The African-American Heritage of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park

370 Pages·2015·16.43 MB·English

by  Triel Ellen Lindstrom

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2008
Historical Archaeology at the Cedar Shake
House (8LE1947): The African-American
Heritage of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State
Park
Triel Ellen Lindstrom
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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE CEDAR SHAKE HOUSE
(8LE1947): THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE OF ALFRED B.
MACLAY GARDENS STATE PARK

By

TRIEL ELLEN LINDSTROM

A Thesis submitted to the
Department of Anthropology
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2008
The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Triel Ellen Lindstrom defended on
March 31, 2008.

Glen Doran
Professor Directing Thesis

Bill Parkinson
Committee Member

Bruce Grindal
Committee Member

Approved:

Glen Doran, Chair, Anthropology

Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Science

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee
members.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I could not have completed this project without the help of many individuals, to whom I
am greatly indebted. My partner Kris Barrios helped me in every way imaginable and
ways unimaginable, including hours spent in the field, in the lab and at the computer on
my behalf, as well as months and months of intensive care while I recuperated from an
injury sustained at the park. My parents Jean and Jon Lindstrom helped me financially,
enabling me to buy the equipment and supplies I needed, take time off work, and pay for
my health insurance. This project was made possible, in part, by the generosity and
assistance of park management and staff at Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, which
gave me permission to conduct fieldwork, access to the Cedar Shake House site, use of
park equipment, and access to historical archives. My supervisors at the Florida Park
Service, Steve Martin and Phil Werndli, also supported the project as well as the larger
vision by allowing me a flexible work schedule, and garnering agency support and
financial backing for the additional archaeological work currently underway by the
National Park Service. Thanks too to my thesis advisors Glen Doran and Rochelle
Marrinan, and thesis committee members William Parkinson and Bruce Grindal. Last
but by no means least, thanks to my friends, family and everyone else who has supported
or contributed to the project in any and every way, including Jill DeBuono, Rosemary
Havrilak, Tom Lorch, Hank Kratt, Mini Sharma, Rachel Wentz, Greg Sutton, Daniel
Kuncicky, Tony Countryman, George Lewis, Dave Thulman, Prakash Sankar, and Sweta
Chandra. My apologies for any omissions.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ................................................................................................ vii
List of Figures ................................................................................................ ix
Abstract ...................................................................................................... xvi

1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 1

2. Background Information and Methodology................................................... 10

Previous Research....................................................................................... 10
Critique of Previous Historical Research.................................................... 15
Critique of Previous Archaeological Research........................................... 18
Critique of Historic Preservation in the Florida Park Service.................... 19
Methodology............................................................................................... 22
Historical............................................................................................... 22
Field Investigation................................................................................ 24
Lab Work & Analysis........................................................................... 28
Summary ................................................................................................ 31

3. African-American Tenancy on the Killearn Plantation.................................. 33

Tenant Farming........................................................................................... 33
Plantation Employment............................................................................... 38
Tenancy’s Tenancy..................................................................................... 42
Summary ................................................................................................ 44

4. African-American Land Ownership in the Lake Overstreet
and Lake Hall Area..................................................................................... 46

An Unlikely Seller: Mariano and Fanny Papy........................................... 48
The Land in Question – The Papy Plantation............................................. 64
The Buyers: An Unusual Purchase............................................................ 67
Freedom is Not So Clear............................................................................. 74
Summary ................................................................................................ 79

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5. Life in the Hills............................................................................................... 81

Families ................................................................................................ 82
Homes ................................................................................................ 84
Farms ................................................................................................ 85
Material Sustenance.................................................................................... 89
Community ................................................................................................ 91
Summary ................................................................................................ 95

6. At Home in the Cedar Shake House............................................................... 97

The House ................................................................................................ 98
The Robinson Family.................................................................................. 99
The Sawyer Family..................................................................................... 105
Summary ................................................................................................ 107

7. Cedar Shake House (8LE1947): The Site...................................................... 108

Aerial Photography..................................................................................... 108
Oral History, Ethnography and Historical Research................................. 111
Site Components......................................................................................... 114
Structures.............................................................................................. 114
Roads and Ditch.................................................................................... 114
Secondary Vegetation and Succession Forest...................................... 116
Historic Vegetation............................................................................... 120
Fence Lines........................................................................................... 121
Depressions........................................................................................... 123
Artifact Scatters.................................................................................... 125

8. Cedar Shake House (8LE1947): Artifacts..................................................... 130

Artifact Scatters Revisited.......................................................................... 131
Artifact Classification and Distribution by Functional Group................... 136
Functional Group #1: Activities.......................................................... 138
Functional Group #2: Building............................................................ 140
Functional Group #3: Clothing............................................................ 145
Functional Group #4: Farmstead......................................................... 146
Functional Group #5: Hardware.......................................................... 147
Functional Group #6: Household......................................................... 152
Functional Group #7: Kitchen............................................................. 163
Functional Group #8: Munitions.......................................................... 175
Functional Group #9: Natural Resource.............................................. 175

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Functional Group #10: Personal.......................................................... 177
Functional Group #11: Prehistoric....................................................... 178
Functional Group #12: Transportation................................................ 184
Functional Group # 13: Unidentified................................................... 185
Summary............................................................................................... 190
Artifact Scatter Dates.................................................................................. 195
Artifact Scatter A.................................................................................. 198
Artifact Scatter B.................................................................................. 198
Artifact Scatter C.................................................................................. 198
Artifact Scatter D.................................................................................. 199
Artifact Scatter E.................................................................................. 199
Artifact Scatter F................................................................................... 199
Artifact Scatter H.................................................................................. 200
Artifact Scatter I.................................................................................... 200
Artifact Scatter J................................................................................... 201
Artifact Scatter K.................................................................................. 201
Artifact Scatter L.................................................................................. 201
Artifact Scatter M................................................................................. 202
Artifact Scatter N.................................................................................. 202
Artifact Scatter O.................................................................................. 203
Summary ................................................................................................ 204

9. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 205

Summary of Project.................................................................................... 205
History ................................................................................................ 205
Archaeology.......................................................................................... 209
Recommendations....................................................................................... 211

APPENDICES ................................................................................................ 220

A Permits ................................................................................................ 220
B Cedar Shake House Surface Artifact Catalog....................................... 226
C Artifact Classification and Date Tables................................................ 297
D Glass Container Dates........................................................................... 321

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 337

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................................. 351

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1. Property Transactions: The Lake Hall and Lake Overstreet Area.... 52

Table 4.2. Leon County Tax Rolls for Residents of the Lake Hall and Lake
Overstreet Area........................................................................................... 66

Table 4.3. African-American Purchasers of the Papy Plantation....................... 67

Table 4.4. African-American Residents of the Lake Hall and Lake Overstreet
Area in 1870 ................................................................................................ 72

Table 6.1. Robinson Family Property Transactions........................................... 104

Table 7.1. Historic Archaeological Features of Cedar Shake House.................. 115

Table 7.2. Native and Exotic Species at Cedar Shake House............................. 118

Table 7.3. Artifact Scatters 1 - 19 at Cedar Shake House.................................. 129

Table 8.1. New Artifact Scatters A - I................................................................ 134

Table 8.2. Artifact Scatters by Functional Group............................................... 194

Table 8.3. Maker’s Marks in the Cedar Shake House Surface Artifact Assemblage 197

Table B.1. Cedar Shake House Surface Collection Artifact Catalog................. 227

Table C.1. Functional Groups by Count and Weight......................................... 298

Table C.2. Functional Groups, Revised Kitchen, by Count and Weight............ 298

Table C.3. Functional Sub-Groups by Count and Weight.................................. 299

Table C.4. Classes by Count and Weight........................................................... 299

Table C.5. Types by Count and Weight.............................................................. 302

Table C.6. Kitchen Tableware Material by Count and Weight.......................... 306

Table C.7. Kitchen Tableware Material and Class by Count and Weight.......... 307

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Table C.8. Kitchen Tableware Material and Type by Count and Weight.......... 307

Table C.9. Natural Resource Material by Count and Weight ............................ 307

Table C.10. Natural Resource Material and Class by Count and Weight.......... 308

Table C.11. Natural Resource Material and Type by Count and Weight .......... 308

Table C.12. Functional Groups by Artifact Scatters........................................... 309

Table C.13. Functional Groups by Artifact Middens......................................... 309

Table C.14. Functional Sub-Groups by Artifact Scatters................................... 310

Table C.15. Functional Sub-Groups by Artifact Middens.................................. 311

Table C.16. Classes by Artifact Scatters............................................................. 312

Table C.17. Classes by Artifact Middens........................................................... 315

Table C.18. Kitchen Tableware Material by Artifact Scatters........................... 316

Table C.19. Kitchen Tableware Material by Artifact Middens.......................... 317

Table C.20. Natural Resource Material by Artifact Scatters.............................. 317

Table C.21. Natural Resource Material by Artifact Middens............................. 317

Table C.22. Glass Dates by Artifact Scatters...................................................... 318

Table D.1. Glass Container Dates....................................................................... 322

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Regional Map of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park ................. 2

Figure 1.2. Areal Map of the Cedar Shake House (8LE1947) .......................... 4

Figure 1.3. The Cedar Shake House, December 2003........................................ 5

Figure 2.1. Cedar Shake House Site Field Crew, April 2004 ............................ 24

Figure 2.2. Cedar Shake House before Vegetation Removal 2004.................... 25

Figure 2.3. Cedar Shake House during Vegetation Removal 2004.................... 25

Figure 2.4. Map of Grid/Collection Units, Cedar Shake House (8LE1947)...... 26

Figure 3.1. Killearn Plantation Employees and Overseer Fred Farrell............... 39

Figure 3.2. Man in Wagon at Killearn Gardens 1923 (PR 10615)..................... 40

Figure 3.3. Depew Smith Planting a Camelia (NO471026).............................. 40

Figure 3.4. The Hadley Family circa 1935......................................................... 43

Figure 4.1. Mariano Papy (RC03705)................................................................ 49

Figure 4.2. The Papy Plantation.......................................................................... 51

Figure 4.3. African-American Purchasers of the Papy Plantation...................... 68

Figure 5.1. Log Cabin, Leon County, Florida (RC07275)................................. 84

Figure 5.2. Woman Plowing Field with Ox (RC13509).................................... 86

Figure 5.3. Tenant Farm Women (NO47217).................................................... 88

Figure 5.4. Emancipation Day Celebration, Horseshoe Plantation (RC11491) 95

Figure 6.1. Cedar Shake House, Addition.......................................................... 98

Figure 6.2. Cedar Shake House, Interior Wall.................................................... 98

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