montanajim
Newbie
Hello all from up here in Montana. I was raised in northern Illinois in the 60's and 70's and thought I would tell about a site my dad and I used to hunt that might still be available to hunt. We used to go north of Compton a couple miles to Shaw road and go west about a half mile. If I remember my history of the area there used to be a small settlement there in the 1840's and 50's.
I think there was probably a general store, a post office and I don't know what else. But we went past the current Brooklyn cemetary turnoff which would be Richards road a little ways and hunted the ditch area as it wasn't too deep and on the other side of the ditch on the north side of the road if I remember right, I was just a young kid. But any ways my dad found several old 1850s half dimes, half pennies or two cent pieces one or the other, skeleton keys and other relics from the period. Back then in the early 70's he was using a whites goldmaster and I can tell you for sure that that thing did not have the depth of these new machines that are on the market these days so I'm betting there is still a lot of old money in the ground still waiting to be found with these new machines in that area. I haven't been in Illinois since 1978 so I don't know anything about property ownership but I remember most of the farmers in the area were pretty friendly about permission when a guy asks for permission first and tells what he is up to. The Burg as it is called today was moved a mile south to the present site of Compton, probably in the 1860's or 70's when the east west railroad came through. Shaw road was called the Chicago stage road back in the old days and there was also a stage stop there at the Melugins Grove. My dad also did some pretty good hunting at the park in Compton finding several silver dollars, an old pin from the St.Louis worlds fair and other relics. Its on old 51 (251) about five miles south of the old 51&30 junction. Information on Melugins grove can be found in the Lee county Genealogy pages with a little searching. With spring coming up in that country it might be worth checking and doing some scouting as they say. Good luck to anyone that does do a bit of detecting in that area. I would be interested in hearing about any finds. Jim
Here is a link about Melugins Grove and Compton.
http://www.leecountyhistory.com/lee_county/compton.htm
I think there was probably a general store, a post office and I don't know what else. But we went past the current Brooklyn cemetary turnoff which would be Richards road a little ways and hunted the ditch area as it wasn't too deep and on the other side of the ditch on the north side of the road if I remember right, I was just a young kid. But any ways my dad found several old 1850s half dimes, half pennies or two cent pieces one or the other, skeleton keys and other relics from the period. Back then in the early 70's he was using a whites goldmaster and I can tell you for sure that that thing did not have the depth of these new machines that are on the market these days so I'm betting there is still a lot of old money in the ground still waiting to be found with these new machines in that area. I haven't been in Illinois since 1978 so I don't know anything about property ownership but I remember most of the farmers in the area were pretty friendly about permission when a guy asks for permission first and tells what he is up to. The Burg as it is called today was moved a mile south to the present site of Compton, probably in the 1860's or 70's when the east west railroad came through. Shaw road was called the Chicago stage road back in the old days and there was also a stage stop there at the Melugins Grove. My dad also did some pretty good hunting at the park in Compton finding several silver dollars, an old pin from the St.Louis worlds fair and other relics. Its on old 51 (251) about five miles south of the old 51&30 junction. Information on Melugins grove can be found in the Lee county Genealogy pages with a little searching. With spring coming up in that country it might be worth checking and doing some scouting as they say. Good luck to anyone that does do a bit of detecting in that area. I would be interested in hearing about any finds. Jim
Here is a link about Melugins Grove and Compton.
http://www.leecountyhistory.com/lee_county/compton.htm
