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House located on the land of Thomas and Patience Shiflett
Submitted by Norm Addington norm1394@gmail.com
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This is the house referred to on page 12 of the Shiflet book. Whether Thomas and Patience Shifflett ever lived in this house is unknown. We do know their descendants lived in it, and the house is still standing on the land they once owned. The tin roof is a later modification, as is the collapsed shed room attached on the left side. The window was probably a later addition as well.
An almost identical example of this type of house can be found on page 81 in the book, A Field Guide to American Homes by Virginia and Lee McAlester. The authors state that the Wilkins House (shown at right), dating probably from the late 18th century, in the vicinity of Rocky Mount, North Carolina is "a rare surviving example of [an] early single-room frame house". This house on Thomas and Patience's land is not a log cabin nor a log house, but a typical Tidewater South Traditional English Frame House. These type of houses were typically built with one room, no windows and one door. These houses were built from c. 1700 up until 1850.
The McAlester's also say that "because of the milder winters of the southern colonies, there was less emphasis on enlarging the early linear plans to create more interior space. One-story houses are far more common than in the North and true massed plans (more than one room deep) are rare. Instead, one-story shed extensions were typically added to the rear. . ." While the authors do not make any comments regarding any "French" style of building, they take great pains in distinguishing the English frame house from what is considered to be the typical "log cabin". The log cabin/log house was brought in by settlers of German extraction and eventually spread across the American frontier.
Also, note the small window in the upper loft (to the left of the chimney) in this side view of the cabin. With the front door or window left open downstairs, it would have allowed the warm air to flow out of the house in the summer, making sleeping in the loft much more comfortable.
From the information so far, we can date this cabin to between 1700 to 1850.
However, we have additional data. " By the late 18th century, another innovation
was becoming universal in the southern folk house. This was the full-width,
shed roofed front porch, which provided a cool shelter in summer from the scorching
sun and frequent sudden thunderstorms." While not definitive proof, I think
it would be safe to conclude that this house was built before the late 18th
century, giving us a narrower date of 1700 - 1780. Since we know Thomas fought
in the French and Indian War in 1757, and that he had this land the house stands
on surveyed in 1773 (see deeds 1), it's extremely
probable that Thomas and Patience Shiflett lived in this house. We do not know
if they were the actual builders, because we don't know if the cabin was one
of the "appurtenances" on the land when it was purchased.
I'd like to thank Norm Addington for taking the time to climb through the hills and take these photos. Any additional information or comments are welcome.