However, in 1741, Davison with his family left Frederica and moved to Charleston, S. C., complaining of the treatment he had received from Dr. Hawkins and giving this as his reason for leaving.[29] It is not known when Samuel Davison died, but his wife, Susanna, died in St. Bartholomew Parish, Colleton County, S. C. in 1761. Her will (on file in the South Carolina Archives, Columbia) names Susanna (who married John Smith), John, and Samuel, the children who had lived at Frederica; and William, who was born after they moved to South Carolina.
It was known that Hawkins and Davison had adjoining lots, that the houses had a “party wall,” that they were built of brick and three stories high. When funds were made available for excavating a small area in the Town of Frederica, it was decided to begin with these two lots. The location of the “party wall” would fix the lot line between these two lots, thus, making it possible to set up the exact boundaries of all the Frederica lots.
The Excavation of The Hawkins-Davison Houses, Frederica National Monument, St. Simons Island, Georgia
By Charles H. Fairbanks[30]
The object of archaeological excavations is usually to discover general information on the way of life of some people dead for long periods of time. In the case of these excavations we were faced with a more detailed problem, that of locating the remains of the Hawkins-Davison houses, whose existence and construction type was quite well known.
Fort Frederica National Monument is located on the western edge of St. Simons Island. It was established as a national monument to preserve the remains of the important 18th century fort and town founded by James Edward Oglethorpe as a defense against the Spanish in Florida. Only part of one building in the fort and part of the regimental barracks are still standing. The purposes of the excavation were to attempt to locate enough colonial features so that the original layout of the town could be tied to the existing topography, and to provide a field exhibit of colonial architecture. The documentary information on the town was compiled by National Park Service Collaborator Margaret Davis Cate. Mrs. Cate, in addition to her general research on the Town of Frederica, prepared a detailed evaluation of the documents pertaining to each lot. This was extremely helpful in appraising the historic material and formed the basis of the plan for excavating, as well as for this paper. In addition to the letters, the documents contained the Miller Map of 1796 which showed the arrangement of the lots, streets, fort, and barracks as well as showing the size of the lots and the width of the streets. The map contained certain inaccuracies and did not show any point that could be accurately located at the present time. In addition, it did not show the location of any house in the town. For these reasons it was felt desirable to excavate a house site in the town that might be identified through descriptions in the colonial documents. The Hawkins-Davison houses filled these conditions, being built of brick and having a common “party wall.” Thus it was felt that these houses would probably yield identifiable remains and it might be possible to locate the land lot lines and the alignment of Broad Street, the main street of the town.
Dr. Thomas Hawkins, town physician and one of the magistrates, was a member of the “Great Embarkation” of 1735 which arrived in February, 1736. His household consisted of his wife, Beatre, and servants Thomas Ayot and Richard Carpenter.[31] Work was started on the houses for the first settlers in February of 1736 and seems to have consisted at first of simple huts of poles covered with palmetto thatch. Francis Moore, on his arrival at Frederica in March of 1736 says that “Each family had a bower of palmetto leaves, finished upon the back street in their own lands; the side towards the front street was set out for their houses. These palmetto bowers were very convenient shelters, being tight in the hardest rains; they were about twenty foot long, and fourteen foot wide, and in regular rows, looked very pretty, the palmetto leaves lying smooth and handsome, and of a good color. The whole appeared something like a camp; for the bowers looked like tents, only being larger, and covered with palmetto leaves instead of canvas.”[32] By November of 1736 the first two houses were nearly complete, three stories high, made of brick.[33] It is possible that these two were the Hawkins and Davison houses. Dr. Hawkins said, in a letter to the Trustees in November, 1737, that he had added half as much more to the length of his house.[34] In August of 1740 he had made another addition valued at £60.[35] This completes the direct mention of buildings and additions to the Hawkins house but a deposition taken in South Carolina in 1741 describes the two houses in some detail and is quoted at length:
Architectural Drawing of Hawkins-Davison houses. Details based on historical documentation and archaeological evidence. Abreu & Robson, Architects.
