The Stanton-Davis Homestead is significant for the degree to which it is preserved. It is a simple, almost rough house, architecturally unrefined, who heavy overhang, weathered siding, and primitive lines bespeak its great age. The house has been almost unaltered since the 18th century and is in need of considerable repair. However, the interior of this plan house is unexpectedly fine. The quality of the interior woodwork is completely belied by the roughness of the exterior, but is outstanding and lavishly applied.
Please read more about the house design and structure.
In the attic are amazing chalk drawings made by slaves who slept there during the first half of the eighteenth century. They appear on the rough wood beams that are part of the slanting roof. The slaves entered the attic through a separate entrance and stairway. We can only speculate about the drawings but the sloop, pictured here, is but one of the images. Another is of a "Baltimore clipper", a 2-masted topsail schooner, many of which were built for use in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. There are also representations of saw-fish bills, and even a drawing of a woman in a long dress who appears to be pregnant. One hapless person kept a tally of some unknown event[s], perhaps the passage of days, or the amount of fish caught, using a series of straight lines.
The people who were allowed to sleep here would have suffered from the heat in the summer and endured the cold draughts of a New England winter, as the roof is uninsulated and there is very little outside ventilation. Chalk seems like such an ephemeral medium, yet these drawings have survived for better than 250 years as mute witnesses to the lives of some of the people who labored on this farm.
One very interesting artifact belonging to the Homestead is a war club that was carved by the Indian Garner from a root. Each of the six points or roots on the club are carved with an image: 1) a wild goose; 2) a turtle with an eel in
its mouth; 3) a bird with a long bill, some type of bird of prey; 4) a bird
with spread wings looking directly out; 5) the face of a man; 6) something
that can't be distinguished, possibly due to the damage from a
hurricane in 1938. At the time the damage occurred, the war club was being stored
in the attic, which suffered from windows breaking and other damage. (Needless to say, one of the fundraising objectives of the SDHM, Inc. is to make the Homestead and its treasures safe from this type of damage.)
Whit Davis was told by several Native people who have viewed the club that the face on the club may be in the likeness of the original owner.
The Penobscots and the Wabaki were known for their root "warclubs." Carved from a single root mass, they were approx. 18 inches from the end of the handle to the carved head. Often they were fire-hardened after carving to make them ore durable, and to give the features contrast. From the 1850s, on, the Penobscots would carve a myriad of wooden items and weave baskets during the winter months and in the late spring, they'd lash their products down to their carts and make a journey south, setting up booths outside of towns and selling their wares. They would then summer along the shores of Southern New England, renting storefronts in tourist areas to continue to sell their handicrafts.
You might also be interesting in learning about the property around the Homestead.
