Henry William Stiegel - Manheim and Stiegel-type Glass

This week we are taking a departure from ceramics and pottery to look at some interesting glass that was found at Fort Hunter during the 2020 field season. Though only a few small fragments were recovered, this type of glass has an interesting history in Pennsylvania. Hand painted enameled pieces such as these found in the United States are known as Stiegel-type glass due to their association with ironmaster and glassmaker, Henry William Stiegel.

Stiegel-type enamel painted tumbler from two views. Photo from the Community and Domestic Life Collection, The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Henry William Stiegel was a German born immigrant who arrived in Philadelphia in 1750 with his mother and brother. Here he worked for two years as a clerk for ship merchants, Alexander and Charles Stedman, before taking work with ironmaster Jacob Huber, in Lancaster County. Within the year, Stiegel married Huber’s daughter Elizabeth who passed away shortly after the birth of their second daughter in 1758. Also in 1758, Stiegel along with his partners the Stedman’s, bought out Huber, becoming the new owners of the iron furnace, which was renamed Elizabeth Furnace after Stiegel’s late wife. Shortly after, the partners purchased an additional furnace near Lancaster County, named Charming Forge, to help expand Stiegel’s ironworks. 

Cast-iron right-side stove plate made by Jacob Huber at Elizabeth Furnace. Photo from the Ephrata Cloister Collection, The Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission.

By this time, Stiegel had become a prominent member of the community and Lutheran Church and was well known as a great ironmaster, best known for his cast iron stoves. In 1762 Stiegel with the help of the Stedman brothers planned the town of Manheim. It was here that Stiegel built his mansion and in 1764 opened his newly built “glasshouse”, which the town was built around. Later called the American Flint Glass manufactory, Stiegel continued to expand on the glasshouse, hiring highly skilled workers from Europe’s prominent glassmaking centers. Beginning with window glass and utilitarian bottles, Stiegel’s glassworks later produced colored glass pitchers, wine glasses, dishes and bowls as well as scientific items. The American Flint Glass Manufactory also produced decorated pieces, some etched and others hand painted enameled in the traditional German red, yellow and blue motifs. Due to the lack of makers marks or signatures on the pieces produced by Stiegel’s glassworks and the similarity in design to European pieces of the time, it is near impossible to know for sure whether unmarked pieces were made here in Pennsylvania by Stiegel’s company or if they were imported from Europe, as many were. 

Stiegel-type eight-sided panel bottle from Conestoga Indian Town site, 36La52. Photo from the Section of Archaeology, The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Eventually Stiegel became the sole owner of Manheim. He built schools to educate the children of his employees, donated the land for the Manheim Lutheran Church, and supported a musical band in Manheim. Stiegel has often been referred to as Baron Von Stiegel, the founder of Manheim, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, just before the Revolutionary War, Stiegel found himself in financial collapse and unable to pay his debts. In 1775 the glassworks ceased production and Stiegel had to sell off all his land. After spending some time in debtors’ prison, Stiegel came to rely on family for support and did some work as a bookkeeper and a teacher. Stiegel died in 1785 and since the glassworks had closed, Manheim was left to struggle as a small town with a low population and in 1838 was incorporated as a borough by the Commonwealth. Though Manheim is not the great metropolis Stiegel had planned for, he did build the town leaving a lasting impression on Manheim and iron and glassworks in the United States and Pennsylvania.

As mentioned above, the glassware produced by Stiegel’s company was not marked in any way to indicate when or who produced it. With new technologies, such as laser ablation, it may be possible to identify trace elements within the glass made by Stiegel to distinguish it from those of European origin, but limited research has been done at this time. Since there has been limited testing done with laser ablation and other new technologies in relation to glass identification it is currently unknown if glassware in this enameled hand painted style was produced by Stiegel or imported from Europe and is therefore called Stiegel-type glass. These fragments found at Fort Hunter are a great example of Stiegel-type glass that is found on archaeological sites today.

Stiegel-type glass found at Fort Hunter, 36Da159. Photo from the Section of Archaeology, The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

We hope you have enjoyed this brief history of Henry William Stiegel, Stiegel-type glass and Manheim, Pennsylvania and how they are related. It is interesting how even the small artifacts can evoke the rich history of individuals and their mark on the world we live in. We invite you to explore additional examples of Stiegel-type glass and other artifacts via Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s online collections database.

 

References:

Corning Museum of Glass, Glass of H.W. Stiegel: https://www.cmog.org/audio/glass-hw-stiegel-317. Accessed July 19, 2021.

Greenough, John D. and J. Victor Owen

2018      A Laser Ablation Study of Glass Samples from Three Eighteenth-Century Germanic-American Glassworks: Amelung, Stiegel, and Wistarburgh. In The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology, pp. 5-24. Society for Industrial Archaeology, Houghton, MI.

Hume, Ivor Noel                                                                                              

1969      A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia (reprint)

 Manheim Historical Society, Revealing Manheim’s colorful past: http://manheimhistoricalsociety.org/history/. Accessed July 19, 2021.

The Hershey Story, Henry William Stiegel – Ironmaster and Glass Maker: https://hersheystory.org/henry-william-stiegel-ironmaster-and-glass-maker/. Accessed July 19, 2021.

  

 

 For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

Lancaster County

This week we return to our journey by county of the archaeology of Pennsylvania and 2013 starts us off in a county rich in archaeological heritage, Lancaster.  The Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey (PASS) files document over fifteen-hundred recorded sites; a rate of 1 per every 0.63 miles. Situated in the Piedmont physiographic Province, the Susquehanna River provides drainage in this rolling terrain.  The rich alluvial soil deposits of Lancaster County, in particular those in the area of Washington Boro, combined with a relatively long growing season of 150 to 173 days resulted in one of the most productive agricultural regions in North America. Lithic resources include steatite quarries in the eastern portion of the county which native peoples used to create stone vessels around 3,000 years ago, the earliest form of durable cooking containers. This material was widely traded, appearing all across Pennsylvania.   Ninety-five percent of the sites recorded fall into the prehistoric site category.  This high percentage is clearly an indicator of the utilization of these rich resources by peoples from the Paleoindian period (10,000 to 16,000 years ago) through European colonization.

Forests of oak, chestnut, and hickory provided an abundant supply of nuts for hunters and gatherers, as well as vegetation to support animals including elk, bear and deer. The Susquehanna River was a valuable resource for transportation as well as for fish and freshwater mussels. The images carved into rock islands in the Susquehanna River known as petroglyphs are testament to the significant role that the river and wildlife that traveled through the area, meant to these early occupants.   Evidence of usage by native peoples has been recovered at numerous excavation sites in refuse pits filled with dietary remains of fish and animal bones, as well as nuts, seeds and mussel shell. As native peoples transitioned from hunters and gatherers to an agriculture based society, this area provided an ideal environmental setting that would eventually support large numbers of people during the Late Woodland period (450-1,100 years ago).

 

The Shenks Ferry Culture (750-500 years ago) is the first Late Woodland culture group to appear in the archaeological record.  Excavations conducted at various sites have illustrated similar attributes of an agricultural society living initially in small hamlets and eventually moving into stockaded villages. Archaeologists continue to research and analyze data from excavations associated with this culture group in an attempt to better understand their origins and why they disappear from the archaeological record when the Susquehannock culture appears.

The Susquehannock Indians were highly organized agriculturalists that begin to appear about 1575 A.D. living in longhouses surrounded by stockade walls. Captain John Smith encountered the Susquehannocks in 1608 at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. Smith describes them as “giants” but also describes “hatchets, knives and pieces of iron and brasse” indicating they were already involved in a European trade network.  Artifacts recovered from Susquehannock sites further demonstrate this trade and exchange with Europeans in the form of brass kettles, glass beads, iron knives and axes. European fur trade was “big business” for the Susquehannocks and other native groups to the north.  The struggle to control this trade resulted in various attacks and in 1663 a Jesuit missionary recorded the defeat of Seneca Indians at a fort above the Conewago Falls. Barry Kent speculates in his publication, Susquehanna’s Indians that this battle occurred at the location of the village site identified as Strickler (36La3).  Unfortunately, this was not the only attack on the Susquehannocks and the combination of disease and conflict from other native groups and colonists would eventually decimate their population.  An attack in 1763 by a group of men known as the Paxtang Boys, resulted in the killing of the last of the Susquehannocks living in Lancaster County.

By the early 18^th century, Lancaster County was being colonized by immigrants moving from Philadelphia north and west.  German immigrants were drawn to the rich soils for agriculture and the red clay for producing traditional redware pottery. Having been produced as early as 1690 in Philadelphia, redware pottery appears at most historic archaeological sites.  Archaeologists often look to ceramics as an important tool in dating archaeological deposits; however redware continues to be produced in Lancaster County today, thus making it an ineffective marker for dating sites.

Archaeology conducted at Ephrata Cloister, a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission property in Lancaster County, provided an opportunity to examine an eighteenth-century religious communal society. The biblical name “Ephrata” was selected for the community because it signified a place of suffering.  Members of this community took vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience.  Personal possessions were not permitted. Archaeologists recovered redware vessel fragments on which initials had been scratched into the clay, marking it as personal property. Sometimes the archaeological record is able to identify and correct the historic record, as was the case with these redware sherds.

The city of Lancaster was the largest American inland town by 1760 and retained that slot until Pittsburgh surpassed it in the 1810’s. Lancaster also served as the capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812.  Its access to the Susquehanna River  and relatively close proximity to the supply ports in Philadelphia and Baltimore, led to important roles in both the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War.  Early industries in Lancaster included gun manufacturing; additionally uniforms and gunpowder were also produced here and supplied to troops during the Revolutionary War.  With the development of the canal systems and eventually the railroad, Lancaster’s geographic location and environmental setting positioned it for long term growth and development.

Recording of archaeological sites is often the result of development projects and we can attribute many of the recorded sites to either private development or municipal improvements. A recently submitted collection was the result of improvements to the Queen Street Station and construction of a parking garage for the Red Rose Transit Authority.  Excavations conducted by URS Corporation provided an opportunity to examine an urban setting that spanned from a log house in the 1740’s through the twentieth century.  Archaeologists discovered a stone lined well from the 1740’s, a redware kiln from the 1760’s-1770’s; and a brass foundry dating from 1777-1833.  The establishment of small craft industries was important in the development of colonial America and this heritage of skilled craftsmen played an important role for Pennsylvania during the Industrial Revolution.

We hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the archaeological heritage of Lancaster County, for it is merely a glimpse.  Hopefully it will inspire you to seek such publications as Susquehanna’s Indians, Petroglyphs in the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, or any of the numerous journal articles on archaeology conducted in Lancaster County and published in Pennsylvania Archaeologist.  Understanding and exploring our archaeological heritage is pivotal to our understanding of human behavior and our ability to change and adapt over time- just as the peoples of Lancaster County have done for thousands of years.

Bibliography:

Cadzow, Donald A.

Petroglyphs in the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, 1934,2001.

Cress, George; et al.

Phase IB/II and Data Recovery Archaeological Excavation at Site 36La1494, Queen Street Station Phase II(RRTA) North Queen Street and East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URS Corporation,  September 2010. Unpublished Manuscript in the Section of Archaeology

Kent, Barry C.

Susquehanna’s Indians, Anthropological Series Number 6, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, 1993.

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

A Wolf Head Pipe

Fifty years after Donald Cadzow’s archaeological explorations at the Shenks Ferry Site (Cadzow 1936) staff from the State Museum of Pennsylvania returned to undertake further studies (Kent and Herbstitt 1986). Archaeologists and volunteers located Cadzow’s original excavations at Shenks Ferry, 36La2, and a section of the property was reopened. A complete house pattern and numerous pit features were found, including two deep silo-shaped pits of the Funk Phase period (ca 1400-1550 AD.).

Among the contents of one pit, (Feature 132), were incised pottery sherds, chert and quartz debitage, a slab mortar, a few carbonized nut shells, charcoal and a unique clay effigy pipe fragment, all of which were likely cast into the pit along with the site’s refuse some 400-500 years ago. On the floor of the silo-shaped pit lay the pipe fragment, a well sculpted rendition of the head of an animal that resembles a wolf or perhaps another form of narrow snouted beast.

Buff grayish brown in color, the pipe exhibits a darker brownish gray color around its neck that extends upward along the back of the pipe bowl, to the opening located between the ears and forehead. The modeling was completed during the unfired stage of manufacture since the relief appears well executed and smooth, with no indication of abrasion or gouging.

A similar clay effigy pipe of a bird recovered by Cadzow from the Susquehannock Strickler Site, 36LA3, dated to the 1645-1665 AD period, may be used for comparison relative to the shape of the pipe’s missing stem. It has been suggested that animal effigy pipes represent the owner’s clan affiliation within their native social group.

Cadzow, Donald A.
(1936) Archaeological Studies of the Susquehannock Indians of Pennsylvania Safe Harbor Report No. 2. Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Harrisburg.

Herbstritt, James T., Kent Barry C.
(1990) Shenks Ferry Revisited: A New Look at an Old Culture. Pennsylvania Heritage Vol. XVI No. 1, Harrisburg.

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

Archaeology Day at the State Capitol

On October 26, 2009, from 10:00 until 2:00, archaeologists from around the Commonwealth will gather in the East Rotunda of the Capitol to celebrate Archaeology Month. This event will be sponsored by the Pennsylvania Archaeological Council (PAC), the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc (SPA), the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). These organizations will provide a variety of exhibits on Pennsylvania archaeology. The theme is “Save the Past for the Future”. The goal is to focus the public’s attention on the significance of archaeological resources in the Commonwealth and to advocate for their preservation so that they may be appreciated and enjoyed by future generations.

To quote from the SPA web site on the value of archaeology:
“Men, women, and children have lived in the Commonwealth for nearly 14,000 years. Yet only a small portion of that time is documented on paper. Archaeological evidence often represents the only surviving record of Pennsylvania’s prehistory and can provide new information about where, when and how these people lived in the past”

We might add that this information can also be used to improve our own future.

At noon, there will be a ceremony for the John Stuchell Fisher Award. This is given in recognition to local, state and national officials who contribute to the promotion and understanding of archaeology in Pennsylvania. This year’s recipient is Mark Platts, President of the Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area. He is receiving this award for efforts in preserving archaeological resources in Lancaster and York counties. Of special significance is his successful initiative to preserve the last two villages occupied by the Susquehannock tribe in the 17th century prior to their demise in the region. Steve Warfel, former Senior Curator of Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania will comment on the significance of this work. The speakers will begin at 12:00.

Archaeologists from the Section of Archaeology of The State Museum and the Bureau for Historic Preservation will represent the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The Section of Archaeology serves as the primary repository for archaeological collections and holds over four million archaeological specimens in trust for the citizens of Pennsylvania. They are also responsible for the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology in the State Museum which provides a comprehensive tour of Pennsylvania archaeology from the Paleoindian period through the 19th century. On display at the Capitol will be a spectacular array of artifacts from sites in York County reflecting the Susquehannocks involvement in European trade.

Of particular interest to the younger generation, the Pennsylvania Archaeological Council and Indiana University of Pennsylvania will put on a demonstration in the early afternoon on Native American technology. For nearly 14,000 years, people lived in Pennsylvania without factories, automobiles or convenience stores. They used a relatively simple technological system to get their food, to make their clothing and obtain all of their material needs. Tying and attaching things with string and rope was a very common activity and essential to their lives. Everything from bow strings to fishing nets was necessary but where did they get the yards and yards of cordage to make these items? Cordage in Native American cultures was like duck tape is to our culture. The children visiting the exhibit will be invited to try their hands at making cordage and using a prehistoric drill. Think of all of the holes that need to be drilled into items to make them functional. This event will begin at 12:30.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also has an active archaeology program. As part of their environmental stewardship program, they endeavor to protect archaeological sites that may be affected by their construction projects. For decades they have been conducting archaeological investigations prior to construction and they have recovered significant information on past cultures in Pennsylvania. They have developed a publication series and examples will be available, including their most recent publication on the archaeology conducted along the route 11/15 corridor.

The Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology will have an exhibit describing the variety of activities they conduct around the Commonwealth to enhance and protect archaeological sites and artifacts. The local chapter, Conejohela Chapter 28, will have an exhibit presenting their involvement in preserving the Susquehannock sites in the lower Susquehanna Valley.

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

Quaker Hills Quarry (36La1100)

After six field seasons the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s (PHMC) Section of Archaeology ended excavations at the Quaker Hills Quarry (36LA1100) Site, a four acre size Shenks Ferry village located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The property is transitioning from a corn and bean field to a high density residential development replete with efficient condominium size homes, lawns and paved drives. In compliance with the Pennsylvania State History Code the PHMC undertook a multi-season archaeological study at 36LA1100. The work involved a detailed surface evaluation of prehistoric resources and a broad scale data recovery within the proposed development. The endeavor provided us with a glimpse of prehistoric Indian life at the dawn of history.

With the assistance of Temple University staff and students, PHMC exposed, mapped and selectively excavated more than 50% of the village site. The results provided sufficient information to determine site size, arrangement of living structures and related pit features, and other salient information about terminal Funk Phase Period subsistence and mortuary practices.

How Old is the Village?
Archaeologists place the Shenks Ferry Culture (circa 1250-1550 A.D.) into the Late Woodland Period. This three hundred year range of time was principally determined by radiocarbon dating charcoal and organic residues found in association with certain artifact types at Shenks Ferry sites in the Susquehanna Valley. The age of Funk Phase sites (the latest phase of Shenks Ferry) tend to cluster around the mid to late 15th century with a few sites surviving well into the beginning of the 16th century.

The majority of radiocarbon dates for the Quaker Hills Quarry Site indicate an occupation period closer to the first quarter of the 16th century during a time when the New World was undergoing many changes. Archaeologists have stated that the conspicuous correlation between the disappearance of Shenks Ferry and the arrival of the Susquehannocks may indicate inter-tribal warfare and that some Shenks Ferry settlements may have actually been overrun with invading Susquehannocks. This conquest theory has met with some challenge, however, and other reasons may have, in fact, precipitated their demise.

The following images depict typical artifacts and exceptional finds recovered from 36La1100, quartz projectile points and Funk phase pottery.

For more about the Shenks Ferry Culture and the results of PHMC excavations at the Quaker Hills Quarry Site please visit the research section of the PHMC's archaeology Web site.

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .