It's said that in nineteenth century Texas it was impolite to ask why someone had moved here, because the reason was usually escaping from problems back home. My own family followed the typical Virginia - Tennessee - Texas route pre statehood.
Several Carolinians connected to sites I've worked on from El Paso to Presidio fought in the Mexican War and then stayed to marry into wealthy Mexican families. They did very well for themselves.
Yes, I'm interested in the work Georgeanna Greer did with stoneware. What a shame her collection was broken up (not literally) after her death and couldn't have been bought in toto by one of the museums. She did a lot to highlight the role of African American potters in the state.
Barbara J Hickman, Staff Archeologist
Archeological Studies Program
Environmental Affairs Division
Texas Department of Transportation
125 East 11th Street
Austin TX 78701
Telephone: 512.416.2637
Fax: 512.416.2680
>>> On 20 July, 2011 at 3:16 PM, in message <[log in to unmask]>, Carl Steen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Barbara- A lot of South Carolinians, including many from the area I'm studying, moved west after the war of 1812 and, after stops in Ga, Ala, La, and Miss, ended up in Texas. Even some of the Steens ended up out there. It is said that in the 1830s many families packed everything they had and abandoned their farms, leaving signs that read :Gone to Texas" or "GTT". These included potters (I'm working on a stoneware kiln site) who took the alkaline glaze tradition west with them. Georgeanna Greer covers this in "American Stonewares" if you are interested. And the travel was in both directions. Around the turn of the 20th century two brothers from Texas came back and brought a distinct yellow slip glaze called "Leon slip" with them...
Carl Steen
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Hickman <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, Jul 20, 2011 3:54 pm
Subject: Re: Spanish buttons
I don't know the exact reason why, but I do know that a number of North and
South Carolinians came to Texas to fight in the Mexican War 1846-1848. Some of
them stayed in west Texas, but many returned home. BJH
Barbara J Hickman, Staff Archeologist
Archeological Studies Program
Environmental Affairs Division
Texas Department of Transportation
125 East 11th Street
Austin TX 78701
Telephone: 512.416.2637
Fax: 512.416.2680
>>> On 20 July, 2011 at 2:45 PM, in message <[log in to unmask]>,
"Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Sorry, Carl, I meant that the rest of us might NOT be able to help. It's way
past lunch and brain fog is setting in. Okay, setting in earlier than usual.
Okay, this is about normal for me.
Jeff
Jeffrey L. Boyer
Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
* mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
* physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
* tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
* e-mail: [log in to unmask]
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." -L. P.
Hartley, 1953
________________________________________
From: Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 1:43 PM
To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Subject: RE: Spanish buttons
I fear the rest of us might be able to help with that one. On the other hand,
given the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience represented in this
list, there just might be someone out there who would know exactly why.
Jeff
Jeffrey L. Boyer
Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
* mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
* physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
* tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
* e-mail: [log in to unmask]
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." -L. P.
Hartley, 1953
________________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Carl Steen
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 1:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Spanish buttons
Melhora means "Improved" in Portuguese, which sounds plausible (Improved
Quality). Its definitely an L, not a J and there's no break between the letters.
Now, how did a PORTUGUESE or Galician button end up on a nineteenth century site
in SC?
Carl Steen
-----Original Message-----
From: Giovanna Vitelli <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, Jul 20, 2011 3:13 pm
Subject: Re: Spanish buttons
Carl, it might read as a spelling variant of mejora calidade, J rather than
L. Best quality. Perhaps?
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carl
Steen
Sent: 20 July 2011 14:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Spanish buttons
Hi All - It's 101 degrees here in South Carolina so I am catching up on
labwork and writing. I have found a typical looking South Type 18 button-
that's the one that is usually stamped "Treble Gilt" or something similar on
the back. That is, a flat, plated button with a stamped back. This came from
a 19th century site in the western part of the state. Only this one is
stamped "...ELHORA CALIDADE" The Calidade part is clear, but I can't think
of a word ending in "elhora". One or two letters are missing. Anybody else
seen one of these? British buttons like this are usually from early 19th c.
contexts. Do they last longer in Spanish contexts? People were heading out
to Texas (and back) from here during the 1830s and 1840s, which might
account for its presence, but no one I've talked to locally has ever seen
one.
Carl Steen-
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