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Found My First Real Treasure Yesterday!

Eric Willoughby

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I was out in the boonies detecting a civil war era home that sat right off an original Cherokee/early settler path, there were only two homes above this place that are still lived in (no tresspassing signs posted), beyond that, is countless of miles of nothing but forest until you hit Tennessee. As I was finishing up for the day at this tiny cabin, one of the home owners came down the trail walking his dogs and he approached me with some interest in what I was doing. We swapped a few stories and he gave me an invitation to explore the old trail behind his house, he also told me that there is a shanty/shack/cottage that still stands there. Although not very old, and made out of nothing but 2x4's, plywood, and a tin roof, he told me no one has been up in that area in the 15 years that he has lived there except for 1 time and that being a game warden. So, I went to explore the trail and at one point I decided to nose around this shack/cottage. Indeed, no one has been there for quite awhile, place was loaded with rodent nests, and even those nests were abandoned long ago. There wasnt much to the place, just a handmade dining table, and two bunk beds, wit two small closets at the foot of each bed. I ended up looking inside them, expecting to find nothing but more rodent nesting material.... and there it sat, an old military munitions can with 6 flip-latch locks and what I believe are two antique lanterns!

238854-R1-16-18A.jpg




So, right now you must be wondering, "what was in the box?"









Books!! Lots and lots of books! All old ones too! 55 books in total, not all of them are pictured though, some are just way too fragile to handle at the monent, so I need gloves and tweezers to look through them. There is tons of research that I need to do on these items.

238854-R1-10-12A.jpg





The red books, are from the American School Of Correspondence. Copyrighted 1905 thru 1921. Its not a complete set, but it is nearly an entire coarse on the machinist and fabrication trade. There are 14 of these in total. They are in ok shape but the cloth binders need restoring, pages are in very good shape.

238854-R1-09-10A.jpg

1.Machine Drawing part 1,2,3
2.Machine Shop Work part 1,2,3,4,5
3.Tool Making part 2,3
4.Pattern Making part 1
5.Machine Shop Management
6.Practical Mathematics part 2



There is a second set, nearly complete (only 4 are missing out of what is a 26 volume set). They are from the Alexander Hamilton Institute, titled "Modern Business". Copyright 1924

These books are in excellent shape, they do not look anywhere near to 87 years old at all.
The set includes 22 out of the original 26.......

Business and the man
Economics
Business Organization
Corporate Finance
Marketing and Merchandising
Salesmanship and Sales Management
Advertising Principles
Office Administration
Accounting Principles
Credit and Collections
Plant Management
Cost Finding
Advertising Campaigns
Business Correspondence
Transportation
Forgeign Trade
Banking
Insurance
Accounting Practice
Financial and Business Statements
Investments
Commercial Law



The remaining 8 books deal with Engineering, Architecture and Gasoline Engine Design and Building.



I have found my first treasure, now what do I do with all of this?
 
Upvote 0
Time to search the Net and see what they might be worth. Nice save all around. Those lanterns are killer though. Cool treasure for sure. Congrats :thumbsup: jgas
 
I thought you had found a 'shiner's cabin for a bit. My dad told me that he used to find them by the smoke in the mountains. Looking good. Knowledge is the greatest treasure...and our past.
 
RFrady said:
I thought you had found a 'shiner's cabin for a bit. My dad told me that he used to find them by the smoke in the mountains. Looking good. Knowledge is the greatest treasure...and our past.


Funny you should say that, the home owner told me about an old still being somewhere up there. Thats what I went looking for until I reached this place first. There is still alot of ground to cover, I am nowhere near done with this area. Expect alot more finds and posts regarding this spot.
 
Dragonfire said:
That's why I Love metal detecting, and exploring old sites...........

Sometimes the things you are meant to find that are of Historical interest are not always buried in the ground! Nice Save Captain :headbang: HH! Mike.S
jgas said:
Time to search the Net and see what they might be worth. Nice save all around. Those lanterns are killer though. Cool treasure for sure. Congrats :thumbsup: jgas


Thanks guy! I have found treasures before, but nothing of this size and age. I am thoroughly stoked. ;D
 
Both lanterns are made my "Dietz"

"Monarch"
238854-R1-03-3A.jpg



"Little Wizard"
238854-R1-02-2A.jpg
 
:icon_thumleft: What an awesome day and find!!!!! WTG!!! You hit the motherload there!!!!!! :icon_thumright:
 
Nice find maybe there is a cache around somewhere
 
Very cool...and don't forget to look for old documents, or even paper money stashed in the pages of those books!
 
J.Cache said:
Very cool...and don't forget to look for old documents, or even paper money stashed in the pages of those books!


No money stashed in the books, but there is some personal handwriting in some of them and one book contained a piece of paper depicting workshop notes and math calculations. The original owner of these was one studying son of a gun. I am a well studied guy and it would still take me a long time to grasp any of this material. It's highly technical stuff, despite it's age. These books in thier era were very cutting edge.
 
Cap'n Crunch said:
Business and the man
Economics
Business Organization
Corporate Finance
Accounting Principles
Forgeign Trade
Banking
Accounting Practice
Investments
Commercial Law

I would send these ones to the man in the White House ;D

I sure is cool finding a place like that :icon_thumleft:
 
Kiwijohn said:
Cap'n Crunch said:
Business and the man
Economics
Business Organization
Corporate Finance
Accounting Principles
Forgeign Trade
Banking
Accounting Practice
Investments
Commercial Law

I would send these ones to the man in the White House ;D

I sure is cool finding a place like that :icon_thumleft:






LMAO....... indeed! :D :laughing9:
 
Now it makes you wonder who inhabited the place? Interesting time capsule there, must be a good story behind it. :coffee2:
 
BTW, I'm thinking that might be the trail my GGGG Grandfather may have taken going from Virginia to Tennessee. Does the trail have a name?
 
Good saves Cap'n :icon_thumright: Keep at it!!!
 
Great Story! Thanks for sharing your Finds :thumbsup:
The warden hiked the trails and studied hard.
Wonder Why he left his books? we uncover so many mysteries :read2:
 
Nice finds.

I've bought and sold these type books many, many times in the past. I'm guessing that the cool factor outweighs the monetary value.

Some of the titles are hard to find and command pretty serious prices. At one time, the stair building book from the International Correspondence School was $75 to $225.

The important thing is to look every title up...sometimes they can surprise you in the value.

HTH.
 
Loved the story that goes with the finds. What a great day you had exploring...you can really meet some nice people.
 

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