Plowed
Fields and Historical Archaeology:
The Petty Homestead
Kent Lightfoot, Susan Grzybowski, Frank Turano
Department of Anthropology
SUNY at Stony Brook
During September to December 1985, a team
of Archaeologists from the Department of Anthropology,
SUNY at Stony Brook undertook an intensive study of the
Birchwood (Petty) property.
This investigation provided data on
previous landowners and the land use practices they
implemented at the Birchwood Site. The locations of
all-historical buildings, roads, and agricultural fields
were noted, along with other features constructed on the
property.
The area presently known as Middle Island
was settled by farmers from Setauket around 1730.
Originally, this settlement was known as Middletown
because of its geographic location. Later the name was
changed briefly to Brookhaven until 1820, when it
acquired its present name of Middle Island. The first
post office in the township of Brookhaven was established
here in 1796. The small farming village, which
encompassed an area little more than three square miles,
grew very slowly over the years. By 1885, Middle Island
was described as a scattered set-tlement of 283
inhabitants on Middle Country Road with two stores, two
churches and two district schools (Bayles 1874:261).
The earliest map of Middle Island and
vicinity (Hulse 1797; Figure 2), clearly shows the
beginning of a linear pattern of settlement at Middle
Island. Along Post Road, now known as Middle County Road,
there were a number of meeting houses, general stores and
taverns in the vicinity of the project area. Just west of
the project area a road is shown leading to a pond and
structure owned by "S. Swezey". This is the
beginning of what is later referred to as
"Swezeytown" because of the many Swezey
families who came to settle in the northwest section of
Middle Island. The 1797 Hulse map, however, shows no
roads or structures within the Birchwood property.
The first structure associated with the
project area illustrated on the 1838 U.S. Coast map
(Figure 3), indicates a road leading to a structure owned
by "D. Petty". This single structure is set
back approximately 1600 feet from the Middle Country Road
within a cleared area probably used for farming.
A deed and title search of the project
area revealed that the owner of this 1838 structure was
Daniel Petty Jr. eldest son of Daniel Petty, Sr. The last
will and testament of Daniel Petty, Sr., dated February
15. 1799, provides insight into the lives of the first
documented residents of the area now Birchwood Park.
While the project area was originally part of the
Brookhaven Purchase in 1655, title to the land prior to
1776 is uncertain. It is most likely, however, that
Daniel Petty, Sr. was in possession of this parcel by at
least 1776 when his name appears in the census of the
township of Brookhaven (Anon. 1984).
Although Daniel Petty, Sr. was of failing
health at the age of 54, he apparently had been
relatively successful in his endeavors. By 1799 Daniel
Petty, Sr. had been able to establish what appears to be
a fairly substantial farm for the period.
The house where I now live and all other
buildings belonging to the same and my meadow at the
southe that is all the meadow that my bills of sale or
other writings mentions reference there to being had and
also my cattle sheep horses and hogs and all my farming
tackling and utensils of husbandry of every kind
whatsoever... (Petty 1799).
Given the information provided in his
will, it is obvious that most of Daniel Petty's land,
time and energy were devoted to his livestock. This is
supported by his description of himself in the second
line of his will which reads, " . . . I Daniel Petty
of the town of Brookhaven in the County of Suffolk and
state of New York (yeomen) . . ." (Ibid.). It
appears his land was used predominantly for grazing
cattle and sheep. Furthermore, mention of his meadowland
on the south shore of the island indicates that he was
harvesting salt hay for his stock. The order of the
animals in his will probably relates to total numbers
and/or importance of each; i.e., cattle probably
outnumbered sheep, sheep outnumbered horses, etc. It is
most likely he also engaged in some subsistence farming
in order to support his household. Finally, the monetary
value listed in Daniel Petty's will totaled $750.00,
which at the turn of the eighteenth century would have
been a relatively substantial sum.
Daniel Petty, Sr.'s last will and
testament provides genealogical information regarding the
Petty family. Daniel Petty, Sr. (1) (b. 1745; d. 1799)
and his wife Sarah Petty (b. 1746, d. 1823) had seven
children-six boys and one girl. The eldest son, Daniel
Petty, Jr. (II), named after his father was born in 1773
and was appointed executor and principal heir of his
father's holdings at the age of 26. Daniel's (II) oldest
brothers, Phenibus and John, as well as his sister Sarah,
were each to be given $125.00 inheritance. On the other
hand, his younger brothers, Benjamin. Isaac and Luther,
who were all under age at the time of their father's
death, were each given the "like sum of one hundred
and twenty five dollars and to be at the expense of
learning such a trade as they shall choose to learn"
(Ibid.). Finally, Daniel Petty, Sr. bequeathed unto his
well beloved wife Sarah Petty "all any house hold
furniture of all kinds as long as she remains my widdow.
. ." (Ibid.).
Additional information was discovered
which provides further detail about the Daniel Petty
family of Middle Island. Daniel Petty, Jr. (11), the
owner of the farm on the 1838 U.S. Coast Survey map, died
in 1839 at 66 years of age (Anon., 1970). He married and
had a son who was also named Daniel Petty, Jr. (111) (b.
1803; d. 1875). In 1825, when Daniel Petty (II) was 52
years old, he sold the property within the project area
to his son Daniel (III) for $1,200.00. The 1873 Beers
map, Figure 4, indicates this second change of ownership
whereby a third generation Petty is in residence. The
transition of ownership from Daniel Petty Sr. (I) to his
son Daniel (II), as indicated on the 1838 map, and
finally to his son Daniel (III), as shown on the 1873
map, demonstrates that the house and property in the
southern extent of the project area were kept within the
Petty family for at least 100 years or more.
The 1838 U.S. Coast Survey Map. Figure 3.
also indicates another structure located just west of
Birchwood Park on Middle Country Road. Although owned by
"Mrs. Ritch" in 1838, records from Old Bethpage
Village Restoration and Union Cemetery indicate that in
1810 this was the location of the Lewis Ritch house and
hat shop. Lewis Ritch came to Long Island about 1810 and
shortly thereafter built the house.
After the death of his first wife, Lewis
Ritch met Charity Hulse, the daughter of a prominent Long
Island family. They were married in 18 10 and moved to
Middle Island where Lewis continued in his business as a
hat maker since he is listed as such in the census of
1820. He died in 1835 but the family, including his son
and later descendants, continued to remain in the family
homestead until 1966 (Beltrone 1980:28-29).
The Ritch house and hat shop can be seen
today at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration. The house
had been restored to circa 1830 and the small shop
building adjacent to the house serves as the village
hatmaking shop.
The 1904 U.S.G.S. topographic map of the
project area (Figure 5) shows an unimproved road running
north off Middle Country Road, as well as a smaller road
in the northern section of the Birchwood property running
roughly west to east. In addition, this map shows one
structure approximately 1620 feet north of Middle Country
Road. Given the location of the "D. Petty"
structure on the 1838 map (Figure 3), it is certain that
the unidentified structure on the 1904 map is the
"D. Petty" homestead.
The 1909 E. Belcher Hyde map (Figure 6)
provides the greatest detail for the project area and
vicinity. Once again the access roads leading into the
property are illustrated as is the "D. Petty"
structure. This map, however, also indicates another
structure opposite the old Petty house. Furthermore, the
owner of the lot comprising most of Birchwood Park (250
acres) is now "Chas. S. Miller". The owners of
the remaining 63 acres slated for the Birchwood
development are identified here as "Mrs. Elmira
Swezey" and "Lewis Ritch".
The 1913 U.S.G.S. topographic map of
Middle Island (Figure 7 also shows a trail running north
off Middle Country Road along the eastern limit of the
project area, as well as the northern west-east trail.
Similarly, the "D. Petty" structure is still
illustrated.
Finally, the 1917 Hyde map (Figure 8)
demonstrates no discernible changes within the project
area. The owner is still "Chas. S. Miller" and
the access trails into the property remain. Unfortunately
the two structures are obscured on the map by two arrows.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK
Subsurface survey work was implemented in
an attempt to detect and study archaeological remains in
the project area. The fieldwork provided the basis for
determining the types of sites that are found at
Birchwood Park and for predicting the density and spatial
patterning of historical remains.
Over the last decade archaeologists have
become increasingly concerned about the problems of
detecting buried archaeological remains in the eastern
Woodlands (McManamon 1984). Research undertaken on
eastern Long Island suggests that many historic and
prehistoric sites have been buried under 10 to 20 cm. of
leaf litter, humus and soil (Lightfoot, et. al. 1985). At
Birchwood these problems were compounded by thick
underbrush covering some of the former agricultural
fields. Under these conditions simple surface
reconnaissance (i.e., walking along roads or in open
fields) tends to miss all but the largest and most
visible archaeological remains in a project area
(McManamon 1984). To detect a representative sample of
the archaeological remains one must implement
probabilistically designed, intensive subsurface testing
programs.
A total of 25% of the Birchwood property
was selected for detailed examination by survey crews.
Seventeen survey units, each measuring 100 by 100 meters
(I hectare), were randomly placed across different soil
strata in the study area (Figure 9). Each survey unit was
then labeled by the distance in meters south, east, or
west of a master datum established to the north of
Birchwood Park. For each of the 17 units chosen, a survey
crew of five archaeologists walked across the area spaced
ten meters apart. At every ten meter interval walked, a
small shovel probe, measuring 30 cm. in diameter, was
excavated by each crew member to underlying sterile soil,
usually 30 to 60 cm. below the modem ground surface. All
soil was screened through 0.6 cm. wire cloth to aid in
the recovery of cultural material. The survey crew walked
one swath up and back across each survey unit, excavating
110 shovel probes per hectare unit. A total of 16 and 1/2
survey units were completed in this fashion, resulting in
the excavation of 1815 shovel probes. For a more detailed
discussion on the field methods employed, Lightfoot et.
al., 1986.
Existing Structures
Sometime after 1913 the original Petty homestead was
destroyed, probably to make room for additional
agricultural fields. An initial surface reconnaissance of
the area revealed no evidence of the former "D.
Petty" structure. The location given in the above
maps indicates that the homestead once sat on a low
knoll, which is now in the middle of an active
agricultural field. Furthermore, the former road across
the northern portion of the project area, which served as
a communications link between the settlers of Swezeytown
Pond and those residing in the vicinity of Twin Ponds,
has been partially obliterated. The present perimeter
road along the eastern edge of the project area is the
only conspicuous evidence of the old Petty homestead that
exists today.
The expansion of the agricultural fields
appears to be associated with the construction of farm
buildings in the southern section of Birchwood Park
during recent years. The construction work included at
least six farm structures
The above information can be used to
compute the expected number of shovel probes that might
contain artifactual material in a survey unit. The
predicted number is based on the following formula:
i/I 10 x 1364 = E
Where: i = number of shovel probes containing artifacts
E = expected number of shovel probes
Employing the above formula, it is clear that a
considerable quantity of historic remains should be found
at Birchwood if the entire area is surveyed. The expected
number of artifact bearing shovel probes for the 16.5
hectares sampled is calculated (106/1815 X 22506 2.2
cubic meter units) to be 1314. Since the surveyed area
represents a 25% sample, we expect that 5258 shovel
probes would yield historic material if the entire area
is tested.
Historic Land Use Patterns
An examination of the spatial distribution of the
historic artifacts provided additional insights into the
historic land use and occupation of Birchwood. The
locational study of the artifacts was facilitated by
SYMAP, a computer mapping program commonly used by
archaeologists. The SYMAP program was employed to plot
the density of specific artifact classes across the study
area. The statistically generated SYMAPs illustrate the
density figures as contour intervals. Each contour
interval represents the number of artifacts detected per
110 shovel probes excavated.
Specifically, the distribution of the
historic material appears to be associated with three
loci: agricultural fields, the Petty homestead, and 20th
Century farm buildings.
1) Agricultural Fields: The detection of
marine shell in shovel probes may be the result of past
agricultural practices. In a recent paper, Ceci (1984)
cautions that Long Island farmers, especially during the
19th Century, fertilized their fields using shell refuse
from prehistoric coastal middens. She documents that
farmers carted tons of shell debris, some of which
contained prehistoric tools, from large middens and
scattered this material across interior ar-eas of Long
Island. Although Ceci's paper is a cautionary statement
for archaeologists studying prehistoric remains from Long
Island's interior, it also has implications for historic
fertilization practices.
Figure I I illustrates the spatial
distribution of shell across Birchwood Park.
Significantly, few shell fragments are found in the area
which was never plowed (the northern one-quarter), while
the central and southern sections con-tain the bulk of
the shell found. This spatial pattern, which clearly
shows the shell remains associated with the plowed
fields, suggest the Petty family and/or later farmers
were fertilizing their fields with marine shell. This
finding dovetails with Daniel Petty (Ws description of
his meadow holdings "at the southe" (Petty
1799).
It also appears that some of the
agricultural fields were used as dumping grounds for
broken, discarded materials. This appears to be true of
the concentrated dump of bottles and refuse found in
survey unit 800S 100W. Most of this material appears to
date to the 1930s and 1940s.
2) Daniel Petty's Homestead: Our archival
research suggests that the original Petty farm, first
documented in the 1838 U.S.G.S. map (Figure 3) was
located 1600 feet or 500 meters from Middle Country Road
along the eastern edge of Birchwood Park. We calculated
the structure's location on a slight rise in survey unit
1924s 118E. Our initial surface reconnaissance of this
area was supplemented by the excavation of 110 shovel
probes in the survey unit. The subsurface testing
revealed no direct evidence of any structural features.
These findings supported our interpretation that the
original structure was destroyed as part of the continual
modification of the existing agricultural fields.
Yet archaeological evidence of the Petty
homestead still exists in the area. The spatial
distributions of historic ceramics (Figure 12) and coal
(Figure 13) show a dense concentration of material
ringing the former structure in the southeast quadrant of
Birchwood. It appears that materials from the homestead
were deposited along the edge of the slight rise in
survey unit 1924S I 18E. Much of the ceramic material
appears to have washed into the adjacent unit 1924S OW.
The ceramics consist of white glazed, black glazed and
porcelain, and probably date to the mid 1800s to early
1900s. A profuse number of coal fragments were found in
1821S 100W: based on the subsurface sample (22/110) we
expect as many as 273 shovel probes to contain coal in
this 100 by 100 meter area. The coal may have been used
as a source of fuel in the Petty homestead and may have
been dumped on the unimproved access road to solidify its
surface.
3) Twentieth Century Farm Buildings: The
use, modification and abandonment of the farm buildings
along the southern border were responsible for some of
the artifactual material (Figure 10). One of our survey
units (2349S OW) included the storage barn identified in
our archival research. Most of the nails, tiles and glass
found during the survey appear to be associated with
these buildings. The spatial pattern of glass, excluding
the trash dump of 800S I OOW, exhibits the highest
contour intervals in the southernmost section of the
property (Figure 14). A considerable amount of charcoal
was found near some of the structures, suggesting that
fire may have damaged the buildings in the past. The
SYMAP of charcoal fragments (Figure 15) shows three
clusters: one centered around the 20th Century farm
buildings (one of which had burned), another around the
central agricultural fields, and still another in the
northern section.
In summary, the greatest density of
historic material is found in the southern section of the
Birchwood property associated with the agricultural
fields, the location of the Petty homestead and the 20th
Century farm buildings. The four northernmost survey
units (359S 374W. 600S 500W. 700S 30OW, and 800S 40OW),
which exhibited no evidence of former plow zones, yielded
a total of 2 charcoal fragments. No other historical
materials were detected.
|