About 1972 the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission located and began excavation of Colonel Thomas PETTUS' site at Kingsmill (right) and determined the layout and size of the buildings from discolored earth where dwelling supporting postholes existed. Several plantation sites comprised the Kingsmill area. The Pettus Littletown Plantation archaeological site, uncovered by historical archaeologist William M. Kelso, is located near the marina on the private Kingsmill Resort property south of Williamsburg, VA. An article entitled "The Virginians" in the November 1974 National Geographic Magazine 4 gives an account of this archaeological find and excavation and further insight into the development of Colonial Virginia. Below is the complete four paragraph excerpt from the section on pages 593-596, under the subtitle "Post Molds" Reveal a Colonial Saga, which pertains to Colonel Thomas PETTUS. Author Mike W. Edwards writes:
"Thomas Pettus was one of those hardy settlers - a land clearer and housebuilder. When, he arrived in 1641, land was available near Jamestown. He built on a tract four miles downriver from the settlement.""I came on Pettus's holdings on a hot July afternoon and met half a dozen young people who had cleared the land again - at least, a little of it. They scraped the earth with trowels; one brushed with a whisk broom."
"From beneath his yellow hard hat - protection from the sun - archeologist William Kelso of the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission explained that the team sought 'post molds' - discolored earth that would disclose where posts had stood. Judging from the ashes here, this had been Pettus's smokehouse. 'As you can see,' Bill said, waving a hand toward rows of holes, ' we've found the other buildings of the homestead.' "
"It was not a grand manor. Pettus built a T-shaped house and haphazardly added outbuildings, all of wood. 'It was almost a medieval layout,' Bill continued. 'In the 17th century, men like Pettus were concerned more with survival than pleasing architecture.' He apparently possessed little china or crystal. 'Mostly we've found items of local clay, crudely formed and crudely fired.' "
The Pettus Littletown Plantation Site marker at Kingsmill Resort. The white retangular patches and markers in the background are the actual location of the manor house and appurtenances. The James River is seen across the top. The inscription:
PETTUS PLANTATION SITE "Archeological excavation here uncovered the 17th Century remains of Colonel Thomas Pettus' Plantation, Littletown, occupied circa 1640-1690."
"Colonel Pettus, a prominent Virginian, owned over 3,000 acres in the colony and served as 'His Majesties Councillor of State'. "
Artist reconstruction3 of Pettus Manor at Littletown. Colonel Thomas Pettus lived at Littletown starting in the early 1640's and the house became a large manor over time. It is thought that the house had 4,500 square feet of living space with 2,500 square feet on the ground floor. Note the posthole construction method which was prevalent in the 1600's in Virginia. These postholes could be as much as 15 feet deep. These post were set in the ground and served as the foundation and are not indicative of a raised or stilt built house. A series of postholes-postmold patterns were unearthed at the Littletown Manor site and match with the foundation posts shown on the above sketch. The south end chimney was set on a massive (6' x 10') brick foundation. The manor burned about 1690 while Captain Thomas Pettus, Jr. was living there and was not rebuilt. The Littletown find is well documented archaeological evidence of a Kingsmill landlord prior to about 1700. Several plantation sites comprised the Kingsmill area; Kingsmill (Farleys), Tuttey's Neck, Harrop, Littletown, and Utopia. Colonel Thomas Pettus - sometimes referred to as Councilor Thomas Pettus because of his service on Governor Berkeley's Council from 1641 until his death in 1669 - owned Littletown and eventually John Utie's Utopia. These two properties comprised 1,280 acres. He eventually amassed over 3,000 acres in the Virginia colony and served as "His Majesties Councilor of State." Littletown passed into the hands of Thomas Pettus, Jr. upon his father's death in 1669. He is shown as an orphan under the guardianship of Nathaniel Bacon in 1671. The younger Thomas Pettus did not fill his father's chair on the Council. When Thomas Pettus, Jr. died 1689-1691, his widow Mourning Glenn PETTUS married James Bray II. The marriage added the prime Littletown and Utopia tracts to the Bray family holdings. Pettus heirs relinquished ownership of the Littletown properties when they released the deed to James Bray II in 1700.
References:
1. KELSO, William M., "Rescue Archaeology of the James - Early Virginia Country Life", ARCHAEOLOGY, volume 32, number 5, pages 15-25 ( September/October 1979).
2. KELSO, William M., Kingsmill Plantations, 1619-1800, Archaeology of Country Life in Colonial Virginia, Studies in Historical Archaeology, 1984, Academic Press, Inc., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, San Diego, CA.
3.Ibid., page 79.
4. EDWARDS, Mike W., "The Virginians", National Geographic, vol. 146, no. 5, pages 588-617 (November 1974).
5. Littletown Plantation location base map from Tiger Mapping Service - U. S. Census.
6. Marker photograph from Michael D. Mathis, Sr.
