Marking Time: Research and Observations on Historical Graffiti

by Michael J. Emmons Jr.

Ship Carved in the wall at the Nicholson House, photo courtesy of author

I glanced out the window from a second-story bedroom at the Abel and Mary Nicholson House, and, as I suspected, almost everyone was leaving to make their way back to the tour bus. I was scurrying to get photos of all the rooms upstairs before I left, and at the same time, looking for historical graffiti in the house.  The “marking” of buildings and objects is the subject of my budding dissertation at the University of Delaware, so I was hopeful that my tours at VAF might reveal some examples for me to study.  I wasn’t disappointed.  As luck would have it, when I turned away from the window, my eye caught something carved into the untreated plank wall to my left.  The raking sunlight highlighted two distinct ships—schooners or sloops—scratched into the wall, accompanied by the initials “W. C.”   I was thrilled.  I hadn’t seen any reference to these markings before.  A few months earlier, however, while documenting buildings in Mauricetown, NJ in preparation for the conference, I had photographed a large schooner carved into an interior wall at the early-18^th century Caesar Hoskins plank house.

Ship carved in wall at Gandy House, photo courtesy of author

The next day, the theme continued.  On the “Four Centuries by the Shore” tour, we stopped at the Thomas Gandy House, where I found Joan Berkey and Cary Carson looking at some old planks laid out on a table.  Those planks contained an incised picture of a boat or ship.  A remarkable coincidence, I thought.  Or, was it?  About an hour later, at the Moses and Sarah Crossley House, Joan’s husband, Scott Smith, nodded his head knowingly when I told him about my study—and immediately told me about a ship carved in a barn at the nearby Cape May County Historical Society museum.  During the few weeks since the conference, others have pointed me toward even more examples of nautical carvings on houses.  My advisor Ritchie Garrison said there are “pinkies”—a type of sailing vessel—carved in the walls at the recently rediscovered Sampson woodshop in Massachusetts.  Another advisor, Rebecca Sheppard, told me about a ship drawn on a barn wall near the Delaware Bay in Odessa.  Madeline Dunn at the Delaware SHPO said there was a large ship carved on a door at the John Dickenson plantation.  And at Winterthur, the head furniture conservator, Mark Anderson, told me about an 18^th century house near the Chesapeake in Maryland with about 20 ships carved in an exterior wall (and then, as if on cue—even though our meeting was spontaneous—he wheeled over a valuable antique highboy chest that had a ship carved into the side).

In short, my field experiences at the VAF in New Jersey revealed a pattern that will likely be incorporated into a chapter of my dissertation.  What prompted so many people—I suspect often children and young adults, especially based on the height of the drawings I’ve seen—to record so many images of ships on their dwellings?  What does this reveal of their worldview?  Perhaps these images expressed the possibility of escape, or adventures to new places, or the promise of making a good living while working at sea, or maybe the unique access to goods and information that these vessels may have represented?

Michael Eammons Jr. examining the Gandy House "Ship" planks

These thought-provoking moments, and the great conversations I had with so many VAF attendees, truly made “Down Jersey” a wonderful first VAF experience for me.  I was very thankful to receive a Pamela Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship, which enabled me to attend the event, and to present my research, and I think it’s safe to say that I’m hooked.  It was exciting—and remarkably comfortable—to be surrounded by swarms of other people who are also fascinated by historic buildings and landscapes.  It feels like home.  Presenting my research to a group of people who didn’t listen with blank stares was certainly refreshing, and the feedback I received will be immensely helpful as I continue work on that project.   It was great meeting so many of you on the tours and at paper sessions—I look forward to seeing you again in 2015 at Chicago!

Michael just finished his MA in historic preservation at the University of Delaware, and is beginning his doctoral studies in the Preservation Studies Program there.  He also works in the Center for Historic Architecture and Design at Delaware.  If you know of any interesting markings on buildings, he would love to hear about them.  He can be reached at mjej@udel.edu.