Button found at Belle Grove Plantation, birthplace of James Madison

[BelleGroveVA]

We are looking for some help in identifying a button we found at Belle Grove Plantation in King George, Virginia. We think it is a WH Horsetmann Great Seal button, but we are trying to date the period it could be from. The back is missing so we don't have a way to date it that way. From the Great Seal Buttons I have seen, the wings look a little different from the WWI buttons. Could anyone please help us?

 

[Mud Hut]

I am not sure, but I think the Great Seal style button was introduced shortly after the turn of the 20th century .. 1902 or 3 I think.

 

[nhbenz]

And it has a raised rim around the outside, which puts it 1910 or later. Without the back the only other thing I can think of to date it would be to clean it further to see if it has the black finish on it, which ceased in 1923.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

I've done a-lot of hunting in King George... Found lots of good civilian 18th and 19th century relics, not so much civil war though. Most civil war relics i have found in KG are off 218 near the Stafford/King George line! but - I do know lot of good CW relics been found in KG. Few years ago i got permission to hunt a house right near St Pauls church and we dug piles of flat and civilian floral buttons and it just so happen the old road bed that leads to the church was on this property.. Good luck , lot to be found in KG.