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• Collection: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

• Title: Handsell, 4837 Indiantown Road, Vienna, Dorchester County, MD
• Creator(s): Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
• Related Names:
     Steele, Henry
     Steele, Ann Billings
     Steele, James
     Steele, Isaac
     Steele, Isaac Nevett
     Shehee, John
     Rosenthal, James W. , photographer
     Bieretz, Renee , photographer
     Gainer, C. , delineator
     Ingersoll, Margaret W. , historian
     Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, Inc. , sponsor
• Date Created/Published: Documentation compiled after 1933
• Medium: Photo(s): 21
  Measured Drawing(s): 6
  Data Page(s): 23
  Photo Caption Page(s): 2
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)
  
• Call Number: HABS MD-1319
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Significance: Handsell—a name derived from the original 1665 English land grant to Thomas Taylor—is a well-preserved example of the vernacular domestic architecture of the Chesapeake region. The house retains a high degree of integrity to the 1830s, although its front and side walls date from the eighteenth century, the remnants of a larger house. Handsell is located on the Nanticoke River and Chicone Creek north of Vienna and was constructed on a Native American Chicone village site where Taylor, an official interpreter for the Maryland colony, established a trading post. In 1769, Henry Steele, a member of an affluent and prominent colonial family, and his wife Ann acquired the property after the Chicone reservation was dissolved by the government. The couple likely constructed the original house prior to 1776 and it may have been destroyed as early as 1779 during British raids along the river. Evidence suggests that another house was not built on the site until John Shehee purchased the property in 1837 from a grandson of the Steeles. Dendrochronology has established that timbers used in the construction of the present Handsell date from that same year. The building’s story-and-a-half form is typical for Chesapeake houses of the period, yet its vernacular character is, in some ways, challenged by the seemingly incongruous presence of particularly fine brickwork on the front and side walls. Shehee’s decision to use extant sections of the ruined eighteenth-century house’s walls was almost certainly an economic one, but, in doing so, he also inadvertently preserved visual evidence of an older house having much grander architectural and social pretensions than the new. Handsell’s combination of the Georgian remnants and more modest form and details, in addition to a high level of integrity in part stemming from a lack of modern utilities, are remarkable among Chesapeake dwellings.
  • Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1552
  • Survey number: HABS MD-1319
  • Building/structure dates: after 1769 Initial Construction
  • Building/structure dates: 1837 Subsequent Work
  • National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 08000216
• Subjects:
  • houses
  • war (Revolutionary War)
  • Native Americans
  • Georgian architectural elements
  • brick chimneys
  • brickwork
  • paneling
  • 1 1/2 stories
  • raised basements
  • domestic life
• Place:
  • Maryland--Dorchester County--Vienna
• Latitude/Longitude: 38.508882, -75.812083
• Collections:
  • Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
• Part of: Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
• Bookmark This Record:
     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/md1844/

The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html ).

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Call Number: HABS MD-1319
• Medium: Photo(s): 21
  Measured Drawing(s): 6
  Data Page(s): 23
  Photo Caption Page(s): 2

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

• Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
• Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
• If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
• Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
• Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
• If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
• Data Pages
• Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

• Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
• P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
• Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
• You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
• Make note of the Call Number listed above.
• Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
• The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
• All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

• Call Number: HABS MD-1319
• Medium: Photo(s): 21
  Measured Drawing(s): 6
  Data Page(s): 23
  Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

   • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.

     As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

   • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

   • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

   • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.