Samuel Wilson's working world: builders and building in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1780-1827

Abstract

Although American vernacular architecture has been analyzed in many ways, we still know surprisingly little about the historical building process. The account books of Samuel Wilson, a stonemason who worked in rural Chester County, Pennsylvania between 1780 and 1827, provide unusually thorough documentation of an individual builder operating within the larger contexts of his building and client communities. Through an examination of surviving structures as well as the accounts and other primary documents, this thesis explores the relationships between Wilson, his fellow builders and his clients. ☐ The paper analyzes Wilson's client and building communities, defines his position within them and explores the ultimate effect of these relationships on the building process and the material record. Wilson emerges from the documents as an upwardly mobile professional middleman or what was called an undertaker, interfacing skillfully between clients and craftsmen in an era of increasing complexity and specialization in the building trades. (Abstract from ProQuest citation page.)