Letters of Love: Archival Remnants of Fathers’ Devotion

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L-O-V-E: "Love Letters"

· Family and Friends ·

Among the legal documents and receipts, official correspondence, and journals found in the Tudor Place archive, you’ll also find letters of love. Those described in this essay by Archivist Wendy Kail were penned by career military men tied to the estate through marriage to Peter family daughters. Two were the sons-in-law of founders Martha and Thomas Peter, and a third was their nephew by marriage. All three wore the cloak of military civility with grace and honor, but beneath their martial façades sheltered hearts smitten with love … for their sons.


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Phase-II Archeaology Investigation: Tennis Lawn 2013

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This 2013 project followed up on the 2010 survey evidence indicating the possible location of a former building. Historic maps show no structure in this area, but concentrations of domestic and architectural artifacts found there led to speculation that a slave quarter may have stood in what is now the Tennis Lawn. The Phase II testing further investigated if a building did exist in this portion of the property and, if so, what its function may have been, with exciting results: Two of the test units revealed characteristics of a large feature. Although its details remain undetermined, the likely feature’s size apparent configuration, and recovered artifacts suggest that a possible root cellar or sub-floor pit associated with a dwelling for enslaved African Americans and/or other servants.

 


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