W&E Treasures - Sample

W FIND COINS • GOLD • JEWELRY • RELICS & MORE WITH A METAL DETECTOR &

E T R E A S U R E S

Volume 48 MAY 2014

•Bit Boss Bonanza •The Ghosts Of 266 •Lightning Strikes Twice!

•Ohio Relics Spring Forth •Who Was Harlow B. Clark?

•Innovative Research Reveals New Relic Sites •D a r r i n A n d e r s o n : B e t t e r H e a l t h U.S. $5.50 Canada $5.50

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World’s Leading How-To Magazine For Metal Detectorists Since 1966

FO LA R ST 20 C 13 HA EN NC TR E IE S!

Official Entry Form

BEST FINDS OF 2014

Name:______________________________________________________________ Address:____________________________________________________________

Phone _____________________ Best Day/Time To Call _____________________ Email: _____________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION.

Identify and describe the item, and tell when, where, and how you found it. This information should be one page in length, typed double spaced.

DOCUMENTATION. Be sure to enclose a letter or certificate of pro-

fessional appraisal, indicating that your find is genuine and stating its condition and value. (Appraiser’s address & phone number required.)

PHOTOS. Your entry must include sharp, close-up color photos of the item (front + back). No Polaroids. Digital should be min. 300 dpi.

TELL US YOUR STORY!

If you wish, you may also submit a full-length article (1,500 words) about

your find. However, this is not necessary in order to enter. Free writing guidelines are available. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your request.

Be sure to postmark your entry and mail by December 15, 2014. Send only to: W FIND COINS • GOLD • JEWELRY • RELICS & MORE WITH A METAL DETECTOR &

E T R E A S U R E S

World’s Leading How-To Magazine For Metal Detectorists Since 1966

Volume 48 APRIL 2014

DI DIAMON DIAMO DIAM DIA RI RIN R DIAMOND RING Value: $20,000

1 18 184 1849 1849- LIBERTY LLIB LI LIBE LIBER LIBERT H HE HEA $5 $ HALF H HA EAGLE HAL EEA EAG EAGL 1849-D HEAD

Value: $10,000

W WA WAS WASH WASHI WASHIN WASHING WASHINGT WASHINGTO I IN INA INAU INAUG INAUGU INAUGUR INAUGURA B BU BUT BUTT BUTTO BUTTON WASHINGTON INAUGURAL BUTTONS Value: $7,500+

18 18961896 189 B BA BAR BARB BARBE BARBER QU QUA QUAR QUART QUARTE QUARTER Q 1896-S Value: $6,000

D DIA DIAM DIAMO DIAMON DI TE TEN TTENN TENNI BRACELET B BR BRA BRAC BRACE BRACEL BRACELE DIAMOND TENNIS Value: $5,000

CO C COLUMBI COLUMB COLUM COLU COL CO C COP COPP COPPE COLUMBIA COPPER Value: $4,000+

““C BELT “CS B BE BEL PLATE P PL PLA PLAT “CS” U.S. $5.50 Canada $5.50 $5.50

D DI DIA DIAM DIAMO DIAMON DIAMOND & PL P PLA PLAT PLATI PLATIN PLATINU R PLATINUM RI RIN RING

04

Value: $8,500

ANNUAL “BEST FINDS” ISSUE Plus 32 More Best Finds!

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09128 47950

•Go to www.wetreasures.com

Value: $2,300

R RE REP REPU REPUB REPUBL REPUBLI O TEXAS T TE TEX TEXA M MA MAR MARI MARIN C CO COR CORP B BU BUT BUTT BUTTO REPUBLIC OF MARINE CORPS BUTTON

Value: $2,750+

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GOLD COINS • ARTIFACTS • JEWELRY • TOKENS • RINGS • BUTTONS • MORE!

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Volume 48

Number 5

ROSEMARY B. ANDERSON Managing Editor JERRY BASS Technical Editor STEVE ANDERSON Advertising/Marketing LOGAN ANDERSON Production Assistant H.S. BURDETTE Publisher In Memoriam TY BROOK ED FEDORY DAVID FINNERN AMY MARUSO BEN MYERS MARK PARKER JOHN A. PUNOLA WILLIAM W. PURKEY GARY B. SPECK DICK STOUT Contributing Editors

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES (USPS 970-240, ISSN 0890-0876) is published monthly by People’s Publishing Company, Inc., 475 Gate Five Rd, Sausalito, CA 94965. Phone (415) 339-0124. PERIODICALS postage paid at Sausalito, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: Western & Eastern Treasures, P.O. Box 18902, Anaheim, CA 92817.

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www.wetreasures.com

From The Editor May 2014

these relics were found through research, and some new insights into how you may have more luck gaining access and receiving permission to hunt private property. It’s proven through the articles in the following pages that “Research & “Check it out, Walt. Another buckle!” Permission = Cartoon by Jerry Workman Treasure” is a formula for success.

RESEARCH & So, even though the $10 PERMISSION = TREASURE million cache of gold coins It’s been a pretty exciting recovered in Northern time, to say the least, with the California was spotted by a recent news of the $10 million couple walking their dog on worth of gold coins being their own property without recovered. Steve and I want to using a metal detector, we still thank all of you who have sent know we’ll all have better odds us the news of this incredible of locating our own treasure by cache. Don’t miss the item in research, gaining permission to the Treasures In The Headlines hunt, and being knowledgeable department, starting on page 6. about our metal detecting As of press time, we started equipment.

That’s more of a receiving more updates from reality check, and this issue many of you that these “mint will not disappoint with the quality” coins could have been excellent finds, especially the part of a robbery, so, I’m sure number of relics, you’ll be able by the time you’re reading this to read about and see for yourmany more details have self are still being made today. emerged. No matter the final And no matter what the outcome, it still gets the juices outcome of the source of the flowing and proves there’s treaspectacular gold coin cache, it’s sure out there waiting to be disjust thrilling to know there’s covered! still gold in them thar hills!

This issue’s theme is Relics & Historical Research, so that’s why you’ll see a more than Happy Hunting, average number of articles about research techniques and relic recoveries. There are Rosemary Anderson many specific tips on just how

FEATURES

The Ghosts Of 266

16

Lightning Strikes Twice!

25

Travel the Bonanza Highway to old silver and gold mining towns in the western Nevada Outback.

By Gary B. Speck

Like a bolt out of the blue, there it was— another ‘US’ buckle!

By Wayne Hartzell

Bit Boss Bonanza

“Research revealed that three different cavalry regiments had occupied this site... and we found the relics to prove it!”

By Joe Colombo

30

Innovative Research Reveals New Relic Sites

37

Ohio Relics Spring Forth

44

Do It Again!

47

Thinking outside the box led to unsearched areas and amazing recoveries!

By Bill Dancy Since ancient times, people had been drawn to this woodland water source.

By Jeffery J. Fisher

Come on back to the hobby you love... there’s treasure waiting to be found!

By Doug Pettit

Darrin Anderson: Better Health Through Treasure Hunting

That new detector you’ve been thinking of buying could be just what the doctor ordered!

By Glenn Thomas

Who Was Harlow B. Clark?

Sometimes when you make a find, the best part of the search has just begun.

By Bud Bing and Jim Meaney

DEPARTMENTS

08 Treasures In The Headlines 11 Ask Mark Parker 14 Tech Talk

16 24

Ghost Town USA Calendar Of Events

51 59

25

30

37

44

59

Our Cover: Detectorist Molly Goforth stands amid endless rows of sugar cane in a Southern Louisiana field. Photo by William Plummer.

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TREASURES IN THE HEADLINES CALIFORNIA COUPLE FINDS $10 MILLION IN RARE COINS A Northern California couple out walking their dog on their Gold Country property stumbled across a modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree.

Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, which recently authenticated them.

Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.

“I don’t like to say once-ina-lifetime for anything, but you don’t get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. “It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Kagin, whose family has been in the rare-coin business for 81 years, would say little about the couple other than that they are husband and wife, are middle-aged and have lived for several years on the rural property where the coins were found.

They have no idea who put them there, he said.

The pair are choosing to remain anonymous, Kagin said, in part to avoid a renewed gold rush to their property by mod8 MAY 2014

ern-day prospectors.

They also don’t want to be treated any differently, said David McCarthy, chief numismatist for Kagin Inc. of Tiburon.

“Their concern was this would change the way everyone else would look at them, and they’re pretty happy with the lifestyle they have today,” he said.

They plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. They’ll use the money to pay off bills and quietly donate to local charities, Kagin said.

Before they sell them, they are loaning some to the American Numismatic Association for its National Money Show in Atlanta.

What makes their find particularly valuable, McCarthy said, is that almost all of the coins are in near-perfect condition. That means that whoever put them into the ground likely socked them away as soon as they were put into circulation.

Because paper money was illegal in California until the 1870s, he added, it’s extremely rare to find any coins from before that of such high quality.

“It wasn’t really until the 1880s that you start seeing coins struck in California that were kept in real high grades of preservation,” he said.

The coins, in $5, $10 and $20 denominations, were stored more or less in chronological order.

McCarthy said, with the 1840s and 1850s pieces going

into one canister until it was filled, then new coins going into the next one and the next one after that. The dates and the method indicated that whoever put them there was using the ground as their personal bank.

Although most of the coins were minted in San Francisco, one $5 gold piece came from as far away as Georgia.

Kagin and McCarthy would say little about the couple’s property or its ownership history, other than it’s in a sprawling hilly area of Gold Country and the coins were found along a path the couple had walked for years. On the day they found them last spring, the woman had bent over to examine an old rusty can that erosion had caused to pop slightly out of the ground.

“Don’t be above bending over to check on a rusty can,” he said she told him.

They are located on a section of the property the couple nicknamed Saddle Ridge, and Kagin is calling the find the Saddle Ridge Hoard.

He believes it could be the largest such discovery in U.S. history.

McCarthy said the couple wisely refrained from cleaning the coins themselves and brought a sampling of them to him in little baggies, still covered in soil.

One of the largest previous finds of gold coins was $1 million worth uncovered by construction workers in Jackson, TN, in 1985.

More than 400,000 silver dollars were found in the home of a Reno, NV, man who died in 1974 and were later sold intact for $7.3 million.

Gold coins and ingots said to be worth as much as $130 million were recovered in the 1980s from the wreck of the SS

Central America. But historians knew roughly where that gold was because the ship went down off the coast of North Carolina during a hurricane in 1857.

From the AP, submitted by Marty Maher, James Wdzenczny, Jim Meaney, Tim Myers, Bob Bolek, Andrew McGuire, Lisa Lommasson, and many more readers.

AYRSHIRE TREASURE HUNTERS UNCOVER TWYNHOLM SILVER COINS Two men have uncovered what is believed to be the biggest collection of medieval silver coins ever found using metal detectors in Scotland.

Gus Paterson and Derek McLennan, from Ayrshire, made the find in a field at Twynholm, near Kirkcudbright, shortly before Christmas.

After several return visits, their haul now tops 300 coins.

They will show them to local residents before handing them over to the Crown as treasure-trove.

Mr. McLennan said they suspected the field would yield something interesting, but were on the verge of giving up when they first made the discovery.

“We had done quite a lot of research and had targeted that particular area and we had searched fields around it before we stumbled across it,” he said.

“We had been searching for probably about five hours in atrocious weather with horizontal rain and 60 mph gales.

“We were both feeling rather scunnered in the last field before we were heading for the car.”

A final sweep, however, produced the desired results.

“I went in one direction and Gus went in the other and Gus was lucky enough to hit the first

two coins,” said Mr. McLennan.

“There was jubilation all round as I’m sure you can imagine.”

From BBC News, submitted

by James Wdzenczny.

3 ARRESTED AFTER STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN STOLEN A prosecutor said three people have been arrested in connection with the theft of a multimillion dollar Stradivarius violin stolen from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster.

Assistant District Attorney Kent Lovern said he couldn’t reveal any information beyond the arrests. He said he didn’t expect a charging decision before today.

Police say the nearly 300year-old violin was on loan to concertmaster Frank Almond.

Authorities say a robber used a stun gun on Almond and took the instrument from him in a parking lot of Wisconsin Lutheran College, where he performed. The violin is appraised at $5 million.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra says someone recently offered $100,000 for the safe return of the violin.

From The Daytona Beach News-Journal, submitted by Zoueva Grossmann, Palm Coast, FL.

AUTHOR OF LINCOLN MYSTERY LETTER FROM 1846 IDENTIFIED It’s been more than 25 years since workers renovating Abraham Lincoln’s home in Springfield found a letter fragment in a mouse’s nest inside a wall, but researchers think they’ve finally identified the mystery letter’s author.

The clue was a mention of poetry.

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ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE!

www.wetreasures.com  Clevenger’s (pg 11)

 Depth Master (pgs 21, 31)

 Detector Electronics (page 58)  Detector Pro (pg 45)

 Fisher (pgs 32-33, 63)  Garrett (pgs 6-7, 64)  J.W. Fishers (pg 50)

 Jimmy Sierra (pg 39)  Kellyco (pg 29)

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Addr _____________________________ City ______________________________

St, Zip ___________________________ MAIL ENTIRE FORM TO: Western & Eastern Treasures P.O. Box 37, Sausalito, CA 94965-0037

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 9

TREASURE HUNTER’S CODE OF ETHICS

As part of our commitment to recreational metal detecting, we at Western & Eastern Treasures encourage responsible conduct and strict compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations and restrictions, as well as unconditional respect for the rights and property of others, and for those held in common by us all.

Even though these values and standards may not be explicitly stated in every article, they are an integral part of our philosophy, efforts, and goals. We take pride in the hobby and industry we serve, and ask you to join us in observing and promoting the following Code Of Ethics.

I WILL respect private property and do no treasure hunting without the owner’s permission.

I WILL fill all excavations.

I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, and private property.

I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy at all times.

I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only.

I WILL leave gates as found.

I WILL remove and properly dispose of any trash that I find.

I WILL NOT litter.

I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings, or what is left of ghost towns and deserted structures.

I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities, or equipment.

Western & Eastern Treasures magazine endorses the Treasure Hunter’s Code Of Ethics.

The sport of metal detecting has a national organization in place to preserve and protect the rights of detectorists. The national organization is the Federation of Metal Detector & Archeological Clubs. For more information, contact:

FMDAC • Frank Colletti, National Secretary 1439 Stephen Marc Ln • East Meadow, NY 11554 (516) 481-9244

www.fmdac.com or American Metal Detecting Association AMDA • Bernard G. Grabowski 2206 Kimwood Lane • Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (916) 635-6854 email: BGG589@aol.com

NOTICE: Western & Eastern Treasures is a magazine of national and international distribution.

There may be products discussed or featured for which use may be restricted, prohibited or subject to special permit requirements in your state/country. Purchasers should consult their local authorities and municipal codes in their areas. People’s Publishing Company, Inc. assumes no liability for information shared in editorial or advertising content.

The Publisher shall be rendered harmless from and against any claims or suits for liable, violation or right of privacy, plagiarism, copyright infringement, improper use of the mails or violation of criminal codes based on the subject matter of editorial and advertisement content. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed questionable or in bad taste and assumes no liability for omitting advertising for any reason.

All data in this publication, technical or otherwise, is based upon the personal experience of individuals using specific tools, equipment and components under particular conditions and circumstances, some of which may not be reported in the article or advertisement and which Western & Eastern Treasures has not otherwise verified.

Readers of advertisements are encouraged to examine and operate equipment at an authorized dealer and/or manufacturer, when practical and possible, prior to purchasing or placing an order to buy. Should any reader have a problem with products or services ordered through our advertisers, contact our advertising department and/or your local postal inspector.

10 MAY 2014

Lincoln had exchanged several letters with a newspaper editor about poetry and politics.

So Stacy Pratt McDermott, an associate editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, set about comparing the handwriting on the fragment with a letter that Andrew Johnston had written to Lincoln in 1865 and a note that Johnston had written in 1872 on an old letter from Lincoln.

The match was unmistakable.

Besides solving a mystery, the discovery sheds light on a lesser explored aspect of Lincoln’s character.

“It illuminates an interesting part of Lincoln’s career in that he enjoyed poetry and tried his own hand at poetry,” Papers of Abraham Lincoln Director Daniel Stowell told The (Springfield) State JournalRegister.

Johnston was a native of Richmond, VA., and published the Quincy Whig in Illinois.

Lincoln had written to him on Feb. 25, 1846, to send him a piece of poetry he had requested.

Johnston’s reply, sent on March 10 from Quincy, IL., was the mystery letter. In it he thanks the future president for the poem and asks if Lincoln was its author.

In an April 18 letter, Lincoln responded that he was not, but added that he would “give all I am worth, and go in debt, to be able to write so fine a piece as I think that is.”

Somehow, the March 10 letter from Johnston ended up stuffed into a wall in Lincoln’s home. Some theories are that it was put there as insulation or by mischievous boys known to stuff things into cracks in the walls.

The fragment was uncovered in 1987 during a full restoration of the Lincoln Home

National Historic Site.

That it survived is all the more remarkable because many of Lincoln’s documents from before he became president were burned, Stowell said.

“They were cleaning house before he went to Washington in 1847 and again in 1861, and they were considered junk,” Stowell told The JournalRegister.

“This survived because it was put in a wall for whatever reason.”

From the AP, submitted by Marty Maher, Langlois, OR.

DAUGHTER GETS LETTER WRITTEN BY DAD WHO DIED IN WWII A World War II soldier’s heartfelt letter to his daughter has finally reached her, seven decades after it was written.

Peggy Eddington-Smith received the letter penned by her father, Pfc. John Eddington, and his Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals, during a ceremony in Dayton, Nevada, about 40 miles southeast of Reno. The father she never met wrote the three-page letter shortly after she was born and shortly before he died in Italy in June 1944.

He sent it while stationed in Texas, just before he was sent overseas. Getting his medals was nice, but the letter meant more because it made her feel closer to her father, she said.

She knew little about him since her mother could rarely bring herself to discuss the love of her life.

From The Salt Lake Tribune, submitted by Pomera M. Fronce, Salt Lake City, UT. Please send treasure-related news items to: W&ET Headlines, P.O. Box 37, Sausalito, CA 94965-0037.

Email to: editor@wetreasures.com —Thank You.

Q

A

&

ASK MARK PARKER

IN GOOD COMPANY

Q. I dug what I believe to be a shako plate at an early homestead site in northwest Connecticut.

It is handLT engraved, “I COMPY. INFANTRY. 10 REGT.” I am wondering if it might be from the Revolutionary War, and am also curious about its value.

retreat, pursuing) the main body of heavy or line infantry and artillery.

Unfortunately, offhand I’m unable to offer more specific information about this particular unit. Discovering the real story behind both the plate and site demands the kind of indepth research that should be your next adventure: What else is there to find? What else is there to learn? As for its monetary value, I’m always reluctant to put price tags on things whose true value lies in their historical interest and importance, but my sources say $1,500–2,000 or more.

IMPERIAL SILVER

Justin Fox Winsted, CT

A. Your Militia light infantry, “tombstone” style cap plate dates from the early 19th century— i.e., War of 1812 period. Light infantry were essentially skirmishers, tasked with harassing, distracting, delaying, and sometimes ambushing enemy forces which were advancing on (or in the case of

TOKENS - MEDALS

CASH for your finds! Chauffeur’s badges, “good for” tokens, dog tags, tokens, medals, fobs, pins, badges, etc. Ship for top offer. Send SASE with brief list for “FREE Buying Guide”.

Rich Hartzog - World Exonumia POB 4143BOW Rockford IL 61110

Q. I have unearthed what I believe to be an ancient Roman silver coin in a modern urban area. Anything that you may be

able to tell me about it would be appreciated. I just can’t understand how it got there!

Bob Smerko Edison, NJ

A. Ah, yes... the Roman invasion of New Jersey remains lamentably underreported.

Seriously, the coin could simply have been lost by someone who carried it as a lucky pocket piece (as suggested by a fair amount of wear), or taken from a collection and later dropped or hidden.

In the latter case, the culprit could indeed have been a criminal, or just a kid who “borrowed” the coin for show & tell.

At any rate, what you’ve got is a silver denarius of the Roman emperor Hadrian, c. 117–138 A.D. Surrounding his portrait on the obverse is the legend HADRIANUS AUGUSTUS, which means, “The Venerable Hadrian” or “Hadrian the Great.” On the reverse, COS III stands for, “Consul for the third time.” Hadrian’s third consulship was in 119, but the same lettering reportedly can be found on coins dating all the way through 138. I’m not certain which goddess is depicted, but she appears to be holding a cornucopia, a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, and abundance; so, maybe it’s Abundantia, Felicitas, or Fortuna. W&ET forwarded the photos of your find to Kerry Wetterstrom, a specialist in ancient coinage with Classical Numismatic Group — www.cngcoins.com — who stated, “Yes, it is a Hadrian denarius. I can’t quite make out the reverse, but Hadrian’s name and portrait are quite clear. This coin is worth about $25.”

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 11

A WAY DOWN SOUTH

Q. I found this “M. & C. R. R. MEMPHIS 1694 NORFOLK” baggage tag at a vacant lot in northwest Alabama, not far from a railroad depot predating the Civil War period.

Can you provide me any information on it?

remained active on into the postwar period, the tag may or may not have seen usage during the Civil War. Because of that, valuation is a bit tricky, but my best guess is that if it is provably postwar, it might fetch $100150; Civil War or earlier, perhaps twice that price. Another M & C RR tag— different in design and dug at a known Civil War campsite— sold for $210.

Tags from other C.S.A. railroads have sometimes brought $300– 500.

Either way, as a Confederate or a Reconstruction tag, it’s highly collectable.

COULD THIS BE MAGIC?

Bob Glover Sheffield, AL

A. Your tag is from the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, a line operating from Memphis to Chattanooga, across Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. Founded in 1852 and completed in 1857, it was the last link in a chain of railroads between the East Coast and the Mississippi River.

Savaged during the Civil War, it somehow survived and eventually became the Memphis Division of the Southern Railway System. Today, it continues to operate as part of the Norfolk Southern System. It looks as if there is a TAULMAN mark at the bottom of the tag, identifying the maker as Taulman’s Railroad Supply Agency of New York, a firm doing business under that name after 1858. (Earlier, it was Taulman & Low, 1856–57; and Taulman, Low & Cook, 1857– 58.)

Since the company 12 MAY 2014

is, and if it has any value.

A. The owner who left it in the lake wasn’t just unlucky, he was really a Thor loser! What you’ve got is a modern occult medallion, commonly cataloged as an amulet or talisman, comprising a variety of ancient and arcane symbols alleged to empower and protect the wearer.

The odd–looking object surrounded by runes is a stylized representation of the Hammer of Thor. Also known as Mjolnir (“Lightning”), the hammer of the Norse god is often depicted on talismans for courage, strength, and safekeeping. On the other side of the medallion is what is sometimes referred to as the Star of Hermes, said to be a safe–travel talisman. The symbol in the center is a variation of the astrological sign for Mercury (or Hermes). The others surrounding it are also astrological, alchemical &/or magical. The star resembles the “rose” (dial) of a compass, another image of obvious significance for one on a journey or voyage. Similar examples generally retail for $15–25 in pewter, brass, and plated base metal. If yours is indeed solid gold— doubtful, based on the amount of evident oxidation in the photos— then it would be worth bullion (scrap gold) value or a few dollars more.

“BUYING Revolutionary War and Indian Trade items, and Washington buttons.”

Q. I found this item at a lake near my home in southern Oklahoma. The metal could be gold or a mixture of some sort. I sure would like to know what it

George Weller Juno • American Soldier 572 SW Romora Bay • Port St. Lucie, FL 34986 (770) 329-4985 • Email: GWJuno@AOL.com

Civil War, before & after.

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Q. This brass plate came out of an old sawmill site in Weed, California. I’m told that the plant was built around 1900

by Abner Weed, founder of the town that bears his name. What is it, exactly?

Andrew Jensen Cottage Grove, OR

A. It’s a serial-number plate from a pressure governor or some similar piece of equipment which was made by the Fisher Governor Co. of Marshalltown, Iowa, and presumably was used with a steam engine powering the sawmill. Documents for the September 16, 1884 patent (#305,167) cited on the plate state, “Our improved governor controls the flow of steam from the boiler to the engine...”

According to the American Trade Index of 1913, the company’s product line included, “Steam pump governors, gravity governors for open tanks, excess pressure governors, balance lever valves, [and] vacuum pump governors.” I couldn’t find a price listing for this one, but vintage cast–brass machinery nameplates often bring $2550, and in some cases (famous brands, rare machine types or models, unusual graphics, etc.) considerably more.

PIP, PIP, OLD CHAP!

Q. Hey, Mark, I dug this out of my junk drawer. What can you tell me about it?

A. It’s a rank star, or “pip,” used by the majority of British Army units. This one is probably from WWI or WWII. The star is that of the Order of Bath, originally an order of chivalry.

Encircling three crowns in the center is the motto TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO (“Three joined in One”), generally regarded as referring to the union of England,

Scotland, and Ireland, but also claimed by some to refer to the Holy Trinity. These stars are worn on shoulder straps or rank slides, in some cases in combination with crowns: 2nd Lt., one star; Lt., two stars; Capt., three stars; Maj., crown; Lt. Col., crown above star; Col., crown above two stars. ( Certain units substitute stars of other orders.)

The holes in the points do not appear to be as made, but added later, a feature often seen on pips fashioned into sweetheart jewelry or various sorts of trench art. In nice condition, minus the holes, these generally go for $5 or so. 

IT'S UP TO YOU!

Readers can now have their first & last name and city/state location included with questions appearing in the column. If you would like for yours to be published, please state this in your letter or e-mail.

Otherwise, questions will be published anonymously. Publication of questions cannot be guaranteed, but all will be personally answered.

Ask Mark Now!

★ IMPORTANT! ★

Drawings, rubbings, and photocopies may be submitted with descriptions; however, make sure they’re clear, sharp, and actual size or larger.

•Sharp photos are needed! Send one front & one back of each item to be identified. Entire item must be visible on a plain, solid background.

•Digital photos: 300 dpi or higher. Turn “Date Stamp” off!

•Limit: Three items per week. No phone calls or faxes!

BY E-MAIL: AskMark@wetreasures.com Subject: Briefly describe the item in as few words as possible. For example, “Railroad Tag” or “Civil War Token.”

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NOTICE!

Pricing is subjective, and the estimates provided in this column, and in all related correspondence, are derived from a variety of sources. They are not official appraisals or guarantees of value, and the author, editor, and publisher will not be responsible for readers’ decisions or transactions.

People’s Publishing Company, Inc. reserves the right, without obligation and at our discretion, to provide information, recommendations, and referrals to persons whose finds appear in Western & Eastern Treasures or Silver & Gold.

However, as a matter of policy, we cannot and will not forward unsolicited offers, correspondence, or information to such persons, nor can we disclose unpublished names, addresses, and telephone numbers, Please do not ask us to do so.

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 13

Q. I have searched, with very little success, for a PI detector with discrimination capabilities. Can you tell me why no PI detector has this feature?

A. There are, as you know, some PI detectors available with various types of discrimination. However, due to the way PI detectors operate, discrimination is only partial.

Delaying the pulse rate sampling time in receive mode will allow certain targets to be ignored, but among the targets that are discriminated by this method are a number that are desirable.

To put this method in perspective, these pulse rate changes will eliminate the detection of segments of targets.

Since gold is in some of those segments, it would preclude the detection of gold along with the trash targets. Perhaps some company is developing a PI detector with true discrimination, but I have not heard even a rumor about such a detector.

Other PI detectors use various methods such as high-low or low-high tones to identify iron. Any method of target ID causes some loss of depth of detection. A friend describes a PI detector as a true discriminating detector. That is, it detects all metal targets, and you then dig the target and give it an eyeball ID. This leaves no

14 MAY 2014

doubt as to the identity of any target.

Q. I am trying to select an electronic pinpointer to help in locating and recovering small targets. I get conflicting information from my fellow treasure hunters. Some think a pinpointer with high sensitivity is best, while others think a pinpointer with an inch or so depth on a coin-size target is sufficient.

What do you say about these electronic probes?

A. Either type will suffice if tuned properly. My thoughts are that if you’re looking for mostly coin-size targets at shallow depths, the most sensitive probe you can find would be best. It might enable you to pinpoint the target without digging at all. If searching in general is your goal, either would suffice.

The probe with an inch or so depth will enable you to more accurately pinpoint a target once some soil has been removed.

I use the “inch or so” probes, as I can pinpoint a coinsize target with the metal detector to my satisfaction. If necessary, I use my probe to pinpoint the exact location of the target in the hole. With a highly sensitive probe it is most likely that it will be difficult to pinpoint, since when the device is within 3-4" of the target it will respond; and with a coin-size target, the hole you dig should

not be that big.

If the electronic probe has adjustable sensitivity, you could set the control so that the device would only detect an inch or so and use it quite well. Being able to accurately pinpoint a target that is only a few inches deep would be advantageous, as you could retrieve the target with minimal digging.

One more consideration is whether you wish the probe to respond with an audible signal, or to vibrate when the target is detected. If you prefer audio signaling, be sure that the audio will be loud enough to hear while wearing headphones. I find the vibrate function to be better due to the fact no one else can hear it, and I will not be attracting any unwanted “helpers.”

Q. I would like to hunt again in some sites that I have searched over the years. What is your opinion of using a GPS device to help with finding treasure?

A. If you hunt large areas or wooded areas, a GPS would be great to get you back to where you stopped searching on the last trip, provided that you used the GPS for pinpointing that exact spot. If you have USGS maps and want to find an area based on the information contained by the map, it should allow you to easily find that exact location. Some USGS maps are very old, and it might be possible to find old towns or communities that are unknown to the treasure hunters in your area. By using current USGS maps and an overlay process to pinpoint the exact location of the areas you may find some untouched areas that could very well yield valuable finds.

Q. I have read about

“hyper-tuned” detectors and the claims that the same detectors detect deeper than when tuned according to the operator’s manual. Can you tell me if this is true or not?

A. The hyper-tuned detector, also known as super-tuned, was originally associated with one brand of detector. It is true that you hear deeper targets with the detector tuned this way.

The detector must have threshold, sensitivity, and a silentsearch mode to be used in this manner.

It is my opinion that this would work with any detector if the above controls/mode were available. This method of tuning will work if the detector has manual or preset ground balance. Tuning a detector as per the following instructions will make the pinpoint or all-metal mode useless, as you will see.

If your detector is equipped with ground balance, set that as recommended in the operator manual. Turn the threshold control to max and flip the allmetal/discriminate switch to discriminate mode, and increase the sensitivity control to maximum (note: you may have to decrease the sensitivity control, depending on the soil minerals), and you have a hyper- or supertuned detector. This method does not make the detector detect targets deeper; it only provides louder audio from the detected targets. You can easily prove this to yourself or others by first tuning the detector in a normal manner and checking the distance at which a target is detected. Then use the method above to tune the detector, and again check the distance at which the target is detected.

The usual increase in depth that the target is heard is 2" or more.

The detector is detecting the same target in both instances the exact same distance away from the coil. The tuning of the threshold control to maximum, or super-tuning, is increasing the distance that the operator can hear the target being detected. Switching a detector tuned in this manner will affect the all-metal mode. It cannot be used to pinpoint targets, as it is at maximum volume.

Q. Which type ground balance is best for serious treasure hunting?

A. Of the three current type of ground balance— automatic, manual, or pre-set— I would think it would be a toss-up between automatic and manual if the manual were set correctly.

Some may say that manual is better, but in the last few years there have been some major strides made in auto or tracking ground balance circuits.

The statement above is based on a user or manual ground balance being able to tell when the ground mineral changes enough to make a difference in detector response.

The auto ground balance will check for changes in ground minerals every few sweeps of the detector.

For those who are not proficient in using a manually ground balanced detector, the auto ground balance type might be more suitable to use. (Note: Some detectors claim to have auto ground balance when in fact they have preset.)  Please send questions directly to Ty Brook. Ty will try to answer as many questions as possible in this column.

1324 Union Academy Road Ramer, AL 36069 email: kenoty@att.net (334) 281-1806

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WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 15

GHOST TOWN USA

Sitting alongside State Highway 266, just nine miles from the state line, Palmetto has been saved from anonymity by these rock ruins.

The Ghosts Of 266

By Gary B. Speck Nevada State Highway (SH) tiny tendril. Running east-west between the state line and US 266 is a 40-mile-long, seldom 95, at a point equidistant from used highway, tethering a Reno and Las Vegas, this is one rugged, isolated, empty section of those roads you don’t just of the Silver State to an even stumble onto by accident unless more rugged, isolated, emptier you’re really lost! section of the Golden State by a

The largest remaining structure in Palmetto is the foundation for the silver mill.

16 MAY 2014

For those doing map research, this highway has only carried the number 266 since 1976. From the late 1920s until renumbering mania struck in 1976, it was a part of 300-milelong SH 3 and was known as the Bonanza Highway, a pretzellike route that ran the short stretch now followed by SH 266, turned north at Lida Junction (US 95), and wound around, eventually ending in Reno.

With that in mind, Ghost Town USA tackled this nearly forgotten byway in June 2013.

We wound our way east from Big Pine, California through the narrow pass between California’s Inyo and White Mountains, dropped down into Fish Lake Valley, and hung an east onto California SH 266 at the tiny ranching community of Oasis, California. Crossing the state line, the lonely highway entered Nevada and took aim on one of my “bucket-list” ghost towns— Gold Point, Nevada.

No matter how or why, anytime we’ve shot up or down US 95, something always prevented a visit. Not so this time. As most of you know, I can’t resist historic research, and my traveling maps are almost unreadable with dots, highlighter marks, and ink scribbles all over the originals or enlarged sectional copies that I usually make for my trips.

My map for this tiny corner of Nevada was no different, but the markings were way less numerous. Just nine miles east of the state line, and before we reached our goal of Gold Point, we were going to check out a dot indicating a small ghost town site. I knew this would be a great spot for the grandkids to escape the confines of the cars, unwind, and explore.

Off to the west, California’s Inyo Mountains can be seen through the open door of this roofless cabin in Palmetto.

Palmetto Palmetto is a true ghost town. No one lives here, and from what I could see, there’s not even anyone nearby. In the big scheme of things, this little ghost is a minor player in the ghost town universe, despite hosting three minor booms— or as I like to call them, boomlets.

Palmetto was always small, remaining in the category of places easily lost and forgotten.

A couple of its structures were built of stone, and those tangi-

The interior of the “mine office” shows that it once had a main floor and a basement.

The Turf, located at the north end of Main Street in Gold Point, was once a bar.

The dressed foundation stones of the silver mill. In the distance stand the roofless remains of the “mining office.”

ble, substantial remains have kept the town from falling into the ephemeral category, thus making this a worthwhile stop.

Palmetto is well marked by one of Nevada’s iconic blue & silver historical markers. Even if it wasn’t, the site would be easy to find since it cozies up to the highway. In fact, one building sits only a dozen or so feet from pavement edge at Milepost 9. Other surviving structures include the foundation for the silver mill and the roofless remains of what some call the mining office.

Palmetto dates to the spring of 1866. Three prospectors disWESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 17

Built into the side of the hill, this storage bunker is located at the old mill site.

The roofless stone “mine office� at Palmetto.

18 MAY 2014

covered a rich silver surface deposit in these sage-covered hills, and on April 9, the Palmetto Mining District was born. Sources differ slightly on the origin of the name Palmetto.

Nevada Place Names says that the miners came from South Carolina (The Palmetto State).

They established a couple mines, two of which were named the Carolina Mine and the Palmetto Mine. OK, that makes sense. Other sources, including the state historical marker, claim that it was because the miners thought the resident Joshua trees looked like small palm trees. That also makes sense. Either way, or combining both, Palmetto was born. A 12-stamp mill was built, but soon shut down as there wasn’t enough ore to sustain its operation. The small camp followed suit, and Palmetto quickly faded into the past.

In the 1880s another discovery resulted in a small rush of miners reworking the mines.

Palmetto quickly grew large enough so that a post office was established there on April 24, 1888. Like the first boom, this one was short-lived, and soon the miners drifted off. Boomlet

Members of the Speck family explore the remains of the Palmetto Mill.

number two ended when the post office closed on June 7, 1894.

Palmetto again fell into a snooze, but in the first years of the 20th century it reawakened with a start. A mining frenzy swept through western Nevada on the coattails of major discoveries in Tonopah, Rhyolite, and Goldfield. By February 1906, two hundred tents housing miners and businesses spread across the desert west of the original site. A mile-long main street was filled with all the requisite businesses needed to support a mining town. A few frame structures brought over from nearby Lida were added to the motley collection of saloons, restaurants, saloons, the reestablished post office (December 16, 1905), saloons, a bakery, a bank, and oh... did I mention saloons?

The Palmetto Herald newspaper found willing readership here.

Tonopah-like dreams fueled the town’s expansion.

Unfortunately, the third time is not always the charm, and the boom busted. Within months the miners, the tent businesses, and most other signs of life disappeared. For some reason the post office hung tough for another year, finally closing December 31, 1907.

Today, the site of the third and largest boomlet is barren and forgotten, while the ruins at the smaller, original site attract

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Dead cabins and dead cars abound in Gold Point.

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attention.

After half an hour of exploring, we piled into our vehicles and continued east toward Gold Point.

Lida We blinked and missed Lida today, a scruffy little cluster of cabins plopped in the desert scrub north of the highway.

Lida was also the site of a douWESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 19

ble mining boom— the first in 1872, and the second in 1906.

Unlike Palmetto, it never completely ghosted, but today isn’t far from it. We didn’t stop as nothing really caught my attention, other than a handful of dilapidated but occupied cabins.

At least outwardly, it looks like a depressed has-been, filled with forgotten memories.

An old fire truck stares south, up Gold Street into the heart of Gold Point.

Now housing a bar and museum, the Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Co. building is one of the largest remaining structures in Gold Point.

These old buildings line the west side of Gold Street in Gold Point.

20 MAY 2014

Gold Point Gold Point is a little, gottavisit, virtual museum of the past.

After eluding me for years, and after an off-and-on correspondence with one of the town’s owners, I knew this would become a major stop on our 2013 summer ghost town tour.

Gold Point started life in 1868 as Lime Point, a small silver mining camp about a mile west of the present-day town.

As in Palmetto and Lida, the first mining flurry brought an ephemeral cluster of tents and people to the region. Pfft! They were gone.

Around 1880, prospectors pried more silver from the mines and shipped it, and a second puff of life ensued.

For a couple of years, Lime Point remained a small, isolated mining camp with few amenities. Hit-and-miss discoveries in the area kept it from being totally abandoned, and it received a major boost with the massive discoveries of silver at Tonopah in 1900, gold at Goldfield in 1902, and at Rhyolite in 1904.

The possibility of more rich silver and gold mines focused new attention on western Nevada.

Surrounding Lime Point, the hills were alive with sound mining. Exploratory shafts were driven, and in 1905 one of the small mines off to the east showed real promise. The Great Western Mine showed $6-8/ton ore at the surface, but as the

owners pecked away, values increased. In the summer of 1907, even better ore was found. After deducting transportation and milling costs, the owners netted over $40 per ton. With that incentive, they shipped 20 additional tons of ore in September, netting a cool $1,000.

Endless rich ore seemed in sight, but transportation, lack of water, and isolation was an issue. Even so, profits kept comA faded sign atop the false front marks Gold Point’s ing, and they shipped old post office/store building. ore through early 1908 with values as high as $113.92/ton.

(Remember, this was in the days of 54¢/oz. silver!)

In March 1908, the town of Hornsilver was platted, then laid out just north of the mine. On April 12, two saloons opened, and Hornsilver was in business. Seven days later, the town had 18 On the east side of Gold Street stand the old Gold tents and two frame buildings. The boom Point post office/store (left) and the Wiley House.

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was on!

Because of other major booms in the region, building materials were in short supply, and the boomers at Hornsilver had to be creative. Palmetto and Lida were now nearly abandoned, so enterprising individuals scavenged those two locations for usable tents, buildings, and other needed material. All was loaded onto wagons and hauled to Hornsilver, where the wagons were stripped of their goods faster than the owners could offload!

Within two weeks, Hornsilver had two automobile lines, a barber shop, feed yard, livery stable, four lodging houses, four restaurants, six saloons, a stage station, three stores, with promises of a railroad line and telephone and water systems.

The post office opened on May 16, with G. Ernest Shannon

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 21

Mining relics and more await visitors inside the Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Co. building.

as the first postmaster. By mid June, the town boasted around 250 tents and frame buildings, along with businesses ranging from the Union Bakery, to six real estate brokers, three drug stores, four grocers, a pair of hostels, eight merchants, seven saloons, and at least six restaurants. The population was estimated at between 300 and 500.

The telephone system was now active, as was the Hornsilver Herald newspaper.

Lots were sold and resold, and a valuation bubble was forming. New additions were platted to the town, and rapid growth was anticipated. In July, Hornsilver reached its peak, with anywhere from 800 to 1,000 folks. After three months of frenzy, the boom fizzled and the bubble popped.

By November the population had sunk to around 100, and just after the first of the year, the Hornsilver Herald was no more.

Only a handful of residents remained. Unlike many other busted mining towns, Hornsilver did not completely fade into oblivion, however.

Enough folks had stayed behind to work the mines, so that the post office 22 MAY 2014

and a couple of businesses survived. In the 1910 census, 50 people were counted, with a post office, two stores and a hotel to serve them. The mines continued to produce, and during the 1910s the population actually increased slightly. There were finally enough children that a school was built in 1917.

The town’s prosperity fluctuated with the fortunes of the mines. In the early 1930s, most of the remaining mines were pro-

ducing more gold than silver, so a move was made to change the name of the town to something more appropriate. On October 15, 1932, the post office and town were renamed Gold Point.

Through the Great Depression, Gold Point actually grew, so that by the onset of World War II about 200 people lived here. In 1942, the mines were forced to close, and the town busted. After the war ended, reopening the mines was attempted, but high costs don’t fund dreams, and by 1950 Gold Point was a has-been with only 23 people.

In the 1950s and ’60s, tourism brought on by articles about Gold Point in Western magazines and its appearance in ghost town books brought a different boom. The few remaining residents catered to growing hoards of the curious, but kept watch over the town to prevent it from disappearing piece by piece.

Even so, the post office closed on January 12, 1968. A few positives occurred, including arrival of electricity and a paved road. The 1917 school

Today, Mitchell’s Mercantile houses a museum/store/antique shop.

A cold drink can still be had at the old saloon.

A few “Gary-style” treasures spotted inside Gold Point’s Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Co. building.

At the rear of the Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Co. building is a restaurant filled with relics.

Mitchell’s Mercantile, one of Gold Point’s original stores.

burned in 1973, yet loyal residents remained, and a few new ones arrived.

Gold Point has a past. It has a present. It also has a future.

Now privately owned, the town has a population of barely two dozen, but in this fascinating amalgam of past and present life goes on. Most of the buildings have been stabilized or restored, and the friendly and gregarious owners welcome visitors, regaling them with stories of the past.

Gold Point will not disappoint. What you see is what you get— a tough little survivor in the heart of the great Nevada Outback, just off Highway 266. 

GARY B. SPECK says, “In 1984, I had no idea I’d still be writing this column in 2014!

Every year brings new sites to explore, old friends to revisit, and thousands of faithful readers to share our adventures.

Thank you all for making this column possible!

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 23

APRIL

Calendar Of Events

24-27 - KEENE & MARLBOROUGH, NH: 21st Annual Best O' North East (BONE); Organized by Professional Treasure Hunters Historical Society & Streeter’s Treasure Hunting Supply; BONE always donates yearly to the U.S. Wounded Warrior Project & St Jude's Children's Research Hospital; For more info and complete details contact George, Streeter's Treasure Hunters Supply, Telephone 603-876-4443, website www.streeter.org, email gfs41@yahoo.com 26 - VA BEACH, VA: 27th Annual Open Hunt sponsored by Tidewater Coin And Relic Club; held on the beach in front of the Wyndham Hotel, 5700 Atlantic Ave, VA Beach, VA. Free parking and lunch for all paid participants! For more info contact Ina Finn, sanddigger@charter.net or (757) 679-0467 or check our website www.tcrc.com.

26-27 - SAPULPA, OK: 28th National Open Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the Three Forks Treasure Hunters Club, held at Creek County Fairground located 4 miles west of Sapulpa, OK on Hwy. 66.

Seven different hunts available. All entry fees go back into the hunt as coins and prizes. One metal detector will be given for each 25 main entries plus additional prizes. Concession stand will be open.

RV hookup available. Limited entry - act fast. For more info go to www.threeforkstreasurehunters.org or Gary Young, 918869-6205 or Larry Koch, 918-348-6780.

27 - MILTON, MA: 2014 John Govoni Memorial Hunt, sponsored by the Massachusetts Treasure Hunting Association, held at Houghton’s Pond, Milton, Massachusetts 02186.

Registration Sunday 9 a.m. Two Hunts/Raffles/Prizes/Silver. Registration form online and more info at: www.masstreasure.com or call 781-4247472.

MAY

3 - ONSET, MA: 22nd Annual Open Hunt, sponsored by The Gateway Treasure Hunters Club, held rain or shine at Onset Beach in Onset, Massachusetts. Raffles, 3 Hunts, Lunch Break, Raffles for all unfound token prizes! Registration form can be requested by e-mail: gthcsecretary@yahoo.com or go to www.gthclub.com to print one out.

17-18 - NEW STANTON, PA: 2nd Annual Open Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the Silver Seekers, held Fox Den Acres Campground, New Stanton, PA. Three hunts each day and other fun activities for everyone. For more info contact Ed Burke at potogold47@gmail.com or call 570-3101530.

17-18 - OCEAN CITY, NJ: 5th Annual Hunt, sponsored by the East Coast Research and Discovery Association, held on the beach at The Music Pier, Ocean City, NJ, adult and kids hunts, lunch provided, Saturday from 8-4, Sunday from 83. For more info go to www.ecrda.org or 24 MAY 2014

call Joe Jorgensen at 973-839-8031.

18 - HOYT, KS: Open National Hunt, sponsored by the Topeka Treasure Hunters, held rain or shine at the Hoyt Community Building in the City Park of Hoyt, Kansas. 100% of entry fees will go back into the hunts. Open to all for a full day of hunts starting at 8 a.m. Check In. For more info contact Topeka Treasure Hunters, P.O. Box 1021, Topeka, KS 66601 or Hunt Chairman, Russell Broxterman at 785-256-2925 or email: russellbroxterman@yahoo.com.

31 - OGDEN, UT: HUNT DATE CHANGE! Hunt previously scheduled for July 5, 2014 has been moved up to be held on May 31, 2014. 14th Open Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the Prospectors Club International, held rain or shine. For more info email Norm “Indy” Stiles at: dustyrhodesfinder@yahoo.com or call 801-564-4290.

JUNE

7 - SHAWSVILLE, VA: 23rd Annual Open Hunt, sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Coin & Relic Club, held at Camp Alta Mons in Shawsville, Virginia. Come enjoy the hunts, coins vendors, food, and prizes.

Camping available. Lots of buried coins!

For more info contact Marilyn Epperly at 540-342-0153, or email Linda Brown at obxlindy@yahoo.com 8 - CONCORD, NH: 40th Anniversary Event, sponsored by the Granite State Treasure Hunters for Historic Preservation, held at the Rochester Fair Ground. Event will include both Open and Planted Hunts, over $4,000 in prizes planned. For more info go to: www.gsthc.org 13-15 - COEUR D’ALENE, ID: The 42nd Annual NW Treasure Hunters Club, “Double Blackjack Hunt”. Held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. for more info, contact Duncan Bell, 208-687-1570 or email duncanb73@gmail.com or Linda Scott, 509-995-4268 or email bottles55@q.com 14-15 - PALMER, AK: 38th Annual Metal Detecting Hunt, sponsored by the Alaska Treasure Seekers Society, held at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, France Equestrian Center, 2075 Glenn Highway, Palmer, Alaska. There will be 6 separate hunts held over the 2 day weekend, 3 each day with a potluck lunch each day. For more info contact Secretary Cathy Herrin by email: spotmom@alaskatreasureseekers.net or call 907-315-0206 or visit the club website: http://www.alaskatreasureseekers.com/index.htm 15-21 - VALLONIA, IN: Treasure Fest 2014, celebrating its 6th year, sponsored by multiple clubs, including Hoosier Hills Treasure Hunting Club, the FMDAC, and many businesses for the seven day event.

Held at Starve Hollow State Recreation Area in Vallonia, IN, just south of Brownstown, IN, on Hwy. 135. For more info contact Terry Rittenhouse at tlcorona@frontier.com or call 765-857-2400 or Rick Trout at treasurerick@juno.com or call 574-848-9345.

JULY

12-19 - NEW STANTON, PA: Treasure Week, held at Fox Den Acres Campground, sponsored by many clubs and manufacturers. Eight fun filled days of treasure hunting, free kids hunts, and novice hunts, as well as evening activities. Just minutes from motels and restaurants, and only 2 miles from the PA Turnpike and I70. Come and stay for the week or attend for a day or two. For more info contact Ed Davis at ed1ther@msn.com or call 317-908-8165.

AUGUST

9 - TUNKHANNOCK, PA: 31st Annual Black Diamond Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the Black Diamond Treasure Hunters Club, held at Lazy Brook Park, Rt. 6, Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. For more info please send a self addressed stamped envelope to: B.D.T.H.C., P.O. Box 1523, Kingston, PA 18704 or go to: bdthc.org to download hunt flier, or email: treasure1@comcast.net or call Byard Derr at 215-536-0796, George Walko at 570287-3602, or Ron Denman at 570-2887787.

16-17 - NEW CONCORD, OH: 35th Annual Buckeye Championship Treasure Hunt, sponsored by Don & Bill Hayes. Two all silver main hunts each day. On separate entry fee is the Big Silver Bonanza Hunt with nothing but silver quarters and larger coins.

Fun hunts each day plus a night hunt on Saturday. For more info contact Don Hayes at dmhayes61@sbcglobal.net or call 740252-1322.

SEPTEMBER

13 - KNOX, NY: 44th Annual Club Hunt, sponsored by the Empire State Metal Detector Association, held at Knox Town Park, Knox, New York. Three planted hunts on three fields, one a practice penny hunt with Indian Head pennies and prize tokens.

Two large fields will have over $5,000 in silver planted in the ground. All members and family are invited to the picnic for free. This is a picnic hunt, so don’t forget to bring a dish. For complete info and forms visit our club website: http://www.esmda.org/ 20 - ROCHON SANDS, AB, CANADA: 3rd Annual Fall Extravaganza, sponsored by the Edmonton and Calgary Metal Detecting Clubs, held at the Summer Village of Rochon Sands at Buffalo Lake in central Alberta. Come join us for a day with 2 seeded hunts, a kids hunt, contests of skill. Lots of great prizes including detecting gear, silver and other coins. Lunch is included for registered hunters. Camping onsite, motels close by. For more info go to www.abmdhunt.ca, email at info@emdc.ca or cmdc.club@gmail.com, Mike Carey at emdc.mike@gmail.com, 780-459-4364.

Editor's Note: Include a street address with all Calendar submissions. Send to: W&E Treasures, P.O. Box 37, Sausalito, CA 94965, email editor@wetreasures.com, 4-5 months in advance.

Author Wayne Hartzell gazed in amazement as out of the ground came an oval “US” belt plate... the second one he’d found!

Relics like these aren’t just for seasoned, savvy searchers with a lot of secret hotspots... you can find them, too!

Lightning Strikes Twice!

By Wayne Hartzell a I’ve been an avid relic dropped and fired bullets, varihunter since 1998 and have ous Federal and Confederate made some incredible Civil War buttons, to fuses and shell fragments, to period coins. But one finds over those 15 years, from

Wayne had never found or even seen a button quite like this one before, and he soon discovered why. It’s a scarce Civil War period cadet button from the Westwood Military School in Lynchburg, Virginia.

“must find” item on almost every relic hunters’ wish list is a Federal or Confederate belt plate. Many people wait a lifetime to dig one, let alone two as I did late last year.

If you’ve never dug a “US” or “CS” belt plate, you are not alone, but I am proof that these highly coveted relics are still out there. As we’ve all been repeatedly reminded, it starts with doing your research, then seeking lawful permission from the landowner to search the area. A buddy and I did just the same, and I was rewarded with my first Federal Civil War buckle nearly three years ago. (See W&ET Aug.’11.)

My buddy and I always try to dig together, but occasionally our work schedules and other commitments don’t allow us to team up. Such was the case last December, when he sent me a text reporting two finds he had just made on his property in Virginia, a Civil War saddle shield, and some sort of large lead rosette. With this information in hand, I just knew there had to be more relics at that site.

So, after confirming a date to detect together, I arrived on his doorstep at 7:00 a.m., ready for a day of digging.

After hunting for about two hours and finding only the occasional square nail, iron whatsits, WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 25

After careful cleaning, the gleaming gilt “CADET W.M.S.” enjoys pride of place in the author’s button collection.

and a plethora of modern blackpowder dropped bullets, we decided to try a different area of his property that rises gently and provides a commanding view of the overall landscape. Not more than 30 minutes later, he called out to me, saying that he had just dug some brass with the initials “US.” His prize was a Federal bit boss in excellent dug condition.

After exchanging high fives, we continued our search, and soon after that I dug a small onepiece, flat button with no discernible markings on the face but a very clean backmark: SCOVILLS.TREBLE.GILT MINT EDGE. “OK,” I thought, “this area definitely holds promise.” Getting a good hit on my Fisher F75 LTD, and thinking I might have found a period bullet, I dug about 7" down and found not a bullet but a button I had never seen before, yet alone dug.

I handed it to my buddy, who gently removed some clinging soil, revealing gilt and the word CADET over a building, with the letters W.M.S. below. The backmark read, “SCOVILL.MG.CO.SUPERFI NE.” We knew that the area where we were detecting was once Confederate lines during 26 MAY 2014

one of the battles fought here, and thereafter must have been occupied by Federal forces.

Later, through research online, we learned that the initials W.M.S. represent Westwood Military School, an academy in Lynchburg, Virginia prior to the Civil War, making this a Confederate cadet button. In excellent condition, retaining almost 90% of its original gilt, it is listed in Albert’s button book as SU 432.

Not more than 5' away I dug the front half of a New York Militia button, but could not locate the back. We both found some period lead as well. I dug a dropped .36 caliber round ball, and my buddy came up with a nice dropped .58 three-ringer.

After a quick lunch we decided to head back to the area where we had been working.

Walking back up the knoll of the hill, not more than five minutes after turning on his machine, my buddy dug a beautiful eagle “I” button. Since there has been no farming at all behind the property, all of the buttons have retained most of their original luster— a rarity here in Virginia, where many fields are heavily fertilized, which just eats away at brass and coins. He continued to hunt this small area and in less than half an hour had eagle “I” buttons, all in excellent condition.

Next, he dug a nice Indian Head “fatty” cent from what we believe to be a fire pit or a hut

Although dug relics often have some damage, all the attachments remain intact on the back of Wayne’s prized plate.

location. We plan to do further exploration of these hut sites soon. Meeting the challenge, I then dug an ornate, gold-plated antique ring with no discernible markings inside the band. What relationship might it have with the relics we recovered? Was it a sweetheart ring or a keepsake ring? We may never know the answers, or the fate of the person who wore it.

Now digging nothing but modern black-powder drops, yet completely happy with what we had recovered earlier, we continued working around the knoll. Suddenly, my F75 LTD rang out loudly and locked on a target about 7" deep. Removing 6" or so of dirt, I could see the outline of a U and exclaimed,

“No way! Not another ‘US’ buckle!”

My buddy excitedly replied, “Don’t tell me you dug a ‘US’ buckle!”

I said, “You’re never going to believe this... but yes, I did!”

Pulling the buckle out from the damp Virginia dirt, I handed it to my buddy who has yet to dig his first ‘US’ buckle. I offered to give him this one on the spot, an offer which he deeply appreciated but graciously declined. After looking at it together for a moment, we exchanged high fives. All its attachments intact, except for a few hairline cracks the plate is in excellent condition. After digging a large checker-patterned flat button, I was done for

the day, still soaring on a relic hunting high!

I used to think that finds like these were only for the elite hunters who had far more knowledge and far better places to hunt than I did. Now I realize how wrong I was. I have learned that as long as you put in the necessary hours of research and obtain lawful permission from landowners to hunt, you have just as much opportunity as the next person to unearth not only your first but your second and third buckle as well. Yes, in Civil War relic hunting, lightning does indeed strike twice— and sometimes thrice! My new goal is to dig a buckle a year, beginning in 2014.

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WESTERN & & EASTERN EASTERN TREASURES TREASURES 29 29 WESTERN

Dug by Patrick, this bit boss belonged to Company B of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry.

Bit Boss Bonanza

been seeking.

A week after Patrick had recovered the carbine bullets and the eagle button, we returned to the same location.

Searching in the nearby field, we began finding dropped carbine bullets. To be fair, Patrick was digging up the bullets, and I was unearthing very little. He easily located three or four carbine bullets before I found my one, and that is how it went for several trips to the site.

Unfortunately, I had yet to invest in a detector with the depth capabilities I needed. So, I was seriously outgunned.

On our first return trip to the cavalry site, Patrick dug several carbine bullets and a solid brass U.S. bit boss. He was beaming as he showed me the bit boss, and I was green with envy. We left the field that day with a pocketful of carbine bullets, one bit boss, and a smiling Patrick.

Ambling back to the car, we talked about how awesome it would be if one of us could recover the mate to his find.

(There are two bit bosses on each horse bit— one on each

By Joe Colombo Four years ago Patrick ter “C”, denoting cavalry.

These finds were strong indicaGloyd and I were searching for a tions that we had finally stumUnion cavalry site. We were bled onto the cavalry site we’d scanning an area littered with tin cans, broken bottles, pulltabs, pieces of aluminum foil, and other useless scraps. However, it wasn’t a total waste of time, because I recovered two gold rings, a silver 1774 Spanish 1/2 real, and an 1827 large cent. I would call that an excellent morning.

Patrick, being younger and faster, was ahead of me by leaps and bounds, or more like 15 to 20 yards. Searching just beyond the trashy area in a field munched clean by grazing cows, by the end of the morning he had recovered a handful of dropped .54 cal. carbine bullets, a sword belt hanger, and a Joe and Patrick dug several sword hooks. An example still on the belt is shown Union eagle button with the lethere for comparison.

30 MAY 2014

Joe recovered this Confederate sling buckle at the Union Cavalry camp.

Patrick was rewarded with this Union buckle the same morning that he found four bit bosses.

side of the horse’s head.) As it turned out, we would find a bit more!

On the very next trip, Patrick continued to excavate three or more bullets for every bullet that I recovered, and he dug up another bit boss. Now he had a pair of bit bosses, although it was not a matching set. The two were slightly different, perhaps manufactured in different foundries.

As usual, I was only finding the bullets that were closer to the surface, while Patrick was digging up items that were 6" or deeper. Occasionally, he would get a good signal and call me over. I would scan the same

area and receive absolutely no response— nothing! I also discovered that my detector would not respond to the brass of a bit boss unless it was very near the surface. I would pass over an area, only to hear, “Hey, Joe, I found another bit boss!”

On another trip, Patrick recovered several bullets, a worn eagle button, and a very special bit boss stamped “B2C”— unmistakable evidence that this site had been occupied, perhaps briefly, by the U.S. 2nd Cavalry.

I don’t want to give the impression that the site was easy pickings. We had to work for our finds. Each trip to the field

This brass heart, first thought to be a martingale, was later identified as a rosette.

would yield a few bullets and one or two brass items. In fact, we made many trips to that pasture, and the relics kept getting fewer and harder to locate.

Even so, there were hotspots, and there were those special, unforgettable mornings.

Repeated trips, as time permitted, yielded many more carbine bullets and a few pistol bullets as well. The fun came with finding the brass. One morning Patrick found a hotspot, unearthing six or seven bullets, four bit bosses, and for his grand finale, a Union belt buckle.

On one very unusual day, I actually recovered more bullets than Patrick. Admittedly, it was a fluke, but I hit a hotspot and, without getting off my knees, was happily digging bullets one after another.

Over the course of several weeks I had been finding .54 cal. bullets and miscellaneous

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 31

An “A” artillery button found at the cavalry camp.

brass items: several bit bosses, rivets, a belt keeper, a plain rosette, a sword belt hanger, and two eagle buttons (one of which was a cavalry button), and a token. The token is octagonal, about the size of a quarter, and has “G.W. McC. & Co.” on the front. The reverse has the number 4. I have not yet been able to attribute this interesting find.

Aside from numerous bit bosses, Patrick was also finding brass rivets, eagle buttons, an artillery button, a folding camp spoon, a brass “bat-wing” for a carbine sling, sword belt hangers, and an Indian Head cent.

He was definitely garnering the

Some of the bullets and brass found at the cavalry site.

The author has not yet attributed this “maverick” octagonal token that he unearthed at the cavalry camp.

A “US” plate, four bit bosses, bullets, and an Indian Head cent, all recovered by Patrick in one morning.

34 MAY 2014

lion’s share of the relics with his superior machine.

I finally swallowed my pride and ordered a metal detector exactly like Patrick’s, but I also added a larger coil that I felt would give me the edge scanning the previously hardsearched areas. Now we were on equal footing— well, except for the fact that Patrick was still younger and faster!

On the first day with my new detector, after getting it ground balanced with Patrick’s assistance, I had visions of bullets, belt buckles, and bit bosses jumping into my pockets!

Patrick began searching where we had been standing, and promptly recovered a bit boss on the exact spot where earlier I had been struggling to ground balance my new detector. It was the bit boss that had been causing my ground balancing issue! That was a valuable lesson for me. He immediately tried to give me the bit boss, which I would not accept.

On another occasion, Patrick walked over to show me a heartshaped brass item that he had dug in the same area that we had searched repeatedly. I told him I

thought it was a horse martingale. Patrick didn’t think it was big enough to be a martingale, however, and later confirmed that it was a rosette. He found it in an area that both of us had previously avoided because it was in a small depression with high grass.

Now I was matching Patrick almost item for item. We had searched the same area continuously for several weeks, and finds had gone from plentiful to sparse. I was using the large coil and told Patrick that he should purchase one, too. The proverbial shoe was on the other foot, but this time the advantage was mine.

On one of our last trips to the site my large coil paid for itself. I had recovered several bullets and was pleasantly surprised to unearth my first sling buckle. It was in excellent con-

The 6 lb. cannonball before and after two weeks of electrolysis tank and several coats of polyurethane.

dition with a fine green patina. I walked over to Patrick, who confirmed that it was definitely a sling buckle of the type that would have been worn by a cavalryman. However, this one looked a little different, and he asked to take it home to research it further. It was the find of the day!

The larger coil gave me a

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definite edge. It would scan just a little deeper, and I was also able to cover more ground. At one point we tested it. I had a signal that sounded good, but Patrick’s detector didn’t respond. It was that little bit of extra depth that gave me the edge that day.

Later that evening, Patrick called to tell me that I had recovered a cavalry sling buckle, all right, but it wasn’t a Union sling buckle. He was certain it was a Confederate sling buckle, a copy of the standard Union 1841 pattern for cavalrymen. The overall design and width are identical, but the Confederate version is shorter— 51 x 68 mm, compared to 51 x 83 mm for the Union sling buckle.

Altogether we recovered several hundred carbine and pistol bullets, along with miscellaneous camp and horse equipment. Additionally, we found 25 solid-cast brass bit bosses of at least six different varieties.

Patrick’s research indicates that the site was occupied by three different cavalry regiments at various times.

We will probably return to the site at least one more time, because, as they say...

You can never final it all! 

Author Bill Dancy in the field of a 17th century site.

Innovative Research Reveals New Relic Sites

By Bill Dancy The acquisition of land with which was incorporated in 1606. the potential for abundant Their primary objective was to resources was one of the primary direct their labors toward the promotivations behind the settlement duction of profits for the of Virginia. The first inhabitants investors. However, once it of Jamestown were employees of became apparent that the gold the Virginia Company of London, and silver they were seeking did

An assortment of 17th century trapezoidal and spectacle buckles.

not exist, all efforts became directed toward development of a vigorous tobacco industry that required large amounts of land and many workers.

The headright system, introduced in 1618, was an attempt to solve labor shortages due to the advent of the fast-growing tobacco economy. It was also put into place as a means to attract new settlers to the Virginia colony. This system was very successful in stimulating immigration to the New World as it prescribed that any who paid his own way to Virginia would be assigned 50 acres of land for “his owne personal adventure.” Additionally, if a settler transported “at his

This Sidney King painting depicts a Colonial harvest scene. (Image courtesy of Jamestown Photo Gallery.)

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 37

owne cost” one or more persons, he was awarded 50 acres of land for each passage that was paid. This included family members, friends, indentured servants, and slaves. So, if a person paid the transportation costs for himself and seven others, he would be entitled to a 400-acre land grant in the colony.

In 1623 the Further proof of 17th century occupation was proVirginia Company vided by these early buttons. was dissolved, and the Crown then began to distribute land through the Royal Governor.

Land grants were issued in two ways— through the headright system, or to persons who paid money to the state treasury (direct purchase). The headright system remained the chief method of land This copy of the original Hardy land patent, written in hard-to-read 17th century English, was found in acquisition in Virginia the Library of Virginia online land grant database. for nearly a century,

This large-bore clay pipe stem also confirmed 17th century activity at the site.

38 MAY 2014

This lead disk bears an “S” or snake design on the front and two attachment points on the reverse.

although it became increasingly subject to abuse.

After paying for the passage of one or more individuals to the colony, the prospective landowner was required to obtain a patent for the land.

First, the governor or local county court provided a certificate that validated the claimed importation of a person. Next, the person seeking the patent would select the land he desired and have an official survey made.

He would then take the description of this land to the colony’s secretary, who created the patent for approval by the governor.

The Hardy patent appears among numerous others on this map discovered online.

Another early button moments after its recovery.

The patent boundary overlaid on a recent aerial photo indicates that most of the area encompasses sloping, wooded, or marshy ground unsuitable for a house site.

This aerial photo shows the site tucked away in a high, remote corner of a cut corn field adjacent to the wood line.

This modern topo map was the key to locating the site, as it displayed the high ground where an early house would likely have been located.

In most cases, the person for whom passage was paid bore an obligation to pay off his debt once arriving in Virginia, which led to the development of indentured servitude. Depending on whether or not the worker was a skilled tradesman, he would generally be required to work from five to seven years to pay for his passage. The servant was provided room and board in return for working in his master’s fields. Upon completion of the contract the servant would generally receive a prearranged termination bonus that might include land, money, a gun, clothes, or food that could be used to start his own farm. This might seem like a good deal, but records show that only about 40% of indentured servants survived to complete the terms of their contracts.

Plantation owners also took advantage of the system when they paid for transportation of imported slaves, as this was more economically beneficial in the long term. However, by the late 1600s it was decided that headrights could only be used for English immigrants, and that paying for the transportation of a slave could no longer be used to secure land.

All this is very interesting, but how can knowledge of land patents and headrights be used to

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 39

Finds from several hunts verified the existence of a 17th century site.

a Colonial relic hunter’s advantage? Well, by digging a little deeper I was able to determine that after receiving a patent each settler was required to build a house and start planting crops within three years, or the land

would revert back to the Crown or state for re-patenting. This was valuable information, as it meant that nearly all of the hundreds of early land patents in my neck of the woods likely contained a 17th century dwelling.

Part of a Colonial brass pastry jigger was found. A complete example is included here for comparative purposes.

40 MAY 2014

By far the most common relics recovered at this site were lead and pewter musketballs.

Additionally, there’s also a good chance that each patent contained other sites that were occupied by indentured servants or slaves.

This dramatically increased the potential for discovering early artifacts in my main hunting area.

The boundaries for these large parcels of land were originally described in terms of geographic features such as specific creeks, swamps, large trees, adjacent patents, and other landmarks that existed at that time.

Because the descriptions in the patents are vague, ambiguous, and complex, it is a difficult task to locate the land described with any degree of precision.

However, over the years researchers have studied these hard-to-read original patent documents and produced maps showing the best approximation “New Relic Sites” Continues On Page 55.

J.J. also recovered an 1865 Indian Head penny during the hunt.

Doug, John, J.J., and Josh hit the field on the first day of the hunt.

Saline River Relics

By Quindy D. Robertson The relic-hunting Tennessee a coat size eagle “C” cavalry officer’s button.

Trio— Doug Holder, Josh Tyree, The Sunday after and I— had searched for Civil Thanksgiving, the Trio met the War relics near Culpeper, Freemans at our hotel about Virginia back in 2009, joining noon. John and J.J. (John, Jr.) veteran Oklahoma relic hunter had arrived the night before to John Freeman and his son, John, scout a site that until now had Jr. John had been relic hunting been officially closed to relic for 40 years and was very profihunting for over 20 years. On cient both at researching sites and Sunday morning, J.J. scored a using detectors. We had a lot of fun hunting together in Virginia, and they obviously shared our passion for Civil War relics.

We regularly kept in touch after those Virginia hunts, and John suggested that we meet about halfway between our homes and hunt a site near the Saline River in central Arkansas.

The 2013 trip was our fourth in the last couple of years. Finally our schedules allowed us all to hunt together. During our third John Freeman Jr. dug this 1875 trip to the area, John recovered a Seated Liberty dime near an old home rare musketoon bullet, and I dug site along a well-used Civil War road.

nice 1875 Seated Liberty dime and 1865 Indian Head cent at the site of an old home on a Civil War road used by troops advancing toward the Saline River in 1864. Both John and J.J. dug some fired and dropped Civil War bullets that morning.

However, John was disappointed, having expected far better results. He surmised that poachers had hit the site during earlier years.

We left the hotel about 1:00 p.m. and traveled to a joint-use Civil War site on private land near the Saline River. The weather was very nice for early December, with mild temperatures.

We stopped at the landowner’s home to let him know we were returning to hunt, even though John had already secured permission for the five of us to detect. We hunted hard until near dark, and John made the best finds that afternoon with his old Fisher Coin Strike detector. He prefers to use that machine at that site due to high mineralization. His best finds included an eagle breastplate and two eagle buttons. Everyone dug Civil War bullets, and I found two parts of a broken Union spur.

Doug tried unsuccessfully to recover the other half of an 1851 sword belt plate that he had dug

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 41

Finds from a trip to a dual-use Civil War site.

The author came up with this carved bullet at the Civil War camp.

on our first hunt at that site. It’s his guess that some other hunter recovered it. As we packed it in for the day, John suggested that we hunt the old home site near the trail the next morning.

The weather on Monday was unseasonably warm as well. We parked near the old home site and scattered out in an open field.

Doug found a piece of bar lead with the letters “CO” molded into it. Bar lead was melted down to mold bullets. I dug a

John dug this large “P” policeman’s button (center).

Doug unloads gear for the hunt after a seven-hour drive from Tennessee.

42 MAY 2014

smaller piece with “T L O” on it.

John pulled up an Indian Head cent with an unreadable date.

Josh dug three dropped .577 cal.

Enfield bullets. It’s a tossup as to whether they are U.S. or C.S.A., as the Confederates were in pursuit of Federal troops there on the old road. I also found a cuff-size eagle button and a .58 cal. threering from the field.

After lunch, we decided to head to the swamp woods and see if any relics remained that were dropped by the thousands of troops passing along and on both sides of the old road. We fanned out in the woods, wearing blaze orange as it was still deer

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Finds from another morning hunt.

season. The temperature was in the upper 60s, and we hunted with only long-sleeved shirts.

None of us were prepared for what happened next.

I was not wearing headphones and heard Josh and J.J. call out. I walked through the woods to them, and there was a 5' cottonmouth snake, basking in the sun and very much alive.

Later, Josh told us that he was just 6" away when he looked down and saw it. If he had bumped the snake, it’s very possible that it would have struck out of instinct, and we were miles from medical care. Caution in the woods was the watchword after that. One thing that I could not get accustomed to was the fire ant mounds. On an earlier trip, Doug and I both had painful experiences with them. If you accidentally break into one of their mounds on a moderately warm day, they will quickly get all over your gloves and clothes, and their bites are very painful.

We don’t have them in our part of Tennessee yet, and I hope we never do. On our way from the hunt site, we saw a large hornet’s nest hanging from a tree, but Josh said that it was empty. Such hazards to relic hunters are abundant in Arkansas, even in late autumn.

The next morning brought heavy fog, all the way from the hotel to our hunt site. We

returned to the Civil War camp area, where my first signal was a carved bullet. John dug a twopiece button displaying a letter on a lined field. We initially thought that it was an Old English “A” with wreaths on both sides, but John later determined that it was actually a “P.” It was probably an old policeman’s button, as there was a postCivil War home on that property.

We all dug brass knapsack and harness brads, common finds at that site, as well as a few bullets.

J.J. scored his second Indian Head of the hunt, a 1903.

About 1:00 p.m. we returned to the hotel, packed up, said goodbye, and headed back to our homes in Oklahoma and Tennessee. We didn’t make any earth-shattering recoveries as they always seem to do on certain TV “reality” shows. Our treasure was the time we spent renewing

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friendships and enjoying hunting together. As I get older, the company of good friends greatly outweights who found what on a hunt. We look forward to teaming up again soon.

Happy hunting!  Author’s Note: Sincere thanks to John Freeman, John Freeman, Jr., and Josh Tyree for their generous assistance in the preparation of this article.

The Tennessee Trio and the Freemans unearthed these artifacts at an old home site where thousands of soldiers marched by in late 1864.

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 43

Jeff explores the area around the spring.

Ohio Relics Spring Forth

By Jeffery J. Fisher The story starts with research Ed Markley secured permisand information gleaned from sion from an acquaintance for local history books, and watchBob Fought, Mike Morehouse, ing for possible sites while my Bill Kreiling, my sons Ben and detecting partners and I commute Zach, and me to detect on land to work daily. When confident of that had been settled years earlia decent location, we then er. A farmhouse had been built at approach the landowner to obtain the base of a spring and later permission, and often it is granted after some honest and sincere conversation.

An early and scarce U.S. military button recovered near the mouth of the spring.

44 MAY 2014

Author Jeffery J. Fisher, a detecting enthusiast for 26 years, supports responsible coin and relic hunting for everyone.

removed during a road project in the early 1960s, to raise the roadbed. Most of the land we would be searching had been virtually untouched as it sat on a higher elevation overlooking the road. Although the farm was settled during the mid 1800s, it was the history prior to this homestead that we wanted to examine.

Without the aid of Ed Markley and his detector, the spring might never have shared its secrets.

Situated in a wooded area about 200 yards from the road and a few miles south of town, this lonely water source apparently

The searchers unearthed buttons of various sizes in pewter, tombac, and brass.

“Though our sights were on the homestead from the mid 1800s, the spring might never have come to light had it not been for the time taken to study local history.”

had been visited by Native Americans as well. Its history clearly was as long as it is intriguing.

Ed soon recovered an early U.S. 16-Star Navy/Diplomatic button near the mouth of the spring, a find attesting to the military presence here in northern Ohio as tention and conflict between the new nation and Great Britain continued. There are many military campaign trails throughout the area, and quite often these same trails were frequented by the Native Americans who first forged these trails into the Ohio Territory.

Freshwater springs like this one along the way were vital to survival.

Relic hunting near the spring has yielded numerous buttons of

This native copper nugget holed for use as a bead attests to a prehistoric presence in the area.

various sizes and metals, including pewter, tombac, and brass.

Bill Kreiling also located two large cents with his White’s MXT. Found within a 4' area, all dated from the mid 1800s.

Another relic that excited us is a small native copper nugget that Ed found at a depth of 4".

Measuring around 5/16", it has been holed for use as a bead or pendant. Prehistoric people liv-

ing in what would later become Ohio had discovered copper around Sandusky, 90 miles north of the spring, and perhaps farther.

They mined the raw metal and then fashioned it into celts, spear points, and other weapons and tools.

Bob Fought discovered evidence of flint scattered around the spring and nearby areas as well. This led us to speculate

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 45

that there was once a heavy occupancy of prehistoric peoples who used this spring.

Although I have cited only a few of our recoveries in this article, I feel that the military button and the copper nugget told us the best story. Though our sights were on the homestead from the mid 1800s, the spring might never have come to light had it not been for the time taken to study local history on the Internet and in books at the local library.

Quite often the general public may not even be aware of its local history, or the value of the information one can gather from obscure history books. Most are even less aware of the contributions of coinshooters and relic hunters in locating, documenting, and preserving historical items that would otherwise sure-

Hunting buddy Ed Markley who eventually located the military button and copper nugget near the spring.

ly remain forgotten and lost.

Author’s Note: I am now 46 years old and started metal detecting as a teenager. My

detectors of choice are the White’s V3I and MXT Pro. I’ve always kept my eyes open for treasure, and today my sons, Benjamin and Zachary, are following in my footsteps. I see a mirrored image of myself, and I’m proud of them. They are my first and real treasure. I also want to thank my hunting buddies for being patient with me as they work alongside me, knowing my quirks for perfectionism.

Finally, I want to salute all detector enthusiasts. We practice this hobby together and a common theme prevails for all. Always inquire about permission to detect and leave the properties as you found them.

I could continue on with my story about the copper nugget, but I will put a button on it! 

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The Houser home in Gassville, Arkansas, c. 1910. Often properties like this can be found with the help of a local realtor.

Do It Again!

By Doug Pettit Treasures could lie beneath During the 2012 campaign your feet on the very path you season, in the heat of battle on a take in life. Whether your treasocial network website, a friend sure hunt takes you to a pre-Civil told me that I needed a new War site or a random “For Sale” hobby. I thought about it and sign with the property owner’s decided he was right. “Well, what name and number catches your could I do?” I asked myself. eye as you’re driving by, taking Maybe I could choose something advantage of these opportunities that would incorporate a little can lead to real rewards. exercise, since my job as a realtor

Sporting a “For Sale by Owner” sign, this vacant lot— searched with permission— gave up five silver dimes, several Wheat cents, and a Columbia Gold Award slot machine token.

Oscoda, MI 48750

is not physically challenging, compared to when I worked in construction for a living.

I decided to renew an old hobby I had enjoyed some 15-20 years ago— coin and relic hunting with a metal detector. My first detector was a White’s Coin Master IV, and my oldest coin finds included a silver 1812 Spanish half real, an 1892 Canadian half dime, and an 1885 Indian Head cent.

It just happened to be around Christmas time, so I hinted for a Garrett ATP Pro. Fortunately, Santa was really good to me that year. The oldest coin that I’ve found so far is an 1890 Indian Head. The deepest coin I’ve found, a Wheat cent, was 12" down. This Christmas, I hinted for a subscription to Western & Eastern Treasures. Sure enough, Santa came through and my wish came true once again!

While I did not get rich my first year back in the hobby, I indirectly made money from the sale of a house at which I happened to be metal detecting! As I was searching a yard for coins, a lady

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 47

walked up and said that she had tried to buy this house before. I replied, “Would you like to buy it now?”

Fortunately, she did! I ended up writing her an offer, and ultimately she bought the house.

The commission on the home more than repaid Santa for the detector!

I have called on three different properties with “For Sale by Among author Doug Pettit’s unusual finds is this Owner” signs. As a whimsical Billy ’Possum pin from the 1908 presi- result, I not only got dential campaign of William Howard Taft. permission to search

Back to the old grind! After Doug discovered this antique amid fencerow debris, the property owner gave it to him.

Three more keepers (l-r)... an 1890 Indian Head cent, an International Paper Co. safety award, and a silver Roosevelt dime.

48 MAY 2014

the yards, but got one of the homes as a listing with the potential for more income when it sells.

I found silver coins at all three locations. The oldest coin I recovered at the house I sold was a 1919 Wheat. I also dug a couple of other Wheat cents, some clad coins, and a W.W. mark lock, plus an $891 commission check. Not a bad take for one yard!

A friendly realtor can be a great research asset. I suggest asking him to send you a list of homes by date of construction. I have a search set up for homes older than 1930, and a local search listed homes dating from 1857 to the ’30s. If the year a home was built is known, your realtor can use that information in search criteria for old homes in your area, and then e-mail the listings to you. Take note of the owner’s name or address, then go to the county government tax records website and find out who the current owners are. The age of some houses is unknown, and in those cases your agent would have to manually go through listings and look at photos to see if the home looks old. If you do not have a computer, you can go to your county clerks office and find out who the owner is. It is a matter of public record, so you should be able to easily get this information. The people who work in the clerk’s office for my county are always friendly and very helpful when I need a warranty deed for a new listing.

Now that you know who owns the property, go to Whitepages.com or a similar website and see of their phone numbers are listed. If you just have an address for a property you want to hunt, try doing a reverse address search to find the homeowner’s name and phone number.

Your best chance of getting permission is to ask in person, but if

they live too far away, give them a call. No phone number? Then you might try to write them a letter asking for permission to search their yard.

Your realtor might have a plat book, which is basically an ownership map of all the properties in the county. You can also purchase them at marcelinemapping.com or call them at (660) 376-2755.

The books show roads, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, railroads, symbols for schools, cemetery locations, and best of all, who owns the land on which that old home site is located. A plat book could prove very helpful in locating the owners of that old homestead you noticed while driving around.

Using methods like these, I’ve found a 1916-D Walking Liberty half dollar, two Standing Liberty quarters (no dates), a 1912 Barber dime, four Mercury dimes, two silver Roosevelt dimes, the aforementioned 1890 Indian Head, a sterling silver ring, and numerous Wheats and clad coins.

Other neat items include a watch fob from the Arkansas Dry Goods Co., Batesville, Arkansas; a “Billy Possum” from the 1908 presidential campaign of William Howard Taft; an International Paper Company safety award medal, a Columbia Gold award medal, and a two-headed horse bolo tie. One of my finds was not even metal. I spied an old grinding stone among the debris along a fence line, and when I asked the owner about it, he gave it to me. It is now resting comfortably on our front porch.

Recently, after reading the Silver & Gold annual for the first time, I got the fever and was on the hunt for a new spot. Driving around, I saw a “For Sale” sign and stopped to ask the owner if they might want to list their house. She said they were selling

Two heads are better than one... at least when they’re on a bolo tie slide, shown here with a couple of other recent jewelry recoveries.

A number of interesting items lay beneath this Mountain Home, Arkansas lawn, yet it didn’t yield a single old coin. www.simmonsscientificproducts.com

28404 WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 49

Found at an old store site near Buford, Arkansas, this bellshaped, Egyptian motif pin bears a lotus and scarab.

the bush hog out front, not their home.

Not bashful, I asked the lady if she would give me permission to look in her yard with my detector. She said that others had searched before, but I was welcome to go ahead. She showed me a trade token that one of them had given her after finding it in her yard.

I found a few clad coins and only one item of interest,

Assorted finds from the seemingly coin-free yard in Mountain Home.

50 MAY 2014

Huh? A curious question-mark logo tops this W.W. padlock.

a bell-shaped pin with a neat Egyptian motif.

I had a lot of fun last year, got some good exercise, and am looking forward to next year. I have researched several historic locations, know who owns some of the properties, have some of their phone numbers or addresses, and am hoping to gain permission to find more of that treasure under my feet! I encourage any of you who may have gotten too busy with other things or simply lost interest in detecting, to renew your hobby. Do it again! I’m glad I did! ď ˛

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Sweeny, Texas detectorist Darrin Anderson.

Darrin Anderson: Better Health Through Treasure Hunting

By Glenn Thomas My father used to tell me, how he handled his own personal “Son, you’d better be ready for it. “curve ball” that life threw at Sure as shootin’, sooner or later him. life is gonna throw you a curve Darrin, a 40-year-old detecball!” For my treasure hunting torist, grew up in the small, southfriend Darrin Anderson, that day east Texas town of Sweeny. The came sooner rather than later. But town is mainly known for being Darrin is a tough dude, and here’s the location of a large ConocoPhillips Petroleum Corporation refining plant. Houston is not far away, some 60 miles to the north and east. Darrin attended high school at Sweeny and then entered the construction business, where he learned estimating and scheduling work.

He traveled a great deal, going where his work took him before ending up in the State of Clay marbles found at an early 1800s Washington on a jobsite. While plantation near West Columbia, there, he began to have health Texas.

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problems. “I was having trouble sleeping and I was tired all of the time. Finally, not knowing what might be the matter, I went to see the doctors. They said I had pneumonia, so I flew back to Texas to get treated. It was here that I found out I was suffering from heart failure.”

Darrin explained that earlier he had gone through a hip replacement procedure, and the medicines taken to help heal the hip caused damage to his heart.

He now lives with the medical assessment that his heart will never improve its function and that it will continue to operate at 30% of its normal rate. A heart defibrillator installed in Darrin’s chest helps to stabilize his condition, but his medical people advised him to get plenty of exercise.

“Did they actually prescribe the use of a metal detector?” I asked.

“No,” Darrin replied. “We were actually at a carnival-fair over in Beaumont, Texas, when we ran across a White’s metal detector booth on the grounds. I WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 51

thought, you know I’ve always wanted to try using a metal detector, so we bought one. At the time we bought the detector I thought that it would be a good way to dig up some of the history that I’ve always been interested in.”

Darrin hasn’t been sorry for buying the detector— not one bit.

As a matter of fact, he is totally sold on the brand and what it can do for him, and he’s out in the field with it every day. He explained, “This detector is a

White’s Coinmaster... sort of a first time user’s machine, but I really like it. It’s kind of a ‘turn on and go’ model that is simple to operate. It has discrimination that allows me to eliminate iron and other junk, including pulltabs. It only came with the one 10" coil, but I am finding coins as well as relics, so I’m happy with it.”

Darrin’s sister-in-law is also a White’s Electronics user. They often hunt together on forays when one or the other turns up a new and exciting place to hunt. She is a cancer survivor, and as Darrin explained, “We do our hunting mostly locally, but you know it [metal detecting] gives us an escape from our health problems. It’s a form of exercise that lets us get away and get our minds off our problems.

Detecting is good because it also gives us the time to rest, pause, and get our strength back.

We don’t hurry and we rest This Mallory, Wheeler & Co. lock also came from a lot.” the old plantation.

While Darrin

Miscellaneous relics dug by Darrin Anderson at an old plantation.

52 MAY 2014

enjoys the exercise, he really likes the historical part of the hobby.

“Just holding something in your hands that hasn’t been seen since someone lost it 50 or 60 years ago gives me a great feeling. To know that I’m the first person to touch an object that has been in the ground for so long, that it probably would not have been dug up if I hadn’t happened along with my detector, is a special kind of feeling for me.”

Darrin enjoys looking for coins and jewelry, as well as relics. Anything of a historical nature catches his attention. His research if generally limited to a small town library, but he enjoys going online, too. He also likes to keep up with what other treasure hunters are finding. So far, he hasn’t joined a club, but is interested in meeting with other successful hunters to compare notes and learn a trick or two about researching in general.

“I’m always on the lookout for really old places where the settlers came into Texas, particularly. Locally, I’m looking for the old, deserted farmhouses and other places where those settlers lived. Old plantations are good places to look, too. But you have to know someone personally to be able to get permission to hunt many of these old places. Since these were the earliest settled

While coin hunting Darin unearthed this unusual, large medallion.

places, you know that’s where you have to hunt to find the older coins and relics. At least that is how I’ve come to feel about it.”

When I asked Darrin to

describe what he considers to be his most cherished find so far, he quickly replied, “One day I was hunting over in East Columbia, Texas, near the Brazos River. I

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One of several prizes from a plantation bottle dig.

Darrin displays a handful of coins from a hunt in Brazos County, Texas.

Singer sewing machine parts detected and dug from 18" to 36" deep.

was digging mostly bottles, but a square-headed nail would pop up now and then. So, I was getting pretty excited about what I might find. I knew from reading and research that the area was quite old, and finding the square-headed nails was a good sign. Sure enough, I turned up a badge dated 1895 from the Dallas, Texas State Fair. That one find, that one day really encouraged me to get serious about detecting in that area.

Money wise, the badge isn’t all that valuable, but I do value it more than anything I’ve dug up so far. The fact that it is so old and has been lost for so long adds to it.”

Speaking of digging, I was curious to know about his favorite recovery implement.

“I use a standard Lesche digger. You know... the one with the red handle. Also, when I first started detecting, I didn’t use a pinpointer, but I do now and I wouldn’t hunt without one. It’s especially helpful when you don’t want to mess up a private lawn.

Tearing up someone’s yard is the last thing I want to do.

“Personally, I want to give treasure hunting as good a reputation as I can. I’d much rather give back to the public, than to have the public mad at me. Not long ago I was asked to try to find a lost pendant from a necklace.

The first time I looked for it the WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 53

mud was so bad that I had to tell the lady that I would come back after it dried out some.

The next time I looked, it took me maybe 30 minutes to find it. I was glad to do it for her, especially when I saw the look on her face when I handed it back to her. It feels good to help people find lost objects.”

Darrin is quick to More vintage marbles “eyeballed” while metal offer some advice for detecting. beginning detector users.

“Don’t get frustrated. Remember, it only takes one good find to spark your enthusiasm!

With all the trash you will naturally dig, it is easy to become discouraged about what you are doing. Just keep looking.

Remember, too, that you need to start with good equipment. I don’t mean a really expensive detector, but a good brand. As for digging equipment and a good pinpointer get something that you A pair of silverplate spoons found at a 19th century won’t have to replace Texas site. by wearing it out too quickly.

I went through two or three trowels before buying my Lesche.

“A club membership would probably be a good idea for someone just starting out in the hobby. A membership would allow you to compare detectors and what you find with others, to see These ceramic doll parts and dish were found while how you are doing.

Experienced hunters bottle hunting.

54 MAY 2014

This “drop” from the Dallas, Texas State Fair of 1895 is Darrin’s favorite find.

can help you avoid problems, too.

Texas has so many rules about digging and trespassing that a new detectorist could get into real trouble by not knowing what the law allows. There are also a lot of treasure hunting tips and tricks that might be learned from fellow club members, and that would save a new user time in mastering his machine. They could teach you stuff like how to use an ice pick to probe so as to not damage a coin or bottle you are looking for. That’s something that it took me a while to take advantage of.”

When I asked Darrin to sum up what metal detecting has done for him, considering his health status and situation, he didn’t hesitate when he said, “Metal detecting, as often as I can do it, keeps my mind off those problems.

With the defibrillator in place, and by using my detector, I forget about my heart condition and just enjoy getting out every chance I can. Metal detecting, for me gives me something to do so that I don’t think about being sick all the time. Once I get a good hit and start digging, wondering what I may have found, it’s a big build-up for me. Yeah, you could say that metal detecting is a definite release for me!” 

for the various patent boundaries. Even so, it’s highly unlikely the exact boundaries of Colonial properties can ever be determined. It’s also not an easy task to locate copies of these maps, and many times the results you get from different sources don’t perfectly match up, which can cause some degree of uncertainty. Land patent research is not an exact science by any means.

Most of the patent maps I’ve located were ones I randomly came across on the internet, and many of these were associated with various families’ genealogical websites. I was quite surprised to discover how detailed

some of these sites are, and that they also contained many other tidbits which proved to be quite useful in my research efforts.

Patent maps for some of Virginia’s counties were also available from the DeedMapper program, but you must purchase software and individual county data sets to access them. The special collections section at your local or state library may also have information on early land patents.

I feel that the best chance for success in recovering early artifacts comes from working with the smallest size patents.

Although these land parcels can be up to several thousand acres, I

“New Relic Sites” Continued From Page 40.

prefer to start with those in the 100- to 400-acre range, as they make it much easier to locate a potential house site. Since early settlers preferred to construct their dwellings on high, flat ground as well as on knolls or ridges, using current topographic maps along with aerial photos can help to quickly narrow down likely site locations for an early home on any given land patent.

In many cases a large part of the patent may lie on low, swampy ground or on a severe slope, and those areas can be quickly eliminated as a possible house site.

Also, locations near navigable water or a source of fresh drinking water were also preferred and

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should be points of focus.

Once you’ve done all your homework and feel fairly confident that you’re close to pinpointing an early site, the next step is to visit the local county real estate website and determine the owner of the property. Prior to asking permission, it always helps to print out copies of your research materials to present to the owner, as this is a sure-fire way to get your foot in the door.

I always like to start out the conversation by saying something like, “I’ve been researching old homes in the county and have come across some information about your property that you might find interesting.” That almost always gets their attention and is much more effective than simply asking to use a metal detector on their land. Of course, if the owner’s had a bad experience with an unscrupulous relic hunter in the past, he may end the conversation before you even get an opportunity to speak. It would be very frustrating to have done all that work for nothing, but that does happen occasionally even when using this approach.

Now that I’m armed with this new research tool, I’ve totally changed my focus for the current relic hunting season. Since my main interest has become locating and hunting areas of 17th century occupation, I’ve decided 56 MAY 2014

to exclusively seek out those sites I can find through early land patent research. Almost all of these will be undocumented and not previously searched by others, as they’re usually in rather remote or unsuspected locations.

Since this will be much more of a hit-or-miss approach, I’m expecting to recover less in the way of quantity but hopefully better quality than at most of the Colonial sites I typically hunt.

My first attempt at using this method was a great success and increased my confidence in taking this approach. It started out with locating a plat map for a 300-acre land patent that I found on the web— and the location is only about ten minutes from my house. It was granted to George Harding in 1642 for transportation of himself and five others to Virginia. The original patent narratives were written in the Old English style and are very difficult to understand, but short abstracts are available that concisely summarize these documents. Below is the patent abstract as taken from Cavaliers and Pioneers, Volume 1, by Nugent, for the Harding patent: “GEORG HARDING, 300 acs. Upon the Eastermost side of Lawnes Creek, adj. Mr. Tuke & Alice Bennett. June 10, 1642, Page 859. Trans, of 6 pers: Himselfe, Thomas Sabin, Thomas Hardy, Georg Netlefeild, James Strong, Jon. Laith.”

Viewing a topo map of the area, I quickly noticed that a large section of this parcel was wooded land that sloped steeply down to a marshy creek on two sides. On the remaining high ground there was an obvious ridge in the back corner of a cut corn field next to the wood line and near one of the creeks. This seemed to be the best spot for a house on the property— a text-

book example, for sure. After securing permission, I headed directly for that spot and walked into an iron patch and early brick right where I thought it would be.

It wasn’t long before I was able to validate the age of the site, based on the 17th century finds I was recovering.

Unfortunately, I found no coins, but I did recover a nice assortment of period artifacts, including early buttons, trapezoidal and spectacle buckles, numerous musketballs, 6 lb. cannonball, and a few odds and ends.

One of the pipe stems that I eyeballed has a very large 9/64" bore diameter, which equates to earlyto-mid 1600s production. I also dug an interesting lead disk which appears to have an “S” (or a snake?) on the front and two attachment points on the back. I believe this may be a crude, early button, and not necessarily a bale seal as it appears at first glance. I also recovered part of a brass pastry jigger. Missing is the remainder of the handle and the crimping or cutting wheel.

A number of 17th century leather ornaments were also recovered from the site. These are decorative metal items with two or more tines or hooks on the back that are designed to pierce and then fold around the leather to hold the ornaments in place.

Although they might have appeared on personal items such as pouches, belts, sword straps, etc., most examples were likely used as decorations on horse harnesses. They are common finds on most Colonial sites.

A few buttons spanning the 17th and 18th centuries also turned up. Three of them likely date to the mid-to-late 1600s, and these are seldom seen except at the earliest sites. A lone early 1800s flat button and an 1860 Indian Head cent were the only

Two just-dug 17th century trapezoidal buckles.

These brass ornaments likely served as decorations on horse harnesses of the period.

As expected, the c. 1640s house site was located on high ground in the back of the field, next to the wood line.

This early pewter button with an intact rectangular shank was one of the first artifacts recovered from the Hardy site.

19th century artifacts recovered.

These were probably random drops by a farmer or hunter many years after the home was gone.

The cannonball was quite a surprise, especially since it was found within the footprint of the early structure. I remembered reading that artillery shelling took place in this vicinity during the Revolutionary War, from British ships anchored in the James River. However, this site is almost two miles inland. Some Civil War activity took place in this general area as well. The bottom line is that I have no clue where this projectile came from, but I’m not going to complain as it cleaned up nicely and will look great in a display with the other period artifacts found at this site.

Since this first success I’ve expanded my early patent research efforts, and have put together information packages for another 10-12 potential sites.

You can bet that as soon as I’m able, I’ll be back knocking on doors to get myself onto more 17th century sites. I know there are no guarantees, but I like my chances and am hoping that this “outside the box” research technique will continue to lead to the recovery of some amazing personal artifacts lost by our country’s earliest settlers. 

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 57

After a light cleaning, the medal’s lettering was revealed: ATTENDANT 75th ANNIVERSARY BATTLE of GETTYSBURG, HARLOW B. CLARK. The medal’s attachment pin is intact, but rusted. Remnants of the ribbon hanger bar can be seen at the lower left and right.

Who Was Harlow B. Clark?

Many of us in this great hobby can attest to the fact that the end of one hunt can often lead to the beginning of a new one.

Sometimes it’s a hunt to learn what a found object is, or how old it is or what its value is, monetarily or historically. At other times, we hunt for the owner of a lost item when there are initials, names, and dates inscribed, as in the case of a school ring, military dog tag, or other objects with clues to their ownership.

Researching these items can take us to yearbooks, phone directories, and other sources. This article is about using another kind of research to track down the person associated with an identified lost item.

The story begins with a metal detecting adventure near Wakefield, Massachusetts. Along a path, a worn badge with a nameplate was found. After cleaning off the soil, one could easily read, “ATTENDANT 75th Anniversary Battle of

By Bud Bing and Jim Meaney Gettysburg.” On the plate was the name Harlow B. Clark. On the back, by the badge pin, was the number 230.

So, who was Harlow B. Clark? Wouldn’t it be great if we could locate him or a family member and return this historically significant find?

An internet search revealed many Harlow Clarks. There is even a street in Huntington, Massachusetts named Harlow Clark Road. Attempts to follow up on initial search hits led to dead ends. There are a number of genealogical websites, but most seemed to charge for access to their information or require user identification.

At Gettysburg National Military Park, Ranger/Historian John Heiser was very kind to provide information about the 1938 reunion.

It was fascinating to learn that there were 1,845 of approximately 8,000 living Civil War veterans present from the North and South,

not only those from the Battle of Gettysburg. Their average age was 94, and each veteran was accompanied by an official attendant. Badges for both veterans and attendants were provided by the Pennsylvania Commission, who sponsored the reunion. Mr. Heiser sent a list of 11 attendees with the last name of Clark. Of those, four were Confederate and seven were Union veterans.

Because the ATTENDANT’s badge was found in Massachusetts, near Boston, it appeared more likely that Harlow was an Attendant for a Union soldier. Of the seven Union veterans on Ranger Heiser’s list, only one was from any of the New England states.

That veteran was Theodore E. Clark of Boston.

The other six were from California, Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania.

It was not at all clear that an attendant necessarily had the same last name as the veteran.

Hours of searching veterans and

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 59

Harlow B. Clark led to little relevant information.

One evening in January 2013 at a meeting of the Massachusetts Treasure Hunting Association, Jim Meaney, club librarian, who has a strong interest in history and subscribed to and had experience with genealogical website searches, said that he’d be interested in

trying to locate Harlow B. Clark.

A short time after the meeting, Jim reported information on a family found in the 1930 Federal Census under the name of Albert G. Clark. They were located on Whipple Avenue in Stoneham, Massachusetts, next to the town of Wakefield where the badge was found. Albert G. Clark was listed as 47 years of age. There was a wife, Etta G., and four children.

The youngest was Harlow B. Clark, 14 years of age. Interestingly, the location of the house was only a few streets from where the badge was found. If this Harlow B. Clark was the attendant whose name was on the badge, he would have been approximately 22 years of age in 1938, at the time of the reunion. We considered taking a short drive to Stoneham, but Jim found that by the time A complete set of Veteran & Attendant medals, with ribbons. (Photo courtesy of www.FloydMedals.com) of the 1940 census, the Clarks had moved. The wife was reported as a widow, and Harlow B. Clark was listed as a patient at the Danvers State Hospital.

So, was this the right family? Was this the right Harlow B. Clark? We had earlier reviewed the list of reunion attendees and focused on Theodore E. Clark because he was listed as being from Massachusetts. It was entirely possible that Harlow B. was related to one of the other Clarks, or that he was Jeff Clark, Harlow B. Clark’s first cousin oncean attendant for another removed, holds Harlow’s ATTENDANT’s medal, which the authors returned to him 150 years after veteran not named the Battle of Gettysburg.

60 MAY 2014

Clark. So, the search, at this point, represented a guess with possibly a low probability of success.

It was difficult to find Theodore E. Clark in a search of Civil War veterans. A Theodore E. Clark was found, through an internet search, to have been buried in Littleton, Massachusetts in 1938. Finally, a Boston Globe obituary from December 1938 was found for Civil War veteran and G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) member Theodore E. Clark, who had lived in Littleton and Boston. He passed away just a few months after the reunion. A few years earlier, another newspaper article had featured reminiscences of four Massachusetts Civil War veterans at a G.A.R. Encampment. It told the story of how Theodore joined the Union Army at the age of 15 years and 8 months, but had to dye his hair and eyebrows to look older after having been turned away as too young, a month earlier.

We located a birth record indicating that Thereodore Emery Clark was born in Waterford, Vermont on December 26, 1846.

(Misspelling of the first name by the clerk on this document is common.) His wife was Nellie (Ellen) Brown, and her mother was Elizabeth Harlow. Theodore E. Clark served in the 38th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The obituary indicates that he had two sons, Charles L. and Alvah G. Clark.

(Other research tells us that his wife, a daughter, Susan, and a third son, George Harlow Clark, had all died before Theodore.)

Review of information from www.familysearch.org revealed Theodore E. Clark and Ellen A. Clark had a son, Alvah G. Clark, born March 1, 1884.

The 1900 census lists Alvah at age 16. Going back and

This newspaper photo shows Theodore E. Clark as a 91-year-old veteran at a G.A.R. Encampment, c. 1936.

reviewing the 1930 census data indicates that Albert G. Clark was 47, almost a perfect match for being born in 1884. The 1910 and 1920 census both show Alvah G. and Etta G. Clark, so apparently the name Alvah is the correct one, and “Albert” in the 1930 census was an error by the census taker, a fairly common occurrence. Also, on the 1920 Federal Census, Theodore E. Clark, the veteran, is reported to have lived only one street from Alvah G. and son, Harlow B. Clark in the city of Medford, Massachusetts. Their proximity further supports the supposition that they were indeed father, son, and grandson.

So, amazingly, everything seems to fall into place. Harlow B. Clark appears to be the grandson of Civil War veteran Theodore E. Clark and was most likely his attendant at the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1938.

At this point, we do not know what became of Harlow B. Clark.

He was last listed as a patient at the Danvers State Hospital at the time of the 1940 census. His mother, Etta, is listed as a widow in the same census, living in Stoneham but at a different address than where the family

was in 1930. There is a patient cemetery at the Danvers State Hospital grounds, but the name Harlow B. Clark was not listed among the burials there.

What became of Harlow B. Clark? Our research has reached a dead end. His story, after 1940, remains a mystery, but our goal to pass on this badge to a member of the family was achieved when coauthor Jim Meaney located Jeff Clark, living in Georgia. Jeff is the great-great-grandson of Civil War veteran Theodore E. Clark, and the first cousin, once removed, of Harlow B. Clark, Theodore’s attendant at the 75th Battle of Gettysburg Anniversary.

Jeff’s family tree, posted on www.ancestry.com, was a key factor in making this connection.

Jim was able to communicate with Jeff via the “member-connect” feature, available to subscribing members of that family history website.

Needless to say, we were thrilled and honored to return the badge to Jeff Clark in late April of 2013. It was a fitting end to our journey to learn about Harlow B. Clark, the name on the badge. It has been a very interesting and rewarding challenge. What’s more, we were able to do this in

Harlow B. Clark’s grandfather, Theodore E. Clark, as a young soldier.

2013, the year of the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. How neat is that?

While Jim researched the Harlow B. Clark ATTENDANT’s badge, an interesting sidebar story surfaced. In the 1880 U.S. Census, one of Theodore E. Clark’s children was George H(arlow) Clark, age 9. Jim had researched all the children in hopes of discovering more information on Harlow B. Clark.

When he “Googled” George Harlow Clark, Harlow B.’s uncle, he learned that George was listed in a 1912 International Who’s Who book of notable living men and women. A naturalist with the Admiral Robert E. Peary Polar and Greenland Icecap expeditions, George was also commander of a North Alaskan expedition and several minor expeditions in the Arctic. Later, he was a writer for the Youth Companion and Outing adventure magazines. He died in Boston in 1938, the same year as his father, the Gettysburg veteran, and is buried at the same cemetery in Littleton.

Genealogy research is just one of several ways to locate owners of older lost relics and valuables that have a name on them. Like metal detecting and other forms of treasure hunting, the follow-up research, genealogical or otherwise, can be just as fun and rewarding as finding the initial treasure, with a real potential for enhancing its importance to you and to others. Here are a couple of resources for any reader who might like to check out what this genealogy stuff is all about.

But watch out... you might get hooked! www.familysearch.org This is a free access site. www.ancestry.com - U.S. or World subscriptions - free trial available.

Good hunting! 

WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURES 61

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