With thanks to off-list responses from several VA-HIST subscribers, I pass along the following interesting information from some articles in a series called “Backsights” written for a VDOT publication by Engineer Howard Newlon, Jr., of Charlottesville.

“It is sometimes difficult to separate roads built exactly to [John Loudon] McAdam’s standards from those constructed from similar procedures but referred to under the general term ‘macadamizing.’ For example, [Virginia’s] Laommi Baldwin in 1817 had laid down elaborate specifications for stone surfaced roads in Virginia consisting of three layers. The bottom most layer, from a foot to eighteen inches thick, was to contain large stones. The middle layer containing stones “broken to the size of about four inches, well hammered and rammed in” was to be about 12 inches thick.  The third and last layer was to be “coarse gravel or stones broken to the size of hickory nuts, thrown on evenly or rammed or rolled with a heavy iron roller.”  This last layer was to vary from ten inches in the middle to eight at the sides.  This type of construction, which was used on several of the roads under the jurisdiction of the [Virginia] Board of Public Works, was closer to [Thomas] Telford’s than to McAdam’s system.”

Apropos of my original query about machine-crushed gravel, Mr. Newlon (and others) remind us that huge quantities of stone were broken by hand well in to the 20th century. (“Breakin’ rocks in the hot sun……” and the tune of “I Fought the Law and the Law Won” seeps into my consciousness as I write this.)  Specifically, in his article about Thomas Telford, Mr. Newlon cites the following statement from Gillispie’s Manual of Road Making (1852):

“The laborer sits before the pile, and breaks the stones on it, or on a large concave stone as an anvil, on which the stones to be broken are placed, resting only on their ends, so that, being struck sharply in their middle, they break into angular fragments.  Children with smaller hammers can do the lighter work, so that a whole family may be employed. The workmen should not be paid by the day, but at an equitable price per cubic yard. A medium laborer can break in a day from 1 ½ to 2 yards of gneiss; but only ½ to ¾ yard of hard rock.”

Hence, Mr. Newlon (and others) suggest that there is “no reason to reject the 1830-1850 date based upon the broken stone” found in and above the large rocks on the surface archaeologists uncovered adjacent to Patrick Henry’s house at Red Hill.  Our best guess now is that the large river cobbles comprise the bottom layer of a layered surface (analogous to the 1817 Board of Public Works road specifications) that served as the floor of a greenhouse.

The discovery of these features confirms the detailed accuracy of a recollection that could otherwise have been regarded as more impressionistic.  We also know from John Henry’s 1833 contract to build an addition to Patrick Henry’s house (MS at Library of Congress) that they referred to the patriot’s house as “the chamber” or “the old chamber.”  The hypothesis that we have uncovered a greenhouse floor corresponds neatly with the following passage from Elvira Henry Miller’s recollections of Red Hill during the lives of her grandparents John and Elvira (Patrick Henry’s son and daughter in law):

  “There was a large greenhouse on one side towards the river; two of the chamber windows looked into it.  This must have been beautiful in the winter – to look in on orange and lemon trees and other tropical plants in full bloom.  I was always there in the summer.  Then the plants were rolled out and placed in suitable spots about the yard, thereby adding fragrances as well as beauty, to the surroundings.  These plants were quite large trees in large tubs and were moved on rollers.  I especially remember the cape jasmines, covered with lovely fragrant white blossoms.
  “Many dozens [of] oranges and lemons were gathered from the trees in their season, to be used by the family in various ways.  No doubt you recall Grandma’s recipe for orange preserves (written in her own handwriting, which began ‘gather your oranges from your greenhouse’). . . .”

Many thanks to friends on VA-HIST who responded off-list and who brought my original query to Mr. Newlon’s attention.


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Jon Kukla ....................... Executive Vice-President and CEO
1250 Red Hill Road ........ Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation
Brookneal, VA 24528 .... www.redhill.org .... 804 376-2044
Home 804 376-4172 ...... Office email: [log in to unmask]
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