
DATE: Sunday, October 26, 1997              TAG: 9710260056

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:  121 lines

A FIND OF THEIR DREAMS FROM UNDERNEATH A 277-YEAR-OLD CHESAPEAKE HOME, TREASURES SURFACE.

Phil Johnson is digging for buried treasure - not in the ocean's depths but in the heart of Great Bridge.

He has found no gold doubloons, silver trinkets or diamond bracelets.

Only wooden nails, broken china and handmade bowls carved decades before the Battle of Great Bridge and the Revolutionary War.

Volunteers unearthed these 18th century artifacts while replacing the floors of a 277-year-old house that is the historical centerpiece of the Chesapeake Arboretum, said Johnson, arboretum treasurer.

After peeling away five layers of linoleum from the kitchen floor, restorers found hand-hewn floorboards held together by wooden pegs and homemade iron nails. In the earth beneath, they found rusted horseshoes and fragments of heavy white china plates nearly half an inch thick, pieces of glass moldings, broken dishes painted delicate indigo blue, and small, handmade wooden bowls the size of grapefruit.

``It's like a dream come true,'' said Johnson, a Xerox training specialist who's an archaeologist at heart. He plans to invite professional archaeologists from Old Dominion University to inspect his finds.

The house, built in 1730, once belonged to the Williamson family, whose ancestors are buried in a small cemetery at the edge of the property. Two years ago, Carol Williamson Marks donated the house and 48 acres to the city for an arboretum.

Arboretum volunteers hope to restore all the buildings on the property. For now, they've boarded up a 20th century tenant house and are using two barns for storage, Johnson said. Artifacts are now stored on site, but eventually will be on display, he said.

The artifacts that are left, that is.

After surviving hundreds of years, most of the artifacts unearthed so far were mistaken for debris and thrown away, Johnson said.

The family smokehouse - by far the most dilapidated structure at the arboretum - yielded the largest number of buried bowls and other utensils, Johnson said. Its walls were so rotted and ridden with termites, however, that the building had to be torn down in January. While Johnson was away on vacation, well-meaning volunteers carted off the smokehouse's wooden planks - and all the artifacts hidden underneath them.

``We had three times as many cups and plates and things,'' Johnson said. ``Here's what's left of the smokehouse,'' he said, holding up an octagonal-shaped wooden board. ``For now we've covered it (the smokehouse site) with mulch to protect whatever else might be underneath there until we can get to it. We'd like to rebuild it someday.''

With no curator or staff, the arboretum depends on its volunteers, said director Richard A. Pippen Jr. Nearly 700 have volunteered this year.

Historic preservation has been a controversial topic in this fast-growing city. City Council created a Historical Preservation Commission - with advisory power only - after residents protested the demolition of another Revolutionary War-era house on Cedar Road. That commission met for the first time in March and is studying the historical significance of a house on Clearfield Avenue in a subdivision proposed for development by Centex Homes.

Although some treasures been lost, there still are others to be found at the arboretum - such as Native American artifacts believed buried in the woods of the arboretum's 1.5-mile nature trail.

For arboretum volunteers, each artifact is precious. And each tells a story, Pippen said.

Standing on the dirt foundation of the Williamson kitchen, Pippen pointed out three floor joists, installed over a period of nearly three centuries.

The ``tongue-and-groove'' construction of the older boards allows each plank to be fitted together with the board next to it, giving the floors more support, Pippen said.

``You don't see board like that anymore. Back then, everything was made out of wood,'' Pippen said. ``They used wooden pegs because nails weren't available.''

Even a handful of crooked, rusty nails with square edges reveals something about Colonial life.

``When you find nails that aren't regular, they're usually handmade,'' Johnson said. ``These were probably made right here on the farm. They started making their own nails in the 1800s. Once they had metal plows, they could use whatever they had left over for nails.''

The arboretum's best-preserved artifacts were donated by the Williamsons - including a large, leather-bound illustrated Bible printed in 1883 and a quilt sewed 115 years ago. The Williamsons also donated a 200-year-old patchwork quilt.

``I won't tell you where that one is,'' Johnson said. ``It's too valuable. We've got it under lock and key.''

Of course, not all digs lead to real treasure.

``Look what I found just this morning,'' Johnson said with a mischievous grin as he picked up a dirt-encrusted white plate.

At first glance, the plate looked shabby and weathered, but perfectly intact, without so much as a single nick.

``That's because it's plastic,'' Johnson said, flicking the plate with his fingernail and producing a distinctly synthetic ping.

``Someone repairing the floor probably dropped it in here while having his lunch.'' ILLUSTRATION: TAMARA VONINSKI color photos/The Virginian-Pilot

These irregular nails were probably made on the farm where they were

found, say officials of the Chesapeake Arboretum.

A piece of wood with pegs is one of the artifacts unearthed in the

kitchen of the main house during recent renovations.

Also found: This wooden cup, in addition to fragments of heavy white

china plates and dishes painted a delicate indigo.