The Martin Homestead (11V924): Early Prosperity on the Wabash Border

Excavations at 11V924, a mid-nineteenth century farmstead in Vermilion County, revealed a wealth of information regarding everyday life during the frontier period in east-central Illinois. The site is especially interesting because it appears that the head of the household during most of the period of its occupation was Mary Ann Martin (née Prather), widow of Presley Martin. In addition to overseeing a prosperous farmstead, Mrs. Martin also managed a cottage industry of wool production and weaving. The results of investigations at 11V924 contribute a unique data set to the growing corpus of information relating to the pre–Civil War Euro-American settlement in central and east central Illinois (Gums et al. 1999; Mazrim 2002; Stelle 2005).