The Archaeology and History of a Prominent Portland, Oregon Family

During the fall of 2002 Portland State University was in the process of constructing the new Birmingham Apartment building on the corner of 12th Avenue and Montgomery Street.  While the backhoe was excavating a building footing, an old outhouse hole (privy) from the late 19th century was encountered by the equipment. The backhoe bucket brought dozens of alcohol and medicine bottles, broken plates, old shoes, rubber overshoes, broken porcelain dolls, cans, and buttons to the surface. The soil was without oxygen and therefore, peach pits, watermelon seeds, and even human hair survived in the privy hole.  Early Portlanders dug the outhouse hole over 10 feet deep into sandy soil where they placed a wooden barrel.  At least one additional bottomless wooden barrel was placed on top of the bottom barrel to help reinforce the sides and keep the privy hole from collapsing.

Although many historic objects were salvaged from the construction project, it was important to try and link the artifacts with a building and family that lived at that location.  Based on diagnostic bottle features and ceramic patterns, the artifacts appeared to date from the 1890s; however, I wanted to get as close as possible to the date of the disposal of these items into the outhouse hole.  Taking a list of names and addresses from over one dozen medicine bottles manufactured in Portland, Oregon, I went to the Oregon Historical Society and began to look through old city directories from the 1880s and 1890s.  By listing the years in which the pharmaceutical companies were in business, it was possible to cross-reference and date the privy deposit.  Portland, Oregon pharmacies were short lived, and therefore, it was easy to determine the domestic artifacts were thrown away between 1895 and 1896.

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1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

Now that I had a date for the privy, my next step involved re-visiting the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps to see what type of building was on the corner of 12th and Montgomery ca. 1895 and to find its corresponding address.  Although a few years later than my deposit, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1898 showed a modest one story dwelling with a front porch.  It appeared to be a single family home.  I also found the address was 432 Montgomery Street.  Using this information, I moved back to the Portland City Directories to find  out who lived at 432 Montgomery Street between 1895 and 1896.  After hours of concentrating on rows of Portland addresses, I found a name corresponding with the Montgomery Avenue address.  John D. Coleman was listed in the city directory in 1895 as a Chief Deputy United States Marshall.  Mr. Coleman lived at 432 SW Montgomery between 1893 and 1896.  The next step involved searching for John D. Coleman in the Oregon Historical Society scrapbook, federal census records, and newspapers. 

The scrapbook revealed that John D. Coleman was a prominent Portland citizen and provided information about his life and career.  The 1900 federal census reported Mr. Coleman was married to Melissa and had a daughter Elizabeth. The census and newspapers allowed me to track John D. Coleman's move from Indiana to Portland, Oregon as well as the life of his daughter, Elizabeth Coleman. Elizabeth, seven years old in 1895, grew up and married Leslie Scott, the son of famous Oregonian editor Harvey W. Scott. 

John D. Coleman

Archaeological and Historical Summary of the Coleman Privy

The John D. Coleman family moved into the house at 432 SW Montgomery Street in 1893.  Mr. Coleman had just accepted a position as the chief deputy United States Marshall (Oregonian, May 17, 1918).  He lived in the house with his wife Melissa and daughter Elizabeth who was 7 years of age in 1895.  An additional child, older than Elizabeth, may have also lived with the family at the time (1900 U.S. Federal Census).  The second child was not identified.  In 1896, the Coleman family moved from the Montgomery and 12^th  Avenue home.  Their change in address corresponded with Mr. Coleman’s resignation as chief deputy and re-employment with the Home Insurance Company.

Over 300 artifacts were collected from the exposed shaft feature identified as a barrel privy.  Artifact dates and quantities suggest the shaft was used by the John D. Coleman family as a functioning outhouse and an occasional daily refuse location.  A large single disposal event, involving a myriad of medicine bottles, old shoes, and domestic artifacts likely occurred when the family moved from the home in 1896.  Information on what was consumed by the family as well as their social status in society was gleaned from faunal remains, broken dishes, empty bottles, and personal belongings.  The artifacts recovered from the privy feature reveal certain aspects of the Coleman family’s life in Victorian Portland. 

In summary, the artifacts associated with the Colemans reflect a middle class family that entertained friends and family in a parlor decorated with ceramic bowls and vases.  Tea was served to visitors in gilded porcelain cups and saucers imported from Limoges, France.  The Colemans enjoyed a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables which accompanied a healthy diet of beef, mutton, shellfish, and some pork and fish.  The presence of caviar cans along with a variety of wine at the archaeological site suggests middle to upper class association and entertainment.

The combination of expensive to moderate priced commodities and home rental history into 1900 implies the Coleman family's active participation in the urban bourgeoisie and aspirations for the upper class.  By 1905, John D. Coleman would find himself raising a celebratory toast to the marital union of his daughter Elizabeth to the son of one of Portland’s most elite citizens, Leslie Scott.  Although history remembers the Coleman’s as a “Prominent Portland Family”, the archaeological record revealed their middle class beginnings.