...of course there is a story with my hunt; the possibility of a story is the information I found so far about a find.
Saturday I took a ride up to a bunch of cellars. As I got there I realized not only did I remove all machines from the car (which I grabbed one to go out) but I also removed the pinpointer. I was pinpointer-less for the day. And of course the gf's makro wasn't in the trunk either. ught. On the way hiking,I saw the same guy who lives where I usually park on the other side of the area. This time he was about 2.2 miles in doing his observation on the land. He did inquire about my knee pads, but unfortunately I hadn't used them yet. Now having used them, I'm not sure they were worth, or if I I wasn't using them correctly so that snow was getting behind it when I knelt and the waterproofness wasn't that great. He got onto the dirtbikers tearing up the gravel and I had to tell him by the next gate there is def a torn up area.
This site was where I had found my largest button ever.
http://www.americandetectorist.com/f...me-1800s-relix
The button is above the turtle. The linked post had both days with me parking on both sides of the area. The turtle was near where I was this time
After the talking I hiked up just a little further. I passed the mill site which still prob has some potential to check again. This time I was just a few hundred yards from where the big button came. I finally found the cellar. I was looking all around for it last time because it was all hills and the hills looked like there were a few flat areas where it could be. I just happened to notice what actually turned out to be the old driveway and the house set just a ways off the road. I noticed the foundation of an outbuilding or a barn and I started working the area from the cellar to the barn. Sure enough I found a buckle. A little ways over in front of the barn I got a brass piece. I thought of what it might be when it came out of the ground but I was uncertain. Towards the NW corner of the cellar's foundation I worked a little away to this area of barberries. I was getting a high tone with some varying VDIs. Usually this is what happens with flat stock pieces. It was a little more consistent, so I dug it up. Not more than two inches deep was a horse shoe mixed with two nails and a bigger harness buckle. I have never seen one before with the raised bar for the prong, or the frame went past the bar with two tabs. Most likely this was for a thick strap of a harness. The map was drawn 1874. THe town decline was just around then. The forest was completely reclaimed by 1957. None of the roads were paved, which paving took place around 1909. They were original carriage roads.
After a bit I had to meet Kevin. We went up to a cellar where I found a small bottle, a rosette, and a few other odds. Last time I was there I had the old machine with slower recovery and it had the summer growth. This time didn't help much with any good recovery, but for some reason this area wasn't more than a few miles away from my first site yet the ground had a few solid spots. Kev and I checked the layout afterwards and I hope he is not discouraged from another attempt. But I did see a cellar up the road while driving in that I would like to check. I sure saw it on the old map and sure saw the area was owned as a forest.. like a municipal parcel. And a nice old colonial still standing... to ask for.
I cleaned up the brass piece. Turns out it is almost certainly a butt plate or stock plate to a rifle. There was a site I found with a few designs, but I couldn't match exactly. Reference above for the dates of the areas activity. None had a center chimney. It was settled in the early 1730s, with 1733 as the oldest house I have noticed. There could be older ones long gone. Once I cleaned the butt plate in some hot peroxide, it seems a few pertinent details were hidden. Right up near the screw looks like a flower with two 'c' facing each other. On the inside it has like a wood grain texture. Someone said it was possibly made directly on the stock like home made. Also, not commonly, it has a name etched in it. I added some lines in a modified picture to show which details are etched. Some spots showed better in the camera, some were better visually. It looks like it should say A. Cram. The m is too far from the a to be an n. Just the first part of the letter might be rubbed away.
I shall have to contact the historical society to see if they can provide any details. This may be my second piece worth donating. Just to portray that the idea has crossed my mind. I found an excerpt from a history book on the town. This was a listing from births, deaths, and marriages. The book, which I don't have, on the "full" history might have more information. Maybe the person was named Andrew (for the A), but his nickname was Rejoice....??? Pretty cool how I found a gun piece and his death was from a gun. The homestead I found it at was not the Cram family. The map was also drawn 77 years later. The Cram family was no longer on the map at all, or that I could spot.
CRAM, Rejoice, '' wounded in the headby the discharges of a
gun on Muster day," Oct. 10, 1797, a. 20. c.r.i.
I took a pic of the clothes afterward. I was covered in mud from the wet snow. The snow helped insulate the ground where I first was digging. This pic should be dedicated to Lodge.....
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Originally Posted by bamaart
