A new 1820 permission and a 9 mile day in the woods.

[MangoAve]

I apologize up front for the long winded part, and I even left stuff out. But hopefully the pics do the words outweigh the long write-up.

On the way out to a few cellars that I visited on the 9th, I drove by this house I knew was in disrepair. I saw some sign out front from the town which prompted me to check the assessor info and the old map. Sure enough, even tho the chimneys were on the outside of the house, it was on the 1868 map. So when I got some time on Thurs I drove by. First I was going to check the spot and make sure it was still standing, being under the impression it was being torn down. I saw people there so I stopped. I explained what I was intending and got a sure. I wasn't quite dressed for hunting but It was insisted I take it out and start swinging. The small coils was on the machine so I didn't have much coverage. I did manage to find a 6 wheatie spill in the front yard and a set of keys toward the back of the driveway. A bit funny for the company name on the fob for those who know... They did also let me inside to check the part of the basement that was still dirt. They were patching the holes between the brownstone and pouring concrete for footings.

Crazy to see how it was built. Those who are wondering, there are a few pics of how a house was built in 1820. The main beams were hickory and were hand chiseled after a rough cut. The beams were notched while the joists were cut at the ends and just layed in place. NO NAILS used. For the support of the second floor, it was simply like 1.5" x the width of the tree trunk. Several were used and just wedged in to support the beams and joists. Floor boards were similar, just one sliced trunk and laid down side by side. The actual cove for the chimney was only 6-8" deep and there was no hearth. The floor was almost right up to the fireplace with a small gap in the flooring. Guess they all had to have some screens over every fireplace at all times.

Friday I went back for a bit and I had the bigger coil on. The machine went crazy. The owner said he doesn't know of any dog fences nearby so idk what the interference was from. I still managed to find a few keepers. Another wheatie came up. My oldest dogtag came up being a 1910. I was freaking out because I thought I put it in my pocket and when I found the next target, I couldn't find it anymore. I was tenacious and going back over and over the same area trying to find a semi-repeatable high 60's low 70's target on the surface. Turns out there is actually a pocket behind the side pocket and that's where it was hidden. Almost gave me a heart attack I could lose something that quickly after finding it. But, after the dog tag, I pulled up a nice two piece floral design button. We all know what happens to iron when it rusts, but the diluted CLR helped pop some of the silver on it. Afterward I got a 1901 IH in great shape. Around the edge of the property I pulled up a, 1897. It fooled me thinking I could see 18X7.. but its 20 years later. IT WAS RIGHT ON THE SURFACE. Not even 1" deep. And a few inches away the other VDI I was getting mixed was a glass nipper bottle with the cap end buried (so obvi deeper than the IH but was a much newer item). Wth?? I did get some picks during the cleaning process.



On the Wed before I got the 1820 permission, I was at the club meeting and at the end I kinda set up some networking to hunt with some fellas. Turns out only one could make Saturday and one could make Sunday. I killed myself Saturday and needed to recover on Sunday, so I didn't end up making that outing, however there was no definitive plan made for Sun. I told the guy where we were going so that we could plan where to meet up and take one vehicle for parking purposes. Good thing I put forth the information as he researched more on figured which sites were better to hit, granted there was some collaboration with me. Turned out this was a great spot to hit.

Saturday was a grueling hike in traversing the side of a ravine. The first two houses were destroyed. We found the next three, but decided to save them for on the way back out and to hit further spots. Turns out on the way in we found a cellar not on the map, and that spot I will elude for now. We found the spot we would eventually spend most of the day at surrounded by huge old maples. We still tried to find the far spot. There was another long hike to the spot; it was further than the historic map depicted. It was trashy with an entire truck torn apart and littering the landscape. Since there were a few recent dig holes., we went back to the previous spot and set up camp. Things started slow for me because there was a lot of trash there and a ton of iron. In case any of you wonder what those triangular pieces are.. they are from a tiller piece. The hunting buddy found a wheat (which he first thought was an IH) and then a token which has yet to be identified. I saw it before but idr what it was. Dated 1908 and same diameter of an LC, tho.

I followed him to that area and soon after I found a brooch. It has a stone in it. I knew it was a big Victorian brooch. A few min later I get a nice tone and out pops a heart shaped floral pin. Then there was another good tone. Out comes a sash clip piece. He was jealous at that point. well... Jealous of the brooch even before the clip came up. After rechecking the spot there was still another signal, so I let him dig it an keep it. Turns out there was another ornate Victorian piece. I got a pic of it with the other piece from the same hole, but you can tell its not a repeat clean find so that's the one he dug. Later on he got himself a sash buckle piece anyway.


After the spot cleared up, I moved along to the other side of the road. There was activity galore there. A few odd pieces came out there too. There wasn't much to speak of for finds from that area. I came back to in front of the cellar where it was a lot of saplings. I pulled up a button with some patch like design. I saw a field mouse scamper away too under the leaves and then into a hole in a dead tree on the ground. At this site I also scored a stirrup, a first for me, and a few ox knobs. Yippe on the knobs... lol.

On the way back we hit the cellar not on the map. Immediately I turned on the detector and not 1 min after swinging, I come up over the edge of the road and hit a bingo. A matron right near the surface. Apparently anyone here missed this piece. Lucky for me. I continued to then check near the well. There was nothing in the way of iron in the spot which made us question why there was none. Within 5 min of being here I hit a second largie. Right near the corner of the yard. This one was a little deeper. Then for a while there were no real finds. Maybe one piece of lead. Back at the cellar I went over the lip and hill and found some sort of retaining ring. It is pretty big and cant tell what it was used for. I also nabbed a button. I think it is a one piece design, but the ring on the back makes it look two piece. The lettering on the back I think says "GILT".. whatever gilt there was is no longer. After a few we picked up and headed home. We were both running on empty once we reached the bridge spot. Oh, and I nearly tripped into the brook on some f-in can left by an idiot on the rocks. Don't say I need to watch my steps; it was a narrow spot to pass and I was watching my balance. Hope these pictures do the finds some justice. My gf said the stone in the brooch is amber. I was thinking citrine, but it is a tad dark.