Back to the Woollen Mill Home Site

[ANTIQUARIAN]

My last hunt here a couple of weeks ago was pretty decent with finding an old brass church key tag, but I’m still learning how the finds are spread around this site. The best I can tell is that this house was last occupied in the 1930s, as nothing I’ve found so far dates after that or before 1900. I was having trouble 'feeling' this site after my first visit here a couple of weeks ago, but after modifying the program on my Deus I’ve finally made a few interesting finds. Only having 2hrs to detect here last weekend and considering the finds I made, I now feel more confident. My only wish is that the finds were earlier in date.

These are all common everyday 20thc loses, I was hoping for mid-late 19thc from this site. Hopefully, the older finds are deeper, and I just haven't found where the inhabitants 'hung out' in their off hours from working at the mill. To make matters more interesting, the property owner has started making changes to the site. Most recently by moving a large wooden shed from down below to the top of the hill close to where the old house is slowly decaying.

My first find was the suspender clip, followed by the horse harness buckle and the WW I General Service Button. It's amazing how many of these WW I buttons we find up here. I guess a lot of these guys continued to wear their military issued clothing after their return from the war. The clay marble was an eyeball find at the base of a large tree. At first, I thought it had a red stain on it from being buried, but under closer inspection it actually retains some of the original red paint on it. My last and most interesting find was the old butter or desert knife. I have since identified the knife as being made by Holmes & Edwards, c1895 ‘English King’ pattern.

I think I've only just scratched the surface of this site. The picture I posted of the old home is just a small potion of the area I have to cover.
Thanks very much for looking!

Dave

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Nice artifacts! A great hunt.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the nice relics!

 

[treblehunter]

Interesting stuff, nice pix buddy, I miss my fields.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice artifacts! A great hunt.

Thanks for your post and for your support Kray!
Dave

Congratulations on the nice relics!

Thanks very much Professor!
Dave

Interesting stuff, nice pix buddy, I miss my fields.

Thanks for your post Brad... I too am missing hunting the fields!

Only 3 more months until the wheat harvest here, in October the beans, then in November the corn.

Hope you're having a great year so far,
Dave

 

[glass half fool]

I like the knife and the brass buckle

 

[Hawks88]

Nice relic finds. Congrats

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I like the knife and the brass buckle

Thanks for your post and for the support GHF!
Dave

Nice relic finds. Congrats

Thank you Hawks, hope you're having a great year!
Dave

 

[creskol]

Those photos and relics are enough to wet any relic hunter's appetite! Well done , Dave!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Those photos and relics are enough to wet any relic hunter's appetite! Well done , Dave!

Thanks for your post creskol!
What we really need up here in Southern Ontario is some rain, the ground is so dry a small child might fall between the cracks!
Dave

 

[highnam]

I really like the suspender buckle, I think you could make a case for late 19th century based on the design

 

[Javadroid]

I enjoy the research angle - makes the finds all the more interesting to see. Congrats and thanks!

 

[A2coins]

Holy Moly I live in the worst place Those are amazing pieces of history thanks for the post keep up the great finds!!!!!!!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I really like the suspender buckle, I think you could make a case for late 19th century based on the design

Thank you for your post and for your suggestion that this buckle is late 19thc.
I'm certainly not an expert when it comes to dating these, so I appreciate your thoughts.
Dave

I enjoy the research angle - makes the finds all the more interesting to see. Congrats and thanks!

It's for this exact reason that I provide as much information as I do with each post Javadroid... otherwise they could be finds from just anywhere.

Best of luck to you,
Dave

Holy Moly I live in the worst place Those are amazing pieces of history thanks for the post keep up the great finds!!!!!!!

I'm not sure what you know about the history in Ann Arbor my friend, but it sounds like you have a lot of places you might want to investigate!
Dave

Ann Arbor was founded in 1824 by land speculators John Allen and Elisha Walker Rumsey. On May 25, 1824, the town plat was registered with Wayne County as "Annarbour;" this represents the earliest known useof the town's name. Allen and Rumsey decided to name it for their wives, both named Ann, and for the stands of Bur Oak in the 640 acres of land they purchased for $800 from the federal government at $1.25 per acre. The local Ojibwa named the settlement kaw-goosh-kaw-nick, after the sound of Allen's sawmill.

Ann Arbor became the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827, andwas incorporated as a village in 1833. The Ann Arbor Land Company, a group ofspeculators, set aside 40 acres of undeveloped land and offered it to the stateof Michigan as the site of the state capital, but lost the bid to Lansing. In 1837, the property was accepted instead as the site of the University of Michigan, which moved from Detroit.

Since the university's establishment in the city in 1837,the histories of the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor have been closely linked. The town became a regional transportation hub in 1839 with the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad, and a north—south railway connecting Ann Arbor to Toledo and other markets to the south was established in 1878. Throughout the 1840s and the 1850s settlers continued to come to Ann Arbor. While the earlier settlers were primarily of British ancestry, the newer settlers also consisted of Germans, Irish, and African-Americans. In 1851, Ann Arbor was chartered as a city, though the city showed a drop in population during the Depression of 1873. It was not until the early 1880s that Ann Arbor again saw robust growth, with new emigrants from Greece, Italy, Russia, and Poland. Ann Arbor saw increased growth in manufacturing, particularly in milling.