Stories

Few letters from 17th-century Maryland survive and nearly all of these are from elite men. But detective work by English historian Ruth Crook in 2014 discovered a previously unknown letter in a London Archive. It was written by Ann Trueman, the wife of physician and planter James Truman. They immigrated to Maryland in 1667. The recipient was a cousin of theirs in England. Ann and . . .

Archaeological research needs type collections of known artifacts to help identify the unknown ones. This is true for skeletons, tobacco pipes, and ceramics. HSMC has developed some of these but lacks others. In 2016, an opportunity arose to make an important addition – mudlarking along the Thames River in London. Mudlarking is the word originally used to describe poor children and adults who would go . . .

One of the least expected artfacts discovered during the archaeology at St. Mary’s City is a small medallion bearing the image of the great Swedish King Gustavas Adolphus. Archaeologists recovered it at the Van Sweringen site which began as the colonial records office in 1664 and in 1677 became Garrett Van Sweringen’s “Private Lodging House” to entertain the Maryand’s elite. A portrait of the monarch . . .