Can't find any %^^$#$ privies!!!!!

[MonkeyBoy]

Ok.. I'm getting pretty frustrated here.. I have 5 old house sites that I have metal detecting over the years. Last year, at a different site, I found a Civil War ear trash pit that produced 30+ great bottles... sooo I really want to dig some more! I have a 5 ft bottle probe.. and have read on the usual location of privies and all that but for the life of me I can't find one! I have probed every depression.. every spot that "looks" right around 2 of these house sites and nothing! Either I hit solid soil at a normal depth or hit rocks. All of these site are on a mountain. I have found trash dumps at all of them and have pulled out some nice bottles but still no privies. Most of the sites have produced relics and coins going back to the early 1800s so there should be a few privies at each. I have dug test holes at any spot that "looked good" and have hit undisturbed soil a foot down. What the heck am I doing wrong? The site I am working now is on a slight hill with a very deep well up the hill form the house.. a well used path leading down form the house to two small stone foundations. I would assume the privy was down hill from the well.. along the path. There are two openings in the stone wall so I have probed every possible area around these openings.. The really sad things is.. the dump site is off of the hill and tons of rock.. so most of the bottles are broken.. I was finding really old black glass and pontail bottle pieces yesterday.. I did find 6 bottles but broke the best one trying to get it out from under a root!!!

Any suggestions?? anything Would they have dropped rocks in a privy hole after it was filled back in? I ask because the places that look the best.. I still hit a lot of rocks at a foot or 2 when probing??

Thanks!
MonkeyBoy

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

MonkeyBoy,

"frustrated"

Sorry.

have a good un.....
SHERMANVILLE

[The Seeker]

Like they say........Keep on searching and you will find them!!!!!!!! Good Luck! lol

[Gypsy Heart]

Would be in a location that was easiest to dig or with open back on a hillside...never in front of home ....within a short walk....old lilacs or roses to mask the smell ....usually dumped lime to mask the smell.....greener than most areas (about ten foot in diameter)....could be filled in with rocks now.......they would move them along the top of hill ......

[MonkeyBoy]

Would be in a location that was easiest to dig or with open back on a hillside...never in front of home ....within a short walk....old lilacs or roses to mask the smell ....usually dumped lime to mask the smell.....greener than most areas (about ten foot in diameter)....could be filled in with rocks now.......they would move them along the top of hill ......

Hmm.. thanks! The filled in with rocks could be the problem!! Nothing but rocks!! and. to make it harder.. no grass at all.. forest. The only plants I have seen are day lilies.. I guess I will just keep probing and digging!! Gonna have to dig a lot of holes!!! ;-)

Thanks,
MonkeyBoy

[Gypsy Heart]

Are you detecting the site also? Lots of things that ended up in the privy had metal on them...old lids...lamps...etc
Here is some of the stuff we found in the privy
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...,119243.0.html

[root]

In general,the rocks would only be used to 'cap' off the privy. Go below the rock layer.

HH,

root

[MonkeyBoy]

In general,the rocks would only be used to 'cap' off the privy. Go below the rock layer.

HH,

root

Yes.. but how do you tell I just spent another 4 hours up there... one of the problems with this house site is that it has picked up a lot of additional soil from wash.. but still I have "probed" every place that even remotely looks like it could be a privy and hit rock at a very shallow depth. There is a lot of rock.. I'll take pictures next time I'm up there.. I have found a ton of broken pottery.. 4 buttons including a large Goodyear rubber one, 1851 pat.. and 8 bottles. I am going to try some of the other house site I have.. see of they are easier..

MonkeyBoy..

[MEinWV]

Some old cities and towns actually had privy maps that showed the location of every privy behind each house. I think "Behind" is one key here, no pun intended. If you can determine a foundations front from back then the privy is not that far from the back door, according to the privy maps I have seen.

Good Luck!...........HH

[MonkeyBoy]

Ok.. through extensive local research... I asked my Mom!!! I have the rough locations of two privy sites.. one off of a late 1700s Tavern and one of the privies from the main house circa 1790.. with one still standing in the 1940... I have probed and think I got one of them! was able to sink the probe ll the way in.. and it had rock around the edges .... I'll start digging soon and post the whole process!

MonkeyBoy

[Hill Billy]

Bring it on Monkey,I'd love to see someone in action on this site.I to would like to start digging privies.I have quite a few old housesites on the farm that i'm sure have privies around them.All i need is to get a probe and try it.Good luck in your quest for glass.

[DanB]

its all about location location location....

db

[Buffalobackhoe]

Monkeyboy,

Your problem might be that the privies were dipped before they were abandoned. I dug for several years in Western NY and found that in the city of buffalo they had a law that required all privies to be cleaned out before they were filled in. They though this would stop the spread of disease. Also farm privies are very difficult to produce anything. They could be anywhere so it requires alto of probing and they are almost always void of anything intact. Your best luck should be to target old houses with small yards or lots that had hotels, saloon, flophouses, stage coach stops and the such.

MJB

[MonkeyBoy]

Monkeyboy,

Your problem might be that the privies were dipped before they were abandoned. I dug for several years in Western NY and found that in the city of buffalo they had a law that required all privies to be cleaned out before they were filled in. They though this would stop the spread of disease. Also farm privies are very difficult to produce anything. They could be anywhere so it requires alto of probing and they are almost always void of anything intact. Your best luck should be to target old houses with small yards or lots that had hotels, saloon, flophouses, stage coach stops and the such.

MJB

MJB,

Huh.. timely advice!! I just had someone yesterday telling me that people would do that! Clean them out and use the.. uh.. "dirt" in the garden.. who knew?? Now there is a a job I would not want!!! I have located two, I think.. so as soon as I have the time.. I'm going in..

MonkeyBoy

[MonkeyBoy]

Ok!!! I might have one!! After poking more holes in the ground then I care to possibly count.. I have started digging one that had a bunch of oyster shells and some pottery in the first 2 feet of the original soil... the probe goes down to about 5 feet from there. I had to quit for the evening but will hit it again tomorrow or the next day... stayed tuned!!

MonkeyBoy

[BuckleBoy]

Awesome! Take some great pics for us!


-Buckleboy

[cmnjn]

Hey Monkeyboy any updates on your digs?

Also hope you were careful and dug with a partner?

[MonkeyBoy]

Hey Monkeyboy any updates on your digs?

Also hope you were careful and dug with a partner?

Well.. I sank a couple of test holes where the privy was in my backyard.. and nothing! I'll keep lookng there once it gets cooler. I did find one from my tavern.. but it has a lot of rock and is a tough dig.. it is still open.. I am going to work on it as the mood hits me. Since these are on my property no great rush. I picked up a couple choice places to metal detect so I have been putting in my "free time" there. I think the privy digging is going to have to be a late fall - early spring thing.. ;-)

MonkeyBoy

[Skrimpy]

Sink the probe into your test pits. The privies may have had clay or rock caps put on them, and the extra foot or two you will get from the test pit may show you some use layers, ash or glass to indicate a privy spot. Also, there is something to be said of farm privies like someone else already said. There will be trash in them, but not as much as privies in the city that haven't been dipped. The trash that will have been discarded in them will have been placed there because the opportunity presented itself (ie the drunk happened to be just finishing a bottle of whiskey just as nature was calling). Or there was no winter dump and the privy was a good substitute for the long walk to the streamside, culvert, or field dump. Also, being that they were farm privies, I would avoid the privy that your mom said was still standing in 1940. More than likely, instead of having them dipped (unless they were wealthy families), when one was full, they capped it and dug another right next to the first, then a third next to the second and so on. I wouldn't start with the 1940s privy...unless you think it was the original and had been dipped over the years...the dippers tended to miss bottles that found their way to the corners of the privies so there might still be some old ones down in the corners, but like I said, I would avoid the 1940s one.