Privies as Portals; A Ceramic and Glass Bottle Analysis of a Late 19th Century Household Privy in Ellenton, FL.

Chapter 1 Introduction

The Central Gulf Coast of Florida was considered part of the frontier of the United States

throughout the 19th century, and bore witness to a multitude of changes. Winsberg (1993) looked

at settlement patterns in Florida in conjunction with post office openings and concluded that

much of Florida remained sparsely inhabited, supporting that Florida remained a frontier well

after the Civil War. From the end of the Civil War and throughout Reconstruction, the region

experienced a wave of white “pioneer” settlers migrating to the area (Carlisle 2016). One

specific family, the Pattens, migrated from Georgia and purchased the Gamble Plantation along

the central Gulf coast of Florida, a former sugar plantation situated on the north bank of the

Manatee River, in 1873. In the latter half of the 19th century, the United States became immersed

in Victorian culture, industrialization, and urbanization, while south Florida remained sparsely

populated, with an agriculturally focused economy. As white settlers from the northern states and

Upper South migrated into southern Florida, they brought with them particular worldviews and

customs, which they adapted within their new circumstances. Archaeology at the Gamble

Plantation State Park recovered significant material from the Patten occupation of the estate

(approximately 1873-1915). Excavations identified a privy dating to this period, providing a

snapshot into the lives of the Patten family, and other residents who settled in the frontier town

that became Ellenton, Florida. This thesis uses ceramics and bottles from the privy feature to

examine the everyday lives of a white frontier family in Florida. Through the material culture, I

explore the manifestation of Victorian ideals in south Florida and how this white, wealthy family

navigated their socioeconomic status and health within Florida’s “pioneer” culture.

The allure of turning sugar to profit drew wealthy planters south along Florida’s Manatee

River who were inspired by the success of the sugar industry in Louisiana, and Major Robert

Gamble was at the forefront of this movement. He found his spot along the Manatee River and

with the impetus of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, secured 160 acres to call his plantation

home (Schene 1981). The Armed Occupation act provided land, weapons, and food for

prospective settlers who cultivated five acres or more for five years. These same settlers were

also expected to bear arms and ammunitions provided by the government to control the Seminole

Native Americans in the area (Covington 1961). Gamble established the plantation in 1844 with

sugarcane as the main crop grown for profit, where it was then processed into molasses, cane

syrup, granulated sugar, and fermented into cane beer and rum. During the Gamble Plantation’s

peak operational years, approximately 190 enslaved peoples called this property home,

accounting for a majority of the enslaved population in Florida (Weeks 1993:66). However, the

plantation was met with misfortune in the form of hurricanes, fires, and economic hardship,

which led to the sale of the entire estate to two wealthy planters from Louisiana, John Cofield

and Robert Davis in 1858. After foreclosure in 1862, the plantation was re-occupied by

Confederate Captain Archibald McNeill who provided supplies for Confederate troops during

the Civil War, and aided in the escape of Judah P. Benjamin to England after the end of the war.

The property was left vacant yet again until its purchase in 1873 by George Patten who then

parceled the land off for farming (Weesner 1980), ushering in the humble beginnings of the town

of Ellenton. Migrating from the Georgia low country, the Pattens were used to a particular way

of life, living in luxury befitting wealthy planters of the Victorian Era. The aim of this thesis is to

understand the archaeology of status and consumption through the ceramic and glass bottle

assemblage found during the privy excavations beginning in 2017. By analyzing these artifacts,

it is possible to evaluate how class can impact consumer behaviors and inform on social

ideologies that dictated life and status during the Victorian Era.

Ceramics are one of the most commonly used artifacts when trying to understand status

due their sensitivity to sociotechnic (social rather than technological) dimensions, and because

the quality and variety of ceramic type can give insights in to the relative economic levels of the

site occupants (S. M. Spencer-Wood 1987). Spencer-Wood and Heberling (1987:59) define

status as "the location of the behavior of individuals or the social positions of individuals

themselves in the structure of any group.” The Pattens were a white elite family from Georgia,

who brought with them the ideals of upper-class “gentility” to Florida. I expect, therefore, that

cultural materials will reflect their status, and their attempts to re-create these social structures in

Ellenton. In addition, because the Pattens were such a large family, George Patten having

fathered thirteen children and Dudley raising five of his own to adulthood, it is safe to say that

the sheer number of people living at the Gamble property will have an impact on the abundance

of artifacts recovered from the site. Many others stayed at the plantation mansion throughout the

Patten occupation as well, further contributing to the number of recovered artifacts as the home

remained a boarding house for weary travelers, family, and members of the clergy. Through the

analysis of ceramics and glass found in the privy feature we can look at the social and economic

circles the Pattens subscribed to.

By analyzing the whole glass bottles from the privy feature, we can also formulate an

understanding of how people were navigating health and wellness through the medicinal glass

bottles recovered. Archaeologists examine pharmaceutical and patent medicine bottles to identify

the ailments which households used to self-medicate, and can also recognize any differences in

illnesses and treatments based on socioeconomic status (Harris 2019). Yellow fever and malaria

outbreaks were common in Florida in the 19th century, and the Gamble property may have

suffered from both these ailments based on the recovered medicine bottles from the privy. The

medicines mentioned in Chapter 4 came about before drug regulation and many contained

ingredients such as dangerous levels of alcohol, opium, and other narcotics (Balm of America:

Patent Medicine Collection 2021). Many of the medicine bottles recovered were advertised to

aid in the fight against malaria, help “awaken” the liver and kidneys, or were said to be a cure-

all. Manatee County experienced a yellow fever outbreak in 1887 that coincides to when the

Pattens were living at the Gamble mansion which could explain the medicinal bottles recovered

from the privy. The epidemic traveled from Key West, a major shipping point between Manatee

and Cuba, into Tampa where the hopes of quarantining would stop the spread (Porter 2015).

Unfortunately, yellow fever traveled to Manatee County. Porter (2015) points out that

approximately half the population of Manatee suffered from the outbreak with several losing

their lives. The Pattens were no strangers to illness in Manatee County and with the aid of the

medicinal glass bottles it is my hope that we can peer into the past to understand the routes

people took while navigating health.

Consumption, Ceramics, and Privies

As stated previously, archaeologists view ceramics as sensitive to sociotechnic

dimensions, and therefore very useful in determining status, or examining how status was

expressed. According to Stephen McBride and Kim McBride (McBride and McBride 1987:144),

there is lack of antebellum studies that focus on wealth, specifically consumer goods. What there

is documentation for, however, is income levels. In the antebellum south between 1840 and

1860, income for white southerners was far above the national average and, was on par with the

Northeast (McBride and McBride 1987:144). That twenty-year range fits with George Patten

living in Georgia and ended just a few years before he acquired the Gamble Plantation. McBride

and McBride point out that ceramics are primarily used for status studies due to their high

frequency in the archaeological record. However, other artifacts such as glasses, silverware,

clothing, etc. are also good indicators of wealth but are found less frequently in artifact

assemblages. Whether that is due to how the material preserves/decays in the archaeological

record or other outside forces is unknown. Using these materials, historical archaeologists have

explored questions of socioeconomic status, while taking into account other factors of

consumption, such as ethnicity, access, and entanglement in market economies (Barker 2006).

George Miller (1980) was one of the first scholars in historical archaeology that

examined ceramics by cost, focusing on how these materials reflect status. Miller (1980) looked

at decoration of ceramics in the 19th century to identify expenditure patterns. Decoration type

became more important than ware type which can explain the high number of less expensive

wares found at sites such as Gamble even though they were members of the elite (Miller 1980).

Since this time, archaeologists have continued to examine socioeconomics and “status” through

materiality. This includes studies that investigate the “elaboration” of dining rituals over time in

American households, focusing on what vessels were used in meals (Wall 1994:25). Scholars

have also connected the consumption of ceramics to the increasing domestic role of women

throughout the 19th century, and the associated “cult of domesticity” (Clark 1987:542; Klein

1991:79 80; Wall 1994). Such research has contributed generally to our understanding of the

consumptive behaviors that characterized household economic realities with the staggering

increase in the mass production of commodities that defined the late 19th century and beyond.

Mullins (Mullins 2011:3) defines consumption as a conceptual framework that “embraces

the agency of consumers and recognizes that goods assume meaning in tension between

structural and localized processes that cannot be described as being either wholly deterministic

or disconnected from consumer symbolism.” Using this definition, consumption can then be

viewed as the purchase of material goods to confirm and reify social status and class. Mullins

(2011) also argues that consumption scholarship and the archaeology of consumption should be

utilized together due to the ability of the archaeologist to provide commonalities and variation in

how goods are consumed over time. Consumption scholarship applied to archaeology

specifically looks at the process of socializing goods and defining them in context (Mullins

2011:4). What this area of focus is lacking is looking at not just the white landowners, but also

the enslaved who lived on or adjacent to the property. Understanding the consumptive patterns of

a disenfranchised group would offer insights in to how this specific group of people were dealing

with a horrible situation. Looking at the commodity consumption of freedmen and women in the

South can be used to inform on the complicated effects of consumption and how these groups

either embraced or resisted consumer culture (Mullins 2011:15). Unfortunately, this area of

research is still relatively new and with the number of lost African sites in the South, it is no

surprise that such scholarship has not taken root.

Tableware of the Victorian Era held more than just food – it represented social values of

piety and purity during a time that Voss calls “a cult of domesticity” (Voss 2019). With the

increased production of less expensive wares, middle and working-class groups could now

participate in the dining rituals of the upper Victorian class, further spreading these ideas of a

Victorian set of values and behaviors. Places that housed several guests, such as the Gamble

mansion during the late 19th century, used more plainware ceramics for the guests while saving

the more expensive and exotic goods for special occasions. This could account for the high

number of Whiteware sherds discovered in the privy, especially knowing that the Pattens were

particular on who was in their social circle. Who one shared food with and in what type of

setting acted as an important cultural barometer (Voss 2019). In many ways this belief in the

Victorian gentility was passed down to children as well. One such example is a piece of

porcelain toy tea set, identified within the privy assemblage, that Dudley Pattens daughters most

likely played with growing up. In order to raise genteel children, may women would create the

“proper domestic setting” whether that be through books, gender-specific toys, or following the

rules of genteel dining (Fitts 1999).

Much of the literature surrounding Victorian-era consumer behavior intersects with

discussions of “conspicuous consumption.” Conspicuous consumption in broadest of terms refers

to a person’s use of items as a display of wealth. In The Theory of the Leisure Class, Veblen

identifies conspicuous consumption as being the outward display of wealth through the purchase

of higher-end goods and that failure to do so was a mark of inferiority and demerit (Veblen

2009). He goes on to state that “high-bred manners and ways of living are items of conformity to

the norm of conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption” (Veblen 2009:53). Materials

recovered from the privy can inform if the Patten family adhered to these Victorian ideals.

While the wealth of information gathered from the privy is paramount to this thesis, so

too is the privy itself. Very few studies have been done surrounding the actual architecture of

privies, as pointed out by Stottman, and that these features should be looked at more closely.

Stottman states that privy architecture can inform on sanitation practices of the time and help

understand human behavior (Stottman 2000:40). Up until the mid-to late 1800s, privies were

wood-lined and emptied into nearby water sources such as rivers. Most privies were instructed to

be brick-lined after the 1850s London cholera epidemic, when people realized water pollution

was the cause (Stottman 2000:42). The Gamble privy followed common construction of the time

and was wood-lined. The consensus at the time was that the privy needed to be deep and far from

the home as this was considered more sanitary. Stottman does note that many factors affected

privy vault architecture: sanitation perception, economics, class, and time (Stottman 2000:58).

The privy identified at Gamble Plantation follows this pattern, as it is set back from the mansion,

but within a reasonable distance for easy access.

A problem that crops up often in archaeology is what is deemed important in excavations.

Everything seen through the eyes of the archaeologist is going to be met with unintended biases.

Privies are no different in that regard. In the UK these features are almost entirely ignored or

halfheartedly recorded (Smith 2020). This may in large part be due to the abundance of these

features in the UK when compared to the United States and may be a large contributing factor as

to why so little research on privies has been conducted. The amount of material culture removed

from the privy in conjunction to its proximity to the plantation mansion point to two possible

events: rubbish disposal thanks to its proximity to the kitchen, and a final dumping event of

consumer goods upon closing the vault. Trying to determine primary and secondary fills is

difficult though there have been several sites in the United States that showed primary fill as

being loose in texture with small items while the secondary fill contained larger items (Smith

2020:459).

Something that needs to change in privy archaeology, especially historical archaeology,

is to remove the preconceived biases that these privies are mundane in nature and therefore can

be ignored. The number of ceramics and other material culture excavated from this privy feature

show how important it is to excavate without biases, otherwise one is liable to miss key

information. In the case of the Gamble mansion and the Patten family, without the discovery of

this privy we would have missed out on the interpretation of the family and their life in this time.

Construction, longevity, structure, and interpretation of the privy can be as diverse as the artifact

assemblage it held. Smith (2020:464) ponders the question “why more recent (post-medieval to

19th century) features often go ignored, simply just because they are ‘more recent’ and from

historically well-recorded periods?” Because the Pattens were in an isolated frontier, the privy

offers a unique lens on class and status in an area separated from urban markets. Klein (1991)

looks at research done in the Ohio Western Reserve to show how ceramics alone cannot be used

as measures of socioeconomic position. This makes the privy at the Gamble Plantation more

valuable with its wide assemblage of ceramics, glass bottles, metal, and various small finds.

Though this thesis focuses on the ceramics and glass bottles found in the privy they aid in

painting a picture of what life on the Florida frontier was like. Further research on the remaining

artifacts and soil samples will allow for a more comprehensive analysis of the site and allow for

more insight into the lives of Florida settlers.

A Victorian United States

Many remember learning about the Victorian Era (1837-1901) and recall images of

Queen Victoria, Darwin’s voyage, and The Great Exhibition that showcased the technical and

industrial advances of the time. The Victorian Era is in reference to the period of Queen

Victoria’s reign. This was a time of scientific innovation and people were brimming with an

interest in natural history which eventually turned into amateur hobbies (Remembering the

Victorian Era 2010). In the United States, the emergence of railways and the evolution of how

people traveled from place to place heralded in the beginnings of the Victorian Era (Rinhart

1986). According to Howe (Howe 2012:710), the Victorian Era in the United States is

characterized by literacy, industrialization, transportation and communication innovations, and

the drive to expand westward. While we see innovations in science and technology, much of the

Victorian Era was also entrenched with religious symbolism and motivations. Humanitarianism,

volunteerism, and redemption of humankind were hallmarks of the Victorian Era in both the

United States and Britain. Howe likens the need to expand westward in North America with

Britain’s own imperialism. These motivations can be seen in practices carried out in the

Southeastern United States, particularly Florida, with the forced removal of the Seminole Native

Americans to allow homesteaders to begin moving south. While the Victorian Era is heavily

romanticized in works of fiction today, the realities of this period can be much darker and full of

conflict.

This period in United States history is occasionally referred to as Jacksonian America,

following Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis that theorized American democracy was

formed by the American frontier (Miller 1999). Turner’s thesis, like much of American history,

overlooked the experiences of various groups of Americans such as women, minorities, and

many who opposed Jackson politically (Howe 2012:711). The Jacksonian Period began

approximately in 1824 with Andrew Jacksons’ first presidential campaign and found its end

somewhere in the 1840s or 1850s. Jackson is most notably remembered for his stance on slavery,

his hand in the removal of the Seminole in Florida, and it is implied that Andrew Jackson was a

prime representative of America through the imagery of being a “self-made made man of the

frontier” (Howe 2012:711).

The Victorian Era in America has referred to historically by many different names: the

Jacksonian Period, The Gilded Age (late 19th to early 20th century), Antebellum and Postbellum,

in reference to before/after the Civil War, and the Reconstruction era. The Ante/Postbellum

terminology is important in that is serves as a verbal marker that separates the institution of

slavery from the victory of the U.S. government over the Confederacy (Howe 2012:712). In

retrospect, the Victorian Era is a time marked with transition – transition from an agricultural

developing country where reliance on import was heavy into a leading industrial power that even

rivaled Britain in forms of urbanism, industrialism, and consumerism.

There were distinct differences between the Northern United States and the Southern

United States – in the north there was the rise of cultural values that fell more in line with

modernization and urbanization, whereas in the south there seemed to be a sense of stagnation

that caused the traditional concepts of the time (family, social influence, etc.) to become unstable

(Volo 2004). The rise of a new form of middle class that strove for societal acceptance led to the

upper/middle classes looking to reestablish the social order of the Antebellum South as a way to

strengthen their foothold in wealthy society (Volo 2004). These distinct differences mark the

history of the Antebellum period in the United States that eventually caused the rising tensions

between the two regions that led up to the American Civil War.

The Reconstruction Era

After the Civil War, also referred to as Postbellum, the country saw a significant rise in

conversations about civil rights, known as the Reconstruction Era (1863-1877), which looked to

bring unity to the United States in a myriad of ways. One such effort was to develop an alliance

that spanned racial and class differences, made up of former slaves and politically influential

whites, that advocated for redistribution of land and equal rights in the South (Ayers 2007:8).

Unfortunately, Reconstruction was extremely unpopular, especially in the South, and though

many former Confederate congressman begrudgingly accepted the abolition of slavery, they

managed to establish state governments that blocked former enslaved people from voting

(Carlisle 2009). President Lincoln was lenient with the Confederate soldiers in the South in order

to quickly restore the Union, offering a “10 percent plan” in which state governments had to

recognize federal authority, accept that slavery had come to an end, and provide education for

the now free enslaved population (Carlisle 2009). Andrew Johnson became president after

Lincoln’s assassination in 1865 and followed his predecessor in terms of leniency, much to the

horror of the more radical Republicans at the time. Though the South was required to rescind

their secession ordinances, President Johnson’s plan offered little to no guidance on the former

enslaved, leaving them with no political rights which proved to be a loophole immediately used

by the South to pass laws restricting access to the freedmen and women. “These “black codes”

mirrored many of slave codes of the antebellum period. Former slaves were not allowed to serve

on juries, testify in court against whites, or hold certain jobs” (Carlisle 2009:10). These codes

were a way for the government in the South to maintain the conditions of slavery while giving

the federal government the appearance of maintaining the thirteenth amendment, thus

perpetuating the cycle of racism in the South.

There were programs curated by the Federal Government that appeared to be beneficial

to the newly freed people such as giving freed enslaved 40 acres and a mule. While this seemed

generous in the eyes of the government, it left the families with barely enough to survive and no

hope for a profit of any kind (Volo 2004:63). The establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau in

March of 1865 also sought to assist former enslaved with food, education, and labor contracts

(Egerton 2015). Though they were considered free from the shackles of slavery, many Africans

in the South (and elsewhere) still experienced the same racism that befell them when toiling in

the fields and homes during the height of slavery. The advent of historically Black colleges and

universities (HBCUs) during the late 1860s used the guise of education to push an assimilation

agenda through educating “”a number of blacks” and then “send them forth to regenerate” their

people, who had been degenerated by slavery (Kendi 2016:243). Even with an education

clutched firmly in their fist, Black and biracial students were only seen as products of white

charity and still viewed by the greater (white) public as less than.

The 1880s saw a boom of industrial growth in the South. New towns began cropping up

as people of all backgrounds sought to travel where greener grass may grow (Ayers 2007). The

southernmost states still suffered, unfortunately, and places like West Texas and Southern

Florida were almost forgotten as railroad expansion made a wide range of movement and

opportunities possible. Some areas of South Florida, however, became attractive to wealthy

northerners seeking cheap land and profit, as the railroad reached Tampa and Orlando in the

1880s (Dovell 1956).

There are many theories as to why Reconstruction came to an end: loyalty to the

Confederacy, hostility towards the government in Washington, white supremacy, and going so

far as to state that post-1865 black autonomy had a hand in the demise of the Reconstruction Era

(Egerton 2015). The most common theme among these theories is the belief that Reconstruction

failed, not ended, which in many ways suggests that Reconstruction was flawed and was going to

“fail” all along. What did happen during the last quarter of the 19th century is that wealthy

Southerners largely maintained their status, focusing on industrializing and promoting white

settlement in America’s southernmost frontier, Florida (Knight 2010).

Class and Gender

Many women during the Victorian Era were shackled to the “cult” of domesticity

(Austen 2007:559). By focusing their time on homemaking, middle to upper class Victorian

women were urged to rely on their husbands for support. However, women of the upper class

were now being allowed to attend university with their male peers, they were viewed as having

ulterior motives – tricking men into a relationship under the façade of seeking a university

education (Myers 2010:158). Even with the acceptance into the realm of an all-white male

education system, the co-education of white women’s colleges with men’s was almost always

portrayed as a marriage in college magazines with the female counterpart being absorbed by the

male. “The front cover of the magazine, over a number of issues, features an illustration by

Madge Wildfire presenting the marriage of the women’s college to the university. In this

drawing a dour university official is shown presiding over the union in his academic robes, with

the male figure representing the university itself graciously kissing the hand of his new “wife””

(Myers 2010:158). Instances of this type of illustration are seen on the cover of C.D. Myers’

book University Coeducation in the Victorian Era where the female is portrayed as being

thoroughly engrossed by the man to the point that a book lay forgotten on the floor.

Education aside, the Victorian Era was also a time of leisure and other such novelties

available to the upper class. Novelties such as the stereoscope, camera obscura, and kaleidoscope

were devices used to entertain when indoors. The first instances of 3-D images came with the

invention of the stereoscope by using double image cards taken simultaneously at different

angles (Volo 2004:186). When performing leisure activities outside of the home, the average

upper class Victorian family took to travelling with the aid of improved transportation; from

horse-drawn carriages to the development of private turnpikes and toll roads due to the poor

condition of publicly financed roads (Volo 2004:310). Many Southern families would travel

inland from the coastal region to escape malaria and yellow fever seasons (coinciding with the

summer season) to an area with less humid of a climate. The natural world became the focal

point of travel with things such as waterfalls, beaches, caves, mountains, etc., becoming

fashionable destinations (Volo 2004:312). Some 19th century Americans even found ways to

travel vicariously through travel letters, sketches, newspapers, and other printed media (Figure

1.1) to wet their travel appetite when leaving the home was not an option. As conversations

supporting antislavery grew, so too did the public life of middle- and upper-class white women.

Figure 1.1 Pamphlet promoting Dead Lakes as a tourist attraction on the Chattahoochee River. Credit J.T. Gilbert (1892)

Victorian Florida

Florida did not become a state until 1845 and became a much sought-after haven for

settlers. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 enticed people south by providing planters 160

acres of free land and a year’s rations from the Federal Government if they worked the land for

five years. The incentive was enough to bring planters such as Major Robert Gamble south to lay

their claim on the newly acquired state. Sugarcane and tobacco reigned supreme as cotton began

to decline in the 1840s, though these alternatives were also wrought with their own misfortunes

caused by weather and conflict (Schene 1981). Malaria and yellow fever were common threats

but so too was the armed conflicts of the time: the Second (1835-1842) and Third Seminole Wars

(1855-1858) as well as the Civil War (1861-1865) were key events during this period that would

have a powerful impact on life in the United States, especially in the South.

The Victorian South had many of the hallmarks mentioned previously but also

maintained a clear divide between white landowners and their Black counterparts. The American

Civil War did not change much in the way of how white landowners viewed the previously

enslaved. Racism still ran rampant and reconstruction all but failed in the eyes of the

government. With the emergence of occupational segregation, a mirror to social segregation

happening all over the South, there were marked changes in the classification of occupations

with them being specifically white-dominant or black-dominant, which acted as a means to

measure the segregation occurring in the workforce (Sowell 1985). Based on this categorial

system it is possible to follow and identify how the occupations were classified: more physical

occupations, such as manual labor, were typically considered black-dominant jobs whereas

managerial and clerical type jobs were white-dominant. According to Sowell (1985:441), the

only professional occupations that statistically had a large number of Black careermen/women

were preaching and teaching activities centered in the Black community.

Florida saw a rise in investors and immigrants itching to get their hands on a part of the

state whether that be for development, resource management, or the eventual installment of

railroads (Gannon 2003). Florida Governor William D. Bloxham went to work selling millions

of acres of the state to Hamilton Disston which opened land wide for railroad construction. By

1900 there was a whopping 3,500 miles of completed railroad tracks, constructed with the help

of various industrialists that connected Jacksonville to Pensacola, and all the way to Tampa. A

somewhat unique byproduct of having the railroad go through central Florida was the

development of the circus industry in that area (Gannon 2003). John Ringling and his brothers

sought to move their show to Florida to escape the cold from the north while also taking

advantage of an improved economy (Weeks 1993:84). Figure 1.2 shows circus performers in

Florida for the winter season. Many of the circus performances were done in areas along the

Panhandle, and in central Florida cities such as Bradenton, Eustis, and Sarasota.

Figure 1.2 Circus performers in Florida for the winter circa 1900, courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/255571

The expanding railroad was a boon for Florida communications and opened the gates to

more commercial and agricultural development. The coasts became much sought-after tourist

destinations while Florida’s rural areas became agricultural hot spots for citrus and cattle. Florida

cattle herders with their eighteen-foot-long braided whips ushered in the emergence of the term

“Cracker” due to the rifle-like sound emanating from each crack of the whip as they directed

their herds (Gannon 2003). Though the origins of the term “Cracker” are ambiguous, this

specific theory stands and is widely accepted as to where this moniker for Floridians came from.

Timber, cattle, citrus, and other agricultural adventures replaced the sugar and cotton industries

as Florida after the Civil War and became a large part of what attracted people to the state.

Figure 1.3 Drawing of Vicente Ybor circa 1870. Credit State Archives of Florida.

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/31120

Cigar factories begin to dot the Key West area and Tampa as well, bringing an influx of

Cuban businessmen to the state. Most notable is Vicente Ybor (Figure 1.3), a Spanish

entrepreneur who became the first noted cigar manufacturer in Cuba. Ybor eventually brought

his cigar enterprise to Key West initially before moving to the Tampa area and settling in what is

now Ybor City in 1885 (Santana n.d.). Ybor City, with its rich Latin culture, became known as

“Little Havana” and became an area where Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrants settled. In

1888, Tampa annexed Ybor City to profit off of the booming cigar business built by Vicente

which led to Tampa becoming a major manufacture and shipping town in the south (Santana

n.d.).

In 1898 Theodor Roosevelt and his Rough Riders briefly called Tampa home before

setting out towards Cuba during the Spanish-American war (April 1898-December 1898).

Soldiers returning from this brief war were enticed by what Florida had to offer and played a

major role in increasing immigration to the state exponentially. This period of immigration,

weather fluctuations, and a yellow fever epidemic or two mark what is called the Bourbon Era in

Florida. Governor Drew stated in his inaugural address that the government would give its

greatest protection to individual and industrial enterprises, meaning Florida was a haven for

investors and immigrants that allowed for unrestricted development and state resource

management with minimal taxes (Gannon 2003). Florida’s Victorian past was colorful, both

literally and figuratively speaking, in the way it drew in immigrants from places such as Cuba,

Spain, and even Scotland. The state became a place where people spent their cold winters and

leisure vacations, took on expensive business ventures that paid off in the end, and heralded in

the beginnings of the Florida tourist industry. White investors anywhere north of Florida were

enticed by the economic and social independent opportunities Florida presented. In truth, Florida

was presented as a “semi-tropical variant of the historic, idealized destination for American

migrants: essentially, an ‘open’ land offering, to the sturdy agriculturist, ample prospects of

social mobility and economic and social independence” (Knight 2010:113). Robert Gamble Jr.

was no different than many others who moved south. The aim was to stake a claim in this

paradise to turn a profit and the Patten family did just that after Gamble had moved on. George

Patten moved his family from Georgia to Florida to capitalize on what the Gamble Plantation

could offer: an advantage of two to three weeks ahead of the market and a large piece of land

that he could, and did, section off to sell. This thesis explores what happened when a wealthy,

“gentile” southern family moved to the Florida frontier, and how they adapted to this new life.

Chapter 2 Historical Background

A Brief Look at the Gamble Plantation Through the Years

The Gamble Plantation in Ellenton, Florida (Figure 2.1) was established by Major Robert

Gamble, Jr. in 1844 – just two years after the Armed Occupation Act was established. Coming

from a well-established line of planters from Virginia, Robert Gamble Jr. sought to bring that

knowledge south to the Manatee River after gaining experience on his father and uncle’s

plantations in Middle Florida. His father, John Grattan Gamble, was the president of Union Bank

which was utilized by many Middle Florida planters who saw Union Bank as their saving grace

when acquiring loans to establish their plantations (Silpa 2012:79). Having a father who was

president of a large bank gave Gamble Jr. a leg up on acquiring land along the Manatee River –

many others acquired their land through the Armed Occupation Act and loans whereas Gamble

had the income to instead pay $1.25 per acre, leading to the eventual acquisition of 3500 acres

for approximately $10,000 (Bland 2004). Gamble traveled south with ten bondsmen to establish

a sugarcane plantation along the Manatee River with that ace up his sleeve. Gamble’s drive to

grow sugar specifically could also stem from his previous experience with the crop on his

family’s plantations (Schene 1981). Upon entering the hammock that would become the

groundwork for the Gamble Plantation, Gamble had various artisans teach his enslaved laborers

useful skills in blacksmithing, carpentry, and brick laying to construct the mansion house and

sugar mill (Gamble 1888). The Property would eventually be home to approximately 190

enslaved peoples that performed duties from creating drainage ditches to cooking, cleaning, and

performing the backbreaking labor of harvesting and processing sugarcane.

Figure 2.1 Location of the Gamble Plantation Site (8MA100) in Ellenton, FL. Map created by author.

Planting usually happened in December or January and required backbreaking labor by

both animal and human. Once mature the cane would be harvested via a controlled burn, cut,

pressed, and turned into profitable products such as molasses, sugar, and rum. Processing this

crop could spell disaster for those working in the sugar mill – extreme burns from the large

processing pots were a risk and could leave the burned victim disfigured. P. A. Champomier, a

widely acknowledged arbiter and chronicler on sugar quality, found that during the 1850-1851

season Gamble produced 231 hogsheads of sugar which accounted for 13% of Florida’s sugar

crop; 1,273 hogsheads total compared to the 262,486 hogsheads produced by Louisiana (Bland

2004).

In 1856 Gamble placed the property in the care of his brother-in-law, Allan MacFarlan, to

take care of his father’s estate in Leon and Jefferson Counties. In 1858 Gamble sold the whole

estate, including all 190 enslaved laborers, and stock to a Mr. John Calvin Cofield and Robert

McGroyson Davis due to accrued debts (Schene 1981). Cofield and Davis were sugar planters

from Louisiana who bought the property and all it came with for $190,000. MacFarlan’s

executors eventually foreclosed on the plantation for nonpayment of the mortgage which led to

the eventual purchase by George Patten in 1873 (Silpa 2012:83).

According to an account published in the Floridian Newspaper in 1888, written by

Gamble himself, the plantation met with various hardships in the form of frost, fire, hurricanes,

and altercations with the local Seminole Native Americans that played a part in the eventual sale

of the property (Gamble 1888). Gamble’s misfortunes in Manatee, and the Florida sugar industry

in general, was the initial driving force behind the sale of the plantation where Gamble was

hoping to turn this negative into a positive. This, along with the hardships met by Cofield and

Davis, are what led to the eventual acquisition of the property by the United Daughters of the

Confederacy (UDC) and their subsequent donation to the state in 1925.

The Third Seminole War

The Third Seminole War, also known as the Billy Bowlegs War (Bland 2004), raged

from 1854 to 1856. The United States sought complete removal of Native Americans from

Florida as part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. These efforts were framed as a response to

the growing public sentiment against Indigenous peoples, going so far as to where a newspaper

in Saint Augustine asked that a bounty of $1000 be placed on every male dead or alive and $500

for every woman or child (Weisman 2013). Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War at this time,

seemed to have listened to the cries of the settlers and backed the tribe into a corner. He

instituted a policy which included a trade embargo that would force the Seminole to choose; they

could leave or stay and fight. On December 18, 1855, thirty Seminole warriors fired upon a

group of soldiers found vandalizing Billy Bowlegs’s camps which marked the beginning of the

Third Seminole War (Weisman 2013). A depiction of Billy Bowlegs, and other Seminole Chiefs,

by Frederick Gleason can be seen in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 Illustration of Billy Bowlegs and Seminole Chiefs by Frederick Gleason courtesy of State Library and Archives of

Florida https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/298376

The Gamble Plantation was not safe from these acts of resistance to removal. Gamble

was moved to fortify his property yet again, allegedly arming some of his enslaved laborers, and

received aid from the military personnel stationed at Fort Brooke (Bland 2004). Gamble’s

property remained unscathed by the war, either due to luck or land position, whereas the Braden

Plantation took a huge hit. Today the Braden Plantation is an easy 8-mile drive south from the

Gamble Plantation, located just off Manatee Ave. E. in Bradenton, FL. The two properties are

situated almost directly across the Manatee River from one another, making it an easy boat ride

to either property for an attack. Gamble, in this instance, just happened to draw the long straw

and was left mostly alone. The Braden family was not quite as lucky and though they did manage

to hold the Seminole at bay and survive the night. Even with this minor success the Braden

Plantation did eventually fail like many plantations in the state.

Gamble recounted the events of the Braden Castle attack in an 1888 article he published

in the Floridian Newspaper:

The family were at supper, the favorite hour for Indian onsets; a servant woman

was looking out from an upper window upon the pine forest, which came up almost to the

door, a bright moonlight night, when her attention was attracted by many dark objects

slowly and silently approaching the house. At first she paid little attention, supposing

them to be hogs or calves, but one emerging for a moment from cover, showed her that

they were Indians (Gamble 1888).

Just as Dr. Braden’s plantation eventually failed, so too did Gamble’s. Frost destroyed

much of Gamble’s crop in 1852 and though he went on to harvest and produce several thousands

of pounds of sugar, the crop was still in a state of decline. Competition with the sugar industries

in the Caribbean and Europe, coupled with financial troubles and natural disasters, led Gamble to

sell the plantation (Wayne 2010). 1858 saw the sale of the property with everything, including all

190 enslaved peoples, to Cofield and Davis who, after some hardships of their own, moved back

to Louisiana with the property then being occupied by Confederate Captain Archibald McNeill

and his family in 1862.

How the Civil War Changed the Gamble Plantation

Florida’s secession occurred on January 10, 1861, by a sixty-two to seven vote (Taylor

2013). Look at any map and one can see that Florida is a weirdly shaped state – it is long

lengthwise and horizontally when up in the panhandle, something that can be problematic when

needing to set up defenses from possible attack by Federal troops. Even knowing this, Florida

received little to no aid from the Confederate government with this task.

Figure 2.3 Approximate location of Forte Brooke (top pin) in relation to the Gamble Plantation (bottom pin). Map created by

author.

Confederate Captain Archibald McNeill was stationed at Gamble Plantation with his wife

and children in 1862. The plantation is mentioned several times in the diary of Confederate

soldier Robert Watson (1861-1865) who was stationed at Fort Brooke in Tampa, just north of the

plantation across Tampa Bay. In Figure 2.3 we can see just how close the two locations are, and

while the name of the sugar plantation is not specified in Watson’s diary, the location of the

plantation on the map matches the location of the Gamble Plantation. There are several mentions

of the plantation in Watson’s diary, many of which circle around drinking cane beer or bringing

barrels of the beer back to Fort Brooke. On February 10th, 1862, Watson writes how Captain

Mulrennan went to the sugar plantation and brought back a barrel of cane beer that was described

as strong due to the sudden merry behavior of the returning soldiers who had already had a taste

(Watson 1861).

If one takes a tour of the Gamble Mansion, usually guided by a Park Ranger or a member

of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, then you will hear about how the property was

important to the Confederate Army and of the grand escape of Judah P. Benjamin. Jesse, one of

the Park Rangers, explained on our tour that the house during this time was a mere three miles

from the Gulf of Mexico which made it easy for boats to take a jaunt down to Cuba for supplies.

While the plantation is close to Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, the distance is more in line

with eight miles as opposed to the three-mile trek that was stated in the tour. The plantation

mansion was used to house not just McNeill and his family, but also various war supplies such as

cannons, boots, muskets, and other items the Confederate Army may need to aide in their efforts

to win the war (Jesse 2019).

Figure 2.4 Image of Judah P. Benjamin. Courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/34034

Confederate Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin (Figure 2.4), began his escape at the

end of the Civil War in 1865 and eventually found himself at the Gamble Mansion to hide out

from the Federal troops who were hot on his heels. Deemed criminals and traitors, members of

the Confederacy were left scrambling to escape. Some were successful, others not so much,

though Benjamin could be counted among the more fortunate. Benjamin masqueraded as a

Frenchman to get through Georgia and into Florida before shedding this disguise to take on the

look of a farmer to remain under the Federal troops radar (Kite-Powell 1996). Though there is

some confusion on who brought Benjamin to the Gamble mansion, it is more widely accepted

that Leroy Lesley and his son John helped Benjamin get closer to freedom (Kite-Powell 1996:4).

After about two weeks and at least one raid by Federal troops, Benjamin left the safety of the

plantation house and spend time with a Captain Frederick Tresca – one of the two men behind

taking Benjamin to Cuba (Kite-Powell 1996). From Cuba Benjamin made his way to Bimini

before taking a ship to his true destination: England.

The end of the Civil War left the property vacant until 1871 when it was bought by a

prominent man by the name of George Patten, not to be confused with the famous WWII

general, who bought the property in 1873 for approximately $3,000; a fraction of the price the

property was originally worth.

The Patten Occupation

George Patten married Mary Scott Thompson in 1835 in Georgia. The couple had a total

of thirteen children together, all of whom were born in Georgia, before coming to Florida in

1873 with several of his former enslaved people in tow to work as laborers (Weesner 1978). The

purchase of the Gamble plantation came after Pattens interest in acquiring the property became

known to MacFarlan and Gamble through various letters and correspondences.

In 1868, MacFarlan wrote George Patten complaining about McNeill’s farming abilities

and management skills. While lamenting the skills, or lack thereof, that McNeill possessed

MacFarlan offered the property to Patten for a sum of $6,000 (MacFarlan 1868). According to

George, the Gamble property was an advantageous purchase, one that would give him an

advantage of two to three weeks over other sections in the early market (Patten 1890). Once the

purchase of the property was completed via a public auction, Patten made off with the Gamble

property for $3,000 which was a mere fraction of the $190,000 the property originally sold for.

The Patten family stayed at Braden Castle while awaiting the Gamble property to come into their

possession. Once in hand, George Patten began to parcel off the land for farming in the form of

10-to-40-acre plots, ushering in the humble beginnings of Ellenton which was aptly named in

honor of his daughter Mary Ellen Patten (Weesner 1978), with some parts of the property

allotted to George Patten’s children (Silpa 2012).

Figure 2.5 Dudley Patten and family in front of the Patten House. Photo courtesy of the Manatee County Public Library Digital

Collection

Even though the family was now living in an isolated frontier the children were raised in

the ways of Victorian consumer culture. Evidence of this can be found in the ceramics

discovered in the privy feature north of the plantation mansion that will be discussed later.

George Patten’s children stayed in the area, though they left the plantation property, until the

death of their father in 1891 at the age of 85. Dudley (Figure 2.5), George’s youngest son,

inherited the mansion and remained on the property (Silpa 2008). Dudley married Ida Melville

Turner in 1891 and moved to the Gamble property with his wife upon his father’s death so their

mother was not left alone. According to an interview with Ida, Dudley’s second child, her

brother Roy was born in the same room where Judah P. Benjamin was hidden away from the

reach of Federal troops (Weesner 1978).

Mary Scott Thompson, Dudley’s mother, died in 1897 and the plantation house became

vacant yet again. With a young child in tow, Dudley built a home on an adjoining lot that was

left to him by George Patten. This Victorian house became known as the Patten House. During

their time in the Patten House, Dudley and his wife had a total of nine children. A set of triplets,

a rare phenomenon at the time, and a single child died in infancy while the remaining 5 children

lived to adulthood. Two of the triplets, George and Dudley, died a day to several months after

birth while the third triplet, Rosa Lee, died half a year later. Their gravestones can be found in

the Mansion Memorial Park located behind the park (Figure 2.6). One other child who

died is un-named and without a grave marker, possibly due to being stillborn. It is hard to be

completely certain as to why the un-named child did not have a grave marker, but the possibility

of it being stillborn is supported by only eight children being counted in the census records that

year. Ida, being young at the time, may not have been keen to that kind of information due to her

young age as she only mentions the fourth child born in 1908 when also talking about the triplets

(Weesner 1978).

Figure 2.6 Family tombstone of the Patten triplets at Mansion Memorial Park. Photo Courtesy of Manatee County Public

Library Digital Collection

The Gamble mansion was left for the most part empty, to age and decay from disuse,

only to be filled when people needed a place to rest their tired bodies when visiting Ellenton or

passing through while Dudley’s family grew in the Patten House. With the Gamble mansion

used as a boarding house of sorts (Figure 2.7), the once empty rooms saw a wide array of people.

In an interview with Libby Warner, Ida reminisces about the many people who stayed in the

mansion – family, strangers, anyone who needed a place to stay (Patten 1983). The Gamble

mansion remained in the hands of the Pattens for nearly 20 years, witnessing George Patten’s

children and Dudley Patten’s children grow into capable adults but also serving as a magnifying

glass into how life on the Florida frontier was for children of a prominent Victorian-era family.

The family remained heavily involved in the church though there was no permanent pastor. The

plantation mansion was used to house the visiting ministers and a place to board their horses

(Weesner 1978). According to Ida’s interview, Growing Up Years of the Patten Children, once

everyone returned from church they would gather in the Patten house and listen to their cousin

play the piano. The Pattens were extremely family oriented, from eating together in the dining

room to cooking together during mealtime prep. This resulted in the close-knit interactions Ida

describes in her interview and how the Pattens became a staple family of the community.

The Patten house grew as the family did, additions such as a kitchen, a dining room, and

an enclosed back porch were added while Ida was still young (Weesner 1978). Eventually the

second story was added as the children became older and increased in number, causing a need

for more space. Though running water is expected to come with every home in society today,

back in the late 1800s and early 1900s this was vastly unheard of. It was not until after the

second story of the Patten house was constructed that running water became a discussion.

Another thing that Dudley struggled with was deciding on in their ever-growing home was the

placement of a bathroom. The Gamble mansion had at lease one known outhouse just north of

the kitchen but no indoor bathroom – houses today, in comparison, market having more than one

bathroom as a huge selling point.

Figure 2.7 People spending time on the porch and balcony of the Gamble Mansion. Photo Courtesy of the Manatee County

Public Library Digital Collection

Maintaining the Victorian Flair at the Patten Estate

Living on the Florida frontier along the Manatee River was not without some struggles.

Malaria, yellow fever, and other diseases were a constant threat but that did not stop the family

from having parties in the early 1900s full of meals made from locally raised animals and crops

(Patten 1983). Though the Pattens were a well-known affluent family, they were not without

their imperfections. Ida Patten was arrested for drunk and disorderly on multiple occasions,

though in her interviews she mentions how there was no alcohol at family gatherings or parties

held on the Gamble property. Her uncle Edward Patten was also brought to court on alcohol

related charges which included selling liquor without a license on more than one occasion

(Municipal Court Matters 1895). It was clear that the Patten family had a bit of a wild streak in

them. Ida recalls that when she was younger, she and her sister Mary would sneak out of their

upstairs room to meet their dates without their parents’ knowledge (Greer 2004).

Figure 2.8 1883 party invite in which Dudley Patten was an organizer. Courtesy of the Manatee County Public Library Digital

Collection

In 1883 a party invite was sent out and Dudley Patten was one of the party committee

members listed on the invite. The invitation (Figure 2.8) reads: “Your company is most

respectfully requested at the residence of M.C. Leffingwell. Tuesday evening, December 11th,

1883.” The Pattens would attend, and host, lavish parties with hearty meals, all the while keeping

the children up to date on the latest fashion trends of the time (Patten 1983). Hoop skirts and

bustles were out of fashion by this time, but the slim waistline silhouette remained. Women were

still expected to wear layer upon layer of clothing – a camisole or fitted layer with ruffles that

were designed to hide the outline of the bust (Weesner 1980). Clothing, like ceramics, are

markers in time that can represent socioeconomic status. Many of life’s greatest conveniences,

such as running water or a car, were markers of status in the Antebellum south and Dudley

Patten’s family partook in many of these new conveniences.

Ida’s interviews become a focal point in understanding Victorian life in Florida. She

recalls how her parents were very careful when it came to who the children spent time with: “My

parents were very careful as to our friends. Family background was very important to them”

(Weesner 1980). The children spent time going to dances, filling up dance cards and following

the proper procedure of how the dance cards were meant to be filled when attending with an

escort, and maintaining a strict social circle guided by their parents.

Women in such social circles were held to a specific standard of dress, morals, and

manners (Weesner 1980). Pregnancy out of wedlock was considered the worst thing that could

happen to a young woman, the ultimate disgrace. Only “women of the night” wore blush

(otherwise known as rouge) though young girls would pinch their cheeks to achieve the similar

appearance of a flushed face. Young ladies were trained to be modest, possess good manners,

and harbor respect for their elder (Weesner 1980). These standards of how one should conduct

themselves highlight the privilege that was held so gently in the hands of higher-class

individuals.

Conclusion

Most, if not all, of the Patten children had moved away from Ellenton and lived long lives

in various places across the United States. The exception was Carl, born on June 23, 1901, who

died an untimely death in California at the age of 27 in 1928. Many of the children came back

upon their mother’s death with most of the Patten family being buried in Ellenton at the Mansion

Memorial Park located north of the plantation mansion and state park property. The State was

interested in buying the Gamble property while their mother was still alive, having requested

multiple times, though the Pattens had no intention of selling while Mary Scott Thompson was

still alive and living within its walls. After her death, the mansion was sold in 1925 to the United

Daughters of the Confederacy who, after raising the money to purchase it, donated it to the state

of Florida as a Confederate memorial to Judah P. Benjamin (Silpa 2008). It was after the sale of

the estate that the Patten house was moved to the back of the property to allow for a clearer view

of what is now the last remaining Antebellum plantation mansion in Florida.

While the written oral histories offer some insight into the general story of late 19th- early

20th century Ellenton, archaeology offers a more detailed and nuanced perspective of the daily

lives of those on the Florida frontier. The various ceramics and glass bottles recovered from the

site are the physical material that has stood the test of time and remain to tell their stories long

after the people who used them are gone. These artifacts fit together like a puzzle piece,

somewhat curious on their own but when pieced together can form a beautiful picture of the lives

of those long dead.

Chapter 3 Methods

Previous Archaeological Surveys

The focus of this research is centered primarily around the analysis of ceramics and glass

bottles found in the privy feature at the Gamble Plantation site (8MA100) and required a diverse

use of archaeological methods to adequately recover, analyze, reconstruct, and identify the

ceramic sherds and glass bottles. Previous archaeological work has been done at the Gamble

property (8MA100) including the burned down sugar mill (8MA713). In 1978 Henry Baker

conducted an archaeological auger survey with limited test excavations under contract for the

Florida Department of Natural Resources. The sugar mill survey was conducted in 2004 by Vicki

Rolland, Myles Bland, and Sidney Johnston. Both surveys have been instrumental in

understanding the processes occurring at the site.

Figure 3.1 Map of Gamble Plantation Grounds. Baker and Peterson 1987 Survey

Very little archaeological fieldwork had been done at the site up until the Baker survey. A

portion of the site had little to no archaeological remains, the exception being a concentration of

household materials (Baker 1987). In July of 1981, Baker and Peterson conducted a proton

magnetometer scan in a 20 sq. meter area behind the mansion house. However, due to the

amount of ferrous metal and scattered debris it was decided that an auger survey would prove

more useful in data collection (Baker 1987). The discovery of a possible domestic structure was

found sometime between 1978 and 1981 when a portion of the property behind the mansion was

plowed to plant sugar cane (see red arrow on Figure 3.1). The artifacts included nails, ham

bones, cookstove pieces, and some ceramic sherds with partial makers marks that date between

1862 and 1891 (Baker 1987). The artifacts in question suggest an occupation beginning around

1880.

A grid beginning from a point north and west of the plantation house 24 meters from the

northwest corner and 31.2 meters from the northeast corner of the house was established (Baker

1987). A total of 479 auger holes were excavated at 10-meter intervals at an approximate depth

of 75cm with material sifted through a 1/4in mesh cloth with artifacts bagged together. Artifacts

were sorted into specific categories: building materials (mortar, brick, and tabby), cut nails,

window glass, bottle glass, kaolin pipe stems, 19th century ceramics, and metal fragments. Any

specimen identified as modern was discarded. Two trenches were excavated behind the house;

the first located at 233N-222E measuring 1 meter by 6 meters comprised mostly of shell fill with

a medium grey sand resting atop a layer of mottled grey sand (Baker 1987). The second trench

was excavated at 252N-212E measuring 50cm by 9 meters and showed evidence of plowing in

the eastern region. Brick fragments were unearthed approximately 30cm below the marked plow

area (Baker 1987). The Baker and Peterson auger survey were key in pinpointing where to begin

looking for artifacts during the 2017 archaeological field season. Thanks to their map showing

the concentration of artifacts discovered during their survey we were able to determine where

might be the best areas to begin excavations.

As seen below in Figure 3.2, concentration number 13 is the area just north of the

kitchen, dubbed “North Palm” during the 2017 excavations, where the privy was discovered.

This particular assemblage consisted of various ceramic types, different glass types, brick,

mortar and tabby, nails, and a porcelain doll head fragment (Baker 1987:35).

Figure 3.2 Artifact Distribution of Gamble Plantation courtesy of Baker and Peterson 1987 Survey

The 2004 sugar mill survey done by Bland and Associates took a different approach to

the 1980s auger surveys. The team completed 306 sub-surface shovel tests at the mill, avoiding

the delicate wall structures, with 66 shovel tests coming back positive with cultural material

(Bland 2004). Prior to this survey by Bland and associates, no professional archaeological testing

had been done while much of the attention went to the Gamble property and its looming

mansion. A Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was conducted to locate any buried

structural or cultural features in the sugar mill vicinity (Bland 2004). Another method utilized by

Bland and Associates included a metal detector survey which comprised of sweeps on an

established 10-meter grid. Unfortunately, much of the objects found during the metal detector

survey were identified as being modern in origin though any item dubbed historic in origin was

mapped and kept (Bland 2004). Shovel testing was also used in conjunction with the GPR and

metal detector surveys. Each shovel test were approximately 50-cm squares with soil being sifted

through 1/4in mesh screens on the 10-meter grid system mentioned above. The 1,079 artifacts

removed from the 66 positive shovel tests include: refined earthenwares such as Whiteware and

Pearlware, iron hardware such as nails, and glass bottle fragments in a variety of colors (Bland

2004). What was also discovered by Bland and associates during this survey was how disturbed

the soil was due to various factors: initial land clearing, introduction of orange and tangerine

trees, truck farming, and the multiple sheds constructed on the site. It was concluded that as a

result of these disturbances over the years, something that is common when land is parceled off,

no super-positioning of period sensitive artifacts was observed (Bland 2004).

Contemporary Archaeological Research

In 2017, archaeological field work began at the Gamble Plantation under the direction of

Dr. Diane Wallman from the University of South Florida Tampa campus. Testing and excavation

focused on the area directly behind the plantation mansion, due to the indication of a dense

concentration of artifacts based on previous surveys done in the 1980s, extending below the

water table (approximately 150cmbd).

Figure 3.3 Map of 2017/2018 Excavations, Courtesy of Diane Wallman

Figure 3.4 Excavation of 1m x 1m units at "North Palm." Photo by author

Figure 3.5 Left: Locus "North Palm." Right: Locus "Bermuda Triangle". Photos by author.

To ensure a systematic sample, every alternating unit was excavated in 1m-by-1m square

units (Figure 3.4) at three separate loci (Figure 3.3) – “North Palm” (Figure 3.5), where the

privy was discovered, located slightly north/northeast of the mansion kitchen at 190N-220E to

200N-230E, “Shady Oak”, directly behind the mansion kitchen, and “Bermuda Triangle” (Figure

3.6) north of the dirt parking lot at 235N-230E to 255N-250E. Excavations were conducted at

arbitrary 5cm intervals per level, unless a soil change was identified, from the unit datum point.

Students recorded descriptions of artifacts found and their location in-situ, level type, soil texture

and color description with the aid of the Munsell soil color charts, and completed drawings of in-

situ artifacts. Indication of the privy feature started to show at approximately level 11 in units 9

and 20 (Figure 3.5), which contained most of the feature. In all units associated with this feature,

the levels 1-5 contained a layer of topsoil and a few recent artifacts with the soil identified as

being 10YR 2/1. Levels 6-8 begin to show cultural artifacts associated with the site above the

privy with a soil color of 10YR 4/1. Levels 9-11 is where we began to see an amorphous dark

stain that later was identified as the privy feature with a distinct square shape and a soil color of

10YR 3/1 with a silty soil texture. Units 9 and 20 is where the bulk of the privy is located and

offered up the bulk of the privy materials. The levels of these two units, from levels 12 through

23, contained the bottom of the feature with silty dark soil of 10YR 4/2 to 10YR 5/2. Figure 3.5

shows the three vertical posts we encountered that were connected to horizontal wooden beams,

and plenty of identifiable artifacts.

Ten-liter bulk soil samples were taken from the privy feature every 5-10cm during the

2017 and 2018 University of South Florida field school seasons utilizing judgement sampling –

meaning samples are taken from specific areas or features of interest (Marston 2014). The

justification for using this sampling method is due to the rich information, from macrobotanicals

to artifact assemblages, that can come from such features and shed light upon the lives of those

that inhabited the plantation. The privy was then backfilled and the end of the Summer 2018

field season. The privy appears to date from the 1880s through the early 1900s, working as a

time capsule of sorts from when the Pattens occupied the property until its sale to the United

Daughters of the Confederacy. Originally the main justification for taking 10L soil samples was

to analyze the macrobotanical remains to paint a thorough picture of foodways and health during

the Patten occupation of the Gamble Plantation. The trajectory of this thesis changed due to the

pandemic, therefore focusing solely on the ceramics and glass bottles found in the privy feature

to understand health and the socioeconomic realm the Pattens played in to.

Figure 3.6 Left: Unit 9, Level 11, showing dark staining. Right: Base of privy feature showing wooden beams. Photo courtesy of

Diane Wallman

Laboratory Methods

Any indefinable markings such as makers marks, bottle forms, mold type, and ceramic

decoration were documented in the field and at University of South Florida after being cleaned in

a manner that fit the artifact type: many were cleaned with a brush and water while others were

simply dry brushed to maintain artifact integrity. Identification of the glass bottles came from a

variety of sources: DAACS glass system, Parks Canada glass system, and occasionally Google.

These were used in identifying bottle forms, mold type, and specific makers if makers marks

were present. All information was catalogued to BAR standards and with DAACS cataloguing as

a supplement. All information was entered into a Google Sheets spreadsheet with several

columns dedicated to information such as FS number, ID Number, count, glass color,

manufacturing techniques, mold type, body shape, identified form function, any makers marks,

and other such observations.

Ceramic identification also stemmed from a variety of sources: DAACS ceramic system,

the Florida Museum Digital Ceramic Type Collection, the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum

Ceramic Identification website, Society for Historical Archaeology Ceramic Identification

website, Kovel’s for identification on several makers marks and registry mark identification,

google, and various books loaned by Dr. Wallman. A numbering system was used to catalogue

each ceramic sherd in the following format: FS#-CeramicType-ArtifactNumber. An example is

shown in Figure 3.7: 296RE4 – meaning this was from FS# 296, it is refined earthenware, and is

artifact number 4. Abbreviations to identify ceramic types are PN for Porcelain, RE for refined

earthenware such as Whiteware, Pearlware, and Semi-Porcelain, SW for Stoneware, and CE for

Coarse Earthenware such as Rockingham and Terra Cotta. Other observations included surface

displacement such as incising or punctation, glaze type (salt, fieldspar, lead, etc.), and other

decorative techniques. The Prunus Blossom motif, identified in Chapter 4 (Figure 4.1), was

popular from 1870-1900 and correlates with when the Pattens came to own and live at the

Gamble Plantation. Knowing what a specific decoration motif is, whether it be transfer print or

hand painted, can be useful in putting a timeline into perspective for a historic site such as the

Gamble Plantation.

Figure 3.7. Flat whiteware ceramic sherd with an I. L. S. W. G. maker's mark. Catalogue number 296RE4. Photo by author.

Quantification and MCD

The purpose of calculating the mean ceramic date is to give a rough indication of the

chronological position of the ceramic assemblage. This is estimated as the average of the

approximate manufacturing date for the ceramic types recovered from the site (South 1977). To

reach this estimation, I calculated the mean ceramic date (MCD) for the entire privy assemblage

using the following formula: total product (median date

times frequency) divided by total frequency (South 1977). For the calculation, I excluded

unidentifiable coarse earthenware, due to the long production range. It is very likely that the

resulting MCD is earlier than the dates of the privy feature. This is due to potential curation of

ceramics by the Patten family, and to longer production ranges of particular types.

By identifying the ceramic type, decoration, and motif style through the resources listed

previously, it is possible to get an approximate site occupation timeline. This is largely due to the

consumptive nature of the upper-class Victorian-era family that kept up with popular trends of

the era. Utilizing the lens of conspicuous consumption, it is possible to further understand what

image the Pattens presented in the local societal climate and how that fit into the larger picture of

Victorian consumer culture. I also utilized the Manatee County and Bradenton archives to access

interviews with Ida Mel Patten Weesner, Dudley Patten’s daughter, that were useful in placing

the Pattens in the socioeconomic sphere of the period. These digitized accounts, coupled with

archaeological evidence, corroborate how the Pattens viewed themselves in the social sphere,

their surroundings, and how they played a part in the consumptive nature of the time.

Challenges

This thesis encountered with several challenges that ultimately led to the focus on

ceramics and glass bottles found in the privy feature. Originally this thesis was to utilize the soil

samples taken from the privy to evaluate ideas around health, foodways, and subsistence

practices in a frontier landscape by analyzing macrobotanical remains. The global COVID-19

pandemic, however, had other plans. The original timeline was to spend the summer 2019

months conducting flotation with the use of a flotation machine, collect live specimens from the

site for establishing a comparative type collection, and look at the areas surrounding the

plantation for other possible plant specimens. Live specimens were collected and documented

during this time, but flotation was not due to some unforeseen hardships in acquiring the

necessary components. In March 2020, when everything began to shut down, students were not

allowed on campus in the later summer months and so the shift in focus from macrobotanical

remains to ceramics had to occur. Due to having to remove the original focus of the thesis an

entire restructuring had to commence, and the glass bottles found in the privy were added to

touch on topics surrounding health.

Some ceramics were hard, if not impossible, for me to identify myself. Learning ceramic

identification was not without its challenges but thanks to the wealth of material online, in the

lab, help from other students in the program, and my advisor I was able to learn quickly. Some

ceramics had to be taken to Dr. Lindsay Bloch at University of Florida for proper identification

which led to two confirmed yellow ware sherds and fixed any misidentified pieces. This also led

to a few more questions regarding some unknown pieces I had found that appeared to be molded

but were determined to be non-ceramic. Dr. Bloch suggested doing some further analysis on

these pieces at another time. Future work on this site, hopefully including a macrobotanical

analysis of soil samples, could be paired with the ceramic and glass bottle analysis to give a

clearer look at how people on the Florida frontier thought about health, food, and the part they

played in the wider lens of consumerism. It could be used to answer questions about possible

diseases, parasites, and the movement of consumer goods to the South.

Chapter 4 Results and Interpretation

Artifacts recovered from the privy feature, which include units 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, and

20, comprised a wide array of artifacts. From nails to brass (shotgun shells), ceramics to glass,

and bone, the privy presents a wealth of information. This thesis focuses on the plethora of

ceramics and glass bottles recovered from the feature that can help tell the story of the Patten

family who called this plantation home in the 19th Century into the early 20th century.

Before delving into the ceramic and glass bottle analysis I will include a brief description

of artifact frequency by level for the privy feature. Levels 1-5 (stratum 1) consisted of topsoil

and a more recent assemblage. These levels contained 152 ceramic sherds and 2 glass bottles.

Levels 6-8 (stratum 2) contained the cultural levels above the privy. These levels contained 15

ceramics sherds, far less than the previous 5 levels, and no glass bottles. Levels 9-11(stratum 3)

consist of the beginning of the privy feature. These levels contained 46 ceramic sherds, a slight

increase from the previous levels, and one glass bottle. Levels 12-17 (stratum 4) comprised the

top of the privy and contained 51 ceramic sherds and no glass bottles. Levels 18-23 (stratum 5)

was identified as being the middle of the privy feature. These levels contained 28 ceramic sherds

and 7 glass bottles. The final levels comprised of the base of the privy and items from FS#560

was identified as the base of the privy at 125-150cmbd. These levels contained 180 ceramic

sherds and 6 glass bottles.

Unsurprisingly, a large amount of the artifacts from the privy feature were found in the

base layer where the wood lining and various other items were found. What is interesting,

however, is that the top 5 levels also included a large sum of ceramic artifacts. Because of this it

is important to keep in mind that the privy feature spans several units which may explain why

more than half the ceramics recovered are specifically in the first 5 levels and the base of the

feature.

Ceramics

Of the 476 pieces of ceramics identified from the privy feature, the highest

percentage of ceramic type is Whiteware at 57.74% (Table 4.1). This includes both transfer print

Table 4.1 Frequency of Ceramic Type

Ceramic Type

Count

Percentage

Banded Annular Ware

1.36%

Coarse Earthenware

8.18%

Ironstone

2.73%

Pearlware

13.67%

Porcelain

11.36%

Redware

0.68%

Rockingham Ware

0.45%

Semi-Porcelain

0.68%

Stoneware

4.55%

Unglazed Coarse

Earthenware

0.23%

Unknown

0.45%

Whiteware

276

54.32%

Yellow Ware

1.36%

Grand Total

478

100.00%

and plainwares which were mostly produced in England from 1830 to the present. The two

unknown pieces appear to be non-ceramic and will not be included in this analysis though they

will hopefully be identified in the future. Table 4.2 shows that almost all the ceramics were

produced in England (98%) and made their way to the United States most likely through import.

It was not until nearly the end of the Victorian Era that North America became an industrial

power of its own and began to lessen its reliance on goods imported from oversees. Table 4.3

shows the privy ceramics as having a mean ceramic date (MCD) of 1862, which is slightly

earlier than the Patten occupation of the plantation property. This early date is likely due to

ceramic curation, and some longer production ranges. As noted earlier, the Coarse Earthenware

is removed from this table as it significantly shifts the MCD to an earlier date that does not

reflect the Pattens’ occupation of the Gamble mansion. Most of the sherds collected were

identified as either body sherds or too fragmented though there were several rim sherds and

sherds with partial/almost complete foot rings. Table 4.4 shows the total number of bowl/hollow

ware sherds, flat ware sherds, and cups recovered from the privy feature. Though tea played a

major role in the display of status in the 19th century, the lack of obvious tea wares from the

privy could lend evidence to it being used exclusively to those boarding at the plantation

mansion (Miller 1980).

Table 4.2 Production origin and Date Range of Ceramics

Even though every day goods were being produced in America, importing items was a way

for the upper class to show their wealth. Production of goods in America did not stop families

like the Pattens from relishing in their expensive imported goods such as porcelain. As discussed

Ceramic Type

Production Origin

Date Range

Banded Annular Ware

England

1785-1840

Coarse Earthenware

England

1490-1900

Ironstone

England

1840-1930

Pearlware

England

1780-1840

Porcelain

England

1830-1900

Porcelain, Bone China

England

1830-1900

Redware

North America

1750-1820

Rockingham

North America

1850-1950

Semi-Porcelain

England

1890-1930

Stoneware

England

1780-1890

Unglazed Coarse Earthenware

England

1490-1900

Whiteware

England

1830-1920

1842-1867

Yellow Ware

England

1840-1900

in previous chapters, the Pattens were a family of affluence who were active participants in the

consumer culture of the time and subscribed to the performance of conspicuous consumption.

Table 4.3 Mean Ceramic Date (MCD) of Privy Ceramics

Type

Mid-Date

Count

Product

MCD

Banded Annular Ware

1812.5

10875

Ironstone

1885

22620

Pearlware

1810

108600

Porcelain

1865

95115

Redware

1785

5355

Rockingham

1900

3800

Semi-Porcelain

1894

5682

Stoneware

1835

36700

Whiteware

1854.5

Yellow Ware

1875

275

515625

Grand Total

439

817446.5

1862.06492

The idea that manners and a specific standard of living are beliefs that the Pattens

subscribed heavily to is shown through many facets of this thesis. Ida’s interviews coupled with

the ceramics unearthed from the privy show how important the image they presented of being

members of the elite was to their grandfather George and Dudley, their father. The ceramics

presented in Figure 4.1 are a prime example of the items the Pattens had on display to showcase

their wealth. During the Victorian Era it was extremely common for the wealthy members of

society to display items oriental in nature – in the Pattens’ case it is exemplified through the

Prunus Blossom (Prunus serrulata) motif on the Aesthetic Period plates. Displaying items exotic

in origin was a way for members of the upper class to figuratively turn their nose up at mass

produced wares (Mullins 2011). This was a very common practice among the Victorian Era elite.

Other notable ceramic artifacts include banded annular ware, pearlware, porcelain, Rockingham,

and yellow ware. Much of the whiteware pieces pulled from the privy appear to be more of the

mundane day-to-day use such as chamber pots and the coarse earthenware pieces discovered also

appear to be utilitarian in function as opposed to being designed to attract the eye. Figure 4.2

through Figure 4.8 provide a visual example of wide array of ceramic types found in the privy

feature from the 2017 and 2018 field seasons.

Table 4.4 Vessel Form by Type

Type

Bowl/Hollow Ware

Flat Ware

Cup

Banded Annular Ware

Coarse Earthenware

Ironstone

Pearlware

Porcelain

Redware

Rockingham

Semi-Porcelain

Stoneware

Unglazed Coarse Earthenware

Whiteware

115

154

Yellow Ware

Total

188

276

475

Figure 4.1 Aesthetic Period Plates. Motif: Prunus Blossom. 1870-1900. Photos by author.

Figure 4.2 Course earthenware rim sherd with a brown lead glaze, incised outer body, and orange/buff paste. 1490-1900

Figure 4.3 Pearlware rim sherd, ornage molded edge, blue pooling in glaze distinct in pearlware. 1785-1840. Photos by author

Figure 4.4 Pink and green banded porcelain plate sherd with a ghosting of fold gilding. Mended. Photo by author

Figure 4.5 Small porcelain dish, toy, possibly sugar bowl or cream dish. 1830-1900. Photo by author

Figure 4.6 Rockingham ware. Mottled lead glaze, molded, mended. 1850-1950. Photo by author.

Figure 4.7 Curved stoneware sherd, partial footring. 1780-1890. Photo by author.

By analyzing the consumption patterns of these commodities, we can evaluate how class

impacted consumer behaviors (S. M. Spencer-Wood 1987). In some cases, however, displays of

wealth were ignored in lieu of isolation from urban markets (Klein 1991). However, isolation

from urban markets did not deter the Pattens from maintaining class values. Klein (1991) not

only looks at accessibility to ceramics in a rural setting but also addresses how women were in

charge of socialization of children and instilling values that aligned with social class and status.

The porcelain toy dish, seen in Figure 4.5, reaffirms the Pattens’ social status and wealth but also

informs on social ideology and structures during the 19th Century. Consumptive decisions made

by adults, in this case most likely a decision made by Dudley Patten’s wife Ida Melville Turner,

reinforce specific behaviors that fall into the expected gender roles befitting one’s socioeconomic

status (Wilkie 2000:101). While many of these ceramic wares are Whiteware, more than 50%,

the finer pieces are more than likely the ones brought out on special occassions like holidays,

small gatherings, and parties as a way to silently broadcast their wealth. This, in conjunction with

maintaining fashion trends and eventually attaining a motorized car, act as a beacon that the

Pattens used to draw in affluent people like themselves.

Glass Bottles

A total of 38 glass bottles were unearthed from the Gamble Plantation site

(8MA100). Of the 38 bottles, 16 were removed from the privy feature with 8 identified as being

medicinal or pharmaceutical in nature. Table 4.5 shows that most of the bottles are colorless, or

clear, with a handful of them ranging from light green/aqua to brown. Colorless glass was

historically difficult to produce because it required the use of impurity-free materials and as the

chemistry improved, the production of colorless glass grew to be more efficient and cheaper by

the late 19th Century whereas colors like green and blues were the result of impurities and the

introduction of chemicals during the glass making process (Lindsey 2020).

Table 4.5 Glass Bottle Diagnostic Information

Glass Color

Vessel Form

Manufacturing

Type

Mold Type

Colorless

Bottle, UID

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Colorless

Bottle, UID

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Colorless

Bottle, UID

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Light Green/Aqua

Pharm, Vial

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Light Green/Aqua

Inkwell

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Colorless

Pharm, Vial

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Colorless

Pharm, Vial

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Colorless

Inkwell

Machine Made

Press Mold

Brown

Pharm, Vial

Mold Blown

Contact Mold

Colorless

Bottle, Medicine

Mold Blown

Contact Mold

Colorless

Bottle, Food

Mold Blown

Contact Mold

Colorless

Pharm, Vial

Machine Made

Unidentifiable

Colorless

Bottle, UID

Machine Made

Pattern Mold

Brown

Pharm, Vial

Mold Blown

Contact Mold

Light Green/Aqua

Pharm, Vial

Machine Made

Contact Mold

Green/Olive Green

Bottle, UID

Mold Blown

Contact Mold

Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure, Paine’s Celery Compound, Groves Tastless Chill

Tonic, and Dr. Kings New Life Pills are just a few examples of the types of medicines available

to those of the 19th Century. Paine’s Celery Compound, seen in Figure 4.8, came into being

around 1874 at the hands of Edward Elisha Phelps, M.D. who allowed pharmacist Milton Paine

to market the compound as “the best remedy in the world” (Bause 2017).

Figure 4.8 Paine's Celery Compound bottle. Photo courtesy of Diane Wallman

Paine’s Celery Compound was comprised of celery seed, calisaya bark, cascara sagrada,

senna leaves, prickly dandelion, mandrake, gentian, black cohosh, and yellow dock with its most

potent ingredient being alcohol and possibly cocaine (Bause 2017). This medicine was quite easy

to acquire and even with the 21% alcohol content it was still viewed as a life-saving medicine.

An example of this is in a 1896 interview with Col. Joseph L. Follett (Figure 4.9) – “When

suffering from mental exhaustion and a generally disorganized system, and overwork, I used

Paine’s celery compound. The compound acted like a charm on my bowels and kept them in fine

condition, and I experienced great relief from my brain troubles….. It is the best general remedy

I ever used or knew anything about” (Follett 1896).

Figure 4.9 Newspaper Image of Col. Joseph Follett from Weekly Kentucky New Era. February 28, 1896.

Other medicine bottles found in the privy, such as Grove’s Tastless Chill Tonic, was used

as a treatment for Malaria in mosquito dense areas. Grove’s Tonic (Figure 4.10), though

reportedly not tasteless, became standard issue among British soldiers when traveling to areas

such as Florida due to the high mosquito population. Unlike the other medicines recovered from

this time, Grove’s Tonic contained little to no alcohol and was comprised of: reduced iron,

cinchonine, cinchonidine, sugar syrup, and lemon flavor. The presense of Grove’s Tonic in 19th

Century Ellenton makes sense due to the dense population of mosquitoes and several known

malaria outbreaks when the Pattens owned the Gamble property.

Figure 4.10 Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic Bottle. Photo Courtesy of Diane Wallman

Figure 4.11 Warner's Safe Kidney and Liver Cure bottle. Photo courtesy of Diane Wallman

Another high alcohol percentage medicine common in the 19th Century was Warner’s

Safe Kidney and Liver Cure. Warner’s Cure was made of liverwort, bugleweed extract,

wintergreen extract, potassium nitrate, 90% alcohol, and glycerine. This medicine was advertised

to stimulate digestion, awaken the liver, and restore the kidneys and received raving reviews

from customers, possibly due to the high alcohol content. Warner’s products sported a safe on

the bottles and packaging (Figure 4.11) that possibly alluded to the safety of the medicine.

Figure 4.12 Advertisement for Dr. King's New Life Pills. Image courtesy of U.S. National Library of Medicine, Digital

Collections

Figure 4.13 Dr. King's New Life Pills bottle. Photo courtesy of Diane Wallman

The final medicine bottle, Dr. King’s New Life Pills, reportedly aided with Malaria,

jaundice, fever, constipation, and more. According to the Joseph Bucklin Society, Dr. Kings

New Life Pills (Figure 4.13 and Figure 4.14) contained ingredients such as: cascara,

podophyllin, aloin, strychnine sulphate, and capsicum. Of all the medicines discussed in this

thesis, Dr. King’s New Life Pills contain more toxic ingredients. Strychnine sulphate is used as

rat poison today and according to the CDC (2018) can cause painful muscle spasms, difficulty

breathing, and if exposed to high doses it can cause respiratory failure and brain death.

Conclusion

Figure 4.14 Left: Mended whiteware vessel rim from base of privy. Right: Whiteware mug with handle found at base of privy

(125-150cmbd). Photos by author.

What the ceramic analysis shows is that the day to day life of the Patten family was more

practical when considering 57% of the assemblage has been identified as whiteware with a few

nicer wares sprinkled in here and there. The large percentage of whiteware is also indicative of

the plantation mansion being used as a boarding house and therefore having the visitors use the

everyday, less expensive, tableware. Of the identified whiteware fragments, at least 4 were

pieces of chamber pots (example in Figure 4.14) found at the base of the privy feature. Many of

the others were more of the everday variety in the form of cups, bowls, and plates. One such

piece is a whiteware mug 90mm in diameter with a 3.28mm thickness at the rim (Figure 4.14).

The Pattens ate their dinners together as a family which could be when the bulk of the plain

tableware was used with the nicer porcelain and exotic wares being saved for special holidays

and parties. Another possibility is that the ceramics found in the privy feature were thrown in

there as garbage to be replaced.

More expensive ceramics, such as the porcelain which make up 10% of the assemblage,

are indicative of the Pattens’ wealth. Even some of the ironstone pieces, such as the Prunus

Blossom pieces in Figure 4.1, act as an indicator of their wealth which were most likely on

display when company was over. While ceramics are certainly an important display of wealth the

actual expenditure on these items was quite small when compared to most annual budgets,

especially when the act of possession outweighed the money spent (Majewski and Schiffer

2009:197).

The bottles recovered from the privy tell a story of their own. Most notable are the

medicine bottles which make up 50% of the bottles recovered in the feature. These medicinal

concotions were usually high in alcohol content and some even contained cocaine up untilthe

1906 Pure Food and Drug Act which required labeling of the presence of alcohol, opiates, and

cocaine (White 2003). The presence of these bottles serves in stark contrast to the early

temperence beliefs of the time all the while being promoted as alochol addiction remedies (White

2003). Because medicines were touted as remedies for not just sickness but also addiction, the

Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was established to control what went into medications as quack

medicines were more commonplace and had little to no health benefits.

These kinds of medicines, as mentioned previously, seemed to have added to the

instances of addiction of the time. Most prevelant is the documented public displays of

intoxication by some of the members of the Patten family even though early versions of the

temperance movement were present. Not all of these medicines contained alcohol, however, and

made sense given the climate and fever outbreaks. Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic was standard

issue in high mosquito populated areas like Florida and was relatively harmless whereas Dr.

King’s New Life pills probably did more harm than good with its list of toxic ingredients.

What these artifacts show is a family who was practical in their day to day but liked to

show off when they could in the form of hosting parties where their expensive tablewares would

be on display. They also had a bit of a problem with alcohol addiction which is evident in both

the artifact assemblage and archival records of the time. This was a family of affluence, as shown

by the ceramic assemblage, who was also flawed and a product of their environment.

Chapter 5 Discussion

The Victorian Era is best known as a time of innovation, but it was also a time of great

conflict in America. Major Robert Gamble experienced some of this conflict first-hand on more

than one occasion in Florida. Though he did not come to Manatee County and establish the

Gamble Plantation until 1844, he was well versed in the conflict specific to the area thanks to his

participation in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and a very close encounter during the

Second Seminole War (1854-1856) after establishing his sugar plantation. Gamble eventually

left his plantation in the care of his brother-in-law before it ended up being sold to Cofield and

Davis in 1858. The home would later become the eventual stronghold for Confederate Captain

Archibald McNeill and his family where military supplies were stored and a place where a

certain Confederate Secretary of State would come to hide out once the Confederacy fell. Judah

P. Benjamin’s grand escape would eventually become the key storytelling point for the Gamble

Mansion after its donation to the state.

Florida adopted an Ordinance of Secession in January 1861 and was the third state to

secede from the American Union (Gannon 2003). From the diary of Robert Watson (1861) we

know that the Gamble Plantation was used to frequent visits by Confederate soldiers stationed at

Fort Brooke in Tampa and was the main supplier of cane beer for the soldiers. After the end of

the Civil War in 1865 the property was left abandoned until George Patten expressed an interest

in the property in letters to MacFarlan, stating that it would be an “advantageous purchase”

(Patten 1890). MacFarlan tried selling the property to Patten for $6000 in 1868. That offer was

declined until Patten purchased the property in 1873 at auction for $3000.

While the South was recovering from the fall of the Confederacy, America was

transitioning from an agricultural hub that relied on import to a standalone country with its own

industrialized power. By 1900, railroad tracks spanning a total of 3,500 miles allowed much of

Florida to be explored and ushered in the escape of the cold North for a time of leisure in the sun

of the South. This also brought more commerce to areas previously inaccessible and allowed for

small townships to crop up in the form of agricultural ventures chasing cattle, timber, and citrus

farming.

Life on the Florida frontier in the 19th Century was no stroll through the gardens. From

the archival documents we know that Gamble met with hardships that led to the sale of the

plantation to Cofield and Davis who then went back to Louisiana and left the property in the

hands of Confederate Captain Archibald McNeill in 1862. After the end of the Civil War George

Patten expressed interest in the plantation to Gamble’s brother-in-law MacFarlan before

purchasing the property and moving his large family to Florida.

In the end, George Patten put Ellenton on the map when he bought the Gamble Mansion

in 1873, unintentionally ushering in the humble beginnings of the city and Manatee County with

each parcel of land he sold. Though most of the Patten family descendants have moved away

from the area, their legacy remains in the city name, the Patten House on the Gamble property,

and in the structural heart of the Gamble Mansion itself. Without George Patten the Gamble

mansion would have continued weathering through time, forgotten, until it became nothing more

than structural bones and whispers of past elegance.

The Pattens, both George and his son Dudley, lived a life of luxury fit for someone of

higher status during the Victorian Era. This life in Florida was not without many hardships –

Dudley and his wife losing four children, a yellow fever outbreak, and malaria, yet the family

found time to live richly and maintain a firm grasp on a higher socioeconomic status. Outward

appearances were meant to be maintained, showing the outside world only your best, though that

was not always the case with the Pattens. Sneaking out late at night as teens and cases of drunk

and disorderly as adults help humanize the Pattens as everyday people and make their existence

tangible.

Dudley raised his children the way his father raised him – with respect, polished manners,

and surrounded by higher quality items. For the girls it was posh dresses and blouses that fit the

evolving Victorian fashion, playing with toys befitting a girl of status such as porcelain dolls and

tea sets, and learning to become women of the house through day-to-day interactions. For the

boys it was a strong sense of ethics, the importance of hard work, and learning how to become

men of the house which came with the expectation that they were the providers for their future

families.

Infant mortality and other hardships, such as Malaria and Yellow Fever, brought on by

living in a harsh frontier environment left room for some various acts of rebellion as a coping

mechanism. In one of Ida’s interviews, she reiterates how alcohol was not allowed at any

gatherings yet for many in the community, most certainly the Pattens, drinking was a way to

escape the painful realities of their environment. Many of the tonics touted as medicine had

upwards of ninety percent alcohol in the ingredients, making it something easy to attain from a

physician due to its perceived medicinal value and easy to explain away for the same reason.

Medicine with a high alcohol percentage was typically viewed as acceptable and not taboo like

beer or other types of alcoholic beverages like liquor (Behrens 2011). Several bottles of these

high alcohol medicines were found behind the Gamble mansion (found in figures 4.9, 4.11, 4.12,

and 4.14), Van Duzer’s Jamaica Ginger Essence, Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure, and

Paine’s Celery Compound to name a few.

The use of patent medicines generally reflects efforts to mitigate the threats to health and

wellness in a challenging environment. Many variables impacted sickness and health in the late

19th and early 20th centuries, including access, environment, infrastructure, medical science, and

public health initiatives (Harris 2019; Howson 1993). This time, in particular, was characterized

by the use of “stimulants," particularly alcohol and opiates, as palliatives (Howson 1993:144).

Patent medicines were an acceptable aspect of self-care during this time and were “incorporated

into the way people thought about sickness and health” (Howson 1993:145). The bottles

recovered tell us that for the residents of the Patten House and Gamble Mansion, maintaining

health was a part of daily life in the face of pathogens and illnesses common at the time. The

treatments used included patent medicines and remedies used to counter a variety of ailments.

The occupants of the site pursued self- treatment for mild issues including coughs, and minor

pain, and also chose self-medication for chronic ailments such as stomach and digestive issues,

malaria, and more.

The hardships of people in the Ellenton community acted as a sort of glue that brought

the people of this once tiny town together and this is evident in how often the Patten children

chose to return to Florida for various reasons – ultimately being buried in the Mansion Memorial

Park located behind the Gamble Plantation State Park. The life of children in particular, their

experiences and participation in consumer culture, is not discussed by historical archaeologists

but in the most minimalistic of terms. According to Wilkie (2000), historical archaeologists

grudgingly acknowledge that children contributed to the past. If not for Ida’s interviews, much of

what life was like growing up as a child in Ellenton would have been left to speculation and

preconceived biases through the lens of the researchers own childhood experiences. It is largely

due to the rich oral histories and archival documents that we can know the ages, demographics,

and the composition of the Patten family. With that information in hand the dynamics of this

wealthy Victorian family come to light. Toys found inside and in the periphery units of the privy

such as the small porcelain tea set piece and porcelain doll all point to not only the Pattens’

social status but also to the reinforcing of gender roles. Toys purchased for children are attempts

made by their parents to enforce gender norms associated with social status and reinforce

specific behaviors (Wilkie 2000). The Pattens, in this case, were no different in that their

daughters had specific expectations of behavior befitting their gender.

The Gamble mansion was home to various people from different walks of life, though

most were members of a higher social circle, and the artifact assemblage from the privy feature

give credence to the display of wealth at the time of the Pattens occupation of the property. The

Prunus Blossom motif on the ironstone plates, for instance, is a bloom from the East Asian

Cherry tree (Prunus serrulata). Displaying exotic goods, specifically those oriental in origin, was

common among the upper-class in the Victorian Era which could be attributed to ideas

surrounding American imperialism and an affront at the mass production of ceramics (Mullins

2011:142). The wide array of ceramic types, which included expensive and uniquely decorated

wares, are evidence of the Patten family maintaining their tethers to high society and

participating in the perfomance of consumer culture that was so prevalant among the affluent in

the Victorian Era. The high number of Whiteware also lend evidence to the plantation mansion

being used as a boarding house as it could explain the abundance of plainwares.

The medicine bottles tell a precautionary tale that looms in stark contrast to the images of

parties and extravagant dinners the ceramics embody. Many of these medicines were used to

treat Malaria and other ailments – whether they worked or not was another story. Based on

evidence from the CDC, Dr. King’s New Life Pills contained an extremely toxic ingredient that

if taken long enough could lead to eventual death. Navagating through life and the frontier with a

degree of uncertainty, it is no wonder that many in this community turned to high alcohol

percentage medicines like Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure. In a time when consumption of

alcohol was frowned upon, medicines like Warner’s and Paine’s could provide easy access to a

momentary escape. While not addressed in Ida’s interviews, archival evidence has proven that

the Patten’s had run-ins with authorities on accounts of drunk and disorderly even while the

community remained “alcohol-free”. The position of doctors had shifted, perhaps unknowingly,

and those in this profession were left “sheltering behind their professional mysteries and a

pharmacopeia in which alcoholic drinks, opiates, and mercury based medicaments featured

prominently, doctors seemed to have formed an unholy alliance with the drink trade and vendors

of dangerous drugs” (Tyrrell 2012). Whether this was a purposful oversight on Ida’s part is not

known, however it does point to the idea that alcohol in the Ellenton community was viewed in a

negative light and consumption of alcohol had to either be hidden or explained away through

medicines like the ones mentioned above.

Recommendations

The Gamble Plantation Historic State Park does have a small on-site museum in the

visitor’s center that showcases items from the previous excavations done at the site, a list of all

of the known enslaved during Robert Gamble Jr.’s ownership of the property, and items that

were used for harvesting during this period in history. Much of what is housed in the museum

pertains to a particular moment – the time when plantations reigned supreme and the Civil War

raged, with little said pertaining to the Patten family. This may in large part be due to the United

Daughters of the Confederacy having authority over what image the plantation presents to the

public. One thing that should be added is a section after the Civil War when George Patten

brought his family to Florida and decided to call the Gamble property home. Using resources to

properly preserve the Patten house, currently a dilapidated building sitting at the front of the

property just off the main road, would allow for visitors to see how people were living in the late

1800s. I would also suggest adding an exhibit to the visitor’s center museum pertaining

specifically to the privy and the artifacts found within.

The plantation mansion, the last standing antebellum mansion in Florida, is beautifully

preserved and decorated with pieces true to the period. Appearing as a time capsule of sorts, the

mansion paints images of a romanticized plantation life in the South. Much of the tour is

centered on Gamble but shifts to the park’s namesake: Judah P. Benjamin. With the history

centered on one specific moment in time the visitors to the park lose out on the rich history of the

property and area. Unfortunately, having such a narrow interpretation of the site can act as a

deterrent that keeps people of color and minorities from visiting the grounds. What can be done

to avoid this is to broaden the site interpretation to include the 190 people who built the house

from the ground up and bring that aspect of American history into the conversation. During the

Patten era the Gamble mansion was a boarding house for those travelling to, from, and through

Ellenton. Highlighting this aspect of the mansion’s history could stimulate interest in area

development, trade routes, and how locals were navigating through life. With the way it sits now,

the Gamble plantation could fall to obscurity due to the narrow interpretation of the site. The best

thing the UDC and state could do is loosen the chokehold on Judah P. Benjamin and broaden

their talking points. While the property did play a role during the Civil War it is not the whole

story and should not be presented as such.

There is still plenty this site can still tell us outside of the museum and tour. The 10L soil

samples taken from the privy are available for identification and analysis. These samples would

not only contain macrobotanicals that could show what the Pattens and guests were ingesting,

but also evidence of possible micro-organisms that could further expand on the health of the

site’s occupants. Continuing the analysis of the privy will add more depth to the history of the

property and the Patten family.

Conclusion

The history surrounding Florida and Ellenton is colorful and, at times, chaotic. Florida

was much sought after by many whether to escape the cold in the North on vacation, something

still in practice even today, or to stake a claim on the soil and call it home. With the Armed

Occupation Act in play settling down in Florida and creating a homestead became an attainable

reality and the increase in tobacco, cotton, and sugar plantations across middle Florida grew

substantially. The aid of the Government in the forced removal of the Seminole Native

Americans also allowed for more people to move South under the guise of safety and the

promise of an agricultural paradise. But within this paradise hid perfect conditions for malaria

and yellow fever due to the humid environment that acted as a homing beacon for mosquitos,

often taking quite a heavy toll in these small-town communities. Even amid such hardships,

families like the Pattens continued to subscribe to Victorian consumer culture and live lives full

of extravagance. From hosting and attending parties to keeping up with the latest fashion trends,

the Pattens made sure to maintain the lifestyle that fit their socioeconomic status, even in a place

like the Florida frontier. This adherence to a specific lifestyle shows just how prevalent ideas

surrounding wealth and power were among well-off planters in the South.

As the Patten occupation of the Gamble property came to an end, the Greek Revival

mansion saw a renewed sense of purpose with the aid of the United Daughters of the

Confederacy (UDC) and the Division of Recreation and Parks, Department of Natural Resources.

The Judah P. Benjamin chapter of the UDC purchased the Gamble property in 1925 for $3,200

after the Patten children had all moved away and their mother, Mary Scott Thompson, had

passed (Silpa 2008). The UDC transferred ownership of the property to the state as a condition of

receiving state funds and the Florida Park Service began to manage the property in 1949 with the

guidance of the UDC in site interpretation (Judah P. Benjamin Memorial Nomination Form

1970).

Though this home is advertised as the only Confederate shrine in Florida (1970), the

archaeological evidence points to it being so much more. The lives of the people who called this

property home, the myriad of visitors, and its historical significance spanning the 19th to the early

20th century overshadow the short occupation of Judah P. Benjamin. By analyzing the ceramics

and glass bottles recovered from the privy, we can paint a picture of life on the Florida frontier

and understand the sociotechnic dimensions at play. In a sense the privy is acting as a portal

through history and with it we can begin to understand what experiences the people who called

this property home, Gamble and the Pattens, had and how it can help shape our understanding

surrounding ideas of conspicuous consumption of the 19th century South.

Privies as Portals; A Ceramic and Glass Bottle Analysis of a Late 19th Century Household Privy in Ellenton, FL.

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