The exposed ground once beneath the historic Ebenezer Hills House, which the Albany County Airport Authority recently moved 200 feet from the runway, has proven to be an informative source of history.
Since the house was moved on Tuesday, Aug. 5, archaeologists from Hartgen Archaeological Associates, Inc., have been hard at work, digging up plant species, bones and other artifacts previous owners and dwellers of the home had left behind in the 220 years it had rested on that site.
According to Corey McQuinn, project director for Hartgen, the archaeologists have been hard at work, not looking for anything in particular, but as part of a yearlong study that was required to be done on the house once it moved, as it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The study is called a Phase 3 Archaeological Data Retrieval, McQuinn said, and focuses primarily on the area surrounding the house, and the soil underneath where the house had sat.
The fieldwork is all done and gone, but throughout the year we have to do a little bit of research on what we found, he said.
McQuinn said the archaeologists first separate the botanical elements, such as plant life, from other artifacts. Then, each artifact is analyzed so that archaeologists can gain a sense of what people were doing at the site, and what their lifestyles were like.
For example, he said, archaeologists at Hartgen knew that the Ebenezer Hills House was formerly a tavern. A complete study into the artifacts will hopefully provide a glimpse into what type of people frequented the tavern, what accommodations the tavern keeper made and what type of image the tavern keeper wanted his tavern to portray, McQuinn said.
McQuinn said another element of interest to archaeologists is the home’s unique location, close to an area that was formerly in proximity to many turnpikes that traders and farmers passed through.
One of the most unique artifacts archaeologists have found on the site so far, McQuinn said, is a Chinese coin.
`I think that’s pretty unique,` said McQuinn. `We have a guy in our lab who’s working on conserving the coin so that we can read it more clearly.`
While archaeologists are still working on discerning what era the coin came from, McQuinn said it could represent a merchant who was traveling through the area at a time when America had growing trade with China, who had stopped in and visited the tavern.
But aside from Chinese coins, bones and plant life, some who still live in the community recall their own history of the Ebenezer Hills House.
Randall Rice, 84, of Latham, knew, William Rebussman, a man who might have been the last owner of the home.
`I used to bring [Rebussman] home from services at the Church of Christ, in Schenectady,` said Rice.
According to Rice, Rebussman had lived alone in the house for as long as he had known him. Rice would often times bring his two daughters to the home to visit Rebussman, whom they called `Uncle Remus.`
While Rice did not know many specifics of the home, he knew a lot about the character who last occupied it. Rice shared the tale of Rebussman’s later years when he was becoming frail and did not have a telephone.
According to Rice, the congregation both Rice and Rebussman belonged to petitioned to get Rebussman a phone, and though he resisted, he eventually gave in and allowed a telephone provider even show him how to use a dial-up phone.
In the following weeks, Rice said, Rebussman got a call on his new phone from a vacuum cleaner company, asking if they could come to the home to demonstrate their product to Rebussman. Rebussman agreed.
The salesman knocked on Rebussman’s door the next day, Rice said, telling him he was there to demonstrate the newest model. Rice said the salesman dumped ashes, dirt and coffee grounds all over Rebussman’s carpet, topping it off with mustard.
`Now, I’ll show you what the Chrome-Dome can do! Let’s see, where do I plug it in?` the salesman said.
`Most of my stories, I embellish just a little bit,` said Rice, `But not this one.`
Perhaps it was the house’s fault Rebussman was left with a messy floor that day. Or maybe it was the man who lived inside, stubborn to new technology.
But according to Rice, Rebussman told the salesman, `Sorry, I don’t have electricity!`
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