USA > Virginia > Fairfax County > Fairfax County > Colchester Colonial Port on the Potomac > Part 13
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On an 1879 map Hughes is shown as owning three buildings. In the absence of other evidence, it may be assumed that one of the three is the present Duncan house.
George Thomas Hughes had inherited considerable property in Colchester from his father, 14 John Hughes. Only one deed is indexed for any of these town lots. This, made in 1851, refers only to "a certain lot on the north side of the main street." The lot included a well. 15 During the nineteenth century town lots had ceased to be identified by their original plat numbers. To compound the confusion, the Wagener land north of the town line seems to have merged with the town land. 16
As closely as can be determined, the Duncan house lot was acquired by Hughes from Thomas Beard. He, in turn, purchased it in 1833 from Daniel and Mary Wagener Lee. / Mrs. Lee's father, the fourth Peter Wagener, had bought lot #21 for $182 and #23 for $36 in 1811, shortly before his death. When building valuations were added to the land tax list in 1817 the Wagener heirs had one improved lot, with buildings worth $230. The lots bought in 1811 were part of the Thompson estate. 18
The house is known to have been used as a tavern as late as 1800. Its previous ownership by Thompson, Henderson, Ross and Grayson has been discussed in earlier chapters concerning taverns and commercial activities in the town. 19
The Metzger House
Until it was remodeled in 1924, this white frame one and a half story dwelling was similar in appearance to the Duncan house, Placed upon a high fieldstone foun- dation, it is built against the side of a gentle slope. The house is located halfway between the Duncan house and the Occoquan River.
Architectural historians Russell Jones and Worth Bailey, who saw the house in 1959 while compiling the Historic American Buildings Survey, said at that time a few wide and beaded shiplap boards remained on the exterior to indicate the original siding. The house has been considerably altered. The roof was raised seven feet, wide dormers replacing the former peaked ones. Two rooms were added at the rear of the house and a porch built on the west side in 1924 by the present owner, Elmer Metzger, who has lived there since 1913. In that year, he married Hattie Weston, whose family had lived in the house since 1831.
Like the Duncan house, this structure had flanking stone chimneys. The one at the east end of the house was torn down because the bricks on its upper portion were crumbling. It is shown on a photograph taken in 1920. The west chimney has a stone foundation; the upper portion is brick laid in Flemish bond. In architect T. Triplett Russell's opinion the lower part up to the first haunch certainly appears to be of eighteenth century construction.
A wooden porch, measuring 8 by 30 feet, extends across the front of the house. This porch was put on shortly after 1813, replacing a smaller ten foot square porch.
146
Figure 32. Floor plans of Metzger house, 1975.
Metzger House
Scale 1/8" = 1'
Addition
16 x 30
Original House Ext.
18 × 30
Porch
8 × 30
UPPER FLOOR
DINING ROOM
KITCHEN
.
147
Stone Wall
5'
@ Stone Wall
16'
6'2"
5'
5'8"
5'10"
15'
It'9"
Wall
7'9"
PORCH
29' 10"
GROUND FLOOR
Dowm
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
f
UNEXCAVATED
16' Addition
BATH
PANTRY
Up
5
18' Original
LIVING ROOM
-7
PORCH
FIRST FLOOR
The peaked roofline of the original 18 by 30 foot house can be readily seen on the east end of the structure. The addition on the rear of the house is 16 feet wide.
The house originally had a narrow center hall with an open staircase opposite the front door. The hall and east room had a paneled wainscot about 30 inches high, which was removed by Mr. Metzger. He explained that the room was too difficult to heat. The wainscot, along with a simple wooden20 mantel in the west living room, was sold to a resident of Falls Church from whom he later attempted to recover them, but could not remember the man's name. A small portion of the wainscot is still in place in the former stairwell (which is now a closet) and in the cupboard of the room to the rear.
The first floor plan has been considerably altered. A modern partition divides the rooms on the east and of the house. The stairs, which ascended originally from the front hall, were moved first to the east wall of the present (west) living room. In 1924, when the back rooms were added, the stairway was moved again so that it ran straight up from a rear room.
The random width floors are probably original. Each piece is grooved on both sides, and separate tongue pieces join the boards.
The stone basement is entirely above grade on the south front, and was used as a kitchen until the twentieth century. The stone walls are 18 inches thick in the original section of the house. The west exterior wall has a fireplace with a five foot opening, which has been boarded up. Mr. John Metzger, son of the owner, said that within the fireplace the anchors of the iron frame which held the cooking equipment are still in place. This room measures 15 by 18 feet and has five small windows and a door on the south wall. Most of these were put in when the present front porch was put on shortly after 1913.
The east room has a dirt floor about six inches above the level of the brick floor in the former kitchen; the two rooms are separated by an 18 inch stone wall. The new part of the house has no basement.
The framing of the first floor, in Mr. Russell's opinion, is not nearly so remarkable as that in the Duncan house but is obviously old. Some hand made nails are visible but the mortise and tenon joints are not in evidence on a superficial inspection.
At the rear of the house stands an eight by ten foot outbuilding, said to have been a smokehouse. The interior shows no signs of its previous function. There have been many repairs made and the structure, now attached to the garage, was moved by Mr. Metzger. It was formerly located directly behind the house, where a walnut tree now grows.
Opinion is divided on the age of the Metzger house. Bailey and Jones attributed both this and the Duncan house to the second half of the eighteenth century on their 1959 HABS form. An article written in 192021 reported John Weston as saying that the house had been bought by his father in 1850 and rebuilt. It is possible that the stone basement is the only original part of the house. Mr. Russell feels that the existing structure may incorporate parts of the first house.
The building stands on town lot #15, when the 1754 town plat is superimposed on recent aerial photographs. This town lot was bought from the trustees of Colchester in 1758 by merchant Alexander Henderson, who erected a 16 by 25 foot building in 1759 before selling the lot to Hector Ross in 2761. Henderson's building may have
148
been the structure which stood in the front yard of the Metzger house; the foundations of this building were exposed until the beginning of the twentieth century.22 Family tradition states that this building was Henderson's store.
Until 1831, when lot #15 was purchased by Lewis Weston, there is a gap in its ownership. The lot number is given in this deed and it was stated that it had been left to its former owner by his deceased wife Ann Muir, who had previously been Ann Downman. 23 The names provide two possible clues to the intervening history of the lot. In 1805, a William Downman advertised a lot in Colchester containing a dwelling with a kitchen underneath, a well enclosed garden with a spring, and a meathouse adjacent with a stable. 24 No lot number was given.
No deed has been located in which Ross sold the lot. There is, however, a deed indexed from Ross to his Scots employers in 1770-1771 and a deed in 1806 from the attorney of that firm to Ann Muir. 25 Both deedbooks are missing, so this sequence can only remain con- jectural. There are no surviving wills for Mrs. Muir or her husband. 26 Lot #15 was sold by Muir's executor for $100; the other Muir lot (#6/42) brought only $12.50. This would indicate that there were buildings on #15 in 1831 at the time of the sale to Weston. In 1832, the first year in which he paid the land tax, the buildings were valued at $250. Weston acquired, in some fashion, 27 another lot by 1835 and the valuation was increased to $490; from 1855 to 1870 the valuation was $470. No tax was paid by the Muirs previous to 1831.
With Lewis Weston's purchase in that year, the title descended in a direct line to his heirs. The late Mrs. Metzger was a foster daughter of John Weston, the son of Lewis Weston.
149
Figure 33. Colchester Marina. Addie Mae Beach Cox Collection.
Figure 34. Hyde house, c. 1923, Addie Mae Beach Cox Collection.
1 50
Chapter IX Notes
1 Potomac News (Dumfries, Virginia), October 8, 1971.
2
Maryland Gazette, July 9, 1767.
3 Interview with Mrs. Hugh Lynn, Occoquan, Virginia, in May 1971. Mrs. Lynn, daughter of A. H. Roberts, said that her father had made no other changes in the house.
4 Interview with Mrs. John Enochs, owner of Mount Air, Lorton, Virginia, in July 1971. She has lived there since 1914 and recalls seeing the Duncan house and its butterfly shelves.
5 Interview with Mrs. Peg Williams of Occoquan, daughter of A. H. Roberts. June 1971.
6
Interview with T. Triplett Russell, A.I.A., March 1971. A steel I-beam was installed to support the basement timbers after the house was purchased in 1927 by R. R. Gillingham, according to Mrs. Lynn.
7 Russell interview.
8
Fairfax County Chancery Records, File #15098, Williams v. Seidell.
9 Interview with Mrs. Mary Beach, Arlington, Virginia, October 1971. She 'recalls that the tenant farmer was one of the Violet family.
10
Evening Star, August 1, 1920. Mr. Arthur Beach, of Colchester, told the author of the tombstones. The Hyde residence, according to Mr. Elmer Metzger, may have been built on an old foundation.
1 51
11
Fairfax County Deed Book E-6, p. 229. The tract had been acquired from Potter in 1887 (see G-5, p. 140).
12 Fairfax County Deed Book E-6, p. 361.
13
Ibid., p. 228.
14 Fairfax County Deed Book F-5, p. 302, states that George Thomas Hughes was John Hughes' only heir. Hughes' other lots are described in Chapter VII, note 33.
15 Fairfax County Deed Book U-3, p. 468. The well is still usable, but a change in county regulations made it necessary to sink a new well. Mr. Summers, of the Fairfax County Health Department's Eastern Branch, stated that the brick-lined well at the Duncan house bore a close resemblance to wells at Mount Air and Belmont, two other landmarks in the southern part of Fairfax County. In an interview on December 1, 1971, he commented upon the careful craftsmanship found in these ancient wells.
16 Fairfax County Chancery Records, File #15098, Williams v. Seidell. Deposition of title examiner Courtland Davis, of Davis & Ruffner. The 17 acres north of the town line had been sold by the Lees to Haislip, then to Weston.
17 Fairfax County Deed Book B-3, p. 11.
18
Ibid., L-2, p. 5
19
See Chapter III. 20 The present mantel is brick.
21
Evening Star, August 1, 1920.
22
The late Mrs. Metzger remembered these foundations. She said there was a spring in the cellar.
1 52
23 Fairfax County Deed Book Z-2, p. 284.
24 Alexandria Daily Advertiser, January 26, 1805.
25
Fairfax County Deed Book J-1, p. 398 and F-2, p. 228.
26 Francis Muir, of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, died about 1830. The county will books predating 1831 have been destroyed.
27 There are no deeds for this or five other lots which he got between 1845 and 1855. Land tax lists within these dates have not been studied.
1 53
.
Figure 35. Fairfax Arms, 1959. Russell Jones photo. Library of Congress.
154
Chapter X ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION
Photoarchaeological Evidence
In order to determine what traces of the colonial town might remain beneath the surface of the ground, the Fairfax County History Commission retained J. Glenn Little, Director of Contract Archaeology, Inc., and requested that he have infrared aerial photographs made of the town site of Colchester.
The flight was made in April 1970, by Air Photographics, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland. The flight was timed for that part of the spring growing period when the ground foliage is most sensitive to the reflectivity of infrared wave lengths. As Mr. Little explained in his interpretive report,
When the earth is disturbed through the building of a foundation or by the plowing of a field, the organic matter in the turned soil increases at a faster or slower speed. If more moisture and nutrients enter the soil, possibly because it is loose or because moisture-holding bricks, stones and wood lie below, the organic growth rate increases. This moisture now feeds the surface grasses and plants, adding to the reflectivity of the brightness of their chlorophyll ... if the disturbed soil is packed and hard ... moisture cannot reach the particles. Then the surface cover reflects less and the film records duller, less intense shades. 1
When this infrared image is converted into color on transparent film the resulting gradations in hue can indicate to the trained eye the outline of underground foundation holes, trashpits or wells. Traces of previous roads and former shorelines may sometimes be ascertained.
This technique is limited by the flight conditions involved, by misleading soil disturbances due to natural causes and by technical factors. Infrared photography cannot reveal disturbances deeper than a few feet below ground surface, nor can it discriminate between a barn which burned in 1930 and a dwelling destroyed a century before. Within these limitations, however, infrared aerial photography is a useful tool for the archaeologist.
When properly interpreted, the locations of such potential underground structures can be pinpointed. Rectangular outlines delineated on the surface of the ground may indicate the presence of the remains of a man-made structure below. With the aid of the photographs, the extent of a subsequent field survey can be determined and pro- spective archaeological sites given a preliminary evaluation.
155
Mr. Little spent approximately 20 hours on the interpretation of the three nine by nine inch aerials, which are at an approximately scale of 1 inch = 220 feet. Viewed under magnification, they revealed 21 potential archaeological sites in Colchester which can be termed high priority sites. Two additional potential sites were found on the opposite shore of the Occoquan, one of which corresponds with the traditional location of the Mason ferry house. Ten of the 21 potential archaeological sites are classified by Mr. Little as "primary" in view of their clarity of outline compared to the colors of the surrounding soil.
In addition to the individual sites, four roads were defined which are no longer evident on the surface of the ground. These roads do not seem to have any connection with the town streets as laid out on the 1754 plat. One runs parallel to and just south of the RF&P railroad tracks, another runs in an arc northwest from potential site #23 and then turns southward to terminate in the driveway west of the Duncan house. A third road, parallel to the present Colchester Road (the historical Essex Street), does not seem to be at the requisite distance in a southerly direction which would enable it to correspond with the alignment of the other east-west street (Fairfax) on the town plat . A path was identified as extending southward perpendicular to Colchester Road, but in Mr. Little's opinion, "it does not have the indications of being a road with the same characteristics of the conjectured Fairfax Street."
Having plotted these features on an overlay, then superimposing the 1754 town plat upon the overlaid infrared photographs, the next step would be to examine the correlation between the two. Do a signficant number of sites fall within individual lot boundaries? Are the two existing houses which remain from the early town positioned in accord with the historical record? The archaeologist concluded that "a degree of correlation has been achieved between the sites mapped historically from the records and sites mapped from photoarchaeological interpretation ... the percentage is high enough to justify continuation of research. "2
Given this confirmation, a field survey was begun. The first objective was to determine which sites on the photographs represented structures known to be of twentieth century construction. Conversations with Mr. Metzger and Mr. Arthur Beach, both Colchester residents for over 50 years, seem to confirm the fact that some potential sites are recent. Site #3, north of the town, was identified as a late nineteenth century house site; #4, west of the Metzger house, as a twentieth century barn. Site #23 represents the twentieth century Hyde residence (burned 1939)3 and #21 is probably his barn.
Curiously enough, sites #9-14, on waterfront which has been disturbed by fill and grading, do not seem to be of recent origin. Neither man can recall any structures standing at these locations within their memory. This indicates that test excavations should be made at these spots, as well as at the remaining pretwentieth century locations. This procedure would occur after a preliminary field search of the surface to find out what type of artifacts can be seen on the ground. Following this examination, limited excavation in the form of test pits should be carried out at each site to ascertain the time period in which manmade objects fall. Sites then considered to be of eighteenth century origin might then be excavated more fully.
156
..
Mr. Little's study of the photographic evidence has confirmed, in his opinion, that the dimensions of the sites correspond generally with measurements of eighteenth and nineteenth century domestic structures.
He proposed that a field survey should be carried out to see whether the streets identified on the photographs exist physically. This should be done before individual site examination as a check upon the theoretical layout of the town. Limited testing for the location of Fairfax Street and for the assumed line of the intersecting north- south street (Wine Street) shown on the town plat was conducted on October 19, 1971. Through the cooperation of the Fairfax County Park Authority a backhoe and two operators were provided. Mr. George Shake and Mr. Richard Aldridge, of the Park Authority staff, joined Mr. Little in Colchester. Mrs. Mary Beach, owner of the pro- perty involved, was present, along with the author.
The historical record showed that the driveway into the Beach residence was the approximate location of Wine Street.4 A 35-foot trench, 25 inches wide and 30 inches deep, was opened on the west side of the driveway. The trench began six feet, five inches north of the telephone pole. Its profile showed ten inches of topsoil over a subsoil of yellow clay. A 20-foot cross trench was then excavated. This intersected the first trench and also cut across the present driveway. Along the north wall of this trench, some four feet west of the driveway, was evidence of a previous alignment of the road. Testimony given in a lawsuit in 19115 stated that the location of this road (Wine Street) had been changed from time to time.
This former alignment was ascertained by a pebbly layer speckled with brick dust. The topsoil in the wall of the cross trench was more compact than that of the lateral trench, within the area of the former road. A thin layer of red clay had percolated down through the brown topsoil, indicating that dirt had at one time been brought in to level off the surface. This might have been done in 1911 when ploughing took place over the area, cutting off access to Colchester Road and thus precipitating the lawsuit. The red clay traces were not found in the lateral trench.
Another pair of trenches were excavated in the brush area north of the Beach house approximately 38 feet west of the present driveway. These were placed in an attempt to locate a foundation recalled by Mrs. Beach's mother. The east-west trench revealed no trace of such a foundation. Occasional half-bricks (a few with one end glazed), oyster shells and a few pieces of late nineteenth century ceramics were found here. At its western end a triangular piece of rusted iron, 122 inches at the base and 92 inches on the sides, was found in topsoil seven inches below the surface.
The second set of trenches provided further information concerning soil conditions. They differed from the first set having a layer of gravel at a depth of 24 inches. The clay subsoil was more moist in the second cross trench than had been the case in the inter- secting east-west lateral trench, and both showed a heavier concentration of naturally- occurring slate fragments than in the first set of trenches.
Another feature uncovered in the wall of the north-south cross trench was a cluster of six fieldstones, ranging from 18 to 24 inches in length. These rested on the gravel layer about two feet below the surface. The stones were located ten feet north of the lateral trench and 82 feet west of the telephone pole. Associated with them and about six inches above was an isolated group of artifacts, consisting of one cut nail, two brick
1 57
39
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25
40
23
24
41
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18
26
St.
30
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Wine
St.
1500
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10
7
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00 13
20 214
12 Fairfax
14
13
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7
90
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42
38
-
N
36
River
SCALE : /"= 200'
Occoquan
·
TOWN
PLAN OF ....
15
A
19 17
St.
3
COLECHESTER
!
1 58
Figure 36. "A Plan of Colchester Town," surveyed by George West in 1754, showing numbered archeaological sites referred to in text. Prepared by the Division of Mapping for the Office of Comprehensive Planning, Fairfax County, Virginia.
29
Essex
18
4 Rts.
PARKINI, ARFA
PARKING AREA
HIGHWAY Highway
RICHMOND FREDEICORTROM.
Plantation.J
13
AND
RICHMOND
21
15 Outlet Rd.
17
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5
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18
: 16
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10626
17
10623
5
10631
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107
709
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22
18
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14
13
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28
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29
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31 33
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Figure 37. The old plan of Colchester shown in relation to modern landmarks in the locality. Prepared by the Division of Mapping for the Office of Comprehensive Planning, Fairfax County, Virginia.
4 . 10
fragments, one shard of green feather-edge Wedgewood and three fragments of amber bottle glass.
Such limited test trenching was unproductive as far as discovering a house foun- dation but it served to give a general picture of the soil profile. The scattered brick fragments and occasional artifacts are an indication, at least, that the area is not barren. Additional testing was conducted in June 1972, at the site of the Hyde house.
Potential Sites and Historical Evidence
When the 1754 town plat is superimposed on the marked aerial photographs, it is possible to add evidence taken from documentary sources. This provides another dimen- sion to the picture of the early town. The comparison between town lots, historic data concerning structures built upon them, and indications of subsurface disturbances must be viewed as conjectural until actual excavation has determined the exact nature of the town's archaeological sites.
In keeping with the basic tenents of sound archaeological techniques, one must dig in the records before digging in the ground. The present study attempts to provide such documentary excavation.
Documentary Evidence of Colchester Structures
Town Lot
Archaeological Site
Details
Date
1/36
Colchester Tavern6
c. 1757
3
Storehouse, stable, lot fenced;
by 1767
2 foundations said to be under
driveway (Metzger information)
2/4
#7,9,10,18
Bayly had tavern license
1758
5
#19
Moore residence
by 1782
7
Warehouse lot
by 1764
8
Warehouse lot
1772
12
Gibson residence for rent
1784
13
#8
Log house; gone by 1817
by 1772
14
#20
Henderson store, stable; ad in
by 1767
1811 "good dwelling needs repairs;" gone by 1817
160
Town Lot
Archaeological Site
Details
Date
15
#5,6
16'x25' fenced building, possible kitchen, smokehouse; buildings worth $250 in 1832
1759
18/26
Required improvements made on one, by 1760 vineyard on other
19
#17
Grayson rents storehouse, agrees to finish counting room, build stable, and finish cellar of store.7
by 1762
20
Mcintosh, owner, living in Col- chester
by 1759
19/21/23
#16
Dwelling suitable for tavern; ad for dwelling, kitchen with room at one end (lathed and plastered with plank floor), stable, meathouse.
by 1767 1784
22
#21
Buildings worth $130
1817
23
"Linton's Enclosure "8
pre-1772
24
#22
Storehouse 1780
27
"Where Gardenshire had lived;" tan- yard later; no buildings by 1817
1775
29
Warehouse lot
by 1764
38
Landing house with cellar (or on # 5)
1760
40
Possible store; buildings worth $175 in 1817 (or on #24); house standing 1836
42/6
#11,12,13,14
Landing house (on #6)
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