Collected
Records
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ed.
by Donald L. Tuttle 1972
Prepared and published by the Herkimer County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Herkimer, NY.
ARCHAEOLOGY, EDUCATION AND THE INDIAN CASTLE CHURCH Wayne Lenig, Van Epps-Hartley Chapter.
Preface: Increasingly, in recent years, important archaeological sites have been destroyed by the indiscriminate activity of relic collectors. Although few attempts have been made to inform the public of the consequences of "pot hunting, " many professional archaeologists are already convinced that the situation is hopeless. Some would support legislation prohibiting nonprofessionals from digging without a permit from some proposed state board of antiquities, but such a drastic measure could make the situation even more critical. Competent amateur archaeologists would undoubtedly be offended by the inherent elitism Of this proposition, in which case the net result would be a loss of important information which is presently available via amateur-professional communication channels such as the New York State Archaeological Association. Besides, prohibitions are not usually very effective, and the physical isolation of many sites would make it impossible to prevent clandestine digging.
The project which is the subject of this report was conceived on the assumption that the present "crisis" is the result of a failure on the part of professional archaeologists, not the general public. When people are bombarded through the media with accounts of "priceless treasures" unearthed during archaeological excavations, it is not surprising that they rush out to buy a metal detector and try their luck. What is surprising is that in most cases professional archaeologists tend to discourage any legitimate interest by laymen. As long as spectacular finds continue to attract the attention of the press, it is not realistic to assume that the public will loose interest. If they cannot learn about archaeology from the "experts," they will blunder along on their own. The only logical way to avoid an escalation of the present crisis is to redirect our energy and to some extent our financial resources to educate the public. Now is the time to bring the real meaning of archaeology to the people, and on a modest scale that is what the following report is all about.
During the first two weeks in July, 1972, the Herkimer County Board of Cooperative Educational Services sponsored limited archaeological excavations at the Indian Castle Church, near Little Falls, New York. The primary objective of the program was to educate high school teachers and "gifted" high school students in the legitimate aims of archaeology (i.e. reconstruction of cultural history and the investigation of cultural processes). The research problem involved gathering data which could test the validity of historical sources that indicated the church had been moved a short distance from its original site in the mid-19th century. The exact location of the original building was also of interest to the Indian Castle Church Restoration and Preservation Society, and they kindly granted permission for the excavation. The Fort Plain Museum cooperated by offering their facilities for the treatment and eventual safe-keeping of any artifacts recovered. Donald Tuttle, director of the Herkimer County BOCES summer program, acted as project coordinator, and BOCES secretary Kathleen Flansburg provided on site clerical assistance. The field crew included three secondary school teachers: Walter Lallier. JoAnne Ventura and Rodney Ventura; four high school students: Michael Hart, Deborah Kohn, Pamela Kuchma, and Linda Whiteman; and two volunteer college students: Rosemary Lather and Richard L. Vatic. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of these people and to countless others who contributed to the success of the project.
Historical Background
An association between the Mohawk Indians, and the Anglican Church was formed in the first decade of the 18th century, when Society for the Propagation of the Gospel missionaries would occasionally brave the wilderness to preach at the lower Mohawk castle. (Lydecker, 1938:17) in 1711 the bond was further strengthened by Queen Anne, who ordered a substantial church built at the Mohawks' easternmost village. Anglican ministers continued to supply the Pulpit of this church until the American Revolution. (Sheehan, 1937:9-10) By the 1760's, Christianity had become very fashionable among the eastern Iroquois; so much so that the Mohawk at the Canajoharie or Upper Castle began to "tease" the Indian superintendent for a missionary and church of their own.
Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indians, was an Anglican and an honorary member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, but it was more than loyalty to the Church which prompted his decision to build an Anglican chapel at the Upper Castle in 1769. Anglicanism was the State Religion, and its liturgy contained statements of loyalty to the English monarch. In the turbulent decade which preceded the American Revolution, Johnson wanted to insure that the Mohawks, at least, were socialized with mines which would support and preserve the established order. Already New England missionaries such as Samuel Kirkland and Aaron Crosby were at work among the Oneidas, Tuscaroras and Oquagos, and according to one Anglican cleric "the principles inculcated by them ... [were] ... by no means favourable to Government." (Lydecker, 1938:126)
Construction was started on the new church at the Upper Mohawk Castle (now called the Indian Castle Church) in the fall of 1769, and it was completed in the late spring of the following year. (Sullivan at al., 1921-1962: 7:666) All of the building expenses came out of Johnson's personal pocket. (O'Callaghan, 1849-1850:4:426) The only contemporary description of the building indicates that it was "a Wooden Church 50 feet long, by 32 wide." (Sullivan et al., 1921-1962:6:639)
Dedication services were held on June 17, 1770, and the Rev. Harry Munn of St. Peter's Church in Albany preached the sermon. (Lydecker, 1938:128) Although Johnson was never successful in finding a permanent missionary for the Upper Castle, John Stuart, the missionary at the Lower Castle, held frequent services in the new church. (Lydecker, 1938:131)
Many Mohawk warriors left the Upper Castle and moved to Canada in the beginning of the American Revolution, largely due to the influence of the loyalist Joseph Brant. Those who did not leave in 1776 were forced to flee the following year when the Whigs ransacked their homes in an act of retribution for the patriot losses at the battle of Oriskany. (Graymont, 1972:146-147) Little is known about the Indian Castle Church during the Revolution. In all probability it stood vacant, but it may have served as a neighborhood refuge for homeless Whigs. An 1845 newspaper account lends some credibility to this contention, for it mentions loopholes in the walls of the building, but subsequent structural modifications have made it impossible to verify this statement. (Draper Papers: Brant Manuscripts: 2:13).
After the Revolution the church served a number of Protestant congregations. The Reformed Dutch seem to have been the first whites to claim the structure. A congregation was formed in 1800 under the Reverend Christopher Pick who also served the Dutch Reformed Church of Canajoharie, located at present-day Fort Plain. (Montgomery County Clerk's Office, Deeds Book 7:191) In 1820 a "Union Congregation" was formed, but little is known of their activities. (Herkimer County Clerk's Office, Corporations Book A:35) Presbyterians used the building from 1833 until at least 1835, and the Lutherans were active there in 1838. (Record of the Presbyterian Church in Danube; Records of Lutheran Churches in Fordsbush, Danube and Newville)
In 1848, historian Benson Lossing visited the area and sketched the earliest known view of the church. According to Lossing, except for replacing the steeple, few modifications had been made at that time.
On February 1, 1855, a meeting of the inhabitants living near the church was called "for taking into consideration the propriety of repairing or rebuilding a new house [of worship] upon the site of the old." Another Union Church Society was formed, and Methodists, Presbyterians, Calvinists, Lutherans and Universalists cooperated in the organization. The church was almost 90 years old at this time and badly in need of repair. It had been built upon a Georgian plan, with the main entrance in one of the long walls, and like most 18th century churches in the Mohawk valley, its longitudinal axis was east and west. The people decided unanimously to rebuild the church, probably at least in part because the building was out of style. The new specifications called for Greek Revival form: the structure was to be turned about ninety degrees so that one of the shorter walls faced north; a new facade was to be constructed in this wall, and the arched Georgian windows were to be replaced by rectangular frames. Essentially the building was completely changed, except for the superstructure and one small window which was retained in the south wall. The rebuilt exterior conformed quite closely to the classic Greek Revival meeting house style, but the roof retained its steep 18th century pitch. (Records of the Indian Castle Church: 1:1-9)
The Union Church Society continued to care for the structure until 1925, when regular services were discontinued.
The church is presently open to the public as an historic site, and it is maintained by the Indian Castle Church Restoration and Preservation Society, a nonprofit, Board of Regents-chartered organization.
Methods and Procedures:
Before any archaeological work was begun, a base line was established parallel to the present east wall of the church. A transit and ranging pole were then utilized to construct a 60 by 100 ft. grid, which was subdivided into 5 ft. squares. The northern extremity of the base line was arbitrarily picked as the datum, and this point was triangulated with a cement flagpole footing and the northeast corner of the church foundation. The orientation of our base line was found to be 5 degrees west of magnetic north.
Excavation was begun in the 3 ft. wide trench immediately east of the standing structure. Is area was chosen because specifications for the 1855 rebuilding project indicated that the original wall probably intersected the existing wall in this area. Three 5 ft. squares were excavated and the 1855 wall trench was located, but efforts to find any traces of the earlier structure proved fruitless. Since there is no basement under the structure we were also able to work beneath the church. It was in this area that the east wall of the 1769 structure was eventually encountered. Using steel probe rods we then located the west wall and opened 5 ft. squares in the areas that we thought the southwest and northwest corners might be located. In both cases our speculations proved correct, and the resultant data enabled us to plot the exact location of the original church.
Near the northwest corner of the 1769 structure portions of a midden and the footings of a limestone pier were discovered.
An additional 5 ft. square was excavated for stratigraphic information in the center of the present driveway, and two limestone slabs near the southeast comer of the present church were investigated.
Floor plans were recorded at the contacts of strata, and profiles were drawn of each exposed vertical wall. All of this information was also recorded on black-and color transparencies.
Results and Conclusions
Although the specifications for the 1855 construction make no mention of grading or filling, the excavated profile clearly indicates that a large quantity of gravel was used to level the east yard. Since the same gravel fill, mixed with bits of plaster from the demolition of the original structure, is also present in the area which would have been beneath the 1769 church, the filling and leveling must date to the 1855 construction period. The original surface is delineated by 4 in. of organic forest duff and a narrow leach zone. The east wall of the early structure apparently stood at the edge of a small knoll.
A comparison of the 1769 and 1855 foundations has yielded some information which may be indicative of the changes in stone masonry techniques during that period. While the earlier walls ranged from 2. 5 to 3 ft, wide at the base, the 1855 walls measured a fairly constant 2 ft. Unrobbed portions of the 1769 foundations suggest that the walls were probably 2 or 3 stones wide all the way up to the sill, but the present walls are only 2 stones wide for the first 2 or 3 courses, and the sill rests on a portion of the wall which is only 1 stone wide. Small chips of limestone which are present in the builder's trench suggest that the earlier walls were "dressed" in place with a cold chisel, but the complete absence of these chips in the 1855 trench and the irregular appearance of the present foundation walls seem to indicate that such niceties were not bothered with when the church was rebuilt.
Local tradition has long maintained that a number of limestone slabs in the east yard of the church were actually gravestones from a cemetery which was associated with the early structure. The fact that this area had been filled and graded in 1855 seemed to make this assertion doubtful. Nevertheless we investigated two of these slabs near the southeast corner of the standing church. They proved to be rough limestone boulders which had been sunk in holes just large enough to receive them. There was no disturbance beneath the stones. From this information we deduced that they were probably foundation piers, and their location corresponds to that of a carriage house which shows in an early 20th century photograph of the church. Near the southernmost pier we located an iron fence post that appears to have been part of a barbed-wire property fence which also shows in the aforementioned photograph.
A third limestone pier was discovered near the northwest corner of the original church foundation. This location corresponds to the northeast corner of a second carriage house which shows in the early 20th century photograph. An area resident Wormed us that he remembered the building, and that it had been torn down about 1942.
A secondary objective of the excavation was the location of any 18th century domestic refuse which might tend to support the theory that the church had served as a refuge during the Revolution. Only 2 artifacts were recovered which have possible 18th century associations. A George II halfpence, minted in 1744 or 1757, was recovered from the present driveway fill. (Adjacent to it and in the same stratum was a 1954 Jefferson nickel.) The second artifact could not be considered as domestic refuse and is not even clearly of 18th century manufacture. It is a set of carpenter's dividers, and they were found in the layer of plaster directly above the east wall of the 1769 foundation. Unfortunately, there are no diagnostic features that separate 18th and 19th century dividers, and the stratum was clearly deposited in 1855.
A mid-19th century midden which seems to have been associated with the 1855 rebuilding project was discovered near the northwest corner of the 1769 foundation. Fragments of at least 3 tin-plated paint pails, a portion of an ironstone plate, an incomplete mid-19th century clay pipe and a broken bone collar button were recovered from the small portion of the midden which was excavated.
The limited excavations not only proved conclusively that the church had been relocated; they provided information which aid a cultural interpretation of the site. While the rebuilding specifications mentioned that the church was to be turned approximately 90 degrees, excavations indicate that it was actually turned 85 degrees. This fine distinction may indicate an important difference; for while the early church was aligned with the points of the compass, the rebuilt church seems to have been oriented with the main road. Since all of the other existing 18th century Mohawk valley churches also appear to b aligned with the compass, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that this practice was an early tradition. By 1855, however, the residents of Indian Castle seem to have been more concerned that their church fit well with the man-made environment.
The construction differences which were previously noted concerning the two foundation walls also seem to have some interesting cultural implications. It has often been asserted that the introduction of the factory system and mass-production resulted in a degeneration of traditional skills and a loss of pride in one's work. The earlier walls were more massive and more neatly finished than the rebuilt foundations, and this difference seems to signal a shift in cultural ideals. Neatness and permanence were valued in the 18th century, but it was speed which paid a premium in 19th century America.
In fact, the entire 1855 rebuilding project reflects an important cultural change in the Mohawk valley, and it was not just time that effected this change. It is no coincidence that Anglo-Saxon names such as Green, Holmes and Hyde played a prominent part in rebuilding the old structure. After the American Revolution, large numbers of New Englanders migrated to the Mohawk valley, and their lifestyle was somewhat different from the Dutch and German pioneers of that region. Greek Revival meeting houses were a common sight on most New England village greens, and it seems quite probable that this cultural concept of what a church should look like had something to do with the renovation of the Indian Castle Church.
References
Draper, Lyman n. d. Papers, Microfilm published by Wisconsin Historical Society. Graymont, Barbara
1972 The Iroquois in the American Revolution. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, Syracuse, N.Y.
Lydecker, John Wolfe 1938 The Faithful Mohawks. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
O'Callaghan, Edmond B. (ed.) 1849-Documentary History of New York. 4v. State of New York, Albany, N.Y. 1850
Records of the Indian Castle Church n. d. Manuscripts, Margaret Reaney Memorial Library, St. Johnsville, N.Y.
Records of the Lutheran Churches in Danube. n. d. Typed copy. Montgomery County Archives, Fonda, New York.
Sheehan, Edward 1937 Old Fort Hunter and Queen Anne Chapel. Press of the Enterprise and News, St. Johnsville, N.Y.
Sullivan, James at al. (eds.) 1921- 1962. The Papers of Sir William Johnson. 13v. University of the State of New York, Albany, N.Y.