New here and need guidance

[Sawadee]

Hi All,

I'm new here and hope to learn from all you guys. I'm in a unique situation and thought this forum could give me some guidance.

First, I'm retired and live on "family land" in SC. You southerners know how we keep "family land" down here, extremely private! So since I retired I decided to play around with family rumors, old stories and the like. Boy, did I get more than I asked for!

Quick background - our land is situated directly in Sherman's pathway to Columbia. A historic marker was posted down the road from us, stating that one wing of his advancing army camped and skirmished at the back of our property.

So, just to get an idea of where the camp might be, my son and I went out with an old Radio Shack metal detector he had gotten years ago for Christmas. The darn thing went nuts next to the shallow creek about 60 yards from my house. This is a portion of what we found, (pic 1 and 2). Rumor had it that a saw mill was located "somewhere in the swamp" and we are wondering if these parts might be that mill or another type of factory. The parts look blown apart and evidence of a large fire was present.

The swamp is created by a private landowner's lake about 4 miles away, and is pulled down in the winter to clean out weeds. During this time, as we wandered we also found a bridge that is submerged most of the year. The timbers are huge and could support massive weight! We went to the County Museum director and he had never heard of this bridge, we invited him out to see it but he never called

These are a few of the things we found last year and preserved. (pics 3, 4, 5 ) If anyone knows what the thing with the star in it is.. please let me know!

I will continue to update, ask for advice, and let you guys know what is happening. I'm hoping with your knowledge, my research, and old family rumors that I might be able to locate the original campsite.

Thanks for your patience - wish me luck!

 

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[CWnut]

very interesting looks like you got your homework all laid out for you. Lookup some historical maps of the area

 

[Sawadee]

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. I have found one diary entry that speaks of this part of Sherman's campaign. To admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed with so many layers of history I find everything from modern cans to stuff that I can't identify.

As an aside I see you are a firefighter, hubby is a county deputy... whooot... goooo First Responders!

 

[Toby1858]

Looks like you have some work to do! I would check in to buying another quality detector so both of you can get on it, and hit spots that are normally submerged while you still can. No doubt you'll be pulling up some cool finds eventually.It will take weeks if not months to barely scratch the surface, but a picture of what took place on your property will slowly emerge. Post your finds,good luck, and have fun!!

 

[baylorhall]

So jealous!! Take your time, haul out the trash and post your cool finds! Get a good detector and hunt that drained area good. Wish I had some family property in your part of the country.

 

[Tnmountains]

Welcome to t-net and the south. Looks like a good area with lots of potential. I would suggest posting your finds in the"What is it" forum for identification . Explore the forum as it has tons of useful sections with great helpful people. Happy New Year !
I really like that lock. Good ideas on preservation on here as well.

 

[frogginfish]

Congrats on your finds and welcome to Treasurenet!

 

[Sawadee]

Thanks for the encouragement all. I've posted pics of one of the bridge timbers (this was the lowest level) we found the burned out timbers further downstream. The next is a pic of the roadbed through the swamp, the road is partially submerged during winter.

So, advice? When we dig down to the roadbed - not only is it full of roots, but it has been compacted with a bunch of sand/gravel type mix. Hard as heck to get through. (This is where we found the star thingy and the funny tool). I'm not certain of how the calvary moved, so do you think I should stick to the roadbed or try for the lower swamp level?

Thanks again and I will keep you guys posted.

View attachment 719866 View attachment 719867

 

[Sawadee]

Ugh still learning how the attachments work.

Here are the pics

Lower bridge timber (the uppers were burned off) And roadbed through the swamp.

 

[Gunrunner61]

Sawadee'
That's a huge timber, Can you tell if it has any adz marks on it ? Thats where you can see individual chop marks on it ?
Welcome to the "Net" and like Tnmountains said, Post your finds in the today's finds, And if you are unsure of the Id then post it over in the Whats it forum. AND Welcome to the "Net"......................HH

 

[Sawadee]

Hi Greg,

Yes I had my son climb down into the creek to get a good look. He confirmed that it's hand hewn (he restores old furniture and hand makes his own designs). Sooner or later I guess I will need to get a water proof detector, I'm using a Whites Blue Max 950. Not the one I would have picked but since it was a Christmas present - I will just save up for another