test Unit 4, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 bone toothbrush head

46 clear flat glass

35 clear curved glass

1 round-section clear bottle base w/ owl logo and Owens scar

1 clear panel bottle base

2 fluted clear glass

2 clear cut glass

2 milk glass

1 clear lamp chimney rim frag.

1 eyeglass lens

14 whiteware

1 polychrome-decorated whiteware

3 whiteware w gilding

1 polychrome-decorated porcelain

1 unglazed redware

1 ceramic dran tile frag.

5 cut nail fragment

1 wood screw

1 plastic insulated wire

1 horseshoe (mangled)

1 galvanized scrap metal

1 foil cleaning wipe package

1 non-ferrous tube cap

1 plastic tube

2 plastic tieback fragment

5 bone

1 butchered bone

Table 20c. Test Unit 4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs), Zone A.

6 clear flat glass

19 clear curved glass

1 hexagonal clear jar base

1 amber curved glass

8 whiteware

2 whiteware handle frag.

1 porcelain

1 porcelain with gilt edge

2 unglazed redware

6 cut nail fragment
63

Table 20c. Concluded.

1 wire nail

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 iron rod

1 non-ferrous metal

1 leather scrap

1 brick fragment

3 bone

1 peach pit

Table 21c. Test Unit 4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs), Zone B.

1 clear flat glass

6 clear curved glass

1 porcelain

3 cut nail fragment

1 slag/clinker

Table 22c. Test Unit 4, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs), Zone C (pipe trench).

2 clear curved glass

2 amber curved glass

1 porcelain

9 cut nail fragment

3 bone

Table 23c. Test Unit 4, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs), Zone A.

57 clear flat glass

20 clear curved glass

1 cathedral bottle fragment

2 clear cut glass

1 cobalt curved glass

5 amber curved glass

3 milk glass

1 rippled privacy glass

5 whiteware

1 over-glaze trans.-printed whiteware

1 yellowware

1 lead-glazed redware

2 gilt porcelain rim

1 four-piece hardware grip

1 unidentified hardware

1 foil scrap
64

Table 23c. Concluded.

1 plastic tube fragment

3 brick fragment

2 bone

1 coal

Table 24c. Test Unit 4, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs), Zone B.

16 clear flat glass

15 clear curved glass

1 milk glass

1 cobalt curved glass

1 clear tumbler glass w/ rouletted rim

9 whiteware

3 whiteware w/ luster rim

1 Albany-decorated stoneware

8 cut nail fragment

1 bone

1 butchered bone

Table 25c. Test Unit 4, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs), Zone C.

1 clear flat glass

2 clear curved glass

2 whiteware

1 porcelain

1 ceramic drain tile frag.

1 brick fragment

Table 26c. Test Unit 4, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs).

54 clear flat glass

28 clear curved glass

3 milk glass

1 clear rippled privacy glass

10 amber curved glass

1 melted clear glass

10 whiteware

1 porcelain

4 cut nail fragment

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 iron strap

1 iron pipe fragment
65

Table 26c. Concluded.

1 plastic comb fragment

1 plastic panel light

1 mortar

1 bone

Table 27c. Test Unit 4, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs), Zone B.

1 two-hole shell button

1 porcelain doll fragment

1 grey porcelain insulator

1 non-ferrous light bulb socket

58 clear flat glass

53 clear curved glass

1 milk glass

1 clear cut glass

2 amber curved glass

1 clear glass rod

1 burned glass

5 whiteware

1 brown transfer-printed whiteware

1 luster-decorated whiteware

1 burned porcelain

13 unglazed redware

3 basalt glazed redware

18 cut nail fragment

1 iron wire

1 iron scrap

1 mortar

6 bone

2 butchered bone

Table 28c. Test Unit 4, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs), Zone C.

1 glass marble w/ multi-colored spiral

4 clear curved glass

1 whiteware

1 unglazed earthenware

1 salt-glazed stoneware

1 cut nail fragment

1 screw and nut

1 bone
66

Table 29c. Test Unit 4, Level 5 (40-50 cmbs), East Half.

1 four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

52 clear flat glass

57 clear curved glass

1 clear medicine bottle neck

5 amber curved glass

1 cobalt curved glass

2 milk glass

1 solarized clear canning jar base

1 clear rippled privacy glass

7 whiteware

1 whiteware w/ gilding

4 porcelain

2 polychrome over-glaze transfer-printed porcelain w/ gilding

2 late flow blue whiteware w/ gilding

30 cut nail fragment

1 crown bottle cap

1 hinge for small box

4 white metal cap fragment

1 lead alloy cap

1 washer

1 brad

1 brass cap

1 brick fragment

1 plastic scrap

35 bone

2 butchered bone

Table 30c. Test Unit 4, Level 6 (50-60 cmbs), Zone A.

10 clear flat glass

17 clear curved glass

1 hand-finished clear bottle neck

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

3 milk glass

2 whiteware

1 black transfer-printed whiteware

1 cut nail fragment

1 iron hardware

1 flexible metal electrical conduit
67

Table 30c. Concluded.

1 aluminum scrap

2 brick rubble

3 plastic tieback (Pat #3,186,047)

1 plastic scrap

Table 31c. Test Unit 4, Level 6 (50-60 cmbs), Zone B.

214 clear flat glass

96 clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

1 cobalt curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 clear bottle lip fully automatic

28 cut nail fragment

1 hardware w/ spring

37 bone

5 butchered bone

3 burned bone

2 butchered burned bone

Table 32c. Test Unit 4, Level 6 (50-60 cmbs), Zone C.

14 clear flat glass

8 clear curved glass

2 milk glass

2 whiteware

1 Albany decorated stoneware

2 cut nail fragment

3 bone

Table 33c. Test Unit 4, Level 7 (60-70 cmbs), Zone B.

1 amber VaselineTM jar

4 whiteware

2 whiteware w/ luster rim

6 late flow blue whiteware w/ gilding

6 unglazed earthenware

2 white and brown glazed redware

5 porcelain

1 polychrome overglaze porcelain

1 grey salt-glazed stoneware

1 Albany decorated stoneware

1 unid burned stoneware
68

Table 33c. Concluded.

4 bisque porcelain insulator frag.

1 clay marble

1 non-ferrous cap

3 mortar

1 paint chip

1 plastic tieback

Table 34c. Test Unit 4, Level 8 (70-80 cmbs), NE Unit.

14 clear flat glass

30 clear curved glass

2 clear rectangular panel bottle base

1 clear hand-finished bottle neck

1 clear lamp chimney fragment

4 rippled clear privacy glass

1 whiteware

5 porcelain

7 cut nail fragment

1 brick rubble

3 bone

Table 35c. Test Unit 5, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 large four-hole milk glass button (Prosser?)

1 brass chain for sink stopper

1 U.S. Lincoln penny, 1942D

3 clear flat glass

1 clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

1 whiteware

1 blue transfer-printed whiteware

1 yellowware

2 cut nail

1 wood screw

2 galvanized roofing nail

1 washer

1 crown cap fragment

1 rubber washer

1 brick rubble
69

Table 36c. Test Unit 5, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

3 clear curved glass

1 green curved glass

2 cut nail fragment

2 brick fragment

1 concrete rubble

Table 37c. Test Unit 5, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

2 clear curved glass

1 clear tumbler glass

1 amber curved glass

1 milk glass canning jar lid liner frag.

1 whiteware

1 unglazed redware

1 cut nail fragment

1 non-ferrous metal rod

1 brick fragment

Table 38c. Test Unit 5, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

31 clear flat glass

9 clear curved glass

2 whiteware

1 knob & tube insulator frag.

8 cut nail fragment

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 composite shingle frag.

1 brick fragment

1 bone

Table 39c. Test Unit 6, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

4 clear flat glass

1 burned green glass

1 curved milk glass

1 whiteware

1 wood screw

1 wire

1 brick fragment

1 bone
70

Table 40c. Test Unit 6, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 two-hole shell button

3 clear flat glass

1 cut nail fragment

1 brick fragment

1 mortar

4 bone

Table 41c. Test Unit 6, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

1 non-ferrous scrap metal

1 plastic knurled knob

Table 42c. Test Unit 6, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

1 white clay pipestem

33 clear flat glass

7 clear curved glass

2 green curved glass

1 clear fully auto bottle neck w/ cork closure

1 milk glass

9 burned whiteware

2 burned transfer-printed whiteware

1 blue-decorated pearlware

5 cut nail fragment

1 mortar

1 snail shell

1 burned bone

1 butchered bone

Table 43c. Test Unit 7, Level 1 (0-10 cmbs).

1 clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

2 whiteware

1 porcelain

2 composite shingle frag.

1 plastic basket

2 cut nail fragment

1 iron washer

2 bone

1 butchered bone

2 brick fragment
71

Table 44c. Test Unit 7, Level 2 (10-20 cmbs).

1 clear curved glass

2 whiteware

1 ceramic drain tile frag.

2 cut nail fragment

1 galvanized roofing nail

5 wire fragment

1 iron strap

1 large iron bolt

1 butchered bone

3 brick fragment

Table 45c. Test Unit 7, Level 3 (20-30 cmbs).

15 clear flat glass

22 clear curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

1 amber curved glass

1 etched glass w/ floral motif

4 whiteware

1 lead-glazed earthenware

7 cut nail fragment

2 brick fragment

1 plastic electrical fixture

Table 46c. Test Unit 7, Level 4 (30-40 cmbs).

3 clear flat glass

5 clear curved glass

4 brown transfer-printed earthenware

3 cut nail fragment

Table 47c. Test Unit 7, Level 4 (40-50 cmbs).

11 clear flat glass

37 clear curved glass

1 solarized clear curved glass

5 whiteware

1 porcelain

1 ceramic drain tile frag.

7 cut nail fragment

1 galvanized roofing nail

1 cut spike

1 wire gutter spike
72

Table 47c. Concluded.

2 non-ferrous metal foot rim frag.

15 bone

1 butchered bone

Table 48c. Test Unit 7, Level 6 (50-60cmbs).

95 flat glass

135 curved glass

1 drinking glass (4 refitting fragments)

3 bottle base fragments

1 jar finish fragment

13 milk glass lid liner fragments

6 whiteware (2 burned)

1 green transfer print maker’s mark

1 luster decorated whiteware

2 burned porcelain

1 stoneware with Albany slip

1 earthenware rim fragment

61 terra cotta flowerpot fragments

1 ceramic insulator

1 ceramic doorknob fragment

39 cut nails and fragments

5 wire nail fragments

1 bolt

1 half round file

5 unidentified ferrous metal fragments

1 corrugated non-ferrous metal strip

1 fuse

2 light bulb base fragment

1 .45 cal. cartridge casing

2 lead sprue?

1 mica disk

1 plaster

3 brick fragments

50 bone

2 shell buttons
73

FIGURES

Figure 1. Map of Lincoln Home National Historic Site.

Figure 2. Henson Robinson House, 2006.
74

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 3. Jesse K. Dubois House, 2006.

Figure 4. Walter Aitken Barn, 2006.
75

FIGURES

Figure 5. Detail of McManus Plat, City of Springfield, 1854.

Figure 6. Detail of Sides Plat, City of Springfield, 1858.
76

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 7. Detail of Ruger's Springfield, Illinois, Drawn from Nature, 1867.

Figure 8. Detail of Beck and Pauli's Map of Springfield, 1870.
77

FIGURES

Figure 9. Detail of Koch's Bird's Eye View of Springfield, Illinois, 1873.

Figure 10. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1884.
78

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 11. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1890.

Figure 12. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1896.
79

FIGURES

Figure 13. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1917.

Figure 14. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1941.
80

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 15. Robinson Lot, Sanborn Map, 1952.

Figure 16. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1884.
81

FIGURES

Figure 17. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1890.

Figure 18. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1896.
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ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 19. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1917.

Figure 20. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1941.
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FIGURES

Figure 21. Dubois Lot, Sanborn Map, 1952.
84

ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES Figure 22. Robinson Lot Excavation Unit Locations.
85

FIGURES

Figure 23. Robinson Back House Area Excavations.
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ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 24. Location of Robinson Parking Pad (1991) and Brick Walk (1993) Units.
87

FIGURES

Figure 25. Robinson Herringbone Walk, Looking West toward 

House.

Figure 26. Robinson Herringbone Walk, 

Looking East toward Alley.
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ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 27. Dubois Lot Excavation Unit Locations.

Figure 28. Dubois Test Unit 1, Level 1.
89

FIGURES

Figure 29. Dubois Test Unit 2, Level 3.

Figure 30a. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites.
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ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES

Figure 30b. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites.

Figure 30c. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites.
91

FIGURES

Figure 31. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites.

Figure 32. Dubois Test Units 4 and 7 Plan Composites.
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ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING OF TWO HISTORIC PROPERTIES