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(From the Bulletin of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Vol. 48, No. 3, September 1978) Excavations at Lambert
House: A Colonial Homestead in Lower Connecticut B. W. Powell
*
* B.W. Powell,
Stonebridge Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897, is a member of the Society
for American Archeology and the state archeological societies of
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. He is a founder and current director of
North East Archeological Researchers and was recently named to the
Committee on American Archaeology of the American Institute of
Archaeology. ABSTRACT At request of the Wilton (Connecticut) Historical Society, an exploratory excavation of the dirt-floored cellar at Lambert House - Wilton's oldest dwelling - was undertaken under the author's supervision during the Winter of 1972-73. Artifacts primarily of the mid-18th to early-19th centuries were recovered and analyzed, and observations were made relative to construction details of the building. The relation of these data to local legends and to diverse historical records on Lambert House is discussed. _________________________________________________ Brief History Lambert house, known also as "Lilacstead", stands at the intersection of Routes 7 and 33 in Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut. Records and documentary evidence in the keeping of the Wilton Historical Society, present owner of the property, suggest the original dwelling was constructed circa 1722 by David R. Lambert, who came to Wilton from Milford in the Connecticut Colony and who ultimately purchased some 135 acres of land at this location. By 1749, Lambert was an established citizen and obtained a license from the Fairfield County Court to keep a public house or tavern. The use of "Lilacstead" as a tavern seems to be a matter of record through the 1750's, but the license was apparently not renewed after 1760 (Anonymous, n.d.). In 1770, the "North Wing" was added, and in 1836, the "South Wing" (Bigoness 1965; Carboni n.d.). Local amateur historians have speculated upon the construction of these additions and the activities they may have housed. Apparently, the Lamberts were Loyalists during the Revolution. Nonetheless, two researchers (Bigoness 1965; Carboni, n.d.) say the house was fired on by British soldiers who passed by during their withdrawal after the Burning of Danbury in the Spring of 1777. David Lambert's grandsons had a flourishing import/export business in New York City (50 miles distant) by the early decades of the 1800's. They embellished the house with marble mantles and fine wallpapers. Hearsay places a notable visitor at "Lilacstead" at this time: the Marquis de Lafayette, French military hero who greatly aided Washington during the Revolution is said to have stopped here in 1824. During the 1830's, the family's fortunes reversed: one grandson was slain in New York, and wealth began to diminish. By Civil War times, Lambert House is said to have been a way station on the famous "Underground Railroad." Eventually, a direct descendant of the builder, professor David S. R. Lambert, established a school for boys in his home - called then, The Lambert Academy. He was slain by intruders in 1897. With the death of Lambert's wife in1924, the house passed for the first time out of Lambert hands. It was bought and soon thereafter extensively restored by Ruth M. Kellogg, and her brother, Royal. Today, the Wilton Historical Society holds title to the Lambert House. The lower floor is rented by the Hitchcock Chair Company of Litchfield, Connecticut, which operates a retail furniture business at the location. Several upstairs apartments are privately rented; it is the ultimate desire of the historical society to someday move back into the dwelling and to restore it to 18th century appearance. A specific goal of excavation was to shed light on ceramics and any other furnishings that might help in this endeavor. The house appears on the official Seal of the Town of Wilton. Fig. 1 is an early version of the current emblem.
Fig.1. South side view of "Lilacstead" or Lambert House- the oldest dwelling in Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut. Excavation Chronology In August 1972, the author was asked by Mrs. A. E. Rideout, then president of the Wilton Historical Society, for an archeological assessment of the house and grounds. Particular interest centered on the dirt-floored cellar, which there was talk at the time of covering with concrete. After several inspections, and a detailed review of what excavation might reveal, an agreement was made as to areas to be investigated, back-fill responsibilities, and other commitments. An excavation crew was assembled from first-time adult volunteers. Their attitudes and capabilities varied widely and provided useful insights into the sometimes over-touted use of such diggers. In
December that year, work commenced, and was concluded in February 1973. It
was possible to work through these cold months only because we were
working in an enclosed cellar. One annoyance was the fact the northeast
end of the cellar (Fig. 2) was nearly 2 feet lower than the rest of the
floor. Despite a sump, it was continually waterlogged, while the opposite
end of the cellar was dry and dusty. Another drawback was the probable
hazard of asbestos fibers in this dust. This was inferred from observing
rotted asbestos insulation around steampipes in the cellar. To protect the
diggers, throwaway face masks were made available and every effort was
made to raise as little dust as possible. Cellar Layout Initially, a quantity of stored lumber, broken and abandoned chairs and tables, and other trash had to be removed mainly from the North Corridor and the East Chamber (Fig. 2). The surface of the cellar is a trampled, uneven, dark, and rocky soil. It was decided on the basis of visual inspection to excavate 10 different locations: these are the dark, shaded zones in Fig. 2. They comprise approximately 20% by area of the total cellar floor.
Fig. 2. Plat of Lambert House cellar. One of the first activities undertaken was preparation of a scale plat of the cellar (Fig. 2). Though the house had been studied and detailed blueprints prepared under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Historic American Building Survey Project 265.6907,these drawings were confined to the upper floors. No plan had ever been made of the cellar. For ease in understanding the following discussion, each of the areas or structures encountered is described below: Central Island A large, unexcavated area under the original part of the building, beneath the central fireplaces and chimney. It is bounded with a retaining wall of rough, uncoursed fieldstones. In various places along its walls, there are bits of crude, oyster-shell plaster and lime mortar adhering to the stones. A sealed rock-slab stairway descends along its west side; the east side is sinuous and irregular in plan view. The north side is marked by a deliberate setback matched by an opposing setback in the north outer foundation of the house. The Central Island almost certainly forms the stone support for the centrally-located hearths and chimneys found in colonial structures, despite speculation about the "disproportionate" dimensions of this feature at Lambert House. That is, many have questioned the oversize dimensions relative to the upstairs fireplaces and chimneys. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show projections of the first floor chimney, oven and hearth lines. While it is true the Central Island does extend to the east perhaps 15 feet or more beyond the required load-carrying area for the fireplaces above, there is nothing so odd about this. It probably reflects the original builder's idiosyncrasy and nothing more: after all, by leaving this pillar of stone and dirt (later walled all round) he had just that much less to throw out of his excavation. Perhaps he ran into ledge rock or a buried glacial erratic which deterred all attempts to remove it. So, the Central Island came into being with large, typically coarse, and uncoursed fieldstone retaining walls around its perimeter. It is pierced at 3 places by openings, referred to by us as "down-comers," and believed to be ash-drops from fireplaces above. At least, 2 are situated correctly to have served for the fireplace in the first floor parlor on the south side of the house and the sitting room fireplace on the north. The third "downcomer" on the south side at the eastern end of the Central Island does not currently align with any fireplace. All these "downcomers" were choked with rubble and ashes at the time of our excavation and appeared to have been inoperational for a long time. Two peculiar features of the Central Island are the irregular surface of the east face and the "stepback" or jog on the northwest corner (Fig. 2). (This latter feature is matched across the North Corridor by a similar setback in the outer wall.) The reasons for these are difficult to explain. The irregularity opposite the well could be the result of hasty or sloppy work; it could be from an underlying ledge or boulder which protrudes close behind the wall; or it might be a deliberate construction feature whose significance escapes us. It gives the East Corridor a crowded and pinched aspect where it angles off to the East Chamber. One other explanation for the somewhat chaotic aspect of this part of the East Corridor in the building's underpinnings would be that the east end of the Central Island may have been altered or dug into when a presumed later excavation for the East Chamber was begun. The wall may have been sloppily patched up. I do not personally believe this was the case. It is of interest that a projection of the inside surface of the east wall at the end of the South Corridor, north past the Central Island all but touches the east wall of the Central island suggesting that the "later" East Chamber, or part of it, must have existed as early as this presumed earlier part of the foundation excavation to allow any passageway at all. At an early stage of our excavation, George Rhine of Ridgefield, Connecticut, an authority on colonial structures and building techniques, examined the cellar and some of its construction features. He, however, found nothing unusual about it. I am of the impression that eccentricities in construction were common in colonial times (Tunis1965). As to the second peculiar feature of the Central Island, the setback on the North Corridor face, I offer no explanation or even hypothesis. The matching setback opposite on the outside wall of the North Corridor strongly suggests however, these setbacks were deliberate. North Corridor An east-west walkway on the north side of the Central island. Our datum for elevations was the soil surface 18inches below a ring in an iron rod driven between the foundation stones under the window at this west end. South Corridor An east-west walkway paralleling the North Corridor and containing most of our excavated units. Datum for unit designation and location was derived from a stake near the inside juncture of the south and west foundation walls (see). From this datum, in the southwest corner of the cellar, east-west axes at 5-foot intervals were determined to the north, and north-south axes at 5-foot intervals were determined to the east in alphabetical progression (Fig. 2). All units take designations from their southwest corner coordinates. West Corridor A rubbish-choked, narrow walk- or crawlway at the front (west) end of the building. East Corridor An irregular, pinched passageway on the east side of the Central Island. It contains the dug well and opens northeastwards into the East Chamber area. Irregularity of the east wall of the Central Island and the walls opposite on the east side of the corridor which angle northeast - destroy the parallel effect to corridors that bound the Central Island and give this part of the cellar an "unplanned" aspect. East Chamber A
large, open area, underlying most of the North Wing addition. At the east
end is a large fireplace and associated beehive oven. The exterior
entrance to the cellar is also located here.
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