Daily Life at Jamestown 300 Years Ago As Revealed by Recovered Objects

By J. PAUL HUDSON Museum Curator, Colonial National Historical Park

"Hitherto they [historians] have depended too much upon ma.n.u.script evidences... Perhaps the day is not distant when the social historian, whether he is writing about the New England Puritans, or the Pennsylvania Germans, or the rice planters of Southern Carolina, will look underground, as well as in the archives, for his evidence."--DR.

T.J. WERTENBAKER

Archeological explorations at Jamestown, Va.--site of the first successful English colony in the New World--have brought to light thousands of colonial period artifacts which were used by the Virginia settlers from 1607 until 1699.

A study of these ancient objects, which were buried under the soil at Jamestown for many decades, reveal in many ways how the English colonists lived on a small wilderness island over 300 years ago.

Artifacts unearthed include pottery and gla.s.sware, clay pipes, building materials and handwrought hardware, tools and farm implements, weapons, kitchen utensils and fireplace accessories, furniture hardware, lighting devices, eating and drinking vessels, tableware, costume accessories and footwear, medical equipment, horse gear, coins and weights, and many items relating to household and town industries, transportation, trade, and fishing.

These artifacts provide invaluable information concerning the everyday life and manners of the first Virginia settlers. A brief description of many of them is given on the following pages.

Excavated artifacts reveal that the Jamestown colonists built their houses in the same style as those they knew in England, insofar as local materials permitted. There were differences, however, for they were in a land replete with vast forests and untapped natural resources close at hand which they used to advantage. The Virginia known to the first settlers was a carpenter's paradise, and consequently the early buildings were the work of artisans in wood. The first rude shelters, the split-wood fencing, the clapboard roof, puncheon floors, cupboards, benches, stools, and wood plows are all examples of skilled working with wood.

Houses

Timber at Jamestown was plentiful, so many houses, especially in the early years, were of frame construction. During the first decade or two, house construction reflected a primitive use found ready at hand, such as saplings for a sort of framing, and use of branches, leaf.a.ge, bark, and animal skins. During these early years--when the settlers were having such a difficult time staying alive--mud walls, wattle and daub, and coa.r.s.e marshgra.s.s thatch were used. Out of these years of improvising, construction with squared posts, and later with quarterings (studs), came into practice. There was probably little thought of plastering walls during the first two decades, and when plastering was adopted, clay, or clay mixed with oyster-sh.e.l.l lime, was first used. The early floors were of clay, and such floors continued to be used in the humbler dwellings throughout the 1600's. It can be a.s.sumed that most of the dwellings, or shelters, of the Jamestown settlers, certainly until about 1630, had a rough and primitive appearance.

After Jamestown had attained some degree of permanency, many houses were built of brick. It is quite clear from doc.u.mentary records and archeological remains, that the colonists not only made their own brick, but that the process, as well as the finished products, followed closely the English method. Four brick kilns were discovered on Jamestown Island during archeological explorations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN EARLY JAMESTOWN HOUSE. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A BRICK HOUSE AT JAMESTOWN, ABOUT 1640. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MAJORITY OF THE LOCKS AND KEYS USED IN THE EARLY HOUSES WERE IMPORTED FROM ENGLAND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FEW 17TH-CENTURY HANDWROUGHT HINGES IN THE JAMESTOWN COLLECTION.]

BUILDING HARDWARE

While some of the handwrought hardware found at Jamestown was made in the colony, most of it was imported from England. Types of building hardware unearthed include an excellent a.s.sortment of nails, spikes, staples, locks, keys, hinges, pintles, shutter fasteners, bolts, hasps, latches, door knockers, door pulls, footsc.r.a.pers, gutter supports, wall anchors, and ornamental hardware. In many instances each type is represented by several varieties. Citing 2 examples, there are more than 20 kinds of nails and at least 15 different kinds of hinges in the collection.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME NAILS, SPIKES, STAPLES, AND OTHER IRON HARDWARE USED AT JAMESTOWN OVER 300 YEARS AGO.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME JAMESTOWN HOUSES HAD LEADED GLAZED WROUGHT-IRON WINDOW CAs.e.m.e.nTS SIMILAR TO THE ONES SHOWN HERE. (Courtesy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.)]

It is believed that wooden hardware was used on many of the early houses.

WINDOWS

A few gla.s.s window panes may have been made in the Jamestown gla.s.s factory which was built in 1608. Most of the window gla.s.s used in the colony, however, was shipped from England. Many of the early panes used were diamond-shaped (known as "quarrels"), and were held in place by means of slotted lead strips (known as "cames"). The window frames used in a few of the Jamestown houses were handwrought iron cas.e.m.e.nts. Most of the humbler dwellings had no gla.s.s panes in the windows. The window openings were closed by batten shutters, operated by hinges of wood and fitted with wooden fastening devices.

WALL AND FIREPLACE TILE

Most of the hand-painted tiles used at Jamestown (for decorating walls and fireplaces) were imported from Holland. A few were made in England.

Made of a light-buff clay, and known as delftware, the tiles unearthed are decorated in blue, with a conventionalized design in each corner and a central picture or motif. Covered with a tin glaze, the majority of tiles found measure about 5 inches square by 3/8-inch thick. The edges are beveled, permitting them to be set very close together at the glazed surface. The attractively decorated tiles added a touch of beauty to a few Jamestown interiors.

ROOFING MATERIALS

Four kinds of roofing materials have been excavated: Plain, flat, earthenware tiles; curved earthenware pantiles; slate; and wooden shingles. The plain tiles were made in Jamestown brick kilns, and it is possible that some of the S-curved red pantiles were also made locally.

Slate was brought over from England, whereas most of the shingles were rived from native cedar and oak logs. Other materials used in roofing included bark, marshgra.s.s and reeds (thatch), and boards. Sod appears to have been used on some of the very early houses.

LIME

Lime for mortar, plaster, and ornamental plaster was made in crude lime kilns at Jamestown from calcined oyster sh.e.l.ls. The oyster sh.e.l.ls came from the James River.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A WROUGHT-IRON WINDOW CAs.e.m.e.nT UNEARTHED NEAR AN EARLY 17TH-CENTURY BUILDING SITE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WALL OR FIREPLACE TILES FOUND AT JAMESTOWN WHICH WERE MADE IN HOLLAND. THE BLUE DESIGNS AND PICTURES WERE PAINTED ON A WHITE BACKGROUND.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: KINDS OF ROOFING MATERIALS EXCAVATED INCLUDE FLAT TILES (SHOWN HERE), CURVED PANTILES, SLATE, AND SHINGLES.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ORNAMENTAL PLASTER WAS USED IN A FEW BUILDINGS FOR ENHANCING THE BEAUTY OF BOTH THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE INTERIOR OF A SMALL JAMESTOWN HOUSE, ABOUT 1650.

ALTHOUGH THE PAINTING IS CONJECTURAL, MANY ITEMS SHOWN--POTTERY, GLa.s.sWARE, FIREPLACE TOOLS, AND KITCHEN ACCESSORIES--WERE UNEARTHED ON THIS HISTORIC ISLAND. (Painting by Sidney E. King.)]

PLASTER AND MORTAR

Plaster and mortar have been found at Jamestown in abundance. It appears that the majority of brick houses and many frame structures had plastered walls and ceilings after 1635. Some plaster found had been whitewashed, while other plaster bore its natural whitish-gray color.

Mortar was found wherever brick foundations were located. The plaster and mortar used at Jamestown was made from oystersh.e.l.l lime, sand, and clay.

ORNAMENTAL PLASTERWORK

Ornamental plaster was found in a few of the excavations. The plasterwork was done in raised ornamental designs used for enhancing the beauty of both the interior and exterior of a building. Designs that have been found include Roman numerals, letters, mottos, crests, veined leaves, rosettes, flowers, geometric designs, a lion, and a face or mask. Many fragments of molded plaster cornices have also been excavated. Broken oyster sh.e.l.ls are distinguishable in the decorated plasterwork, indicating that the pargeting was done at Jamestown.

House Furnishings

Busy conquering a stubborn wilderness, the first Jamestown settlers had only a few things to make their houses cosy and cheerful. In most cases, their worldly goods consisted of a few cooking utensils, a change of clothing, a weapon or two, and a few pieces of homemade furniture.

However, between 1607 and 1612, George Percy was generously outfitted with some necessities as well as much fine apparel and numerous luxury items (including a feather bed) by his brother the Ninth Earl of Northumberland, as published records of the Earl's expenditures for George show. Other persons of gentle birth and position quite probably enjoyed similar goods.

After the early years of hardship had pa.s.sed, the colonists began to acquire possessions for a more pleasant living; and by 1650 the better houses were equipped with most of the necessities of life of those times, as well as a few luxuries of comfortable living.

FURNITURE

Very little furniture was brought over from England during the early years of the colony. Perhaps a few chests and Bible boxes were imported, but most of the large pieces of furniture, such as tables, chairs, bedsteads, chests-of-drawers, cupboards, benches, and cradles would have been made in Virginia. Woods commonly used included pine, cedar, walnut, maple, and oak.