The chief archeological problem of Marlborough at the time of excavation
was whether or not Structure B had served as the foundation for both the
courthouse and for John Mercer's mansion. Although the possibility still
remains that the sites of the two buildings overlapped, preceding
chapters have demonstrated that the foundation was constructed by Mercer
for his house, and that it did not stand beneath the courthouse.
However, in 1957 it was thought that exploration of the
late-18th-century courthouse site, located upstream on the south side of
Potomac Creek, might reveal a structure of similar dimensions which
would help to confirm the possibility that Structure B had originated
with the Marlborough courthouse. Furthermore, the Potomac Creek site was
of interest by itself and was closely related to John Mercer's legal and
judicial career.
The location of the site is depicted in surveys included with suit
papers of 1743 and 1805.[160] These papers were brought to our attention
by George H. S. King of Fredericksburg, and were mentioned in Happel's
carefully documented history of the Stafford and King George
courthouses.[161] Previously, we had been led to the site by a former
sheriff of Stafford County, who recalled listening as a boy to
descriptions of the old courthouse building by an ancient whose memory
went back to the early years of the 19th century. The old man's
recollections, in turn, were reinforced by similar recountings of elders
in his own youth. Unscientific though the value of such information may
be, it emerges from folk memories that often remain sharp and clear in
rural areas, spanning in the minds of two or three individuals the
periods of several conventional generations. As clues, at least, they
are never to be ignored. In this case we were taken to a rubble-strewn
site on an eminence that overlooks Potomac Creek. At the foot of a
declivity below, on the old Belle Plains road, we were shown another
obvious evidence of structure, which we were told had been the jail.
Just to the east of this where a road leads away to the site of Cave's
tobacco warehouse (now the "Stone Landing"), we were informed that the
stocks had once stood.
Of the latter two sites we have no confirming evidence, although both
claims are plausible enough. No archeological effort was made to
investigate them, since funds were limited. The surveys of 1743 and 1805
are sufficient to confirm with accuracy the courthouse site.
Accordingly, an archeological exploration was made between August 19 and
August 23, 1957, revealing unmistakably the footings of a courthouse. As
will be shown, these footings in no way bore a resemblance to the
Structure B foundation.