Archaeology in the Mansion Cellars

In 2004-2006, Montpelier archaeologists conducted an extensive archaeological investigation of the mansion cellar.  Archaeologists discovered a wide array of deposits dating to the Madison era ranging from room partitions, evidence for floor treatments, and seven sub-floor pits that slaves used for storing vegetables, personal items, and hearth ash (hearth ash was used for a variety of household uses in the 18th and 19th centuries, including making soap and lye).

This archaeological evidence has provided important information to discover room use for five main areas of the cellar:

• Dolley's kitchen
• Nelly's (Madison's mother) kitchen
• Servant's hall in the 1763 core
• Wine cellar in the 1760 core
• Storage and servant hall in the 1797 addition

As in other areas of the house, the duPont's alterations in 1901 resulted in the preservation of these deposits — in this case the entombment of the archaeological deposits vis-à-vis the pouring of a concrete floor over the 4,250 square feet of space.  Archaeologists jackhammered, hammered, and chiseled this concrete floor away, and painstakingly excavated, recorded, photographed, and drew all the features encountered beneath the concrete.

Map showing cellar layout as it appeared in the 1820s.
[Click picture for larger image.]

Excavations of the cellar focused on three areas that would be affected by the restoration process:

• The 1765 Cellar;
• The 1797 Cellar;
• and Dolley's Kitchen.

The 1765 Cellar

The 1765 cellar is located underneath the core of the original Madison home. Based on evidence both in the framing and in the ground, archaeologists and architectural historians have been able to determine that this room was originally divided into at least two spaces.  After the wings were added to the house in 1808, a central door was cut in the south wall to provide passage through the room from the wine cellar to Nelly’s kitchen.

During the first half of the 19th century (during President Madison’s occupation), the southeast room may have been used by enslaved workers as a place to rest and eat when they weren’t carrying out daily chores.  These individuals probably had homes in the “slave-quarters” in the South Yard, but may have had bed rolls and some furniture in the basement to use if they were on duty for extended periods of time, during parties, or overnight.  This arrangement would have ensured that workers were close at hand should Nelly need anything, yet it gave them a space to attend to their physical needs (sleeping and eating) separate from the Madison’s living space.  A fireplace in this room would have provided warmth and a means of cooking food.  Archaeologists found a storage pit in front of the hearth where vegetables and root crops could have been stored.

The room in the southwest corner was probably used as a work space.  Enslaved workers may have used this area to carry out the work required for the Madison household.  They may have salted hams, and prepared vegetables for storage. Archaeologists found small holes that may have been used to anchor legs for tables or shelving (built-in furniture) into the clay floor.  Archaeologists also found two pits in this area that were probably used for vegetable storage and storage of ash for household use. 

Servants' Hall in 1765 Cellar showing partition outlines, hearth location, and sub-floor pits.
[Click picture for larger image.]

The 1797 Cellar

The 1797 cellar after excavation showing the location of sleepers (beams that floorboards are laid upon) and location of ashpits.

The 1797 cellar is located beneath the 30-foot duplex built by James Madison upon his return to Montpelier following his retirement from the Philadelphia Congress. It was probably used by James and Dolley in many of the same ways that Nelly used the circa 1765 cellar.  In fact, the layouts of the rooms seem to have been very similar.  The 1797 cellar was laid out into four separate rooms.  Unlike the circa 1765 cellar, which had a clay floor, the 1797 cellar had a wooden floor.  Archaeologists found sleeper cuts — evidence of the raised wooden floor — running across the length and width of the floor in the 1797 cellar.  Workers would have dug out a shallow trench and placed a joist in the trench (a sleeper).  Then they would have nailed the floorboards to the sleepers to hold the floor in place.
 
Like the circa 1765 cellar, the 1797 cellar seems to have had a room where enslaved domestics could have rested, eaten, and spent any free time they might have been allowed while on duty in the house.  Like the corresponding room in the circa 1765 cellar, this was the only room with a fireplace, and would have been the only room with a heat source and a means of cooking.  Archaeologists also found two pits in this room that were probably used for storing ash.  Slaves probably collected ash from the hearth in the "servant's quarter," possibly from Dolley’s kitchen, and stored it in these two pits.  The ash could have been used in many ways, including soap and lye production and to scour pots and pans.

The other rooms in the 1797 Cellar were probably used for storage.  Archaeologists found a large round storage pit in the southwest corner of the room.  Based on the shape of the pit, slaves dug this large pit and then set a wooden barrel into the hole.  The barrel was probably lined with straw and may have been used for storing items such as apples, potatoes, and cabbages.  Another pit was identified in the northwest corner of the room and was also probably used as a pit to store ash.

Pit feature being excavated in 1797 cellar. This was below the wooden floor and potentially linked with a barrel for the storage of root crops and vegetables.	Detail shot of findings from one of the ash pits in the 1797 cellar. The white ceramic is an edge-decorated plate dating to the early 19th century.

Dolley's Kitchen

Archaeologists Dr. Mark A. Trickett and Brian Schneider carefully removing the remains of a duPont era concrete floor to reveal herringbone brick impressions.

Preserved beneath the concrete in Dolley's kitchen, archaeologists and architects found evidence for Madison-era brick floors. Masons found remnants of brick floors in the doors leading to the exterior that were infilled in the late 1840s when the house was stuccoed. Archaeologists found evidence for this same brick paving running across the entire floor in the form of brick impressions in the clay floor below the duPont-era concrete. These floors were dry-laid onto the clay subsoil in the kitchens. During the mid-19th century, the floor in Dolley's kitchen experienced flooding from roof runoff and this moisture caused the bricks to become impressed into the clay floor. Archaeologists painstakingly revealed these impressions to reconstruct the herringbone pattern.