1939
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1419
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library
Williamsburg, Virginia
1990
Area H, Block 18 (Virginia Gazette Printing Office) August 15, 1939
By F. Duke
Colonial Lot #48 originally sloped into a ravine, the bottom of which entered the south end of the lot near the east corner, and thence ran generally northward. Duke of Gloucester Street, crossing the ravine at right angles, was raised c1720 on an earth fill high enough to carry it across almost on a level. A large vaulted brick drain was provided under the fill. Perhaps at this time, perhaps later1, a brick retaining wall was built along the north side of the fill, where the ravine was deepest (i.e. across the eastern portion of the south end of lot #48). This retaining wall occupied the entire distance between the Printing Office2 and the next building eastward.3
In subsequent years the drain was rebuilt and extended northward. Material was dumped over the retaining wall until a slope had been built up about half way to the street level, concealing the northern face of the wall and the older portion of the drain.
The modern store on this lot, destroyed by fire c1922, was never replaced. In 1938 the foundations and paving of the original Printing Office were uncovered. Earth was removed down to hardpan, east of the office to a line beyond the drain, and north of the office proper for a distance of about 12 feet.
Eastward of the office foundations, no evidence was found of any structure prior to the modern store.
To northward, investigation was not carried as far as a small foundation which, according to the Frenchman's Map, existed farther back in the lot. Since a deep fill covers this area, excavation for the supposed foundation of a minor building would have involved disproportionate expense.
Excavation disclosed the inner sides and (except in one instance1) the tops of the retaining wall already mentioned, the south and west walls of the office proper, and a second retaining wall (much lower than the first) which continued northward along the western property line. Difficulty was encountered uncovering the outer sides of these walls, which in certain cases were badly disintegrated. A trench was however dug outside the south foundation wall for most of its length. Near the southeastern corner this trench was carried down to the bottom of the wall.
The western slope of the ravine originally extended into, perhaps across, Colonial Lot #47. The office stands at a point well down the slope. Its foundations extend a full storey's depth below present street level.
The street was raised to its present level2 within a year or two of the time3 when the office was constructed. It is not certain whether or not the grading work had begun before the completion of the building.4 If not begun, it was almost certainly under consideration.5 Thus, although the present basement probably stood almost or quite clear of the ground at the time of construction, it must have been intended/from the first for a basement.6 The brickwork, wherever it has been preserved (except for 4 courses of the east wall), is of the English bond which is characteristic of basement construction. No water-table was found, nor were any traces of inside plaster.
On the east and north, however, where the ground lay lower, the walls were doubtless intended to stand clear of the ground, and doubtless contained windows and a door. (See detailed descriptions to follow.)
There are two levels of paving brick, the second of which is at an average level 14 or 15 inches higher than the first. The remains of the fallen south wall1 lie on top of the earlier pavement, leveled out to form the greater part of the fill on which the second pavement was laid.2 Both pavements are very fragmentary, apparently as a result of both wear and salvage operations.
After the south wall had collapsed,1 the decision to re-lay the pavement at a higher level was perhaps dictated by drainage problems, which may easily have developed in this location. A course of brick was found just inside the south wall, 9" wide, covered by a line of planks running lengthwise,3 and set 2c lower than the first pavement. This brickwork may have served as the floor of a drain: its general slope is to the east, or into the ravine.
Certain patches of brickwork lc deep, near the same level, inside the north and east walls, may have formed part of the same drainage system.
A rectangular mass of brickwork found in the east central part of the foundation begins about 8c below the second paving level, and is 6c high, but seems originally to have stood higher. This foundation is about 1½ by 3½ feet in size, and runs north and south. It may have served as foundation for a printing press at this level, or for posts under a press at the street-floor level.
9¼ x 4½ x 2¾
Shell.
The first wall built on this site was 14" thick. Its bottom was stepped up from east to west, conforming more or less closely with the slope of the original grade. This wall fell over inward, no doubt giving away under the pressure of the street fill.
Broken bricks from the fallen wall remain to form part of a fill over the lower pavement. Of the wall itself, for most of its length, nothing remains standing except its lowermost courses (up to the level of the lower pavement). This dwarf wall leans inward, with an inclination in places as great as 1 in 12.
Near the west end this wall rises about 4½ feet higher.
8¾ ; x 4¼ x 2½.
Shell.
Some displacement due to the collapse of upper part and to subsequent soil pressure.
On the foundation provided by the remnants of the first wall stands a second one, also 14" thick. The lower portion of this wall (to a height of some 18" above the lower paving level) is stepped out 1" to 2", perhaps as a measure to gain added strength.
Three buttresses, bonded in with the wall, rise from the upper layer of paving. The central one 5 projects about 2 feet, the others slightly more than 1 foot.
Near its west end, where the original wall rises higher, the second wall begins about midway of the total height. Here the lower (earlier) half has a 4" facing of brickwork of the second period, probably to strengthen it. (See Sect. A-A, Archaeological Survey Drawing.)
7-5/8 x 3¾ x 2½. English bond.
Shell.
Brick little damaged, mortar deteriorated, surface slightly out of plumb from soil pressure, buttresses broken down except at base.
Of early period, like original south wall in thickness, bond, mortar, and brick size. This wall apparently never contained any opening.
Fair except for a few missing bricks.
The lining is built inside northwest corner of wall and is not bonded. Diagonal fireplace with back corners rounded. Stone hearth and brick underfire at lower paving level. At upper paving level a brick hearth and underfire seem to have been first provided, the level inside the fireplace having later been raised 3c, and the back wall built out to reduce the area of the underfire.
8¾ x 4¼ x 3.
Shell.
Fragmentary.
The only existing brickwork is a short length at each end of the wall. This is of English bond, but bond may have changed to Flemish at a higher level, in conformity with east wall. In the gap between the ends the course of the wall is clearly traceable along a fill which contains bats and shell mortar.
8¾ x 4¼ x 2½, English bond.
Shell.
Unfit for re-use.
Thickness and construction generally the same as for the other original walls. Its bottom, like that of the south wall, is stepped down toward the southeast corner. Only at the/south end does the present brickwork rise above the level of the lower paving. Between 4 and 16 inches below this level is a band of Flemish bond, 4c high, with English bond below and above. No explanation can be offered for the reversion to English bond above the Flemish. But common practice would in any event hardly determine this bond, since the wall is that of a basement, but out of the ground.
One or two1 windows probably existed in this wall, but no traces remain because the brickwork ends well below the probable sill line.
8¾ x 4¼ x 2½.
Shell.
Fragmentary.
In front of the south wall at its western end is a fragmentary foundation of later brickwork near street level, perhaps belonging to an entrance stoop. It seems unlikely1 that a door existed at this corner in the original building, or that, if a door was cut later, more than one step would be necessary to reach it.
Salvaged.
Lime.
Twelve feet north of the main foundation, remnants of piers indicate that a lean-to/existed on the rear at the street-floor level, probably with an open space below. That the pier construction is later than that of the main walls is indicated by the existence between the piers and the main foundation of a 4" layer of sand, such as builds up under the eaves of a house from the action of rain.
The easternmost pier turns the corner, and probably had an L shape. A fill between this pier and the northeast corner of the main foundation probably represents a low retaining wall which held the grade under the lean-to at a higher level than outside.
This foundation and the next one west probably stood about as high as the second pavement, 8 and acted as footings for smaller piers. The third foundation is better preserved, and the beginning of a smaller pier can be seen on top of it. (Archaeological Survey Drawing, Sect. A-A).
The eastward opening between piers is considerably wider than the two westward. There is no direct evidence as to a reason for this, although the opening nearest the middle may have been determined in relation to a window or door opposite it, itself set as near as possible to the chimney; and the other two openings may have been allowed to come as they would.
8¼ x 3-7/8 x 2¾.
Shell.
From the northwest corner of the main foundation a 17" brick retaining wall extends northward along the property line. This wall rises only about 2 feet above the second pavement. Its original height, if greater, cannot be determined. It does not bond with the house wall but is built up to it, an indication of later date—as is its appearance.1 Masonry extends about 13 feet north of the house wall, and a fill was traced about 4' further.
8½ x 4¼ x 2¾. English bond, joints pointed and lined.
Shell.
Unfit for re-use without radical reconstruction.
Hard against the back or west side of the 9 above retaining wall, and on a line with the lean-to piers1, was uncovered a rough stone foundation which (aided by the top of the retaining wall) probably supported a pier under the northwest corner of the lean-to.
Another colonial building2 stood 40 feet east of the Printing Office. The fronts of the two buildings lined approximately, and between their nearer front corners runs a brick retaining wall 34" thick. It is possible or even probable that this wall was built by the city at the time the street level was raised. The bottom of the ravine is about 12 feet below street level. The wall now rises3 towards the east to within about a foot of street level, and at the end butts against the west wall of the house, just back of the southern face. Towards the west the retaining wall drops away considerably, and ends against the southeastern corner of the Printing Office, which it overlaps by 4". Not being bonded with the Masonry of the office, the retaining wall must be of a later date, since the overlap of the wall could hardly have been provided for in advance of the building of the office. But the difference in time may be slight.
8¾ x 4¼ x 2¾.
Shell.
Unfit for re-use.
At the eastern end of the retaining wall are remains of brick steps in very ruinous condition. A relieving wall 18" thick and parallel to the main wall at a distance of 2½ feet south, is here sunk below grade to a depth of more than 5 feet. Steps were built from this wall to end at the north edge of the main wall, out of the mass of which they were cut at the lower end. Cheek walls continued down to grade, 5 feet lower still. Probably they enclosed wooden steps, as there is no evidence that the brick ones continued north of the wall.
8¼ x 4 x 2¼.
Shell.
Bad.
In the Coleman Collection there is a photograph of the Printing Office taken c1889-90. A frame storey-and-a-half building is shown, with five openings on the street floor and two dormers.1
The arrangement of the openings suggests that a partition2 divided the body of the house into two unequal3 rooms, of which the larger must have occupied the fireplace end. This partition was no doubt carried up through the attic floor.
| 1719-21 | Michael Archer builds house on Colonial lot #48. |
| 1720-22 | £150 spent for raising street grade. |
| 1729 | Joanna, widow of M. Archer, was living on this lot. |
| 1730 | William Parks brings printing equipment from England, and establishes printing office in Williamsburg. |
| 1731 | Parks doing business "near the Capitol in Williamsburg." |
| 1736 | Parks begins publication of Virginia Gazette. His activities up to this time were presumably not carried on on lot #48 because |
| 1737 | A reference to William Hooper's, "formerly Mrs. Archer's" store, probably refers to the house on lot #48, which is known to have belonged to Joanna Archer in 1729. |
| 1746 | Direct reference to Printing Office next to lot 47, which must mean lot 48. Parks therefore entered into possession of this property at an unknown time between 1737 and 1746. He carried on a large printing business. |
| 1750 | Parks died. The estate lost the property for debts. The printing business was continued by |
| 1751-62 | William Hunter: |
| 1762-66 | Joseph Royle and Hunter's executors: |
| 1766-74 or later | Purdie and Dixon. |
| 1780-1840 | Lean-to added at rear during this period. |
| 1896 | Gazette Office destroyed by fire. |
1. Fragments
All earth removed from within and near walls was screened, and earth in one location (where type was found1) was screened three times.
Between the two levels of basement paving numerous fragments of china came to light and were of use in dating the upper pavement.2 Other noteworthy finds included a brass drawer escutcheon and a number of diamond window-panes and lead cames.2
A large quantity of lead type was found just outside the foundation, at the east end about three feet south of center. The type is of several sizes and of 18th century character. Two binder's tools and a pair of brass calipers in good condition were also found.
Fragments have been deposited with the Archaeological Museum staff.
2. Photographs
| N | 5649 | Main foundation looking southwest |
| N | 5652 | Main foundation looking west |
| N | 5653 | Main foundation looking southwest |
| N | 5656 | Chimney looking southwest |
| N | 5657 | South wall looking down |
| N | 5662 | Fireplace looking northwest |
| N | 5661 | South retaining wall, looking west |
| N | 5666 | Brick steps looking south |
| N | Fragments assembled for study and display. |
Coleman collection; photograph of Virginia Gazette Printing Office.
3. Archaeological Field Notes
In separate file.
4. Archaeological Survey Drawing
A print is incorporated herewith.
135. Research Report
A copy is attached.
6. John S. Charles: Recollections of Williamsburg, Virginia ... Williamsburg, 1928.
7. S. P. Moorehead: General Report on the Excavated Foundation of the Virginia Gazette Building. Colonial Lot #48, Block 18.
A copy is attached.
8. Sketch showing proposed Virginia Gazette Building.
A print is attached.
F. D.
See preliminary report of August 2, 1930.
Determination of the exact location of the site of the old printing office was dependent on establishing the boundaries of the colonial lots in this block, and the locations of the buildings on these lots. Tracing the history of the lot known in the first town plats as #47, the corner lot of the group from the prezent Unicorn's Horn east to Botetourt street, and relating the data to the Frenchman's map yielded unexpected information about the location of streets and lanes in this block, and the relation of the Unicorn's Horn to the early lot numbers.
The evidence from the Deed Books at Yorktown, when applied to the Frenchman's map showed a narrow alley to the west of the Unicorn's Horn, and no street where the extension of Colonial street is supposed to be, and placed the building on the western corner of colonial lot #47, with an alley to the west. The possible history of the narrow street shown to the east of the building is hinted in the following item given in the executor's account of the settlement of the estate of William Hunter, the printer, who died in 1761. It is filed at Yorktown and is dated October 15, 1764:
"To paid Lewis Burwell for a piece of ground for Street sold Mr Hunter but conveyed to his Devisees - £ 67/7/10.
Tracing lot #47 in the York records, one of the first references to it is found in Deed Book III, when the Trustees of the City of Williamsburg granted the property to Archibald Blair in 1713 for a consideration of 5 shillings. The usual condition in these deeds from the city was that a house be built within a period of three years or the land would escheat.
On March 19, 1715 the Trustees of the City of Williamsburg granted lots 46, 47 and 323 to William Timson for 5 shillings, who conveyed it to Samuel Shield for 5 shillings on May 1717. By September of the same year the Trustees again had possession (indicating that no building had been erected on the lot), and conveyed the "farm lott #47" to Samuel Hyde.
In the next deed, Samuel Hyde to Joseph Freeman, recorded March 1719, the lot was conveyed for a consideration of £ 10, and was described as a lot or ½ acre between the storehouse of Mr Archibald Blair and the house of Henry Gill.
Joseph Freeman in February 1721, for a consideration of 135f. conveyed lot #47 to Thomas Jones, merchant, describing it as located between the "street now in the tenure of Archibald Blair and the house in the tenure of Micha Archer". Jones transerred the title to Christohpher Degraffenreid in August 1722 for 35 shillings. In June 1728 Degraffenreid conveyed the property to John White, a glazier, at which time it was described as adjoining Mrs Joanna Archer's.
John White to Richard Packe, watchmaker, for 115f. was recorded January 1729. According to a deed for lot #48 Sarah Packe tenanted the lot in June 1751.
An apothecary and surgeon, George Pitt next lived and kept shop in the building on lot #47, and during his tenure recorded a deed of trust to his five apprentices, Cowne, Webb, Robinson, Robinson and Quarles in 1757, giving them an equity in the shop if he should die before they finished their apprenticeship.
The next deed, from George Pitt, the surgeon and apothecary, to Benjamin Bailey, recorded in November 1758 conveys all that "messuage, storehouse or dwelling house where said Pitt lives, nect adjoining the printing office". Bailey conveyed the property back to Pitt in December of the same year. Pitt sold the property to John Dixon, in August 1774, describing it as being bound East by the lot of William Hunter, where the printing office now stands, and west by a small lane.
John Dixon was the guardian of William Hunter, junior, and transferred the property to him in February 1775, describing the boundaries in the same terms as above.
Tracing lot #48, the lot on which the printing office was situated is more difficult, as the deeds for it are not recorded at Yorktown for the period 1719 to 1751. However, in the deed to the adjoining lot #47, the following facts were mentioned in connection with lot #48:
March 1719- The house of Henry Gill. February 1721- the house in the tenure of Ficha Archer. June 1728- residence of Mrs Joanna Archer.William Parkes was printer of the first Gazette from 1730 until his death in 1750. On March 20, 1746 the following advertisement was published in it:
Edmund Pendleton is to be found during General Court at Mrs Packe's next door to the printing office.Sarah Packe had an interest in the Gazette, and at the time of Parke's death her interest was protected in Parkes will providing for the sale of his estate and Bettlement of the "accounts now open between Mre Packe and myself". Accordingly, the following appeared in the Gazette of February 7, 1751:
"To be sold at auction, March next, the Printing office, outhouses and lot on the Duke of Gloucester Street belonging to the late William Parkes."At the auction the property was purchased by William Hunter, and the deed was recorded at Yorktown in June 1751. At this time it was bounded on the west by the lot of Sarah Packe, and on the east by the lot in the tenure of John Holt.
William Hunter bequeathed the printing office and lot #48 to his natural son, William Hunter, junior; who was still a minor when his father died in 1751. John Dixon, young Hunter's guardian purchased lot #47 for him, so at the outbreak of the Revolution both lots were owned by Hunter, and under this name they are marked in the town plat plan.
Young Hunter, a loyalist, joined the army of Cornwallis in 1781, and was banished to England in 1784, leaving two children and an aged mother in Virginia. Miss Goodwin found Hunter's claim among the other loyalist claims for service and losses in the King's cause. The claim (Public Record Office, London) was endorsed by Cornwallis on August 30,1 1784, the losses totalling £ 5135 Virginia currency and including the following items:
| 1 | Home and Lot in the city of Williamsburg, | #47 | 650/ |
| 1 | Ditto | #48 | 650/ |
| 1 | set of printing materials | 350/ | |
| Household and kitchen furniture | 500/ |
William Hunter on February 15, 1779 deeded to his mother, Elizabeth Reynolds, the back portion of the printing office lot #48. The bounds and dimensions of this portion of the lot are all given in such a way as to check with the Frenchman's may and to give the boundary between lots #47, #48 and #49.
These lots have not been transferred as frequently as the other two in the section, and their history is not so extensive. Frequently both lots have been held by the same owner. In a deed recorded in 1744, John Blair, the executor for the estate of Robert Davidson sold lots #49 and #50 to John Holt with "two messuages, tenements and lotts". In 1753 John Holt conveyed to Peyton Randolph lot #49 "now in the tenure of the said Holt". Peyton Randolp, William Nelson, John Robinson and Elizabeth Holt transferred title to William Waters, December 1754, describing it as lot #49 "containing a storehouse lately thereon erected". In July 1760 the lot again changed hands, the dimensions of the lot being given in the deed as 24 feet from the west corner of the lot along Duke of Gloucester street, and north 87 feet, "with a storehouse lately thereon erected"; William and Sarah Waters ceding the property to William Holt. William Holt in turn conveyed it to Lewis, November 1770, with the storehouse.
In the will of William Waters, recorded May 18, 1767, he bequeathed to his wife Sarah, "the Houses and lotts where I now live and after he death to my daughter, Sarah Waters". These were lots #49 and #50, with the exception of the lot called #49 which was only 24 feet wide and contained the store. Both these lots are marked "Waters" on the lot plan of the city, and in 180 Sarah Waters (the daughter?) issued on insurance policy for her store on the corner of the lot bounded by Botetourt street.
That this property was enclosed by a fence is indicated on the Frenchman's map, and in the following quotations from the deed of William Hunter, junior, to his mother Elizabeth Reynolds, already referred to:
Deed recorded February 15,1779: ...all that parcel or part of their printing office lot situate in the city of Williamsburg that is now divided from the said lot northerly by a new line of Palcing running from the line of Sarah Waters lot westerly to the line of the lot formerly Dr George Pitt's, now the property of the said William Funter, and measuring from the said back street along the line of the said Sarah Waters, up to the said new Paleings 64 feet southfrom thence westerly to the line of the other deseribed lot, thence northerly to the said back street and so to the begi ning.Taking these directions and dimensions at the seale of the Frenchman's map, and applying them to it, the paleings around the lot of the said Sarah Waters" are apparent by the line indicated on the map. "The new paleings" are indicated by the south esterly line to a small building along the end of the line. "South along the line of the said Sarah Waters 64 feet"is the exact distance of the line on the map.
This hypothesis fits well with the following description of the buildings in the printing office block by Mr Charles in his Recollections of Williamsburg" (P.44-45):
"On the southwest corner of the square bounded by Duke of Gloucester, Nicholson, Colonial and Botetourt there was a long rambling two-story frame dwelling with three doors opening out upon Duke of Gloucester street. The upper story of this house had a very low pitch, and the door at the western or uptown end had a small platform with a railing around it, with steps down to the street; the other two doors were reached by steps directly on the street.A fire destroyed all these old buildings according to Dr Tyler in the following, written in 1898 (W&M Quarterly, vol. VII p.15):
"Upon lot #48 on the Main street was William Hunter's old frame residence of a story and a half, and a small printing office (the old printing office was standing as late as 1896 when the square of old houses in which it stood was entirely destroyed by fire."