Huser, William A., Jr. (Archaeological Resources Management Services, Ball
State University)
THE WILLIAM CONNER HOUSESITE (12 H 608), AN EARLY 19TH TO EARLY
20TH-CENTURY RURAL RESIDENCE IN HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA
Figure: 1823 William Conner Estate, home
of William Conner, Conner Prairie.
Figure: Map of Ball State University excavations
at the William Conner House.
In June and July of 1990, the Archaeological Resources Management Services, Ball
State University, performed fifteen days of archaeological field investigations
at the home of William Conner, a notable figure in the developmenet of Indiana
as a state. A fur trader who came to central Indiana in 1800, Conner remained
in Indiana until his death in 1855. His diverse business interests also included
farming, milling, distillation of spirits, merchantile endeavors, and land speculation.
The last of these included the founding of the town of Noblesville. Moreover,
William Conner served as an interpreter for the American forces in the War of
1812, and later he served as interpreter and witness at several treaty negotiations
with Native American groups, which resulted in Indiana having its modern-day boundaries.
Furthermore, Conner served as a state representative for several terms, aided
in the initiation of the National Republican Party in Indiana, was a long-time
member of the Masonic Order, and was a charter member of the Indiana Historical
Society.
In 1823, William Conner built a two-story Adam-style brick house on the terrace
edge of the West Fork of the White River, about four miles south of Noblesville,
in Hamilton County. this structure, which today bears his name, is believed to
have been one of the first brick buildings built in central Indiana. Although
Conner lived in the house until only 1837, his sons and their families are believed
to have continued to reside in the house until 1874. The house continued to be
used as a residence by various owners or their tenants until ca. 1916, for a total
of about 93 years.
In 1935, the William Conner House was purchased by Eli Lilly, who was at that
time president of the Indiana Historical Society. Lilly and his wife, Ruth, restored
the house with advice from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Indiana statesman
and archaeologist Elam Young (Dick) Guernsey. While in Lilly's possession, the
William Conner House functioned as a house museum.
In 1964, Lilly donated the Conner House, surrounding lands, and an endowment to
Earlham College. From the early 1970s to the present day, Earlham College has
used the Conner House as a house museum and as part of the outdoor exhibit of
the Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement, an independent division of the College.
In 1980, the William Conner House was listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.
In 1990, under contractual agreement, the Archaeological Resources Management
Service of Ball State University undertook archaeological field research of the
William Conner housesite (12 H 608) with funds provided to Conner Prairie by the
Ball Brothers Foundation. This research was designed to aid in the resolution
of specific issues involved in planned additional house restoration intended to
enhance the appearance of the Conner House to the calendar year 1836 and to insure
the continued successful use of the house as an educational exhibit.
With the help of 120 volunteer excavators, 12 units, 86 shovel test pits, and
two small impromptu exploratory holes were excavated in the house yard and cellar.
In total, 60 square meters of surface area were excavated (i.e. a four percent
sample of the study area) resulting in the recovery of more than 26,000 archaeological
specimens and the identification of 22 subsurface cultural features. Prehistoric
Native American artifacts typically were found in disturbed context, and no prehistoric
features were identified. No evidence was found of historic- period occupation
of the site prior to the construction of the Conner House. Although thick cultural
deposits that may be 20th- century fill were found to be present in the yard southeast
of the house, and soil stratification of the house perimeter was found to have
been extensively disturbed during the 1935 restoration, substantial undisturbed
19th-century remains were found to be present in the house yard. Nineteenth-century
features discovered included a cobble walk, a small brick pad of undetermined
function, post holes and/or post molds, a small refuse-filled pit, and clusters
of artifacts.
As the results of investigation pertained to issues of planned house restoration:
The western side of the house was identified as the formal "front" of the structure.
Evidence was found to suggest that an outbuilding, perhaps a smokehouse or kitchen,
once stood in the eastern yard, perhaps during the William Conner occupation of
the site. Unfortunately, due to prior disturbance of the soil in critical locations,
archaeology could not aid in resolution of the question of whether the kitchen
wing was original to the house. Nor could the question of whether an exterior
oven had been attached to the wing be resolved, because the attachment of an oven
in 1935 at the location in question obscured any remains of earlier constructions.
Beyond the project-specific goals, the 1990 research at the William Conner housesite
constituted one of the few substantial investigations of 19th-century archaeological
sites to be performed in Indiana to date and provided a first look at one of the
three residences in a small geographical area that William Conner occupied in
Indiana. [return to 1991 abstracts menu][continue to next]