Return to the Woollen Mill Site

ANTIQUARIAN

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2010
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Upper Canada 🇨🇦
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The other morning, I headed back to a site that I’ve been detecting since I received permission for last summer. :thumbsup: All summer I’ve been detecting the old house site on the opposite side of the river, but with the colder weather having arrived, the foliage has died down enough for me to detect the other side of the river. There was a house and a mill located here, as you can see indicated on the map. Thankfully, modern trash is minimal here, except for the body of an old school bus. The original undercarriage was put here by the property owner in the 1960s, it was then planked over with wooden boards to permit access to the other side of the creek. The boards have long since rotted away and all that now remains is the metal frame.

My finds of interest were an early crotal bell, a little metal teacup, a sea shell, the remains of a horse halter and an early oil lamp ‘lip chimney’ lamp burner. I used to collect oil lamps, so I new exactly what this was when I found it. It’s also the first lip burner that I’ve found in eight years of detecting. The one thing I like about finding oil lamp burners is the amount of information the manufacturers impress into the thumb-wheel. This burner is stamped ‘City MFG. CO. PAT.D MAR. 3, 1863’.


The City Manufacturing Co.
"Luther Chapin White came to Waterbury, CT. in 1841 at the age of 21. Late in December of 1842 he found employment at The Scovill Manufacturing Company where he worked for about two years. He left Waterbury for Meriden, CT to work for J.S. Norton in the manufacture of door trimmings where he would stay for six years. In 1851 White invented a valuable improvement in the manufacture of fluid lamp burners. On September 7, 1852 he obtained a patent for his invention. He partnered with Frank Smith of Meriden and formed a company to manufacture his burners under the name of White & Smith. In 1853 they were persuaded by Charles Benedict and John Bailey to move their business to Waterbury, CT. On September 3, 1853 they organized The City Manufacturing Company. The City Manufacturing Co. would go on to make a variety of lamp burners, patent button-backs, and job work in German silver and rolled brass."


I have included a pic of one of my c1865 oil lamps with a complete lip burner setup.

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave
 

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Upvote 24

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
33,807
42,606
Ann Arbor
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3
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Great finds and I like the read thanks for taking the time to do that I love this site Well done That banner find will be coming soon!!!!! My Friend
 

devldog

Silver Member
Mar 9, 2012
3,646
6,341
Georgia
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Nice finds. I really like the bell and the small ornate looking flower button. Congrat's.
 

OP
OP
ANTIQUARIAN

ANTIQUARIAN

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2010
12,844
27,387
Upper Canada 🇨🇦
🥇 Banner finds
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🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Lesche Piranha 35 Shovel & 'Garrett Carrot'
Primary Interest:
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Great finds and I like the read thanks for taking the time to do that I love this site Well done That banner find will be coming soon!!!!! My Friend

Thanks very much for your post and for your support Tommy. :thumbsup:
Best of luck to you,
Dave



Nice finds. I really like the bell and the small ornate looking flower button. Congrat's.
Thank you for your post devldog. :hello:
I love finding these early animal bells... "the small ornate looking flower button" is likely the top off of a ladies scent container.
Dave
 

Hawks88

Gold Member
Aug 26, 2012
7,878
11,840
Niagara falls
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Nice variety of finds Dave. I like the old cup and bell. Congrats on the finds. Looks like it was a cold and wet day but you still came away with some treasures.
 

No gold in NY

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2015
1,688
2,921
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Whites Coin Master,
Whites Gold Master GMT, Whites MXSport
High banker/dredge,
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Keene A-52 A-52s
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Other
A lot of nice finds. Surely there will be more to come. Was the lamp in the building? Too beautiful to have been in the ground. Didn't know much about the lamp burners. I just throw them in the brass bucket. I think I will take a closer look at them. Thanks for the great pics and good luck with the site.
 

Whyme

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Aug 22, 2007
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Nice finds! I really like the crotal bell. Congrats! :icon_thumleft:
 

creskol

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Jan 14, 2007
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What a treat it was to read this post over my morning coffee! :coffee2: I enjoyed the heck out seeing the site and all the goodies you found. Thanks for sharing!
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,425
Massachusetts
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Congratualtions on the fine relics! :occasion14:

Keep at it that site looks very promising! :icon_thumleft:
 

btripp6

Sr. Member
Jul 6, 2015
327
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Grovetown, GA
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Cool finds!!
 

OP
OP
ANTIQUARIAN

ANTIQUARIAN

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2010
12,844
27,387
Upper Canada 🇨🇦
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
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XP Deus, Lesche Piranha 35 Shovel & 'Garrett Carrot'
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Nice variety of finds Dave. I like the old cup and bell. Congrats on the finds. Looks like it was a cold and wet day but you still came away with some treasures.

Thanks for your post Hawk. :thumbsup:
It was cold & wet, but it was great to get out again before the ground freezes up.
Dave



A lot of nice finds. Surely there will be more to come. Was the lamp in the building? Too beautiful to have been in the ground. Didn't know much about the lamp burners. I just throw them in the brass bucket. I think I will take a closer look at them. Thanks for the great pics and good luck with the site.
Thanks very much for your post and support NGIN. :hello:
I found the lamp on eBay in 2006 :laughing7:

Unfortunately there's very little left of interest in the building, as it's slowly collapsing into it's former cellar.

Best of luck to you,
Dave



Nice finds! I really like the crotal bell. Congrats! :icon_thumleft:

Thank you Whyme... even if I'd only found the crotal bell it would've been a good day! :thumbsup:
Dave



What a treat it was to read this post over my morning coffee! :coffee2: I enjoyed the heck out seeing the site and all the goodies you found. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks very much for noticing the effort I put into my posts creskol! :occasion14:
The way I look at it is... if you're going to take the time to read it, I want it to be worth your time.

Best of luck to you,
Dave



Congratulations on the fine relics! :occasion14:

Keep at it that site looks very promising! :icon_thumleft:


Thank you for your post Professor.
I intend on heading back there again this afternoon... that is if it ever stops raining here. :laughing7:
Dave



Nice finds

Thank you Neil. :thumbsup:


Cool finds!!

Thanks b! :icon_thumleft:
 

Aureus

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Sep 5, 2016
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Some very interesting finds Dave, congratulations! I really like the decorated crotal bell and the tiny metal tea cup, I'm wondering what it was used for.
Great research!
 

Reanm8er

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Aug 17, 2018
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Shenandoah Valley Va
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Congrats Dave, Very Very Nice!

Good luck and good health!
 

BTV Digger

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Jul 24, 2014
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Nice turn of the century relics! I particularly like the little toy sized teacup. Congrats.

John
 

villagenut

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Oct 18, 2014
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florida
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Nice place to sniff around there...but it also looks cold, I don't know how you guys do it. When it gets down to 40 here in Fla I am wanting to call off work and curl up with my heating blanket:tongue3: On a side note, I agree that those little thumb wheels are too often overlooked by diggers and they miss out on some addition information pertaining to their site.
 

OP
OP
ANTIQUARIAN

ANTIQUARIAN

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2010
12,844
27,387
Upper Canada 🇨🇦
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Lesche Piranha 35 Shovel & 'Garrett Carrot'
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Some very interesting finds Dave, congratulations! I really like the decorated crotal bell and the tiny metal tea cup, I'm wondering what it was used for.
Great research!
Thank you for your post and support Anton. :occasion14:
I can only assume the tea cup was part of a child's tea set... hopefully more will pop up.
Dave



Congrats Dave, Very Very Nice!

Good luck and good health!

Thank you Phil, always nice to hear from you here on the forum! :hello:

Hope you're having a great year,
Dave



Nice turn of the century relics! I particularly like the little toy sized teacup. Congrats.

John


Thanks for your post John. :thumbsup:
This site likely started get going until 1870s, there was a much larger mill located a half mile down the road.
I don't think this site was active much past the turn of the 19thc, this might explain why the finds have been scarce here. :icon_scratch:

Here's a picture of the mill that was located down the road... now long gone as well.
Dave


Nice place to sniff around there...but it also looks cold, I don't know how you guys do it. When it gets down to 40 here in Fla I am wanting to call off work and curl up with my heating blanket
tongue3.gif
On a side note, I agree that those little thumb wheels are too often overlooked by diggers and they miss out on some addition information pertaining to their site.


I completely agree with you about the thumb wheel info . As you well know, finding a coin or a button is always a good indicator to the age of a site.
The 4-prong oil lamp burners had a much longer production life then these lip-type burners did. So with a patent date of 1863, this site was probably active from the late 1860s to around 1890 (best guess).

As far as digging in the cold and snow goes... layers of clothing, a knitted cap, insulated hunting boots and warm winter work gloves.
laughing7.gif


Best of luck to you in sunny sandy Florida!
thumbsup.gif

Dave
 

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OP
OP
ANTIQUARIAN

ANTIQUARIAN

Gold Member
Apr 24, 2010
12,844
27,387
Upper Canada 🇨🇦
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Lesche Piranha 35 Shovel & 'Garrett Carrot'
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Congratulations I like the snow flake button very nice finds
Thank you for your post Jesse. :occasion14:

The 'snowflake button' is likely the top to a ladies scent jar or something along those lines. :icon_scratch:

Best of luck to you in Dover,
Dave
 

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