Promising First Finds From Old Home Site

[Driftwoood]

Hi all. I have recently been investigating a long abandoned hill community near my home and have found several home sites. These all date from around 1800 to 1880... it was a relatively short-lived, but energetic settlement that was at the center of the anti-rent wars of the upper Helderberg area in Schoharie County, NY. Some are well built stone cellar holes with elaborate barn foundations and miles of massive stone walls and others seem to have been little more than humble log cabin sites, with maybe a few corner stones and a stone slab for a step into the front door. One of the latter type of site that I was poking around gave me some surprises... from what I could find out, it was inhabited mostly from 1790 through 1840. Here is what I found there.

First, the ubiquitous pile of flat buttons... I'm sure there will be more of those to find in upcoming trips.


Here is a pair of matching flower-pattern buttons. They are convex and I have a feeling that there might have been a garment lost, as finding two that match in close proximity is kind of strange. Maybe they had some coins in their pockets when they forgot their coat!


This is a quite large brass/copper button with a little bit of an inscribed pattern... pretty simple, but BIG.


This one surprised the heck out of me! I think it's a shoe buckle, as it is quite convex, but, as you can see from the photo of it in my hand, it's really small. Pretty fancy, eh?!



And what home would be complete without the pewter spoon?


This crotal bell would have been a gigantic one... probably four or five inches 'round. The 'B' on the bottom is half of 'W B' and indicates it was made by William Barton. It seems that dude made a lot of bells... I find a lot of them around here.


This is a first for me... a watch key!


More to follow...

 

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[relic nut]

Those are some great finds! Looks like you are on great ground. Look forward to what's to come. Good luck!

HH, RN

 

[Driftwoood]

This crotal bell is the opposite of the previous one... it is a tiny little thing of about an inch or two. The are no markings, except what looks like a number '1' toward the top, but it might also just be a scratch.


Here's is another big ol' button. I've never seen one with such a raised pattern on it before... fancy schmancy.



I find a lot of ox horn knobs, but they are usually the typical 'plumbing part' looking ones... this one is quite noble. It still has some horn stuck inside it.


Well, that's about it for now. I'll be back at the site over the next few days, so hopefully will have more to share soon. Thanks for looking and happy hunting to you all!!

 

[Driftwoood]

Thanks, relic nut! I'll keep you posted!!