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The Wake County Committee of the Colonial Dames purchased the Joel Lane house in 1927. When the mortgage was retired in 1932, the Dames began purchasing items for the house. Over the years different County Committees of the Colonial Dames and individuals have made gifts to the house. From its purchase until its major restoration, the house had been used for meetings and rented to individuals who lived in it. When the house was opened as the Joel Lane Museum House in 1976, it was furnished and fitted out with items appropriate to Joel Lane’s era.
Unfortunately only a few items in the house have a connection to Joel Lane. All of his personal property was dispersed and the house rented following his death. We do have an inventory of his personal possessions, including a list of his slaves, that was taken at the time of his death, as well as a list of items sold at the estate sale. Both lists are invaluable in identifying objects that supported family and plantation life in 1795.
Click here to see the inventory and sale lists.
Click here to read Joel Lane’s will.
Click tabs above to see and learn about individual items displayed in the house.
- 18th-Century Bed
- 18th-Century Knife
- American Meat Fork
- American Pewter Mug by Danforth of Conn.
- American Silver Tablespoon
- Basket
- Bed Draperies
- Bed Rope Tightener
- Bed Warmer
- Bell Metal Andirons
- Black Metal Tongs
- Black Tin Lantern
- Black Windsor Chair
- Black Wrought Iron Trivet
- Blue and White Checked Coverlet
- Blue and White Woven Spread
- Brass and Wire Fireplace Fender
- Brass Andirons
- Brass Andirons with Flame Finial
- Brass Boudoir Candlestick
- Brass Candlestick
- Brass Candlestick of Flemish Origin
- Brass Copper Pot
- Brass Copper Pot
- Brass Ladle
- Brass Shaker
- Brass Wick Trimmers
- Brass Wick Trimmers and Tray
- Brown Leather Box
- Candle Mold
- Canton Ginger Jar
- Canton Oval Plate
- Canton Platter
- Canton Platter
- Canton Punch Bowl
- Canton Sauce Boat
- Canton Tureen - No Top
- Canton Vegetable Dish
- Canton Vegetable Dish
- Canton Waste Bowl
- Case Clock
- Catesby Prints
- Ceramic Jug
- Chamber Pots
- Checkerboard and Pieces
- Cherry Chippendale Chest
- Cherry Four Poster Bed
- Cherry Hepplewhite Dressing Stand
- Child’s Chair
- China Press
- Chinese Export China
- Chinese Export Tea Saucer
- Clay Pipe
- Coin Silver Serving Spoon
- Collection
- Continental Currency
- Copper Kettle
- Corner Cupboard
- Cotton Basket
- Cradle
- Creamware Basket
- Creamware Orange Bowl
- Creamware Plate
- Creamware Sweet Dish
- Creamware Tazza
- Crock
- Cupboard
- Delft Charger - Dutch
- Delft Inkwell
- Dough Trough
- Dressing Mirror
- Dutch Brass Tobacco Box
- Egg Basket
- Eight Glass Wine Flutes
- English Delft Bowl
- English Delft Plate of Bristol or Lambeth Origin
- English Oak Bible Box
- English Pewter Basin
- English Salt-Glazed Stoneware Sauce Boat
- Export Tea Set
- Fireplace Fork
- Fireplace Trammel
- Fireplace Trammel
- Five Canton 9” Plates
- Five Dollar Note
- Flax Comb Hockle
- Flax Spinning Wheel
- Flip Glass
- Floor Cloths
- Footed Fireplace Fork
- Footed Fireplace Trivet
- Four Bone-Handled Knives & Four Forks
- Four Finger Vases (Two Pairs)
- Four Fruit Prints
- Fringed Tablecloth
- Fringed Towel
- Frying Pan
- Frying Pan
- Garden Plan
- George II / British Half Penny
- Gingerbread Mold
- Glass Decanter
- Granddaughter’s Plate
- Green Painted Ladderback Chair
- Hand Mirror
- Hand-Forged Iron Kitchen Hook
- Hanging Griddle
- Hepplewhite Pembroke Table
- Hinsdale Chest
- Iron Fire Tongs
- Iron Fork
- Iron Ladle with Hook
- Japanese Round Tea Pot
- Labeled Armchair
- Ladder Back Chair
- Lane Windsor Armchair
- Large Canton Tea Pot
- Large Greenish Jug
- Large Iron Hanging Pot
- Large Scalloped Edge Punch Bowl
- Laundry Paddle
- Leeds Creamware Oval Dish
- Linsey-Woolsey Coverlet
- Liverpool Delft Tankard
- Looking Glass
- Mahogany Chippendale Side Chair
- Mahogany Tea Caddy
- Mahogany Tester Bed
- Map of USA - 1795
- Mark Catesby Flower Print
- Metal Andirons
- Metal Trivet
- Mosaic Pin or Brooch
- New Hall Butterfly Tea Pot
- New Hall Tea Cup and Saucer
- Ofiicer’s Cutaway Coat and Tri-Corn Hat
- Oval Iron Skillet
- Pair Brass Candlesticks
- Pair Brass Sconces
- Pair Brass Sconces with Hurricane Globes
- Pair Delft Vases
- Pair Fluted Candlesticks
- Pair Loop Back Windsor Chairs
- Pair of Cherry Chippendale Chairs
- Pair of Creamware Compotes
- Pair of Push Button Candlesticks
- Pair of Walnut Chippendale Chairs
- Pair Push-Up Candlesticks
- Pearl Creamware Oval Basket
- Pembroke Table
- Penny Foot Andirons
- Pewter Basin
- Pewter Pitcher
- Pewter Plate
- Pewter Plate #1
- Pewter Plate #2
- Pewter Plate #3
- Pewter Plate #4
- Pewter Porringer
- Pewter Quart Tankard - F. Wells
- Pewter Tankard 1776
- Pine Blanket Chest
- Pine Table
- Pine Travel Case
- Platter with Blue Border
- Polychrome Rotterdam Delft Plate
- Push-Button Candlestick
- Queen Anne Mirror
- Red Dirt Bowl
- Red Dirt Dish
- Reproduction Tricorne Hat
- Rush Basket
- S Hook for Crane
- Salt Glazed Plate
- Salt-Glazed Stoneware Dish (Shape of Leaf)
- Set of Six Creamware Plates
- Silk Scarf
- Silver Punch Ladle
- Silver Tablespoon
- Single Cruzie
- Single Cruzie Lamp
- Six Windsor Chairs
- Small Diamond-Shaped Canton Covered Dish
- Small Iron Hanging Pot
- Smoke Lamp
- Spatula
- Spider Pan
- Spider Pan
- Spongeware Plate
- Staffordshire Urn
- Ten Small Canton Dessert Plates
- The Lives of the English Poets
- The Plays of William Shakespeare in Eight Volumes
- Three Butter Pats with Blue Edge
- Three Large Canton Plates
- Tin Tray
- Tobacco Packer
- Trammel
- Two Betty Lamps with Handles
- Two Export Tea Bowls (Saucers)
- Two Wedgewood Creamware Plates
- Two Whale Oil Lamps
- Two Wooden Pestles
- Vine Barrel
- Wafer Iron
- Walking Wheel
- Walnut Chest
- Walnut Side Table
- Walnut Table with Drawer
- Walnut Tripod Candlestand
- Washstand
- White Hand-Woven Bedspread
- White Quilt with Crewel Border
- William Lane Bible
- Windsor Armchair
- Windsor Chair
- Windsor Chair
- Wooden Dough Bowl
- Wooden Ink Sander
- Wooden Ink Sander and Sand
- Wooden Mallet
- Wooden Paddle
- Wooden Pestle
- Wooden Rolling Pin
- Wool and Linen Coverlet
- Work Table
- Workman’s Bed
- Wrought Iron Candle Holder