Jacksonville: Western Illinois Survey Division (WISD)

Prehistoric Sites | Historic Sites

During the past two years the Western Illinois Survey Division conducted excavations at a number of archaeological sites in west central Illinois as part of several different IDOT compliance projects. These excavations were undertaken under the direction of David Nolan, Rich Fishel, Robert Hickson; Robert Mazrim, ITARP’s historic resources specialist, co-directed the investigations at the historic period sites. All of the prehistoric sites are dominated by Woodland-age components, whereas the intact historic American remains primarily date to the 1830s and 1840s.

Historic Sites

Chenoweth (11MD771)
In 2005, the Western Illinois Survey Division of ITARP conducted Phase II and III investigations at the Chenoweth site (11MD771), a multicomponent prehistoric and historic period occupation located near the west edge of Macomb. A total surface pickup of the site was initially made using 100 10-x-10-m collection units; the densest portion of the site was also examined using several remote-sensing techniques. The initial surface work was supplemented by the excavation of 12 1-x-2-m hand units. After completion of these hand units, most of the site area was subjected to the mechanical removal of the plow zone to recover additional artifacts and locate cultural features. A total of 145 features were ultimately defined and excavated to mitigate the impact of the FAP 315/IL 336 Frontage Road and Mainline construction (Figure 30).

Figure 30. Excavation at the Chenoweth site (11MD771).

The recovered artifacts and features are associated with a minimum of three principle components: Middle Holocene Archaic, Pioneer Historic, and Early Industrial Historic. The Middle Holocene Archaic component is represented by scattered, but oftentimes dense, subsurface concentrations of flaking debris and fire-cracked rock. The associated projectile points include Matanzas and Karnak varieties, which generally date from approximately 5800–4800 years BP. Several prehistoric pit features were also encountered, most of which were utilized as processing loci. An ephemeral Early Archaic component, represented by an isolated Theban cluster point, is also present but failed to produce any clearly associated subsurface remains.

The earlier Historic component may have begun in the late 1820s and likely ended circa 1840. This occupation appears to be associated with the William Pringle family, who purchased the property from the U.S. Government in 1835. Features associated with this component include a limestone-lined sub-floor cellar (Figure 31), an unlined cistern (Figure 32), two privies, post molds, and several pits of uncertain function. Artifacts associated with this component include blue-edge decorated pearlware ceramics, printed and painted whiteware ceramics, redware and yellowware, olive glass, animal bone and egg shell (food waste), three European-made gunflints, an elongated, drawn blue glass bead, brass and pewter buttons, brass kettle scrap, and several 18th to early 19th century Spanish and American coins.

Figure 31. Plan view of limestone-lined sub-floor cellar, Feature 50 – Chenoweth site (11MD771).

Figure 32. Profile of an unlined cistern, Feature 51 – Chenoweth site (11MD771).

The later Historic occupation appears to have begun after the Civil War and ended during the 1890s. Features associated with this component include a blacksmithing area, pits ultimately utilized as refuse dumps, post molds, and an artifact-laden, 4.2-meter deep, limestone-lined well. Artifacts recovered from the well include a multitude of bottles, two iron kettles, stoneware crocks, a set of eyeglasses, a full set of dentures, an 1890 token, and portions of an 1876 Centennial glass serving tray. Other artifacts associated with this component include decorated and plain white-pasted earthenware, stoneware, and animal bone.

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Taliaferro Cabin (11PM62)
In March 2003 the WISD investigated the Taliaferro Cabin site (11PM62), a recently-discovered EuroAmerican occupation in Putnam County dating to the 1830s. This site was recorded during an intensive archival and pedestrian search for the village of Senachwine, a Potawatomi chief in the early 1800s. A pedestrian survey of a possible location of Senachwine’s village recovered five tiny white-pasted earthenware fragments within an agricultural field consisting of dense corn debris with only 10 percent ground surface visibility. A grid of 80 22-cm-diameter hand-dug auger tests was established in 5 and 10-m intervals across and beyond the surface scatter area.

Forty-four of the 80 systematic auger tests within the surface scatter area produced cultural material, including pieces of decorated and undecorated white-pasted earthenware, nails, glass, a kaolin pipe bowl, and a pewter or whitemetal button that was manufactured between 1750 and 1815. Three of the auger tests encountered sub-plowzone remains that were likely historic features. Random metal detector surveys conducted across the site area recovered two larger pieces of iron, a probable harness ring, five pieces of kettle brass, three brass buttons, six lead balls that range in diameter from .37–.51 inches, and numerous nails.

Eight 1-x-2-m test units were excavated in the area where two of the possible features were recorded. These test units uncovered four cultural features: a cellar, cistern, probable vegetable storage pit, and a probable privy vault. Recovered artifacts include two brass buttons, two bone buttons, a bone lice comb, ceramic pipe fragments, 27 brass straight pins, a brass-backed pocket mirror, three slate writing styluses, a French blade gunflint, faunal elements from birds, fish, rodents, deer, and pig, as well as numerous pieces of pearlware, white earthenware, and porcelain. Decorative types include shell edge, hand-painted, dipt, and dark blue, red, brown, and black prints. Based upon the artifact assemblage, the feature morphologies, and archival information, site 11PM62 is associated with James Taliaferro, the first EuroAmerican settler in Putnam County west of the Illinois River, who moved to this location in 1835.

The results of the ITARP testing at 11PM62 indicate that the site dates primarily to the later stages of the pioneer period (1781–1840) in Illinois settlement, a period little known archaeologically in Illinois history when the cultural landscape was changing from Native American to EuroAmerican. The site’s occupation is short term, likely not lasting longer than 10 years, and is affiliated with a single family. Site 11PM62 has the potential to yield significant new information about pioneer-age settlement and subsistence, as well as technological and architectural practices, in north central Illinois.

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Hinsey (11T412)
The Hinsey site (11T412), located south of Pekin in rural Tazewell County, is believed to have been occupied by the Albert Hinsey family between 1832 and 1837, and the Ansel Haines family from 1837 to 1845. Testing at this short-term farmstead encountered two substantial features: an unlined cistern and a brick lined well. The cistern contained a sample of 1830s and early 1840s domestic debris, including an abnormally large quantity of smoking pipes, and an unusual faunal assemblage containing imported whitefish and Atlantic cod (Figure 22).

Figure 22. Pipe Fragments from 11T412.

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Frozen Ground (11MG268).
The Frozen Ground site (11MG268), located west of Jacksonville in Morgan County, is thought to have been the home of the Hansel House family, circa 1832 to 1837. Excavations at the site produced several substantial features, including a large sub-floor cellar and an early-context “keyhole” cellar (Figure 23). Like the Hinsey and Taliaferro sites, the Frozen Ground site produced an important sample of artifacts dating to the close of the frontier period in Illinois.

Figure 23. Blading in progress, 11MG268.

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Black Top Ridge (11MC7)
The Black Top Ridge site (11MC7), located in rural Mercer County overlooking the Mississippi Valley, was briefly occupied by an unknown individual or family during the late 1830s and early 1840s. Testing at the site produced a number of “archetypical” features including a pit cellar, sub-floor depression, unlined cistern, and a lime-slaking pit (Figure 24). The artifacts recovered from the site represent a very short-term occupation dating to the depression that followed the Panic of 1837.

Figure 24. Profile of Feature 8 – a lime-Slaking pit, 11MC7.

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Stafford (11SG1309)
The Stafford site (11SG1309) is located in rural Sangamon County, south of the town of Rochester. The site was occupied as early as 1821 by the Oliver Stafford family. Stafford’s great-great uncle was executed in England during the late 17th century, accused of plotting to kill the King of England. The Stafford’s immigrated to Rhode Island and moved to Sangamon County via Vermont. Small-scale testing encountered a suite of pit features closed by the mid 1830s, as well as a large sub-floor cellar and exterior keyhole cellar abandoned shortly after the Civil War. See Figures 25 and 26 for examples of some of the artifacts recovered during the investigations.

Figure 25. Refined Ceramics from 11SG1309.

Figure 26. Brass pins from 11SG1309.

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