Field Quarter Cabin 3

• Overview
• Documentary evidence
• Excavation history, procedure, and methods
• Summary of Research and Analysis

Overview

Plan view of Cabin 3 during excavation. Photograph taken facing north.

The remains of Cabin 3, one of four contemporaneous brick duplexes that housed the enslaved at the Field Quarter, were located during a 1990 archaeological survey. Like Cabins 1, 2, and 4, Cabin 3 was a brick duplex with a rectangular limestone foundation measuring approximately forty-by-twenty feet, divided into two living areas by a limestone cross-wall, and flanked by a chimney at either end. Excavations inside the cabin revealed three subfloor storage pits or root cellars, a hearth, as well as a subfloor pit feature that pre-dates the limestone foundation, a vestige of the earlier generation of housing at the Field Quarter. Outside Cabin 3, a porch or foundation for steps as well as adjacent yard space, were investigated. Archaeological work carried out by The Hermitage archaeology staff as well as Earthwatch volunteers during field seasons in 1990, 1991, and 1995, make it the most completely excavated of the cabin sites at the Field Quarter.

Documentary evidence

Cabin 3 location at Hermitage Plantation.

The area known as the Field Quarter at the Hermitage is located one-third mile north of the mansion. It was home to as many as eighty enslaved individuals between the 1820s and the 1850s, who worked in the outlying fields (Galle 2004). It was likely a crowded and lively place, and perhaps one of the centers of the plantation community, though the documentary record provides little information on life there. The number of slaves and some slaves’ names are gleaned from lists in account books and various references in letters penned by Jackson family members over the years.

Though no accurate maps or depictions exist that detail the types, locations, or dates of construction of the slave housing at the Field Quarter contemporaneous with Cabin 3, a few key references in letters, receipt books, and traveler’s accounts describe them as four brick duplex buildings that housed eight families ranging in size from five to twelve members. Evidence that the duplexes were still standing in 1856 survives in a newspaper advertisement announcing that the 500 acres of the plantation encompassing the field quarter of the property were for sale. In the ad, Jackson lists some prominent landscape features including, “Several fine springs, good cotton gin, overseer’s house, saw mill, four double brick negro cabins, blacksmith and carpenter’s shop, &c.” ( Nashville Union and American, June 13, 1856, p. 2).

By the 1970s, longtime Hermitage employees who were interviewed about their recollections of the “North Field” or Field Quarter remembered only one or two brick buildings still standing in the 1920’s located near a deep and still very active spring. Archaeological investigation in the Field Quarter began with a survey conducted in 1976 by Samuel D. Smith of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in which he confirmed locations of two of the 20-by-40 ft. limestone block foundations in the Field Quarter and indicated in his report on the project, “… hopefully, a more thorough investigation of these sites can be undertaken at a future date (Smith et al, 1977).”

Excavation history, procedure, and methods

Undated photograph of a duplex at the First Hermitage, known as East Cabin. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Though Smith conducted a Field Quarter survey and some unit excavations at Cabins 1 and 2, Cabin 3 remained largely uninvestigated until Larry McKee became director of Archaeology at the Hermitage in 1990. At the beginning of his tenure, McKee established a partnership program with the organization Earthwatch which proved to be a successful involvement lasting several years. Earthwatch volunteers supervised by experienced excavators carried out fieldwork at Cabin 3 and the Field Quarter during his time.

McKee established a grid system with an 1150 ft baseline, oriented to magnetic north, which served as the system used in both the shovel testing program and the later cabin excavations at the Field Quarter. Shovel tests were then dug over the entire fifteen acres at the Field Quarter in 1990, in order to build on Smith’s work and get data on the specific distribution of subsurface remains. Once the Cabin 3 site boundary was established by results of shovel testing, unit excavations began. Research goals driving Cabin 3 unit excavations included determining whether there was evidence of an earlier occupation at the cabin, thorough investigation of the cabin layout and construction, and exploration of yard space surrounding it.

Cabin 3 site map.

Notable Features inside Cabin 3

The west half of Cabin 3 was first uncovered in 1990. In 1995, work continued inside the cabin on exposing the cross wall dividing the two halves and investigating other attributes of the cabin layout. It was discovered Cabin 3 had a limestone foundation measuring 40-by-20 ft, and like other cabins at the Quarter, was divided in half by a partition that would have provided the living space for one family on each side. Chimneys flanked the structure at either end. The western chimney of Cabin 3 was fully exposed and excavated in 1995, revealing that it protruded out from the foundation approximately 1.5 feet. Adjacent to the chimney base, between it and two root cellar chambers dug in 1990 (Features 279 and 291), lay the hearth area. At the surface, the hearth area measured approximately 3.5-by-4 ft, and still had remnants of a brick surface intact.

Top exposure of hearth, Feature 280, looking west.

In 1990, excavation beneath a rubble layer inside the cabin revealed some curious, short, roughly-made limestone walls in association with a brick-lined subfloor pit or root cellar adjacent to the hearth (F279). The presence of this subfloor pit, with interior measurements of approximately 2.8-by-2.25 ft, came as no surprise as these storage features are commonly found at slave cabin sites in the mid-Atlantic region. Further work on the area, however, revealed that the brick-lined chamber was just one of three adjacent rectangular pit features (with F291 and F301), and that the brick-lined pit was a late addition, subdividing an originally much longer cellar with a total length of 10 feet. This alteration, along with the construction of the bordering limestone walls, may have been done in an attempt to create a barrier to protect stored foods from rats and mice, which are well represented in the faunal remains collected from the site.

Interestingly, Feature 590, a cellar, was found to underlie the foundation of the cabin and therefore, pre-date it. Initially it was thought to be a builder’s trench because it abutted the south foundation wall, but it was later discovered to continue underneath the foundation. Once excavators defined it north of the foundation, it was identified as a cellar based on dimensions. The rectangular pit cut measured 7-by-6 ft and was over two feet deep. The bottom of the cellar had large ash deposits. A small trench measuring 0.3 ft wide lined the bottom inside edge of the cellar and wood impressions indicated it was wood-lined. A semi-circular pit with unknown function (F581) containing charcoal, burnt bone, and glass, was also discovered underneath the cabin’s foundation near the southwest corner. These two features were likely remains of the first generation of slave housing at The Hermitage.

Detail of site map showing subfloor pit Features 279, 291 and 301 and their relationship to the hearth, Feature 280.

First Generation Housing at the Field Quarter

The early structures at the Field Quarter were wood, probably log, cabins. Then, some time after 1821, when the Hermitage mansion was completed and Jackson owned the land outright, the brick duplex cabins were constructed. The extant log structures were likely in a state of disrepair and the number of slaves at the Hermitage was steadily growing, creating the need for new housing. The 1820 U.S. census listed 44 slaves on the property, a number that rose to nearly 100 by 1830. There is evidence that bricks were produced locally and readily available after 1820, facilitating this construction phase (Thomas 1998).

Notable Features in Cabin 3 Yard Area

Due to the cramped living conditions at the Field Quarter, with each family occupying a 20-by-20 ft cabin, many activities probably took place outdoors. Excavation of the yard space at Cabin 3 was intended to yield a better understanding of how residents used exterior spaces near their cabins and provide information about the occupation sequence at the Field Quarter. Expected features such as postholes were uncovered. Some likely were related to the actual construction of the cabin (e.g.,scaffolding posts), while others may have supported structural extensions like a porch or served as chimney supports. Others still may have been links in pens and fences that criss-crossed the yard area.

Four post holes forming a distinct fenceline were excavated at approximately 9-ft intervals 4.5 ft east of the cabin’s east foundation (F356, F585, F586, F587). The fenceline ran along the same northeast alignment as the foundation, suggesting that the fence dated to the same period as the brick cabins–or possibly with earlier structures that followed the same grid.

Feature 590, a subfloor pit, pre-dates the limestone foundation of Cabin 3.

Evidence of a porch was discovered on the south side of the structure, which was likely the entrance to the house. Feature 331, a set of large limestone blocks located two feet south of the foundation wall, likely supported a set of wooden steps leading up to the doorway. Sam Smith’s work in the mid-1970’s around the South Cabin foundation at the first Hermitage complex also came up with a cluster of limestone in almost the same juxta- position with its southeast corner (Smith 1976:105).

Also discovered in the Yard Area at Cabin 3 in 1991, was a possible “paved area,” consisting of mid-sized limestone pieces extending northeast from the northeast corner of the cabin foundation (F 337) in a linear band. The paving ran parallel to the cabin’s orientation. The surface beneath the limestone was very hard, and appeared to have been subjected to intense heat. The only artifacts recovered were a cut nail and a very small hand-painted whiteware sherd. A 10-by-10 ft excavation unit was opened to the west of the paving and north of Cabin 3 (N250W020) to investigate it further, which revealed a continuation of the paving north of the foundation.

Subfloor pit, Feature 590, pre-dates Cabin 3. Photograph taken from west.

A five-foot-deep pit (F616) that was also discovered in this unit, contained lumps of dense ash and partially disintegrated limestone, indicating it was possibly used as a lime-processing pit. The limestone was the same size and grade as that of the paving (Feature 337) and may have also been used to produce lime for mortar, possibly for the later brick cabin construction. But the pit’s depth and truncated shape below the ash and limestone remained unexplained. The fill contained no historic artifacts, indicating it was likely filled shortly after it was dug. One scenario is that it was an attempt at digging a well, but was unlikely based on the fact that the people who lived at the Field Quarter were quite experienced at such things, and the idea that they would choose the highest location around for a well makes little sense. Furthermore, a still-active spring is only about 100 yards away, and would have provided a convenient source of fresh water. For these reasons, Feature 616 remains unexplained.

Cabin 3 Yard Area excavations also revealed a dense artifact scatter (F632), originally exposed approximately 15 feet east of Cabin 3 in 1991. The high density of artifacts and dark soil indicated that the area might have been an intentional storage pit of some kind, but no clear pit outlines were ever defined during the 1995 work. Instead, it is likely that this was a naturally low-lying area conducive to refuse build-up. Numerous glazed unrefined earthenware sherds, a complete juvenile pig skeleton, buckles, a piece of early milk glass, and a hand-held grinding stone were recovered from the trash pit.

Feature 581, an unidentified pit that pre-dates the Cabin 3 limestone foundation, shown after excavation looking east.

Artifact scatters were common in the upper deposit layers of units near the cabin, but there was an “empty zone” between these scatters and the location of the trash pit. These empty zones likely represent a swept area that was kept clear of debris in the yard.

Cabin 3 Notable Artifacts

A study of abundances of sewing-related artifacts at Cabin 3 such as a thimble, clothing hooks and eyes, needles, scissors, and straight pins, are relatively low compared to those at the Triplex Middle where a seamstress likely lived and worked. The lower abundance at Cabin 3 suggests routine garment repair and small-scale clothing production that would have been normal for a domestic site (Galle 2004).

Among the remarkable artifacts recovered at Cabin 3, were an 1853 gold one-dollar coin and a mother-of-pearl disk etched with the initials “A J” possibly from one of Jackson’s canes. Both artifacts were recovered from the same disturbed stratigraphic level of the same unit and offer little in the way of analytical utility. Perhaps the most interesting artifact found at Cabin 3 was a small brass charm in the shape of a human hand clinching its fist around a circled length of flattened wire, known as a “hand charm”. This is the second such charm found at the Hermitage. The first one was recovered during excavations at the South Cabin by Sam Smith in 1975 (Smith, 1976: 210-211). Though little is known of the origins of the hand charms, symbolic interpretations abound. It is likely that Jackson would not have distributed these charms and that they are objects that would have been worn and acquired by slaves. The charm was found in the destruction /plowzone layer of a unit just outside the south side of the Cabin 3 foundation.

Additional artifact types discarded at Cabin 3 suggest its inhabitants likely participated at some level in a local market economy. Personal items that were recovered such as beads, buckles, buttons, combs, as well as toy marbles and dolls would not have been provisioned but instead purchased or procured somehow by enslaved individuals (Galle 2004).

Stone paving, Feature 337. Photograph taken from north.

Methods

McKee and crew dug shovel tests over the entire fifteen acres at the Field Quarter in 1990. McKee established a grid system with an 1150 ft. baseline, oriented to magnetic north, which served as the system used in both the shovel testing program and the later cabin excavations at the Field Quarter. Shovel tests measuring 1-by-1 ft were then dug at 50-ft intervals across the project area. Dirt was screened through quarter-inch mesh, and a careful examination of the soil profiles in the cuts was done in order to look for any traces of buried deposits. All artifacts were bagged by provenience and returned to the lab for washing and cataloging, with the exception of brick and limestone rubble, which was tallied and left in the field.

The formal, large-scale excavations at the site used standard archaeological techniques and methods, applied and modified as necessary to the specific requirements of the site. The standard excavation units employed were 10-by-10 ft squares aligned to the same grid system and baseline used in prior shovel test survey. Although by some archaeological standards this unit size is very large, it is particularly well suited for excavations geared to exposing architectural remains. Five-by-five foot “quadrant” subdivisions of the units were often used during the project in situations where a finer-grained look at artifact distribution was called for, or in order to quickly expose new ground.

Brass hand charm excavated in plowzone/destruction layer outside Cabin 3.

Stratigraphic divisions followed the natural layering of the deposits, with the scheme based on strata seen during excavation at other cabins in the Field Quarter: A well-developed sod layer (referred to by excavators as Level 1), followed by a plowzone/other disturbance stratum (Level 2A), followed by a layer formed during abandonment/destruction (Level 2B), with a layer formed during primary occupation (Level 2C) beneath it. Soil and structural features, such as postholes, foundations, pits, and cellars, were defined and dug as separate entities from the usual provenience divisions of levels within grid squares. Photographs were taken and drawings were made whenever warranted by exposures of artifacts or features of note. All deposits below the first sod layer were screened through quarter-inch mesh hardware cloth, and samples from deposits of particular interest (such as root cellars) were waterscreened through eighth-inch window screen. In addition, soil samples were kept from these deposits for flotation analysis in an effort to recover any surviving micro-examples of floral remains, such as charred seeds.

Summary of Research and Analysis

Cabin 3 was one of four brick pen structures in the field quarter at the Hermitage.  Excavations revealed a rectangular forty-by-twenty foot structure supported by a limestone foundation with a dividing cross wall and a chimney at each gable end. Notable features include a cellar located in the west half of the cabin. Originally measuring ten feet in length, it was later divided into three chambers, one of which was brick lined.  Two features provided evidence of an earlier structure beneath Cabin 3’s foundation: an additional cellar located partially in the west half of the cabin, and an unidentified pit. These features are interpreted as remnants of the first generation of log or wood houses at the field quarter which predate the 1830s  (Thomas 1998).

Inhabitants at Cabin 3 routinely discarded items that are indicative of normal domestic life, such as ceramics that would have been provided by Jackson. In addition to these, they discarded numerous non-provisioned items like beads, buckles, buttons, toy marbles and doll parts, suggestive of market participation at some level beyond provisioning that would have provided them access to these items (Galle 2004).

DAACS chronological analysis identified five phases spanning throughout the nineteenth century at Cabin 3. (see Cabin 3’s Chronology page). The principal investigators of Cabin 3 did not develop a chronology for the site, so the chronology presented here is the only current chronology for Cabin 3.