staninbji
Jr. Member
I was detecting in a small park in Bangor, Maine the other day and got a very deep quarter signal. So imagine my surprise when this pops out!
A ladies' gold watch with the initials "RWT". After getting it home, cleaning it up and managing to pry the back off of it, the owner's name was revealed: "Ruth W. Thomas"
Then under the back cap, the serial number indicates that this watch was made in 1896. Using this data and a genealogy site, I found her! She was born near here in 1873 and was living in Bangor when she got married in 1899. Just as a curiosity, I decided to see if there was any connection between us.
Keep in mind that I'm from Minnesota, but my mother's side of the family was from Maine and colonial Massachusetts. It turns out that she was a distant cousin of my great-grandfather! She never had any children so I'm inclined to think that it's mine to keep. I didn't know it at the time, but I made an awesome discovery and a relic return at the same time! Thanks for looking and HH!!!
A ladies' gold watch with the initials "RWT". After getting it home, cleaning it up and managing to pry the back off of it, the owner's name was revealed: "Ruth W. Thomas"
Then under the back cap, the serial number indicates that this watch was made in 1896. Using this data and a genealogy site, I found her! She was born near here in 1873 and was living in Bangor when she got married in 1899. Just as a curiosity, I decided to see if there was any connection between us.Keep in mind that I'm from Minnesota, but my mother's side of the family was from Maine and colonial Massachusetts. It turns out that she was a distant cousin of my great-grandfather! She never had any children so I'm inclined to think that it's mine to keep. I didn't know it at the time, but I made an awesome discovery and a relic return at the same time! Thanks for looking and HH!!!
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