Historical Archaeology of the Delaware Valley, 1600-1850

10. Rediscovering Franklin: The Archaeology of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia

10 Rediscovering franklin: The Archaeology of Benjamin franklin in Philadelphia Patrice L. Jeppson Introduction something unusual happened in the spring of 1953 in the Old City section of Philadelphia (figure 10.1). Men wielding shovels and pick axes tore up a stretch of sidewalk laying adjacent to a vacant lot on one of the neighborhood’s cobblestone streets. Their work was part of an unusual archaeological experiment the objective of which was seeking the ruins of Benjamin franklin’s Philadelphia “mansion.” Two centuries before, Benjamin franklin had directed that a house be built somewhere in the vicinity. it was there that franklin’s wife, Deborah, and daughter, sarah, lived while franklin worked overseas in England on behalf of various north American colonies. franklin was in residence at the house during the pivotal year of the country’s founding, 1775–1776, but was soon absent again, serving the new nation in a diplomatic posting to france. He returned to spend the final years of his life in the residence, from 1785 to 1790, during which time he made significant alterations to both the house structure and its surrounding property (figure 10.2). franklin’s daughter had inherited the house upon her father’s death in 1790 and, in the decades following, the “House-Mansion” remained identified with the renowned man while being rented out for various residential and commercial uses (see, for example, the August 29th, 1792, Philadelphia General Advertiser advertisement to “let” the home). in 1822, more than a decade after sarah’s death, her widower husband had the structure demolished, building in its place two rows of small but profitable tenant buildings. The stone and brick house rubble was used to fill in the subterranean, cellar floor-level of the once-standing “Mansion House” while some architectural elements were salvaged for use in the new constructions. The house ruins were then paved over by a cobblestone street, burying them in place but out of sight, where they were eventually forgotten. As decades and then centuries passed, the street entombing the ruins was repaved and renamed and several of the overlaying tenant structures were themselves replaced. The horse carts that traversed the street gave way to automobiles, and buildings that served initially as residences evolved into factory workshops. Then, 140 years after the house had last stood, the archaeological investigation was launched to search for evidence of this lost American history. The goals of the excavation were to determine whether any physical evidence of the mansion 228 Rediscovering franklin survived the ravages of time and to identify specifically the location of where this house once stood. The archaeological exploration was a joint project of the American Philosophical society and the national Park service (nPs). it was inspired by, and was undertaken in advance of, the 250th anniversary of franklin’s birth, which was to be celebrated in 1956. lasting only a few days in the spring of 1953, with a short follow-up in 1955, the excavation was considered a success. The first day of digging revealed several marble steps presumed to be from the mansion’s front entrance. The design element along the profile (front edge) of these steps was anomalous for the nineteenth-century. The steps also exhibited higher levels of wear than the entrance steps that fronted the extant nineteenth-century structures. The archaeological and architectural assessments at the time evaluated these steps as reused elements taken from the franklin mansion when it was destroyed (Jeppson 2005, schumacher 1953, Brandreth 1953). soon after uncovering these steps, the brick floor and stone wall foundations of franklin’s eighteenth-century mansion cellar were discovered resting figure 10.1. The “x” indicates the location of the first excavations, undertaken in 1953, along a narrow street lined with nineteenth- and twentiethcentury shops and warehouses . independence national Historical Park Archives, Working Photo Collection: franklin Court-1950’s: “#153, Philadelphia , franklin Court [Orianna street] looking north toward Market street showing east side of Orianna street, [by] fawcett, september 1950.” Patrice Jeppson 229 among and under the foundations for the nineteenth-century tenant structures. Using this original architectural fabric, the excavators were able to specify the exact location of the house—positioned within the center of the city block defined by 2nd and 3rd streets and Chestnut and Market streets—where it last stood graciously within a fine, french-inspired, courtyard. This 1950s-era excavation proved to be only the first phase...