BURIED TREASURE

Beneath

the soil, there are remnants of stories, remnants of who came before and how they lived, remnants of the first pioneers who settled this land. Britton resident Lucas Wielfaert travels Lenawee County and hunts for these buried remnants. When he finds them, he carefully digs them from the earth and holds history in his hands.

On a warm August day, Wielfaert sits in his kitchen with an old plat map of Tecumseh spread over his counter. Atop the map there are old buckles and suspender clips, remnants of porcelain dolls, and an unusually large amount of harmonica reeds. There is a pile of what could be mistaken as pebbles. “These are lead pistol bullets,” he explains. “This one was fired. You can see that it is mushroomed. They handmade these,” he says. “They had a tool that they poured the hot lead into. You can still see the spout where it was poured.” Wielfaert has found all of these pieces by metal detecting properties in the area. “These are some of my favorite finds,” he says as he points to a collection of beautiful Crotal bells. “These bells were hung on carriages and horses so that people would hear them coming.”

For Wielfaert, metal detecting is a family affair. “My dad and uncle metal detected,” he says. “I guess my dad’s hobbies kind of wore off on me. Wielfaert received his first metal detector when he was in eighth grade. He used it a few times, found a few wheat pennies, and then put it away and didn’t touch it again for six years. When he found himself with a bit of extra time during the COVID shutdowns, he went out and metal detected a spot where an old church once stood. “I found a couple of wheat pennies,” he says. “I remembered how much fun this is. I found a silver dime, and it took off after that. I just wanted

1860 ABRAHAM LINCOLN CAMPAIGN TOKEN FOUND IN THIS CONDITION

LUCAS WIELFAERT

Buried Story by Sara Hilton Photos by Lucas Wielfaert Treasure

to keep finding stuff.” Weilfaert posted his finds on a Facebook metal detecting page and asked if anyone wanted to start metal detecting with him. Three men from southeast Michigan responded and suddenly, Weilfaert had a new hobby, new finds, and new friends.

His searches are anything but haphazard. Rather, each spot he detects is researched in advance. He looks on old maps for structures that have long since crumbled. This way, there is little mixing of modern material and old artifact within the soil. Once he finds a spot, he contacts the owner for permission. Fields, according to Wielfaert, are particularly rich in treasure. “It’s amazing what you can find in a field even after all those years of tilling.” He picks up a button from a Civil War uniform that he found in a field. “I never thought in a million years I’d find this in a field." In addition to the old maps, Wielfaert has a copy of the 1854 Macon Township census on his phone. “I like finding out the history behind stuff,” he says. “Finding out who lived there is like solving a mystery. When I’m metal detecting a spot, the census allows me to see the settlers that lived there. I can see where they came from, what occupation they had, their kids’ names.” On a recent search, Wielfaert found a capped bust coin from the early 1800s. These coins feature Lady Liberty wearing a cap.

Buried Treasure continued...

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VARIOUS BUTTONS INCLUDING A NEW YORK STATE MILITIA “EXCELSIOR” BUTTON C. 1820 AND AN UNFIRED BALL FROM A BLACK POWDER PISTOL

1834 MATRON HEAD LARGE CENT AND CAPPED BUST DIME

LARGE CROTAL BELL MADE BY THE ROBERT WELLS II FOUNDRY OF ALDBOURNE, ENGLAND C.1755-1798

1796-1810 US NAVY COAT BUTTON

“I also found a 1796-1810 navy button there, too,” he says. Upon researching the family that first settled the spot, Wielfaert discovered that they were one of the original settlers to the area. “The man was born in 1769, and he settled near Milwaukee Road in the 1830’s,” he says. “So it is pretty cool seeing when someone was born and finding their stuff after 200 years.”

While many assume the treasure laid out on Wielfaert's counter is worth a great deal of money, this is not that kind of treasure. “A lot of times the coins and other items aren’t really worth a lot,” he says. “Because they’ve been in the ground so long, they aren’t appealing to coin collectors.” The items he finds are environmentally damaged and scratched and worn, “Even if they are in good shape for being in the ground for so long, they are still not worth hardly anything,” he said.

Yet, worth and value aren’t always measured by money. With the abstract nature

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Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.® of history, Wielfaert’s finds reveal tangible and intimate remnants of the past — an old lipstick container, hem weights that were sewn into Victorian era dresses, and clips that held a man’s suspenders in place nearly 200 years ago. Wielfaert’s finds reveal the daily life: toys and coins, bells, buttons and bullets. They might not be worth money, but the worth of holding these intimate markers of a life in one’s hands is invaluable and something of extraordinary worth.

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So Wielfaert returns to his search again and again and again. He returns to hunt beneath the soil, looking for the remnants of these stories, the remnants of those who came before, the remnants of the first pioneers who settled this land. And when there is a find, he gently digs these treasures from the earth and is able to hold our history in his hands. n

Follow Wielfaerts finds on Facebook and Instagram at Macon Ridge Metal Detecting

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