Really Cool Bracelet With Names From Colonial Homesite, Other Relics Too!

[FoundInNC]

***Update on identity of "bracelet" Thanks to ErikInNJ, I have a positive identification. The names are the manufacturer of an 18th century Lorgnette or spectacle company. He was able to identify them because the only surviving pair was recovered in an archaeological dig in Burma in 1914. This was documented in a text that is published in Google Books(an amazing reference). I dug one today, and some fellow dug one a hundred years ago. It sure is neat how things come together. It is still probably my favorite find of the day!

Back to the original story......

Hey Everyone, I had to cut my hunt short I was so excited to see what I had found. I went to one of the oldest homesites that I am allowed to hunt and found some good stuff in a short 30 minute dig around the foundation of the house. My first signal that I dug is the most significant, I think. I thought it was a copper wire at first, but before I put it in my pouch, I noticed a letter on the side. I started brushing dirt off and it was covered in letters, that made NAMES! I was shocked because I love finding personal effects like that. The other two finds would have made my day to find either, but they were my second and third finds! The second find was that cast tombac button, which I have never dug or seen one like, and the third find was a neat piece of slate that when I was rubbing the dirt off, I noticed it had a hole in it, for a NECKLACE! I dug the slate while digging a nail signal. There are tons of pottery shards.

The bracelet is missing a section, but the four names that I can see are, *in this order:

GEORG WEIGET (or WETGET)
*** (three stars)
JON ERHARD
MAY SEFTIGE
ERREN JO (then it is broken)

Any help on the bracelet would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for looking, now back to the site to dig up some more stuff, that will be added later tonight.

One bit of assistance I have on the identity of the individuals on the bracelet is that there is a small cemetary about 300 feet from the housesite, but that is ALL there is on the 100 acre farm. The tombstones are simple rocks marking head and foot. The only tombstone that is engraved reads JOHN STEPHENS March 20 1795 Feb 29 1851. Hopefully this helps.






Eyeglass frame and large cent for size comparison


some hammered nails, half a pewter button, and a tombac material button? wagon wheel design


GORG WEIGET

JON ERHARD

MAY SEFTIGE

ERREN JO or TO (JO is the beginning of a last name)

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[jcobb]

wow that is really neat!

[Jeff H]

Very cool finds. Will be waiting to hear more about that bracelet!

[Subterranean]

FoundinNC, That bracelet is one of the coolest things I have seen lately, congrats. I am sure that Ancestry.com or another genealogy website can help you with those names. Your Native American pendant is superb! Are there any symbols scratched on it? Sub

[Steve in PA]

Nice Finds! You are on an old site there. That button is a hollow, two piece button, with the front and back soldered together around the rim. They are similar to the brass blow hole hollow buttons - but without the blow holes. I find them on 1750s/60s sites here in Pennsylvania. Usually I find only the back half with the shank, I have only seen a couple fronts found.

[Old Stonewall]

Very cool bracelet. I have a feeling that has quite an interesting history. Way to go!

[Erik in NJ]

Hi! Great find! The bracelet is very cool but I think you are off on a couple of the names. I think "MAY" is actually "MAT" and "JON" is "JOH" or "TOH". My guess is that the names are Dutch. Better photos would definitely help. But that is one cool piece of history....congrats!

Regarding the piece of slate, I kinda hate to say this, but the slate on my roof is holed like that so that nails can be used to hold it in place. I hope I'm wrong, but there's a good chance that it's just a fragment of slate that broke off the roof. Bits and pieces of mine break off fairly often. Does the house have a slate roof?

Looking forward to learning more about those names!

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

Anything that puts a name to a site is an A+ find!! I will be watching to see if anything more is found out about the bracelet.


VPR

[archer63]

too cool

[CMDiamonddawg]

Interesting bracelet and pendant . Maybe there was a settlers camp at that spot .. hard to say but I would keep searching that place esp. after a lot of rain . Great early finds for damn sure

[FoundInNC]

Nice Finds! You are on an old site there. That button is a hollow, two piece button, with the front and back soldered together around the rim. They are similar to the brass blow hole hollow buttons - but without the blow holes. I find them on 1750s/60s sites here in Pennsylvania. Usually I find only the back half with the shank, I have only seen a couple fronts found.

I am almost certain that it is a cast tombac button. It is solid, and heavy. I do not know how old it is, but I do believe that I am on an early site. Does it being solid make you think it is 1750s-60s still?

[FoundInNC]

Hi! Great find! The bracelet is very cool but I think you are off on a couple of the names. I think "MAY" is actually "MAT" and "JON" is "JOH" or "TOH". My guess is that the names are Dutch. Better photos would definitely help. But that is one cool piece of history....congrats!

Regarding the piece of slate, I kinda hate to say this, but the slate on my roof is holed like that so that nails can be used to hold it in place. I hope I'm wrong, but there's a good chance that it's just a fragment of slate that broke off the roof. Bits and pieces of mine break off fairly often. Does the house have a slate roof?

Looking forward to learning more about those names!

My first thoughts on the bracelet were that the names were in latin or a foreign language, but then I just figured that the person that made it spelled the names incorrectly. The slate is for sure not a piece of broken roofing. The cabin did not have a slate roof or I would find it everywhere. The cabin is long gone. I just found a pile of rocks in the middle of a clearcut and that is what made me realize there was a cabin there. I think it is just a river rock that someone drilled a hole in. It is VERY worn, just like it was found in a river. I dug it right in the center of the foundation.

[Erik in NJ]

I think "May Seftige" is actually "Mat Seelig" ... if you Google that name you'll see that it's not a terribly uncommon name. As I mentioned I think it's a Dutch name. It's hard to see the bottoms of the letters on your bracelet. Is it possible to post some more photos?

"Georg Weiget" also comes up on Google from the 1600s.....take a look...I don't think the names are misspelled...I think that's the German or Dutch spelling of many names.

[FoundInNC]

Erik, I am open to any and all opinions on the letters and names. I think that the first name could be GEORG WEIGET. The second name is JOH or TOH ERHARD. The third name is MAY SEFTIGE. The last one is where the bracelet is broken, and it reads simly ERREN JO, then it is broken.....I looked HARD for the missing piece, and will continue to.

[BuckleBoy]

That is absolutely first rate. Are you sure it's a bracelet? Could we see a farther-away photo with something for scale?

Top notch! What a great find.

Cheers,

Buck

[PAdiggertom]

bout as cool as it gets

[FoundInNC]

@Buckleboy, there is your size comparison picture. It is very thin, and round, so I assumed bracelet

[Lanny in AB]

Genuine winners--nicely done!!

All the best,

Lanny

[Beach Hunter]

nice finds, keep up the good. hh

[detectahead]

I wish for best that you find the other piece! Some awesome history there. Congrats on great finds!