Needle in Haystack - Found

[Midnightrider08]

Got in 4 hours this afternoon at the Old foundation site which I will now call " The Hadd Farm " . I wanted to be there all day but I was up late doing research on the family which told me it had been in the family maybe since the start of the town and that Francis Hadd ( born 1814) had 2-3 sons one of which named Francis (Born in Canada 1833) stayed on the farm, married a Gal named Amelia they had 8 kids and a hired hand Orrin Moffatt (From Canada born 1855) that lived with them at bottom of the mountain with own blacksmith shop with another hired man R.Dow on way up the mountain and up on the mountain was the original fathers homestead prior to the house being built in the valley. The house in valley was owned by Francis & a brother Godfrey (Wife Amelia was young) and the Fathers place is shown on mountain according to 1871 maps. I'm thinking the site I am working on top of mtn is the Fathers House before having kids and maybe house at bottom was built upon meeting a woman and starting family (although I can find no record of the mother) Then as his days got old he went back up on top of mtn .

Also found where one of Francis & Amelia's boys Herbert (born 1867) married a Gal named Minnie L. ? (Born 1864) and may have had a family themselves from 1885 or so -1900. Then Herbert is not with Minnie L. ? 1900-1920 and is not shown in area but guess who is with a Minnie L. ? (Born 1872) Orrin Moffatt !!! and they remain together till atleast 1930. In that time Herbert shows up in Marion , IND and marrys a Woman named Josie and shortly thereafter a brother Marvin shows up there as well. By this time the 2 brothers would be 42 & 43 respectfully. I also think Herbert may have been a soldier but haven't confirmed this and can't figure out what's in Ind that would bring them down that way at that age.

I went to the land owner with my info which he enjoyed & confirmed I had the right family as he could not remember who owned it prior to the person he bought it from in the 1960's and when I asked him about possible dump sites he told me about one near where the blacksmith shop had been. So I checked it out before heading up and I finally found the foundation to the blacksmith shop and know how many feet to go to where the dump WAS !!! It is now covered up but he said I should start finding stuff 1-2 feet down as they did not fill it over with anymore material then they needed to use. We also discovered that the old shop & old crude looking large dilapitated structure behind his now sons house must have been Francis & Amelia's house but I will have to have a plan for prickers , siskels , thorns , nettles , and every other damn thing. But reasearch is showing improvements

Now the not so good news -

Todays finds on Top of Mtn where I been for months :

4 shards of pottery
8 more small bits to a Pipe
47 various nails of various sizes
2 Pieces of glass

and last but not least a needle.

Not the greatest day but we moved some dirt & rocks and I found a needle in a Haystack so to speak. Guess maybe the Ol Man had to sew for himself as he got up there in age.

A couple questions :

Was it common for a young male not part of the family to live amongst a family that wasn't his own at this time era ? It seems every farmer had a 15-20 yr old that lived with them that wasn't part of the family.

Is it possible for a Tree to grow up, around, and over a Pot belly Stove ?

With 8 kids , 2 hired hands , and a working 300 acre farm I'm starting to think there might be hope just yet that I may be able to recover a little something something after all. I'd like to hunt down a relative of the family as well although I not sure that's going to be possible and never done anything like that.

Ok enough of my blabbing. Just a bit addicted !!!

 

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[tymcmurray]

Babbling is ok!
Photos are better.
Good site.

 

[eathabs]

Babbling is ok!
Photos are better.
Good site.

Well said Ty

 

[karib2517]

keep looking,that sounds like a great site.half those kids are not his,young stud living with the family hmmmmm.keep swinging.

 

[hogge]

DUDE......4 hrs.?? You should have found some nice relics.(at least) My brother has a nice nail finder himself. Don't mean to bust on ya but, it's not you.....it's your equipment!

 

[diggergrl]

DUDE......4 hrs.?? You should have found some nice relics.(at least) My brother has a nice nail finder himself. Don't mean to bust on ya but, it's not you.....it's your equipment!

I'm not that experienced, but it sounds like the Hadd farm is a largish area. If you were hunting by yourself, maybe you just hadn't found the right yet. I wouldn't give up!!

Also, I liked the story about the family.

 

[toolman61]

Very nice research! Yes I would say a tree can grow around over a pot belly stove. I f the stove isn't rusted through it would be worth salvaging! Sounds like the dump will be rewarding. I've went through bottle dumps and found lots of goodies. Probably find some blacksmith stuff in it as well. Sounds like you got 3-4 different spots to hunt. Maybe a big magnet will take up some of the nails and small junk. Looks like you'll have to dig down 18inches to 2 ft. to hit the dump. Good luck and I hope you find the goods!! HH Tom P.S. I've seen trees grow threw cars and farm implents before so its possible.

 

[Midnightrider08]

I agree I just haven't found the right spot on the farm yet & that I could use a serious upgrade in equipment but my machine don't owe me nothing. I've thought about buying new machine & also thought of building some shaker/shifter tables and then there was the moment I thought of useing a skidder & excavator. I'm not to familiar with the differences in metal detecting machines and all that. I figured they all find metal and treasure has been found with all price range of machines and some treasure is just found by accident or pure dumb luck. Us Nail Grinders got to have just a much a shot at it as the big timers. Anyone who can dedicate themselves to treasure hunting full time and on large costly operation is good people in my book and they must be doing something right... I got to learn to crawl before I can walk then run.

I'm wondering if the farm went down hill so to speak after the Eldest Francis died as there is hardly much left of the Hadd family in VT and there at one time was 2-3 groups of families just in this area here into 1900 . I'm thinking when the elders died in these families either the kids all moved on with minimal wealth or possibly the elders took locations of funds a secret to the grave. I found evidence of the farm being a business and had a trade partnership with numerous shop keepers in the area based on some records I uncovered. Which makes me wonder was most business done in the area on a trade basis? Was there even coins here at the time to be found in any quanity to begin with? I doubt it. With that said..... I wish I knew why the heck I'm so drawn to digging there when I could be chaseing bigger & better things.

Me & my Quicksilver. We're a mystical pair. Neither understands the other enough to write home about but on rare occaison we make it happen.

I'm currently without a camera due to a swim it decided to take but see it's a unspoken requirement so to speak so will work on that this weekend. The Farmers wife would like to see some of our finds again and here our stories so we need to get camera as she hasn't been to site in many many yrs... There home itself was a large Inn that they bought across rd from the Farm overlooking the river on land that was known Indian hunting grounds and where items have been found before.... but that's a whole entire story I ain't looked into much yet. So many places .... only so much time in a day. I would say this one farmers entire properties will produce or have 7-8 sites where items are found over 150 yrs old atleast and starts within mile of my home.

Wife puts stuff we find in showcase box and shows it at yard sale on weekends. It's kinda interesting at how many people inquire about the finds and the history behind them. Have had lots of offers to do peoples yards but just will wait till Fall and maybe try a couple as I'm still a Farmer , Manual Backhoe, Shoveler of &%@* , DIGGER and haven't mastered small holes yet.

 

[roswellborn]

What a wonderful site! And your research is terrific. (I have an ancestral couple, each of 'em married a second time - in the mid 1860s - and no record of divorce for either one of 'em!)

As for a young man living with another family - sure. Or a young woman. 'Specially at harvest time - the boys in the fields or the girls in the kitchen, cooking for the hired hands - or helping "put up" food for the winter (as in canning).

And Indiana winters are surely easier to deal with than New England winters? And some folks just got restless.

looking forward to the pictures

HH
Nan

 

[Kiros32]

I keep telling ya man, this place sounds like and probably is a gold mine, you just haven't hit the right area yet. Keep digging the trash and you will get to the good stuff. Pottery shards and pipes are a great sign.

 

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

Way to research. Hope you find many more cool things!