Failed Indenture of Thomas Spalding, Brickmaker
Translation provided by Virginia1774.org
March 18, 1756
"On hearing the complaint of George Mason Gent. against his Indented servant Thomas Spalding it appears to the Court that the said Thomas by Indenture covenanted to serve as a Bricklayer & Brickmaker at the rate of £ 12 per Annum for four years and on hearing the evidence & arguments of the Parties it appears that the said Thomas is not capable to perform the said business whereupon it is ordered that the said Thomas do serve his said master or his assign his full time without wages in all lawfull business his master shall employ him in. "
The date of this court document is important. Gunston Hall was being built at this time. Bricks in 18th Century Virginia were made on site. If Thomas Spalding could not make bricks properly, the labor and time intensive brick making operation would have failed causing bad bricks to be made. Bricks could only be made at certain times of the year.
The dried bricks ready for firing were made into a kiln and the kiln was coated with a mud material. Then wood was put into the pre-made tunnels and allowed to burn. The bricks were then "fired" through the heating process which made them hard enough to use as building material.
Brick Kiln at Williamsburg
Burning Wood used to "Fire" the Bricks
The Brick Kiln After Firing and Disassembly
George Mason became an expert on brick and mortar. A few years later he writes to a friend on the building of Gunston Hall and the type and placement of bricks when building a house and the proper mixture of mortar that would keep out cockroaches.
DR SIR Gunston Hall 18th. July 1763
I wou'd advise you to have your Cellars quite up to the Water Table laid wth. sound Bricks; Salmon Bricks are very apt to moulder in a Cellar when there is any Dampness, wh. few are without: it is usual wth. workmen to stowaway their bad Bricks in the Cellars, not because they will last better there than in the other parts of the Building, but because they are more out of Sight. Salmon Bricks [ma]y do very well for Inside-work above the Water-table, & in the Breasts & bulky parts of Chimneys. When I built my House I was at [some?] pains to measure all the Lime & Sand as my Mortar was made up, & always had two Beds, one for outside-Work 2/3 ds. Lime & 1/3 d. Sand, the other equal parts of Lime & Sand for Inside-work—it is easily measured in any old Tub or Barrel, & there is no other way to be sure of having your mortar good without Waste, & the different parts of yr. Building equally strong. The above proportion of Lime is greater than is generally used; but when you consi[der] how much heavier the Sand is, & how much closer it lies in measuring than the Lime you will find it not too much. If you have any good pit-sand, out of your Cellars or Well, it will make your mortar much tougher & stronger than it will be wth. other sand, & in that Case the proportion of Lime may be something less. Next to pit sand the River Shoar Sand on fresh Water is best, & the Sand in the Roads worst of all; as being very foul & full of Dust.
I wou'd by no means put any Clay or Loam in any of the Mortar; in the first place the Mortar is not near so strong, & besides from its being of a more soft & crumbly Nature, it is very apt to nourish & harbour those pernicious little Vermin the Cockroaches, who can't so easily penetr[a]te into the strong harsh Mortar made wth. [L]ime & Sand only; & this I assure you is no slight Consideration; for I have seen some brick Houses so infested wth. these Devils that a Man had better have lived in a Barne than in one of them.
I am afraid you will have but an indifferent Acct. of Richd. Masons & Robt, Speake's Crop of Tobo. tho' it is not all yet prized up, so that I can't be certain as to the Quantity: I think Speake's Share will not exceed five or six hundred, & his Balce. upon my Books is at this time 66/6 after giving him Crd. by You for 84/. Whatever Dick Mason's Share is will be entirely coming to him, as he has no Acct. wth. me; but he had handled his Tobo. in so careless & slovenly a Manner that more than half of it is rotten, & even the best of it I doubt will run some Risque at the Warehouse.
I send you all the Hair I have except a little I kept in Case we shou'd have any small Job to do. Melford tells me there is 18 Bushels of it. I am Dr Sir Yr. most Hble Sert.
G. MASON
1 The Papers of George Mason 56-57 (R. Rutland ed. (1970).