Thoughts on research

[preacherjim]

This is a first post on research, basically to see if anyone is interested or thinks this is worthwhile. Comments welcomed!

To give a little background, I was very involved in treasure hunting and prospecting (minerals, gems, gold) back in my kid days, and was a professional lapidary for several years. Along the way, I picked up a degree in history (Rutgers, '77) and have done a lot of writing in research in local history/genealogy, which uses many of the same techniques used in treasure hunting research.

So I will throw out some thoughts here, and if there is interest, will continue! As Chuck Miller used to say, I'm waiting for the paisano sign!

Section 1: Where to start

The best place to begin is right where you are! You don't have to dream about trips to Alaska, the Mother Lode Country or the beaches of old Mexico, because, as the old saying goes, "treasure is where you find it."

If you live in your "native" area, with deep roots, then the best place to begin is by talking to the elders in your family. Unlike books and Internet resources, we are only blessed to have them for a short period of time, and opportunities lost can never be regained.

Now the way to do this is not to rush in breathlessly and ask Aunt Jane where you can find treasure! Instead, open a conversation about her youth. If you spend your time digging up artifacts and old coins, you must have an interest in the past -- and here is your personal time machine, whose living memories can take you back to a whole different time! Not only that, but the odds Aunt Jane remembers her grandparents, who perhaps lived around the time of the Civil War. Start to get the picture?

So where do Aunt Jane's treasure hints come in? That's easy. For example, if she talks about her school years, find out where she attended school. In rural -- and even some urban -- areas, that would have been a long-closed one- or two-room school house. Where was it? Aunt Jane can tell you exactly, along with how they spent recess and where they went on picnics. See, you can search the current schoolyard all you want to, and tote home lots of clad -- or you visit Aunt Jane's long-unused schoolyard, and find that bright, shiny Buffalo nickel her classmate dropped a lifetime ago!

The schoolyard is just one example. Aunt Jane can tell you where church picnics took place, where the local ball team (once very common) played (and money probably changed hands), plus an assortment of other details.

Not to neglect the men, we also have Uncle George. Not only can he tell you about schools and the like, his work history may provide amazing clues. This is a very partial list: abandoned lumber camps, long-demolished migrant lodgings, notorious locations in the area (speakeasies, brothels, gambling halls [not that Uncle George ever went in any of those ] and many more. One of the "hottest" locations to look for -- and they are not just in the west -- is anywhere a lot of men (without women) worked together. That includes mines, train projects, work projects such as WPA and more. Local military camps and battle sites are an added bonus! I will not even attempt to list all the things Uncle George and Aunt Jane could tell you!

As boobieinpa wisely pointed out in an earlier post, you can find a lot of willing seniors to talk with at your local senior center, as well as in nursing homes. A lot of times, these folks' families simply do not have enough time to spend with them. They are raising families, working two jobs, etc., and it can be very hard -- and they simply may not be interested in the past.

While you listening and brightening these folks' days, be aware of any interesting stories about local people. Some may be obvious ("They never did figure out what he did with his money..."), but others will be more subtle. Anyone identified as a crooked local politician, lawyer or business person (or any other kind of crook!) is of interest. Such folks do not tend to use banks, other than the kind found under a post in the backyard!

If you have not spent much time with the elderly (and we're all heading there!), you may be surprised at how deep and detailed their memories run. Even if they can't remember your name week to week, they can often summon up an amazing history of their lives and local places. And one person can lead to another -- "Well, I'm not sure, but I bet John remembers..."

So, I'll wrap up here and wait for feedback!

[preacherjim]

Thanks, Chuck!

And this is some of the more simple stuff. I want to also show how to use professional research techniques to deconstruct (actually, "destruct") treasure tales and see if they have any basis in reality.

It's an odd thing, but there are more treasure leads in any decent local history book than most of the "true treasure stuff."

If you do the research well, you can save a lot of time and frustration (and money!) by eliminating the junk early on. Like the one I read recently about a 19th century North Carolina doctor who supposedly made a burnt offering of a keg of gold coins...but more on that later.

[Boobird]

Very interesting thread Jim...


Boobird...

[preacherjim]

You go in a store, or at a TH'ing event and spot a book with the typical title, "Lost Treasures of...." (fill in the blank). When you pick it up, where should you look first?

If you answered the back, you were right! That's a lesson I learned from my military history professor over 30 years ago: check the sources first. Scholarly books give their sources footnote by footnote, which allows you to trace their information and confirm it (or bust it!), step by step. At least, there should be a bibliography, and you need to judge the quality of those listed sources -- before you part with your dollars.

Let me give you an example. I recently picked up a regional "lost treasure" book, strictly as a fun read. The "sources" are primarily articles in treasure magazines -- anyone want to wager whether the author of the book also authored the articles? A two-page bibliography looks impressive, until you start looking and realize the sources are basically meaningless.

As a point of comparsion, consider the myriad books out there that re-tell the same tired yarns about Western outlaws and gunfighters. Then pick up a copy of "Great Gunfighters of the Kansas Cowtowns 1867-1886" and you will see the authors did a fantastic job of delving into contemporary sources from that bygone period -- and documented some real history, rather than repeating a bunch of myths. We need more of this sort of scholarship in treasure hunting!

So...I looked at one of the tales in this "lost treasure" book and it was quite a yarn! According to the story, there was a mysterious physician (maybe a folk physician or a witch) who settled in central North Carolina. He married a wealthy widow -- who promptly disappeared. His farm had an evil reputation (play the Twilight Zone theme here ). Then, one dark night, he has his farm hand roll out a heavy keg into the middle of a field. Indians join the doctor and, as the farm hand watched, they all had a dance, then burnt up the keg -- which was full of gold coins!! The hired hand fled, and the gold settled into the ground, where it remains today.

Now I was a little (little? ) skeptical about all this, just reading it. I decided to look at the contemporary record -- and a good starting place was the U.S. Census. There are several online sources for the Census:

1. If you live in a state (like North Carolina, through NC LIVE - Authentication Required) that offers free access to a service called Heritage Quest, you are set. If you are not sure, check with your local public library.

2. There are paid online services (such as Ancestry.com -- Browser Upgrade) that provide the same material on a yearly/monthly fee basis.

To make a long story short, tracing this man in the census records showed he was, indeed, a fairly prosperous physician for the period. His top worth (real and personal property) was around $25,000, quite a chunk in the 1870s. But the treasure tale ran into some problems. Rather than his wife disappearing in a few months, the couple actually had two daughters -- and were probably married for something like 40 years! There was no trace of the handyman named in the story, anywhere in North Carolina. Other than the fact that neither daughter ever married, there was very little unusual about the family. The origin of the tale? Tracking that would be a whole other quest.

There was definitely enough in the contemporary historical record to give one pause before selling the farm and heading off to central North Carolina to recover this amazing lump of gold. Some research can prevent scenes like this: .

By contrast, here's a potentially hot coinshooting book that most people will never hear about, because it is largely marketed to the library trade: Perry Allen Wood, "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas," from McFarland & Co. (McFarland - Publisher of Reference and Scholarly Books). This is a reference book tracing the story (and location) of 29 former racetracks, once used in the Grand National, the predecessor to NASCAR. All these closed by 1971 -- and likely have lots of silver laying around from former bleachers and concession stands.

Enough for now. Will write more if there is interest.

[rip]

Hello preacherjim.Now this is a thread worth reading ! Unlike some with thousands of Questionable leads and alot of misinformation. Keep em coming !

[coinhead2]

Originally Posted by preacherjim

This is a first post on research, basically to see if anyone is interested or thinks this is worthwhile. Comments welcomed!

To give a little background, I was very involved in treasure hunting and prospecting (minerals, gems, gold) back in my kid days, and was a professional lapidary for several years. Along the way, I picked up a degree in history (Rutgers, '77) and have done a lot of writing in research in local history/genealogy, which uses many of the same techniques used in treasure hunting research.

So I will throw out some thoughts here, and if there is interest, will continue! As Chuck Miller used to say, I'm waiting for the paisano sign!

Section 1: Where to start

The best place to begin is right where you are! You don't have to dream about trips to Alaska, the Mother Lode Country or the beaches of old Mexico, because, as the old saying goes, "treasure is where you find it."

If you live in your "native" area, with deep roots, then the best place to begin is by talking to the elders in your family. Unlike books and Internet resources, we are only blessed to have them for a short period of time, and opportunities lost can never be regained.

Now the way to do this is not to rush in breathlessly and ask Aunt Jane where you can find treasure! Instead, open a conversation about her youth. If you spend your time digging up artifacts and old coins, you must have an interest in the past -- and here is your personal time machine, whose living memories can take you back to a whole different time! Not only that, but the odds Aunt Jane remembers her grandparents, who perhaps lived around the time of the Civil War. Start to get the picture?

So where do Aunt Jane's treasure hints come in? That's easy. For example, if she talks about her school years, find out where she attended school. In rural -- and even some urban -- areas, that would have been a long-closed one- or two-room school house. Where was it? Aunt Jane can tell you exactly, along with how they spent recess and where they went on picnics. See, you can search the current schoolyard all you want to, and tote home lots of clad -- or you visit Aunt Jane's long-unused schoolyard, and find that bright, shiny Buffalo nickel her classmate dropped a lifetime ago!

The schoolyard is just one example. Aunt Jane can tell you where church picnics took place, where the local ball team (once very common) played (and money probably changed hands), plus an assortment of other details.

Not to neglect the men, we also have Uncle George. Not only can he tell you about schools and the like, his work history may provide amazing clues. This is a very partial list: abandoned lumber camps, long-demolished migrant lodgings, notorious locations in the area (speakeasies, brothels, gambling halls [not that Uncle George ever went in any of those ] and many more. One of the "hottest" locations to look for -- and they are not just in the west -- is anywhere a lot of men (without women) worked together. That includes mines, train projects, work projects such as WPA and more. Local military camps and battle sites are an added bonus! I will not even attempt to list all the things Uncle George and Aunt Jane could tell you!

As boobieinpa wisely pointed out in an earlier post, you can find a lot of willing seniors to talk with at your local senior center, as well as in nursing homes. A lot of times, these folks' families simply do not have enough time to spend with them. They are raising families, working two jobs, etc., and it can be very hard -- and they simply may not be interested in the past.

While you listening and brightening these folks' days, be aware of any interesting stories about local people. Some may be obvious ("They never did figure out what he did with his money..."), but others will be more subtle. Anyone identified as a crooked local politician, lawyer or business person (or any other kind of crook!) is of interest. Such folks do not tend to use banks, other than the kind found under a post in the backyard!

If you have not spent much time with the elderly (and we're all heading there!), you may be surprised at how deep and detailed their memories run. Even if they can't remember your name week to week, they can often summon up an amazing history of their lives and local places. And one person can lead to another -- "Well, I'm not sure, but I bet John remembers..."

So, I'll wrap up here and wait for feedback!

You got that right. An old persons memory and conversation can really leed to excellent finds. A year ago I went to a supposed location on a river bank where they had held a church social during the 20's 30's. What a haul I made. And what it look's like now, You would have never expected it to have had such a past. Overgrown, trashy, Yet back then totally different. And many lost silver coins still remain.

[JoAnne]

This is a very interesting thread - please continue. I feel I can never learn too much.

[pris]

I feel that the research part is my downfall. I often don't know where to start, so I don't ever start. I think that your tip about the footnotes was great. It didn't occur to me that they may even be quoting themselves.

Great thread, though. Keep it up!

[cjoej]

Greg, can we put this under a Major Section heading to continue this discussion area...Research - How To.

PreacherJim - you have written a couple of very very valuable posts here and I would like to see many more. This is great information!

You could even sell these to the Treasure magazines...care to write a collumn? (grin)

I have often wondered about why authors didn't have names of persons when claiming to have so much other information, or how they could claim to have so much detail of events when NO ONE SURVIVED! I'm sure others have asked themselves these same type of questions when reading a Treasuer Lead that read more like a "story" and less like "factual information".

It's an easy conclusion that most Lost Treasure yarns are writen for "entertainment" and not for "recording history". The trick is, as you stated, determining what is true and what is not. Bunk or Debunk.

SWC

Joe

OUCH! Fraid I bit my foot, this IS under a major heading, I just came at it from a strange path. Now how to get my foot outa my mouf....

[preacherjim]

The best place to start hunting treasure is your public library -- and that is doubly true if it has a local history/genealogy section.

What makes your public library important is not just its collection (apart from the local history stuff), but interlibrary loan. Through your library, you can very likely gain free access to something called WorldCat (World Catalog), which lists every book in every major library in the world. So, if your research leads you to an expensive or hard-to-find source, this is how you can get a look -- often just for the price of return postage.

But before that -- unless you have a specific project in mind -- it's time to look around the local history section. If you are fortunate, this will be extensive, but even a few books can help. Here are some thoughts:

1. A lot of areas have produced Heritage books. Much of the space in these are devoted to genealogies of families, and of limited interest (unless you are looking for info on a particular individual). But there is usually a section on local history, often written by long-time residents. These sections are not devoted to politics and "big issues," but just what we're looking for: day-to-day living. Here you will find accounts of long-closed schools, early churches, camp meeting sites (which are potential hotspots for old coins), early stores, railroads, Civil War skirmishes, and places and events you can't even imagine! Let your mind roam, and just pick out the spots where people gathered.
2. If the "Images of America" series has hit your area (and they have covered a lot of places), you have a great resource to study. The authors of these books gather copies of old pictures from area residents, then provide cutlines. Especially in rural/small town areas, it is fairly easy to figure out where the photos were taken, and, thus, where human activity was going on a century or more ago. There are "picture books" of the past out there, and they are all worth a look through.
3. Many counties -- they were usually done at a county level (there are state ones, generally of less interest) -- became the subject of biographical/historical "vanity" books in the 19th century. This was a huge industry back then, built around selling copies to local citizens, in return for including their bios and engraved (later photographic) images. Amidst all the egos, however, the authors who churned out these books often gathered a LOT of local information, much of which is otherwise forgotten. After all, they often talked to men and women whose parents remembered the Revolution firsthand! These massive tomes (800 to 1,000 pages is not unusual) can provide an amazing amount of information to a person determined to scan them carefully.
4. Many local libraries keep microfilm copies of early newspapers. This is tough research, unless you have a specific goal or timeframe involved. It's great if you know there was a bank robbery in October 1927, but if you are just trying to find out if there WAS a bank robbery at any time, you will get bleary-eyed at the microfilm machine. So you might try checking out the papers just before July 4 -- where were the parades or the big picnics on the holiday? Or you might scan in the late summer and try to find a county fair and its location -- which may now be a vacant field. Civil War-era newspapers can be priceless for identifying military camps. Back in those long-gone, censorless days, the papers routinely reported the movements of both sides, often in considerable detail. Later ones can help you locate abandoned training camps from the Spanish-American War and the world wars.

These are just a few thoughts, to get you thinking about the myriad possibilities out there.

One final tip: Older folklore books, local and general, often contain tales of buried treasure. These represent a stratum of local traditions. Long before the first metal detector beeped, people were out there trying to find treasure, and their traditions sometimes made it to print. Here's a neat old set to look through:

C.M. (Charles Montgomery) Skinner, "Myths and Legends of Our Own Land," of which volume 9 is entirely devoted to buried treasure. And now the good news: you can download this book for free at this link:

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land — Complete by Charles M. Skinner - Project Gutenberg for the whole set (some neat reading) or just volume 9:

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land — Volume 09 : as to buried treasure - Project Gutenberg

Which brings us to part 4 of this series...