The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia: An Archeological and Historical Investigation of the Port Town for Stafford County and the Plantation of John Mercer, Including Data Supplied by Frank M. Setzler and Oscar H. DarterWatkins, C. Malcolm
History
The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia: An Archeological and Historical Investigation of the Port Town for Stafford County and the Plantation of John Mercer, Including Data Supplied by Frank M. Setzler and Oscar H. Darter
Watkins, C. Malcolm
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Virginia -- Marlborough; Marlborough (Va.) -- Antiquities; Mercer, John, 1704-1768; Plantation life -- Virginia
Andrews' hospitality as host is symbolized by his _lignum vitae_
punchbowl. Punch itself was something of an innovation and had first
made its appearance in England aboard ships arriving from India early in
the 1600's. It remained a sailor's drink throughout most of the century,
but had begun to gain in general popularity before 1700 in the colonies.
What is more remarkable here, however, is the container. Edward M. Pinto
states that such _lignum vitae_ "wassail" bowls were sometimes large
enough to hold five gallons of punch and were kept in one place on the
table, where all present took part in the mixing. They were lathe-turned
and usually stood on pedestals.[45] George Andrews' nutmeg graters,
silver spoons, and silver dram cup for tasting the spirits that were
poured into the punch were all elegant accessories.
Another resident whose estate was inventoried was Peter Beach.[46] One
of his executors was Daniel Beach, who was paid 300 pounds of tobacco
annually from 1700 to 1703 for "sweeping" and "cleaning" the courthouse
(Appendix B). Beach's furnishings were scarcely more elaborate than
Andrews'. Unlike Andrews, he owned four bedsteads, which with their
curtains and fittings (here called "furniture") varied in worth from 100
to 1500 pounds of tobacco. Here again was a cupboard, while there were
nine chairs with "flag" seats and "boarded" backs (rush-seated chairs,
probably of the "slat-back" or "ladder-back" variety). Eight more chairs
and five stools were not described. A "parcel of old tables" was listed,
but only one table appears to have been in use. There were pewter and
earthenware, but a relatively few cooking utensils. An "old" pewter
tankard was probably the most elegant drinking vessel, while one
candlestick was a grudging concession to the need for artificial light.
The only books were two Bibles; the list mentions a single indentured
servant.
FOOTNOTES:
[42] Stafford County Order Book, 1689-1694, p. 195.
[43] Stafford County Will Book, Liber Z, pp. 168-169.
[44] _A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles_
(Oxford, 1928), vol. 10, pt. 2, p. 18.
[45] EDWARD H. PINTO, _Treen, or Small Woodware Throughout
the Ages_ (London, 1949), p. 20.
[46] Stafford County Will Book, Liber Z, pp. 158-159.
THE GREGG SURVEY
In 1707, after the revival of the Port Act, the new county surveyor,
Thomas Gregg, made another survey of the town. This was done apparently
without regard to Buckner's original survey. Since Gregg adopted an
entirely new system of numbering, and since his survey was lost at an
early date, it is impossible to locate by their description the sites of
the lots granted in 1708 and after.
Forty years later John Mercer wrote:
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