#9 - Research Voids

Research is a lot like a rabbit hole.

Over the past few posts I have described the first steps I like to take when starting a new research project. I did a quick google search which led me to Wikipedia, Archipedia, and the National Park Service, but left me with more questions than answers. Then I found some easily accessible popular history books to read. Keeping in mind the authors of and the purposes for these books, I kept a close eye out for any conflicting information, outdated narratives, and further questions. 

I found after reading the web search results and popular history books that there may not be much known or written about the Ryves Holt House. It seemed like the narrative could be pretty simple - the house could have been built right after the swap from New Netherlands to New York when the English really started moving into the Delaware Bay area. However, since the ‘official’ Lewes History and First State National Park websites claim the construction date is 1665, that narrative wouldn’t fit very nicely. Basically, I had still yet to learn why 1665 except for vague references to some dendrochological tests.

So, what are the next steps? There would be a few different avenues to pursue: gathering questions, formulating a theory, seeking further primary and secondary sources. I mean for this blog to describe the process I go through for research; primarily as a way to organize my thoughts and keep myself accountable to the project. However, I should hope that anyone stumbling upon this blog may find my personal strategies for research to be helpful to themselves. It is by no means the only way (or even the right way) to conduct research. 

Questions so far: 

How old is the Ryves Holt House?

Is 1665 the true construction date? 

When/why was it named for Ryves Holt?

What really happened to Swanendael?

What are the Lord Baltimore Raids and did they impact the RHH?

Are there other buildings of similar age to the RHH in Lewes?

Are there interesting/unique/dateable aspects to the construction of the RHH?

What are the construction phases of the RHH, how does this integrate into the town’s timeline?

Theories so far:

The Ryves Holt house was built in 1665, during Plockhoy’s Menonite settlement.

The Ryves Holt house was built in 1665 and survived the Lord Baltimore Raids.

The Ryves Holt house was built c.1685 as part of the English settlement, owned by Philip Russell.

Sources to find:

Academic articles/journals referencing the RHH, Lewes/Whorekill, Swanendael, Plockhoy, and the Lord Baltimore Raids

Primary sources covering those areas

Especially early Dutch documents, anything from Philip Russell and Ryves Holt, English documents referencing the Lord Baltimore Raids. 

The dendrochronology report, as well as any archaeology reports.

I am an independent scholar living on the West Coast during Covid. ...This could be even more difficult than usual. Normally I am trapped behind paywalls to access academic secondary sources, but I can usually make it to the East Coast once a year to visit family and sneak in some research. Now I am trapped on the West Coast without the ability to travel safely while still being stuck behind paywalls. Even if I could travel, most archives, libraries, and museums are closed right now. This means I need to focus on trawling digital archives and libraries as well as other freely accessible resources like Academia. Academia is a sort of repository and social media platform for academics where you can post your own published articles for others to read and download. I can also take advantage of many early government documents being available online and open source through State Archives and University Libraries. I may in the future post something about the places I visit a lot so you can also explore. 

But how do you find voids that need filled so you can target research to fill them? I look at sources as sort of jigsaw pieces. Every new book or article I read gets lined up next to the others so I can where agreements, disagreements, and gaps start to show up. At the beginning stages this is pretty vague because it will take some not insignificant amount of reading to start to know the feel of gaps and inconsistencies. However, even at this point, after reading some webpages and popular histories I can line them up and spot some irregularities. First of course, is the discrepancy between dates: 1665 or 1685. I know from past historical research that earlier dates tend to be hopeful guesses made a long time ago that become canon; it still needs to be verified with actual primary sources, though. Once I can fill in some more of the basic data: people, places, things, times, then I can move on to larger historical questions involving colonialism, architectural theory, etc. Stay tuned!