Archival Research

"Primus Martin was a Bard negro. The road to Delamater's Mills ran through the s. e. part of Franconiere's Patent. It is rough land, and the Bards sold off some small lots to negroes and also to some white people. On this road Primus, or Prime, as he was usually called, owned quite a farm. He and his wife, 'Betty Prime', were industrious and respected."

—Edward Braman, 1876 Notebook - Anecdotes and Miscellaneous Items, FDR Library

A preliminary study is looking at Dutchess County census data, property deeds, tax assessment rolls that include real and personal property, court cases, church records, diaries, newspaper accounts, and articles from the Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbooks. Research questions include: When was Guinea established? How long did the community exist? Was Guinea connected to the Underground Railroad? What social and economic roles did the people of Guinea play in the larger community? Information is being collected and synthesized for use in site interpretation and curriculum development.

Above-Ground Archaeology

Initial visit to the Guinea Community site by its discoverer, archaeologists, and members of the Black History Committee of the Dutchess County Historical Society, spring 2000. The stone house foundation has a stairway that leads into a room that appears to be a cellar. 2002 Field School students at the Primus Martin site.

Bard College student Jemell Austin rakes leaves to expose artifacts on the ground surface around the cellar hole. Orange flagging marks the location of pottery sherds, pieces of rusted metal, and a brick, in order to map their clustering. The map will facilitate subsurface sampling during the excavation stage of the research this summer.

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