Osborn Sprigg, Jr. lived at Northampton from 1775-1814/1815, and the 1798 Federal Direct Tax recorded his property as including a framed dwelling house, kitchen, wash house, meat house, milk house, overseers house, one Negro House, corn house with sheds, barn and stable, and three tobacco houses. At Northampton, archaeologists compared that tax record with evidence found in the ground and determined that a wooden frame slave quarters measured 27 by 25 feet and had four small rooms. The house stood on a stone foundation and was divided by a wall and fireplaces that provided living space for two families. Both enslaved and free African Americans lived in this house, which researchers believe is the Negro House 26 by 24 feet referred to in the 1798 Federal Direct Tax. Descendants of slaves resided there until the 1930s. Archaeologists found more than 40,000 artifacts in the frame slave quarters, including blue beads that may have been used for decoration or as charms for protection or good luck. The spiritual symbolism of certain colors and objects can be traced back to Africa, and African Americans adapted and used these symbols for their own needs and situations in the New World.
