Lives and Legacies

Category: George Washington’s Ferry Farm

  • A Short and Sweet History of the Gingerbread House

    If you visit George Washington’s Ferry Farm this December, you’ll be greeted by the sweet smell of spiced gingerbread as soon as you walk through the door! During our annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit, our gallery space is transformed into a showroom with entries reflecting this year’s theme: “architectural wonders of the world.” Unlike their real-life counterparts, these architectural wonders are all baked out of gingerbread and creatively decorated with icing and candies. Baking gingerbread is a great way to get in the holiday spirit, and in many cultures, gingerbread has long been associated with the holiday season. But where, exactly, did these gingerbread traditions originate?

    The Tower Bridge on display at Ferry Farm

    According to The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, the term “gingerbread” refers to a wide variety of baked goods ranging from rolled cookies to dense cakes that are “flavored with a combination of spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses.” Some gingerbread variations can be traced back to antiquity, like the honey-sweetened cakes baked in ancient Egypt and Greece. Variations closer to what we consider gingerbread today (think gingerbread men and gingerbread loaves) became popular in northern Europe during the Middle Ages. Germany, in particular, became well known for its spiced gingerbreads, or lebkuchen.

    Nuremberg Lebkuchen

    German lebkuchen can trace its origins as far back as the 14th century, when gingerbread baking was associated with local monasteries and, later, professional bakers’ guilds. In Nuremberg, now world famous for its lebkuchen, honey was a locally accessible sweetener due to the city’s abundant forests and honeybee population. The medieval city was also at the crossroads of trade, which meant imported spices were readily available to Nuremberg monks and bakers. Before the invention of metal molds and cookie cutters, bakers used wooden molds carved with elaborate patterns to make and decorate gingerbread. Bakers shaped the cookies into different figures like animals and saints, and when intended as gifts for nobility, even added gilded decoration!

    Today, although recipes vary, lebkuchen ingredients often incorporate some variation of honey, nuts, coriander, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and candied fruit. “Nuremberg lebkuchen” has a higher nut content than any other variety. “Lebkuchenherzen” (or “Lebkuchen hearts”) are heart-shaped gingerbread decorated with written icing inscriptions. The hearts can be hung as decoration and are often sold at Christmas markets and during Oktoberfest.

    Lebkuchenherzen on display at a market.

    By the 1800s, making gingerbread houses was a popular activity in Germany. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a tale involving a candy-coated house also began to circulate during this time. Originally published in 1812 by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Hansel and Gretel tells the story of two children lost in the woods who stumble upon a witch’s house made of bread, cakes, and sugar. The evil witch captures the children when she discovers them munching on her house!

    1909 Illustration by Arthur Rackham, Hansel and Gretel encounter the witch outside her house.

    The story of Hansel and Gretel has remained popular to this day, and many different iterations of the tale exist. It’s unclear exactly which event precipitated the other (did the fairytale popularize gingerbread houses, or was an existing gingerbread house tradition simply incorporated into the story?) What is clear, however, is that gingerbread houses had become popular in Germany! When Germans immigrated to new places, they took these traditions with them, and the baking and making of gingerbread houses became popular elsewhere too. Today, whether created from a store-bought kit or handmade dough, gingerbread house-making is a popular activity for adults and children alike and is closely tied to the Christmas season.

    This “real life” witch’s house inspired by Hansel and Gretel is located in Efteling, a fairy tale theme park in the Netherlands.

    Beginning in 1991, the city of Bergen, Norway, constructed an entire city…out of gingerbread! The display is made up of more than 2000 gingerbread houses and buildings. Called pepper cookies or “pepperkaker” in Norwegian, the “Pepperkakebyen” Gingerbread Town is made up of pieces constructed by local school children, businesses, and volunteers. The city landscape includes local landmarks, trains, cars, and even boats. While not the only gingerbread town in existence, it is certainly one of the largest and is a testament to the enduring popularity of the gingerbread house!

    The Pepperkakebyen Gingerbread Town

    If you’re interested in delving further into the history of gingerbread, check out two of our past Lives & Legacies blog posts where we’ve written about Mary Washington serving gingerbread to Lafayette and the Kenmore Association’s ties to the sweet treat. If you’re interested in seeing Ferry Farm’s own Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit, be sure to stop in before the exhibit closes on December 30th and also vote on your favorite entry!

    A pyramid and sphynx made of gingerbread on display at Ferry Farm

    Further Reading: The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. (2015). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

    Ann Waters

    Manager of Interpretation & Visitor Services

  • Catherine of Braganza: How the copy of a 17th-century plate tells the story of design, consumer consumption, and the Washington Family

    The concept of buying items to remember certain events or travels is commonplace today. Who goes abroad without bringing back a trinket naming the location? Is it possible to go antiquing without seeing an item that commemorates the wedding of Charles and Diana? Even the smallest item has the ability to tell a story through what it depicts. In our world of mass consumption, these items prove commonplace and relatively easy to obtain, but the concept is not new.

    Charles & Diana memorabilia

    Back in the mid to late 1600s, a potter by the name of Thomas Toft (d.1689) produced a series of plates depicting Charles II and his wife Catherine of Braganza. When Cromwell’s strict Puritan regime ended in 1660, the people of Great Britain rejoiced at the restoration of the monarchy. Charles II was an active king who enjoyed the arts and a good time. His marriage to Catherine, a Portuguese princess, in 1662 was a cause for further celebration, even if her Catholic faith raised concerns. Regardless, Toft had his market.

                A Scandinavian immigrant, Toft lived in Staffordshire, England, and specialized in slipware. Slipware involved the use of clay slips and a lead glaze to decorate a piece. Typically, a white clay slip, which is essentially, watered-down clay, covered the upper surface of a piece before the artist drew on the design. Dark brown and orange-red clay slips then helped bring the design to life. To complete the piece, the artist utilized a lead glaze to enrich the colors and seal it. Toft became one of the most famous slipware potters of the time due in part to his habit of prominently signing his works at the base of his cross-hatching border, which was unusual in the 17th century. He produced plates depicting the royals throughout his career. Toft’s pieces may not have undergone the mass production that they would today, but they fed a market that desired commemorative memorabilia.

    Slipware plate by Thomas Toft depicting Charles II and the Royal Oak

    You may be asking how talk of royals and artists from the 1660s connect to Ferry Farm? The answer comes from the desire to add a slipware plate to the house. As many will know, the items in the Washington house are replicas inspired by archaeological finds on site and pieces dating to the period. Until now, the slipware style did not appear in the house. Aiming to fix this, I went about choosing a design that would not only serve the desired purpose but also tell a story. In the end, I found a Toft plate that depicted Catherine, and the idea came to me.

    Pieces of slipware found at Ferry Farm

    John Washington (1631-1677), George’s great-grandfather, immigrated to Virginia in 1657. Motivation for this possibly derived from hardships faced by the Washington family after Cromwell came to power since the family had sided with the monarchy during the English Civil War (1642-1651) and business ties. With the restoration of the monarchy three years after their arrival, it seems likely that this would have been a cause for celebration in the Washington household. We know from finds at Ferry Farm and Kenmore that the Washington and Lewis families owned items depicting royal motifs up until the Revolution. So not only would the Washingtons of the 1660s have raised a toast to the King and later his bride, but they may have acquired items celebrating them. While we do not have evidence for the Washingtons’ owning a piece with this specific theme, items pass through generations, and we know the family brought older items with them to Ferry Farm in 1738.

    In making the replica, I aimed to keep it as close to the original as I could, though the cross-hatching border proved impossible to keep as tight. The imagery itself prompts the telling of the Washington-Royalist-immigration story, so nothing major needed changing. Keen viewers, looking at the images below, will notice the addition of a “Q” and a “K” to help identify Catherine. While Toft’s work rarely included royal monograms, they did appear on other designs of the time, making it a simple and fitting addition. In these other pieces, Catherine’s first initial always appears as a “K.” While we may spell Catherine’s name with a “C,” there was no standard of spelling in the 1600s, and this may have occurred since her husband’s name also starts with a “C.” After prepping the plate with a base coat of paint, I sketched the desired design and painted over it in a way that mimicked slipware techniques. A clear coat of spray paint then sealed the design in place of the lead glaze.

      The plate will go on display in the Visitor’s Center, where we display and explore the topics of our blog. Next time you visit, be sure to keep your eyes peeled and let Catherine tell you her story.

    Emma Schlauder

    Research Archaeologist

  • Letters from the Battlefield

    Such a tiny thing, a letter. What does it mean now? For many of us, a letter via ‘snail mail’ is a nuisance. Needless paper that litters our mailbox. Ads. Spam. Bills. Scams (most of which are electronic now and also a pain). Mail has been ruined for most of us with the sheer barrage of unimportant stuff that claims a box at the end of the driveway which once held so many wonders. Communications evolve rapidly throughout time, as well they should. But they change so fast that occasionally we forget just how important getting a letter was. Being delivered a letter was a moment of anticipation, perhaps dread or admiration, instead of the mundane. Many have written of the hopes or fear of a letter in the mail. In the iconic song ‘Mr. Postman’ by the Marvelettes, a lovelorn lady, yearns for word from her boyfriend. “So many days you passed me by, you saw the tears standin’ in my eye. Wait a minute, Mr. Postman.” Still, others have had to pen terrible letters they never wished to send, which informed families of what they feared most, the loss of a loved one.

                Our artifact blog posts tend to focus on unique objects. However, this time I’m going to concentrate on a very commonplace ink bottle that dates to the mid-19th century. So many of these were made that they normally escape notice. Mere curiosities. Who doesn’t love an old bottle? However, the importance of a simple vessel such as this one should not be understated. This particular example is in an ‘umbrella’ shape, one of the most ubiquitous ink bottle forms from this era. However, this particular bottle has the distinction of having been located within a portion of a Union Civil War trench which extended through the cellar of the house George Washington grew up in.

                Several units were assigned to Ferry Farm during the two occupations in 1862. The spring deployment was relatively quiet and uneventful except for the chaos of the hasty August withdrawal to defend Washington DC. The second occupation cumulated in the Battle of Fredericksburg. Union soldiers deployed at Ferry Farm include regiments from New York, the 7th Wisconsin, and the 36th Massachusetts. While no large encampments were established at Ferry Farm, soldiers did occasionally camp there and used the farm for picket duty and to provision themselves. The farm experienced combat only during the initial stages of the Battle of Fredericksburg.

                The Federals appear to have built no large, formal camps at Ferry Farm. No evidence of winter huts, latrine trenches, or clay borrow pits have been unearthed to date. That is not to say that soldiers were not stationed at Ferry Farm both before and after December 1862. Photographs of the farm show small groups of tents situated on the terrace overlooking the river. The terrace served as bivouacs for soldiers guarding or maintaining the pontoon bridges and later for pickets. These activities suggest that a small force was a relatively constant at the farm.  Artifacts associated with soldiers at Ferry Farm included buttons, knapsack hooks, grommets, cap letters, minie balls, percussion caps, exploded artillery shells, cutlery, and of course, one simple ink bottle. The ink held within probably penned many a letter with critical information that could have changed the tide of war and/or altered the lives of so many families expecting word from the front. 

    Military Encampment, Spring 1862. Credit: Unknown

                Really this bottle would be totally insignificant were it not for the location it was found in. We do know that the bottle was typically meant for single use and would have been made in one of the numerous American glasshouses present during the 19th century. It was then filled with ink, affixed with a label, and marketed for single use, which does not mean it wasn’t refilled from a ‘master ink’ bottle when the original contents were depleted. We’ll never know the exact history of this object, and there lies the mystery of it. As archaeologists, we can’t be privy to who owned it, what letters were written with the ink, or if those correspondences even made it out of the trench to the outside world. We’ll never know the travels of the bottle before it was deposited in the trench or the circumstances that led to it being abandoned. We only know that it was used during the Civil War by the Union and was found in a location many soldiers never wanted to be stuck in. Chances are, the soldier or soldiers who made use of the bottle never made it back home alive. The fact that it was discarded when the bottle still potentially retained at least some value and during a time when possessions were at a premium indicates a hasty departure, or perhaps the owner expected to return but didn’t. Regardless, letters were likely written using the ink from this humble bottle. Some may have had great importance in our country’s history, while some may have carried tidings of possible homecomings or hardships endured. Every ink bottle held the potential for countless correspondences, but this one has quite a history, the exact nature of which we’ll never know.

    Mara Kaktins, Archaeologist

    Archaeology Laboratory Manager

  • Camp George v. George: A Summer Camp to Travel Back to Colonial Virginia

    School is out for summer…almost! Students are counting down the days until they are free from homework, but the learning does not have to stop!. The George Washington Foundation has been busy preparing fun-filled summer camps to encourage critical thinking through exploring the past.

    In our Camp George v. George, students will be asked, “Would you be an American patriot or a British loyalist?” as they learn about George Washington and his family’s experience living under the rule of King George III.

    The camp will alternate between George Washington’s Ferry Farm, his boyhood home, and Historic Kenmore, his sister’s later-in-life house. George lived at Ferry Farm from six years old until 22 years old. This was where George learned how to survey, dance, and petitioned for his first military office at Ferry Farm. His time at Ferry Farm shaped him into the man who navigated the battlefield and the political arena to pursue the American cause.

    Similarly, George’s sister, Betty Washington Lewis, was shaped by her time at Ferry Farm. She was instructed in the customs of gentility, which included the tea ceremony.[1] While at Ferry Farm, her uncle, Joseph Ball, gifted a silver tea set and other tools so Betty could refine her skills as a future lady of the house. During this time, Betty was taught the expectations for young women in colonial Virginia.

    Washington’s Ferry Farm

    While Betty’s experience at Ferry Farm was significant, her story does not end there. The skills she acquired at Ferry Farm equipped her to marry Fielding Lewis, a wealthy merchant in town. Twenty-five years later, they moved into their new home at Kenmore in 1775. Fielding and Betty envisioned the mansion as the site of lavish social events filled with tea, dancing, and awe from their guests. However, that dream was never realized, and the couple sacrificed greatly for the American cause. Betty managed the household and attended to the needs of the Washington family, including her mother, Mary. Fielding could not fight in the war, but he voluntarily gave up his trading business with British merchants, donated supplies to the war effort, and financially supported a gunnery in Fredericksburg.[2] Fielding also collected debts and handled several land deals for his brother-in-law.[3] The stress of the financial strain took its toll on Fielding, and he passed on December 7, 1781. Betty struggled financially for the rest of her life due to Lewis’ sacrifices for the Patriot cause.

    Historic Kenmore and Ferry Farm will be the sites where campers will learn about life in colonial America. Archaeologists, socialites, dancers, surveyors, and soldiers are just a few of the roles that the campers will embody as they explore the cultural, social, and military life of colonists during the Revolutionary War era. Activities will include a mock archaeological dig, a surveying hike, dancing lessons, militia drills, and more! This experience will provide insight into life before, during, and after the American Revolution. George, Betty, and Fielding, along with many others, had their lives transformed by society, government, and friendships. What would you do in such instances? That is the question campers will think about during their experiences, but don’t worry, plenty of fun, games, and activities will be included!

    Kids learning about colonial food-ways
    Militia drill at Kenmore

    Camp George v. George will be offered in two sessions for families’ convenience. Session A will be June 13 – 17 from 9 am to 12 pm, and Session B will be from July 25 – 29 from 9 am to 12 pm. Please see our events page at Kenmore.org/events for more information!

    Kaylie E. Schunk

    Manager of School & Youth Programs

    [1] Laura J. Galke, “The Mother of the Father of Our Country: Mary Ball Washington’s Genteel Domestic Habits,” in Northeast Historical Archaeology 38 (2009): 33.

    [2] “Fielding Lewis;” Palmer, and McRae, eds. Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 456, 502-3; Duke, Kenmore and the Lewises, 94-96; Fleming, Story of Kenmore, 9; “To George Washington from Fielding Lewis, 14 November 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 2, 16 September 1775?–?31 December 1775, ed. Philander D. Chase (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987), 371–373.

    [3] “From George Washington to Fielding Lewis, 20 April 1773,” Founders Online, National Archives, Source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 9, 8 January 1772?–?18 March 1774, ed. W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994), 221–224; “To George Washington from Fielding Lewis, 8–9 May 1773,” Founders Online, National Archives, Source: ibid., 229–230. “To George Washington from Fielding Lewis, 24 May 1773,” Founders Online, National Archives, Source: ibid., 235.

  • We’re Digging! – A Preview of 2022 Archeological Excavations at Ferry Farm

    Field archaeologists will once again be working outdoors at George Washington’s Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm from May 16th through July 29th.  Work hours will be Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm.  The excavation site, located on the east side of the Washington House, is accessible to the public, and our staff will be happy to explain what we have been finding every day and what we hope to learn from this year’s dig.  Visitors can even help us sift our dirt and look for artifacts! 

    Visitors enjoy a turn at the sifting screen.

    The archaeological exploration of the Ferry Farm site has been ongoing for many years with great success.  The discovery of the two-story cellared home of the Washington family was announced in 2008, with its historic reconstruction completed in 2018.  Additional archaeological investigations around the house site have resulted in the identification of multiple outbuildings and work areas, adding to our analysis and recreation of the eighteenth-century farm landscape.  This summer, we will see two new outbuildings go up on the grounds – the enslaved quarters to the north of the house and a storage building in the work yard to the east.  Both buildings and their locations were found by means of our archaeological digs.

    Location of the 2022 archaeological dig at Ferry Farm.

    The site of this year’s dig is an extension of last year’s, during which we found a possible post-in-the-ground structure in the work yard area of the farm.  Opening up new units on the southern end of the dig site will allow us to determine the full size of this structure.   Artifacts found in the surrounding units are still being processed and analyzed and will help us determine the function of the building.

    Overall view of the 2021 dig shows modern utility trenches and eighteenth-century oval postholes.

    So be sure to stop by the dig when visiting Ferry Farm this summer and find out what we have learned so far from our excavations!

    Archaeologists cleaning the site in the Washington House workyard.

    Judy Jobrack

    Archaeology Field Director

  • Happy Birthday, George!

    We are excited to be celebrating George Washington’s 290th birthday (although it’s the day before his actual birth date) on President’s Day! On February 22, 1732, George was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Some interesting facts are associated with his birth-date and the subsequent birthday celebrations he would have as an adult. For instance, did you know that he technically has two birthdays? It’s true! Under the Julian calendar, his birth date would have been February 11, 1731. This means that his birthday was actually earlier in the month until the calendar switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. The Gregorian calendar added 11 days and one year to his date of birth!

    Just when did his birthday become so popular to celebrate? The earliest known date of his birthday being recognized (beyond his family) was actually during the American Revolution. It was the winter of 1778, and the soldiers were desperate to keep warm at their headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. General Henry Knox planned the event. Clearly, General Knox did more than coordinate the movement of cannons from Canada to Boston; he apparently could also list “party planner” upon his resume.

    General Henry Knox aka “Party Planner”. Source: Wikimedia Commons

    The festivities of this inaugural birthday bash included a parade from an artillery band consisting of drums and fifes. Around this time, George was also becoming known as the “Father of his Country,” replacing King George III at every chance. For instance, the King’s birthday would no longer be listed in the Almanac. Instead, you would find the birth-date of George Washington. However, that doesn’t quite answer the question of when his birthday became an annual event on a broader scale.

    For that, we turn to everyone’s favorite statesman, whose most significant accomplishment was never being elected President of the United States despite the number of times he ran for that office. The one, the only…Henry Clay. Senator Clay was part of a joint Congressional committee that wanted to recognize the centennial of George’s birth. They decided to do this by giving themselves the day off and adjourning Congress on February 22, 1832. While not the celebration you might have imagined, it did get the ball rolling for an expanded holiday that we celebrate today.

    Senator Henry Clay. Source: Wikimedia Commons

    As the years went by, cities, states, and even Congress realized they had to do more to commemorate George’s contribution to the Nation. In 1862, yes, in the midst of the Civil War, the Senate began to read Washington’s Farewell Address each year on his birthday. In 1879, Congress made the date a federal holiday for federal employees ONLY IN DC. Though this caused confusion among those employees as some were paid for that holiday and others were not… This discrepancy was amended in 1885 when the holiday became a paid one for all DC federal workers.

    Almost 100 years after the Senate began their annual tradition of reading the Farewell Address on February 22, Congress passed the Monday Holiday law to make federal holidays more uniform. So instead of celebrating George’s birthday on February 22, it was recognized on the third Monday of the month. There are two interesting things about this law when applied to George’s birthday. First, because of February’s shortened number of days, there is no possible way for the federally observed holiday to fall on his actual birthday. Second, the holiday we all know as “President’s Day” doesn’t actually exist. It has yet to be formally changed by Congress or the President from being first recognized as “Washington’s Birthday,” which is pretty fascinating!

    If you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate George’s birthday this year, I encourage you to check out our event at Ferry Farm. For the event, we are offering tours of the reconstructed Washington House, new (and returning) crafts, a chance to meet real archeologists and learn about what they’ve found at the site, the opportunity to see if you can throw a stone as far as George supposedly could, and obviously, we’re having cupcakes because it’s a birthday party!

    This year’s event will be held on Monday, February 21, from 10 am to 3 pm, and tickets can be purchased by visiting our website. Tickets are $5 per adult (age 18+) and FREE for children (17 & unders). We encourage you to purchase your tickets in advance.

    -Amy N. Durbin, Director of Education

  • Behind the Glass of the Archaeology Lab: Creating an Exhibit

    It can be daunting to look at a blank space and realize you are in charge of filling it. And not just filling it, you need to create something that will leave a lasting impression on the public. The process of creating an exhibit is much more complicated than it seems. From the initial idea to the final product, there are many steps that require careful attention.

    With countless artifacts in the Archaeology Lab, finding inspiration for a topic was easy. Once I settled on 18th Century tea practices, everything seemed to fall into place. There were many subjects I could have focused on from this topic. In order to connect the idea to Ferry Farm and the Washington legacy, I chose to focus on Betty Washington and what she would have learned from her mother growing up at Ferry Farm.

    This inspiration came from an archaeologically excavated pewter teaspoon handle with the initials ‘BW’ stamped into it. It is clear that Miss Betty Washington was the owner of this spoon. The spoon was likely part of a children’s tea set that Betty was given in order to teach her the intricacies of the American Tea Ceremony. This education was Mary’s legacy for Betty; it taught her how to be a proper gentry lady and interact with the upper-class circles in Virginia.

    Teaspoon handle with “BW” initials.

    Once I picked my topic, it was time to begin researching. Research is the backbone of any exhibit, though it might not be the most exciting part. I was able to obtain an understanding of the Tea Ceremony from my research that I applied to my specific topic. The biggest question on my mind throughout my research was: Why was this important for Betty?

    While working on research, I was simultaneously creating a reproduction 18th Century creamware teapot. With the help of the Archaeology Lab Forgeries Department, I quickly transformed a Goodwill find into delicate creamware with a rose motif. The pot is the centerpiece of the exhibit on 18th Century tea practices. Many scholars wrote that the teapot is the literal and figurative center of the ceremony, bringing people together and initiating the ceremony. This concept inspired my placement of the teapot for the exhibit.

    Hand painting of reproduction teapot.

    After concluding my research, writing the signs for the exhibit, and finishing the replica pot, I had to choose the artifacts to include in the exhibit. Throughout this process, I kept my thoughts on Betty. The BW teaspoon handle was set aside for the exhibit as well as the replica teapot. Including teaware from Ferry Farm and Kenmore displayed the continuity of Betty’s gentry practices throughout her life. A slop bowl excavated from Kenmore, as well as a teacup and a saucer excavated from Ferry Farm were both chosen for the exhibit in order to support that point.

    Once this was all completed, the excitement truly began. I saw my work come to fruition when I set up the display in the conservation window of the Archaeology Lab. Being able to share what I had learned with the public was an excited prospect. The exhibit is currently on display and can be seen in the Ferry Farm Visitor Center.

    Intern Gillian Both standing behind her exhibit.

    This process has taught me a lot about exhibit design and the research process. I couldn’t have completed the exhibit without the Archaeology Lab staff helping me along every step of the way. I encourage you to go and visit the lab to see the exhibit and learn more about archaeology at Ferry Farm.

    Gillian Both

    Fleming Smith Scholar, UMW Class of 2022

  • Dig These Dishes! We Recreate an 18th Century Table Setting Using Only Artifacts.

    Dig These Dishes! We Recreate an 18th Century Table Setting Using Only Artifacts.

    On a typical day at George Washington’s Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm, visitors experiencing the house tour are ushered into the main hall upon which a dining table is set out before them with 18th-century reproductions of plates, glassware, wine bottles, and serving dishes. This setting creates an interactive experience for our visitors, transporting them back in time to the mid-18th century when the Washington family lived here on site.

    Last month, however, an unexpected sight greeted a tour group as they entered the hall. The dining table was set, not with reproductions, but actual plates, jugs, and serving dishes that could very well have graced the Washington family’s dinner table over 250 years ago.  The principal difference is that nothing on the table was complete – all were fragmented versions of the originals. 

    Dining table in Hall set up for dinner.

    The setting was a special photoshoot for The George Washington Foundation and an occasion to display and highlight the array of vessels, many mended, residing in the Archaeology Department’s collection.  Everything on the table was archaeologically recovered from either Ferry Farm or Historic Kenmore and represent vessels that date to the Washington family’s occupation of Ferry Farm or Betty Washington Lewis’ time at Kenmore. 

    The Archaeology Department at Ferry Farm has been mending vessels over the past couple of years for our museum displays at the Ferry Farm and Kenmore Visitor Centers. This mending was also done for research purposes as the curatorial department worked to furnish the replica house with accurate, period-relevant household items.

    So what is on the table? Creamware and white salt-glazed plates and serving dishes, glass tumblers and wine glasses, German stoneware jugs, dark green glass wine bottles, a porcelain teacup, coarse earthenware porringers, forks and knives with bone handles, silver spoons, and Mary Washington’s creamware enamel-painted punch bowl.  Many of the ceramic tablewares and a few of the glass tumblers were mended using archival glue.  Some of the objects were able to stand on the table unaided, while others needed mounts for support, such as the wine glass.

    Fragments of dinner and glasswares

    To help envisage the original shape of some of the fragmented vessels and make them recognizable, we first sculpted their shapes out of foam, covered them with fabric, and then attached the incomplete vessel fragments in their correct positions. This process allowed us to present a more “complete” and familiar view of some of the tablewares, such as the two large stoneware jugs, the creamware pepper pot, the glass tumbler, and the two wine bottles. All of these items would have been very difficult to display simply using the fragments themselves. 

    Having such an array of different ceramic styles on the table is more a function of what we have mended in our collection versus what Mary might have actually had on her table.  But for our purposes, we are happy showcasing all of the different ceramic types presently in our possession.

    Welcome to the Washington dining table! Enjoy!

    Judy Jobrack, Archaeologist
    Co-Field Director

  • A Gift Across the Seas: Betty Washington’s Silver Tea Set from Her Uncle Joseph Ball

    Couz. Betty                                                     Stratford by London 2nd [Nov] 1749
                I have sent you by your brother Major Washington a Tea Chest; and in it Six Silver Spoons, and Strainer, and Tongs, of the Same. And in one Canister 1/2 L. [pound] of Green Tea, in The other a Pinch Bohee: and the Sugar box is full of Sugar ready broke: So that as Soon as you get your Chest you may Sit down and drink a Dish of Tea.
                I read your Mother’s letter, give my Love to her, and all your brothers, & sisters; and to Rawleigh Travers, & Mrs. Cook, and Peter Daniel and his wife. We are all well I thank God; and wish you allso. My wife and Daughter Join with me in Compliments.
    I am                                                                                                               Your Loving Uncle
                                                                                                                                  J.B
    To Miss Eliz. Washington                                                                                                                              
    nigh the Falls of Rappahannock
    By [fav.] of Major Lawrence Washington

    In 1749, one year before her marriage to Fielding Lewis, Betty Washington received a valuable gift – a silver tea set and other tea equipment – from her Uncle Joseph Ball in England. Tea equipment at this time was still expensive and the tea ceremony was reserved for upper class individuals. By providing Betty with equipment for such an important ceremony, Joseph Ball was helping prepare his niece for success in the gentry class. He provided silver teaspoons, a strainer, tongs, and a tea canister– four of the necessary pieces of equipment for the tea ceremony. Other items needed for the ceremony included a teapot, slop bowl, milk or cream container, sugar container, cups, and saucers.[i] Mary Washington provided these pieces for Betty while she lived at Ferry Farm, using them to teach her daughter how to host the important ceremony.

    The tea ceremony was a popular social event in 18th-century American culture. First and foremost, hosting or attending a tea party was a symbol of class.[ii] It was typical for gentry class individuals to participate in this leisure activity as a way to deepen or forge relationships within their community. Only an individual who was part of this class could afford the time and money required to learn the social graces and equip the table for the ceremony. The Washingtons worked hard to project an image of gentility through their material consumption. Participation in the tea ceremony was essential for this image. Mary took the time to “bequeath gentry-level domestic culture and etiquette to her children,” keeping them in leisure class circles.[iii]

    An English Tea Party (c. 1730) by Joseph Van Aken. Credit: Wikipedia

    Within the leisure class the tea ceremony was considered, “as much an instrument of sociability as was a bit of music or conversation.”[iv] With its rules that dictated everything from table arrangement and conversation to order of events, the ceremony was complex. Mastery of the ceremony, especially for women, was key to one’s reputation within social circles. Mary and Betty Washington used the intricate event to maintain the family’s social standing and to interview suitors for Betty. As the oldest daughter, Betty was trained for this ceremony from a young age. She would likely have been the host of numerous tea parties at Ferry Farm before her marriage. Perhaps even using the silver tea set from her uncle during some of the events.

    Replica teapot.

    The social custom of the tea ceremony revolved around the teapot, thus earning it a spot at the center of the tray or tea table.[v] The archaeology department at Ferry Farm recently produced a replica teapot for display in an upcoming exhibit on 18th-century tea practices. This replica will serve as the centerpiece for the exhibit and be surrounded by archaeological artifacts and contemporary examples representative of the Washington family’s tea practices. The exhibit can be viewed through one of the windows into the Archaeology Lab starting December 1. Add George Washington’s Ferry Farm to your list of places to visit during the holiday season to see this small tea exhibit!

    Gillian Both, UMW ‘22
    Fall Fleming Smith Scholar

    [i] Rodris Roth, Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage (Washington: Tea Trade Mart Publishing Co., 2017), 24.

    [ii] Ibid., 1.

    [iii] Laura J. Galke, “The Mother of the Father of Our Country: Mary Ball Washington’s Genteel Domestic Habits,” in Northeast Historical Archaeology 38 (2009): 33.

    [iv] Roth, 23.

    [v] Roth, 49.

  • What’s the Scoop on the Poop?: Going to the Bathroom at Ferry Farm

    But seriously…. World Toilet Day – today, November 19 – is kind of a big deal, considering the vast numbers of people across the globe who do not have access to indoor plumbing.  According to the United Nations, 3.6 billion people in the world today do not have a toilet that is “not shared with other households, that either treats or disposes of human waste on site, stores it safely to be emptied and treated off-site, or connects to a functioning sewer.” Nearly 500 million people must practice “open defecation” (PDF) somewhere outside their homes. Ultimately, “life without a toilet is dirty, dangerous, and undignified.”  A lack of toilets also deeply impacts people with toilets because “poor sanitation contaminates drinking-water sources, rivers, beaches and food crops, spreading deadly diseases among the wider population.”

    Editor’s Note: Looking back in time, people’s personal hygiene, fashion choices, medical treatments, and more can seem disgusting.  When confronted with gross practices, our first reaction can be to dismiss our ancestors as primitive, ignorant, or just silly.  Before such judgments, however, we should try to understand the reasons behind these practices and recognize that our own descendants will judge some of what we do as gross.  Here at George Washington’s Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore, we’ve come to describe our efforts to understand the historically disgusting as “Colonial Grossology.”

    At George Washington’s Ferry Farm, we’re frequently asked by visitors where the Washington family’s privy (what an outhouse was called in the 1700s) was located.  The fact is the Washingtons didn’t have a privy (or a well, for that matter.)  We’re often met with looks of disbelief when we pass on this bit of information. Ground penetrating radar conducted at Ferry Farm confirms the lack of a privy and a well, which would have been picked up immediately by this technology. As discussed here and here, the Washingtons and most colonial Virginians used chamber pots to go to the bathroom. Indeed, for this part of Virginia in the 18th century, many households didn’t need a privy.

    18th century chamber pot

    Sadly, this lack of a specific sanitary place for human waste was a familiar one for those who lived in the 1700s.  Because of their poor understanding of germ-caused diseases at the time, 18th century people did not fully appreciate the health dangers presented by human waste.  They did make obvious correlations, however. Noting how sick people were getting from drinking water, local colonial governments started enacting laws which prohibited privies from being dug too close to the water table. They also frequently ordered that wells be dug a safe distance from privies.

    Privies took many forms before modern plumbing.  They could be deep, brick-lined shafts that could go 30 feet or more into the ground with substantial above ground buildings.  They could also be made out of a simple wooden barrel placed in the ground with a humble structure above it.  Small privies could accommodate one person at a time.  Larger privies could potentially have eight seats or more (and not much privacy).

    Regardless, privies had to be emptied at some point and it was some nasty business.  Probably the most unglamorous job prior to indoor plumbing was that of the night soil men.  Sounds scary, and it is.  These workers descended into the depths of a privy and scooped the contents into wagons that were carted away.  They did this at night usually because most neighborhood citizens would rather be asleep when that terrible smell wafted around.  Usually, this human waste would be carted to local farms and sold as fertilizer (yep).

    Calling card advertisement for an 18th century night soil man in London. Credit: Public domain
    A night soil man in Baltimore. Credit: Public domain

    Who were the night soil men at Ferry Farm? Well, the Washingtons owned some 20 enslaved workers. Invariably, some enslaved, typically children, were tasked with emptying chamber pots and fetching water. They dumped chamber pots in the area behind the Washington house that archaeologists call the “midden.” This was a trash pile where everything from human waste to table scraps to broken household items was thrown away.  Enslaved workers also fetched water for the Washingtons from a spring and stream, not far from the Rappahannock River, at the base of the bluff where the house stood. Every day, these workers made multiple trips up and down the hill carrying heavy wooden buckets probably hanging from each end of a carrying pole or “milkmaid’s yoke.”  Hence no need for an outside toilet or well.

    But a privy was not just a toilet.  Like the Washington’s backyard midden, most privies were also used to dispose of any garbage from a house or institution.  This means food waste, broken pottery, bottles, and sometimes much more scandalous items were thrown into that void only to be brought up again by the night soil men.  Often, when a privy had degraded to the point where it was no longer draining properly or was falling in on itself, it was abandoned with all of the precious garbage sealed within.  Wells were treated the same way.  Once they had lived out their life, they were filled in with the lovely broken things that archaeologists love to look for. While unsanitary for their original users, historic privies plus wells can be a treasure trove of information for us today.

    Portion of a chamber pot excavated at George Washington’s Ferry Farm.

    Privies. Chamber pots. Thankfully, they were necessities for our ancestors but not for most of us today. That said, there are still many people in our 21st-century world who must go to the bathroom as if it were still the 18th century. On this World Toilet Day, let’s hope more can be done for the health and dignity of people without safe and sanitary toilets.

    Mara Kaktins, Archaeologist
    Ceramics & Glass Specialist

    Zac Cunningham
    Manager of Public Programs