W&ET Featured Monthly Article Vol. 35 January 2001

Feature

Vol. 35 - Jan. 2001

Days To Treasure
By Fred Booth

Every summer for the past three years I have traveled to Ashtabula, Ohio to visit the Kollhoff clan consisting of my uncle, aunt, cousins, and grandmother. The purpose, besides spending time with my family, is to go camping in upstate Pennsylvania and to go metal detecting. Each of my trips lasts about one week, including 3-4 days of camping in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania on a 1,600-acre former dairy farm.
The farm is known as the Clough (rhymes with rough) farm, and was an operating dairy farm in the 1930s and '40s. On the property are two very large barns and an old farmhouse, a pristine spring-fed creek famous for its trout fishing, and hundreds of acres of woods. However, what has drawn me back to the Clough farm each year is at least five early to mid 1800s, stone-foundation sites that I have discovered.

Author Fred Booth (left) and cousin Matt Kollhom enjoy a leisurely stroll down an old farm lane, swapping yarns, catching up on family news, and discussing nearby detecting sites.

These sites vary from complete foundations, including some standing stone walls, to just scattered groups of foundation stones. All are heavily overgrown with blackberries, lilacs, downed trees, and other vegetation, and are therefore very difficult to search. One site in particular sits on a small knoll and has its trash dump at the bottom of the hill next to it. This site also had an open and very visible well that has been filled up with all manner of trash over the years. I keep on saying to myself that next year I will bring a rope ladder and safety ropes and dig out the well.
This particular site has yielded my oldest coin to date, an 1846 large cent, along with two 1899 Indian Head cents. The large cent was a big surprise to me as I was detecting on the slope behind the foundation, picking up all sorts of metal trash from the dump, when I got a "quarter" reading on my White's XLT at 2". With my trowel I slowly scraped the soil from where I had centered the target, and there was the large cent!

Coins like these- a Walking Liberty, four Mercuries, a silver Roosevelt, and plenty of Wheats, including some early dates- would make any TH'er smile... but finding them in Grandmom Jean's yard made it extra-special.

I was jumping up and down when my uncle and cousins showed up from their hike in the woods, and I couldn't wait to show them my find. I still couldn't believe that this coin, over 150 years old, had been sitting on top of the soil for all those years. The large cent and the two Indian Heads were found in 1998, and in July 1999 I returned to this same site and hunted for several hours. I found lots of assorted trash, but no additional coins.
The Clough farmhouse has been another story. Over the past three years I have dug a 1913 Barber dime, 1902 and 1893 "V" nickels, numerous Wheat cents, a c. 1890 New York Military Academy coat button, and a 1947 Warren County, PA dog license which is engraved on the back, "BING - Mrs. L.S. Clough - Spring Creek, PA." I wonder if the dog was named after Bing Crosby?

Searching around old foundation sites on the Clough farm, Fred uncovered a number of nice coins, including an 1846 large cent, two Indian Heads, two "V" nickels, and a Barber dime. The dog license tag dates from 1947.

Our campsite on Clough farm is what I call semi-improved. There is a fire ring and a brick fireplace for cooking, along with assorted picnic tables. The only running water at the campsite is the creek, so we have to carry in all potable water. All cooking is done over an open fire, in cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens. We also have to provide our own sanitation facilities. We use water from the stream for bathing, and this year I brought along a Sun Shower, which heated up the water well past 100° and was appreciated by everyone.
The remaining days of my vacations to Ohio are spent in Ashtabula, Ohio, at my uncle's home which was built in the 1920s. I have searched both his yard and the yard of my cousin's 1920s vintage home. From my uncle's lawn has come nothing but clad coins and a few Wheat cents. My cousin's yard has yielded more interesting items, among them a sterling silver WWII Combat Medical Badge and a sterling silver 1920s ring.
Every year my cousin has arranged for me to hunt at various old homes, farms, and parks in the Ashtabula area, and these sites have yielded clad coins, Wheat cents, and various artifacts, the most unusual of which is a brass check room tag with the number 80 from Ohio Rubber Company. If you have any information concerning this tag, please email me at middyl@gateway.net.

"Hey, if you'll mow it, I'll hunt it!" The huge Clough farmhouse looms above a heavily overgrown lawn as Fred ponders what might lie hidden underfoot.

In the past, I had often considered hunting around my Grandmom Jean's house, but since it was only built in the 1940s and has a small yard, I always passed up the opportunity. In September 1999, I again traveled to Ohio, to attend my cousin Mark's wedding. After several days of fruitless hunting on older and larger properties, being confined to the house due to heavy rains, or going antiquing with my aunt, I finally decided to give my grandmother's house a quick search.
The backyard seemed like the logical place to start, but after finding just a few clad coins and nothing else, I moved around to the side yard. I began to pick up a few older coins, including several Wheats and finally my first silver coin of the trip, a 1941 Mercury dime. I was surprised at how shallow the dime was- only 2" under the grass.
Continuing around the house to the front yard, I again got a solid "dime" reading on my XLT. Cutting a C-plug and folding the sod back, I saw a 1964 silver Roosevelt dime. At that point I decided to crisscross the front yard and slow the speed of my search.

What's up in Ashtabula? A dog license tag, an Ohio Rubber Co. check/tag, an Indian Head cent, and an antique silver ring... all coaxed to the surface by Fred and his trusty detector!

As I worked toward the driveway, I got an ID reading that indicated a half dollar. On all the previous days of hunting, every time I had gotten such a reading, my careful digging had uncovered only some piece of scrap metal about the size of a half dollar. Being tired and careless, I quickly cut a plug and began digging soil out of the hole. I still regret that reckless recovery, for up came a Walking Liberty half dollar, dated 1945... and scratched on the reverse in two places. I vowed never to be so careless again, but I was still ecstatic as this was my first silver half dollar.
As it was getting near dinner time, and my family in Ohio really likes to eat, I gave myself another 30 minutes before calling it quits for the day. Just before shutting off my detector, I got another "dime" reading. This time I unearthed a second 1941 Mercury dime. At this point I had covered most of my grandmother's front yard, and before leaving I went into her house and showed her what I had found.
She was very happy for me and called my uncle, telling him I had found "a silver dollar!" At 92, Grandmom Jean doesn't see or hear very well, but she knew I had found something wonderful from her yard. I told her I would be back tomorrow and walked back to my uncle's house for a delicious dinner of roast tenderloin of venison smothered in sautéed onions with homemade mashed potatoes and acorn squash. By the way, my uncle shot the deer the prior season at the Clough farm.

A visit to Grandmom Jean's home is a treasure in itself, but Fred was pleasantly surprised by the coins awaiting him just inches under the well-kept little lawn.

The next morning I visited Grandmom Jean's home again and slowly crisscrossed her front lawn with my XLT. More Wheat cents surfaced, including one from 1916 and another from 1920. As the hunt continued, I uncovered a more modern aluminum 1979 Ashtabula dog tag, a brass belt buckle, and then my patient pattern-searching paid off with a third Mercury dime. I was amazed that such a small yard had given up all these coins, and all had come from only 2-3" under the grass. My run of silver coins was not yet over, for as I searched near the sidewalk at the front of the yard out popped a very worn 1934 Mercury dime. It was not time to say goodbye to Grandmom Jean, show her my latest finds, and bid Ohio adieu.
The next day was Saturday and my cousin Mark's wedding. At the wedding reception, guests who knew me quizzed me as to what I had found while metal detecting on this trip, and several mentioned that they knew of sites I could search if I came back next summer. Just then, though, I was excited to be going home to see my wife and dogs, and to show my wife my finds. My family in Ohio is expecting me back again next summer, and you can bet that Grandmom Jean's home will get another thorough going-over.

Subscribe!

Top