Archeology may be termed the handmaiden of history in that it is truly the servant of the historian, providing information that is not to be gleaned from documentary records. At best it is a poor substitute for the written word, but when the two are used together the pages of history may acquire an enlivening new dimension. This is particularly true of American colonial history where the documentation often is extremely full. Unfortunately Gloucester County was one of those whose Court Records were destroyed during the Civil War, and it is difficult and often impossible to establish property histories over an extended period of time. However, it is debatable just how much of the blame can be laid at the doors of war, as many of the county's colonial records had already been destroyed in a fire at the clerk's office of the Gloucester courthouse in 1820. No acceptable evidence has been found to definitely identify the original owner or the name of the building revealed by the 1962 excavations, though it has been supposed that the adjacent "Ardudwy" (the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins) was originally named "New Bottle" and was built by Robert Porteus at the beginning of the 18th century. It was hoped that artifacts found on the site might provide evidence to support the Porteus association, but nothing conclusive was forthcoming. The only conceivable shred of evidence, thin to the point of transparency, was provided by a handsome 17th-century latten spoon bearing a thistle as its touchmark, suggesting, perhaps, that it was made by a Scots craftsman. As the family of Edward Porteus, the emigrant and father of Robert Porteus, came from New Bottle in Scotland, it might be argued that the spoon was among Edward's possessions when he arrived in Virginia. Such a deduction is readily assailable, but it is no more so than much other "documentation" relating to the Porteus family in Virginia. The distinguished Gloucester County historian, Dr. William Carter Stubbs undertook considerable research into the history of the Porteus family, the results of which may be summarized as follows: Edward Porteus was living in Gloucester County by 1681 in which year he married the widow of Robert Lee. He died in 1694 leaving a widow and one son, "Capt." Robert Porteus who became heir to "New Bottle" plantation. Robert married the daughter of John Smith of "Purton" and after her death he married a daughter of Governor Edmund Jennings of "Rippon Hall" in York County. His two wives bore him 19 children, the best known of whom was Beilby Porteus who was born in 1731 after Robert had returned to England (in about 1727) to live at York. Beilby Porteus became Bishop of Chester and then of London, and died in 1808. Robert lived on in York until his death in 1758.[2]