March 2008 News Letter

[PAPPY]

Submitted by RIP:

1904:
Within the last year, at Cooperstown, New York, a quanity of old porcelain has come to light. A farmer was ploughing, when suddenly the plough struck some hard substance, and a moment later there was a crash as of broken crockery. Investigation proved that he had struck a wooden chest, filled with china articles. There were eighty pieces in all, and fifty were saved in a perfect condition. As for the chest, it had crumbled to bits on exposure to the air, only the rough iron lock and hinges surviving. The history of these specimens is known. They were bruied one hundred and twenty-five years ago by Percifer Carr, who was employed by Colonel Edmeston, an officer in the French and Indian Wars. The Colonel received for his services a grant of one thousand acres, and Carr had a comfortable
home on this land. Indian troubles caused him to leave for a time and he buried his china. Among the pieces are some very choice Old Worcester, with both Hancock's and Holdship's designs. Other pieces are in plain blue, and in brown and pink.

The farmer who ploughed up these treasures, for they are almost as valuable as gold, has not been allowed to retain them, as he only rented the farm. The owner of the property stepped in and claimed them and after they had reposed in a bank under the care of a sheriff for some months, the court upheld his claim. Collectors from all over the country have been interested to have them come on the market.

Percifer Carr (d.1804) was a British allied Loyalist living in what is now Otsego County, New York around the time of the American Revolution.

Carr served as Sergeant with Colonel William Edmeston in the French and Indian War and was later employed as an agent for Edmeston and his brother Robert in establishing claims on tracts of land on the eastern bank of the Unadilla River just west of George Croghan's Otsego patent near what is now the hamlet of South Edmeston in the Town of Edmeston. Carr was then made caretaker for these tracts, which became known as Mount Edmeston (Also known as Edmeston Plantation, Edmeston Manor, Carr's Garden and commonly the Carr Farm). The Edmeston brothers returned to England, but sent a number of settlers, likely including some Irish indentured servants, back to their estate. In 1773, William returned to Mount Edmeston to personally supervise its development, and by 1775, its population was nearing 100.

Dishes believed to have been buried by Carr on his farm during the Revolution with the advent of the Revolutionary War, Edmeston, now a British Major, was detained by American paatriots in the eastern part of the state and Carr continued to manage Mount Edmeston, BUT, as a known Troy, he was suspected by patriots at Cherry Valley and German Flatts of selling provisions to Joseph Brant. In September 1778, a group of Native Americans who were allied with the British, mistakenly set Carr's house on fire and carried him and his wife to Canada through the Niagara region. At least one account has stated that Carr was treated very poorly, having been forced to lie down in streams to allow his captors to use his body as a footbridge.

Carr and his wife returned to Mount Edmeston in 1783. Major Edmeston who had returned to duty in Europe, hired Carr to rebuild his estate, but in 1788, Robert Edmeston returned to America and fired Carr. John Tunnicliff, an influential farmer in the area, tried to mediate the dispute, but, as Tunnicliff reported in a letter to William Cooper, his efforts proved fruitless, even though Carr's friends and neighbors signed an affidavit testifying to his "Frugal and Industrious" dealings on behalf of his landlord. Carr's direct appeal for relief to William Edmeston, on the grounds of old age and a "State of absolute Penury", was equally without success. Finally, however, a small piece of property was secured for him and Car remained in Otsego County until his death in 1804, when he was buried on John Tunnicliff's farm near Schuyler Lake.

[anne]

That was an excellent read, thank you RIP

[The TINMAN]

Great Read rip.. Thank You.
The Land Owners should at least Split it with the Farmer.

[Kentfb]

Very interesting read. thanks

[PAPPY]

SUBMITTED BY:
DIXIELADY

On Feb. 9, 2008 my husband and I were metal detecting at a Middle School nearby. This was my old middle school way back. We had been metal detecting for about 2 hours and found various common coins spread out in different areas. I started to remember some ot the stories I had read online in the metal detecting forums about class rings being found and returned. I whispered a prayer to myself,"Father God, I sure would love to find a High School Ring with someones name in it so I could retun it and have a story of my own to twll". I went on detecting and in an hour or so thought about the place on the other side of the school where we had played sports for PE at that time. My husnand and I decided to run the MD's there for a little bit. It was nice and sandy over there and I dug 43 pop tops and 33 metal pencil tops not to mention all the other pieces of foil my MD picked up. It was getting dark and my husnand asked if I were ready to leave. I proceeded to move to another little place I had not tried yet and called back to him, "Just a few mor minutes, let me try over here". It was getting dark enough outside that I couldn't really see the indicator on my MD now but heard a nice loud tone on the detector go off. I bent down to move away about 2"-3" of sand and pulled up a very beautiful 14K Gold Art Carved High School Ring. The first thing I wanted to see was the date. WOW, the dated was 1986. It looked as though it had just been dropped. I can't begin to tell you just how excited I was but I yelled!! About the time I did, I heard this still small voice say. "When you whispered that prayer a little while ago, you may have forgotten it, but I didn't. I remember even the smallest of things". I realized then that it was the righ time and the place for me to find that ring to show me he was still listening to me. Oh what a friend I have in him.

I have not located the owner as of yet. I called one lady who I went to school with who is a lawyer. She had someone in her family by that name but turns out his wife says he graduated in 1988 and he has his ring. There are specific things on the ring besides his name (Which is engraved inside the ring) which tells you about who he was. I am excited about this adventure into finding out who this person is and getting this ring returned to him. Next stop will be to find school records. What I know about him so far is his name and what High School he attended back in 1986. He played football for the old high school team who doesn't exist anymore. His position was Tight End (TE is engraved on the side of the ring). His birthday must be in May because the ring has an emerald green stone in it. I think I have enough information to find an owner.

Today Feb. 14th. 2008 11:40A.M. I went to the High School to the records dept. I met with the records dept supervisor who was eager to help me. She too down his information and looked into the computer but the information was a few years too old for the school data system. I was told the information would be in the vault and they would do some investigation. Just before I left another lady stuck her head in the door and the records dept. supervisor asked her if she was a relative of this guy. She said,"My husnand is realted I think but I will check on it and let you know". The records supervisor and myself exchanged phone numbers and she said she would call me back later today to give me some information. I left excited jus knowing it wouldn't be long and I would know who this guy was and how the ring was dropped at the Moddle School.
Somewhere around the early part of the afternoon the records dept supervisor called me with the eagerly awaited news. She had found the owner. In fact, the lady who had peered through the door had made some phone calls and found out her sister actually was working with the guy's Mother. I was given the phone number to call her after 4:30 as she is employed with another High School in our area.

I gave the mother a call at 6:00P.M. and spoke with her about the ring. She described the ring to me and it was definitely a perfect match. She told me she was certain the ring was his but I didn't detect in her voice that he had really missed this ring for any period of time so things were starting to seem strange. She gave me her Son's cell phone number and I called him. I told him who I was and that my husband and I had been metal detecting at one of the schoos over the past weekend. I told him I had found a ring which I believed could belong to him. I said, "what year did you graduate"? He tells me "1988". I said, "Well, this ring says 86 on it". He then told me that the ring had TE86 on it which stood for "Tight End" which was the position he played on the football team and his jersey number was 86. At the bottom of the ring really small he said is the "88" also. Well finally I had the owner. I found out his wife was the same lady who was called by the lawyer and had said she had her husbands ring and it wasn't lost. When I asked why his wife said thes, I was told at this time he nor did his wife think the ring was lost. In fact, not until someone called his mother at the school today and she called him did he even have any knowledge of it being list. He call home to have his wife look for the ring and she said the last time she saw it, it was on their dresser but now it was gone. I asked how he thought his ring found itself onto that school playground and he said in a lw key voice, "Well, my Son is 13 years old and he must have taken it off of our dresser and took it to schoo". He said he had no idea why he would do that unless it was peer pressure and that they have a lot of things just laying around the house and never throught they had to woory about any of it. He said he would be getting a hold of him when he got home. I said, well..."Don't be too hard on him, I remember what perr pressure used to be like". We talked about meeting so I could give the ring back and decided on SUnday morning around 8A.M. He expressed how much he appreciated me returning the ring and was happy to know there were still some honest people out there.

I must say, this is NOT a real good happy ending for me. I was so much in hopes the ring would bave been a long lost ring but it wasn't. I mean, how can you really miss something that you have not lost? We all know you doin't really appreciate something a lot till you miss it and it's gone. My daughter reminded me of something after I was saying how disappointed I was that the ending was not good. She said "Mom, what kind of story did you askGod for"? I said, now don't start that again, When she said this I was taken back to about a monty ago. We were on a beach metal detecting and I got this nice hit and dug a nice man's ring which I thought was a Platinum ring. WOW was I fooled. Once my husband caught up with me and I pulled it out of my pocket excitedly...and looked inside and said..."Who is S.Steele"? The outside of the ring said D&G. I wondered if this was someone's initials because I knew a man with that last name. Well, here is a funny for you. I realized it said "Stainless Steele".WOW...so funny and what a let down.Then my daughter says to me later, "Mom, what kind of ring did you ask God For'? I said, I guess I wasn't specific hun? So back to the High School Ring. I thought I was specific enough but see, I asked for the High School Ring and found one. I never said, "I want one which has been lost for 20 years or so and the person has been missing the ring so badly since then tha they had given up hope finding it". I know he said, ask and you shall receive. Maybe he wants us to be even more specific. On Sunday I will be returning the ring to the owner. I will be glad to put and end to this story and move on.

We met today at my sign shop around 8:00A.M.. He was very nice and appreciative. I learned he has put his Son on restriction for taking the ring from his dads dresser. We took pictures of us both together with our fingers around the ring. What a neat memory at least. I still am saddened with this story to some extent but I am happy I was able to returnthis ring. The fact still remains though, "You can't miss something, you haven't lost". I couldn't put this one in the newspaper which could have been the biggest let down for me but...how could I? I wouldn't have wanted someone to tell the whold town about my kid taking my ring, so I decided to only have it put in the TQ News Letter. By the way, when we left Sunday morning, we drove to another old town and stopped at a park which looked lik was just starting to get put together. The second signal I dug down about 6" and pulled out my first silve. A 1942 Mercury dime. I was very pleased and it was a great start for my MD day.

[PAPPY]

SUBMITTED BY:
anne

Mike and I have a site that we have been Metal Detecting for about 8 years. We have dug Coins and Artifacts from all ages....Celtic, Roman, Medievil and present day.
The Farmer always puts it down to Maize, so it is planted early March and Harvested in October.
The stalks on Maize are long and hard so we have to wait until February to get the worst of winter over and the stalks as pliable as possible.

Six years ago Mike was following the plow and saw a whole lup of Tessary (Small squares of colored stones used for mosaics). This was a clear indication of Roman habitation...he told the farmer and he told some Archaeologists that there wes a Roman Villa there but they didn't believe him and said that there was no evidence of the Romans in that area. We were giving them the evidence, but as they hadn't discovered it, they didn't wish to know. Anyway, we went out to the field on Saturday Feb 23rd did a bit of detecting and found some nice bits and pieces and then we saw more Tessary, as we had been seeing it every year.

Mik decided to take the matter into his own hands and dug a test pit, he only went eight inches and he discovered part of a Roman pathway. Off he raced to get the farmer. He was amazed and went and got his JCB, he carefully dragged the ground back, some places it was only six inches deep. Mike and myself carefully scraped and brushed the soil away and OH what a feeling as we began uncovering a Roman Mosaic (Possibly 4th Century). The colors are white, red and blue and the patterns fantastic, it feels quite spongy and we think there may have been under floor heating.

We are the first people to see this in at least 1600 years, what a BUZZ!
We have covered it over and will tell the authorities who will hopefully come and have a look, the farmer is plannin on plowing again in the next week or two. He has said he will go careful, but we know we have only uncovered one room and Roman Villa's had Many!

[PAPPY]

SUBMITTED BY:
bbqcook

TOMBSTONE MYSTERY IS SOLVED AT LAST !

Dead as Elizabeth Carlton was, Marcus Pearson wanted to find her. He had her tombstone. It was gray, marble and had been discarded nearly two years ago in the parking lot of a Wendy's in Cary...HARDLY the final resting place for a woamn who died in 1904 at age 75.

Finding Carlton's grave, though, was no simple task...even for Pearson, a Cary Police Detective and amateur genealogist. He discovered her marriage to a man 24 years her junior and figured out that at the turn of the 20th century, she lived near what is now William B. Umstead Park, but he could not pinpoint her grave. "I had actually given up hope," Pearson said wednesday. Carlton's tombstone might have collected dust in Cary's police evidence locker for eternity if it weren't for a retired Progress Energy Lineman named Earl Flannery, the tombsotne of Carlton's husband, J.M. and the internet.

Flannery found the Carlton family plot last month while testing his new metal detector on the rusty nails, old Mason Jar tops and shotgun parts buried in the woods near his house on Leesville Road in North Raleigh.

The old cemetery caught his attention because two of the four graves were missing headstones. Flannery had been looking for this place for two years, ever since vandals had dropped J.M.Carlton's headstone at the end of his driveway.

After he returned home, Flannery logged onto the internet to look up J.M.Carlton. It was then that he found Pearson's plea for help.

Flannery called Pearson on March 1, and the detective know almost at onec that his search for Elizabeth Carlton's grave was over. The tombstones were the same size as the two that were undisturbed on the property and, like them, had a small dove carved at the top. Footstones with initials identified which grave was which.

On Monday, Pearson returned Carlton's tombstone to its place atop a wooded hill of red clay. It Fit. That was enough for Pearson. "If it had been one of my ancestors, I would have wanted somebody to try to get it back", he said.

Thanks to the work of Flannery and Cary police Detective Marcus Pearson the stones were returned.

NEWS RELEASE

http://boards.rootsweb.com/localitie...es.wake/569/mb.

[pris]

This is truly amazing, Anne!!!

[rip]

Thank's Pappy ! I see you found some more info,very cool.

Congrats on the ring Dixilady ! I think the merc is just the beginning of your reward.

Anne,That is totaly awesome ! WOW !

[PAPPY]

SUBMITTED BY:
abmm

EXPLORING ABANDONED MINES

Equipment:
Before any underground investigation can take place, all the compulsory and general equipment must be on hand. Compulsory equipment includes:

Coveralls or protective clothing
hard hat
safety boots
work gloves
safety goggles, especially for rock specimen collectors
a reliable cap or hand light with spare batteries and bulb.

General equipment includes"assorted topes for safety line, lowering equipment and ladder ties.
pinch bar (one per party-for emergency use only)
geological hammers
small spare hand torch
first aid kit (Personal)
shovels (Folding) to clar small falls
ladders, lightweight wire-rope type as used in caring and rock climbing.

Surface Preparation:

If possible a preliminary visit should be made to the mine area, to compare the available records with the actual site. Such a visit will help field trip olanning and ground preparation. Ground preparation includes clearing the undergrowth, and securing and preparing portals or shaft collars. Backfilled shafts must be treated with caution. In some cases the shaft fill may be "hungup" and only light pressure is needed to make it collapse.
Any ground subsidence should be noted and marked on the mine plan if available, If corresponding groun collapse is found undergrouns, no further exploration should take place until expert advice is sought.

When a party proceeds underground at least one responsible person, who knows the intentions and time of return of the underground party, should reamin on the surface. All groups must be kept to a reasonable size of say, six adults, and the leader should be well acquainted with the layout of the mine.

Access:
Mine openings are of three basic types--portal and adit (horizontal), collar and shaft (Vertical), and portal or collar of an underlie shaft (Inclined).

In most small mines there is little collar or portal protection.

Mine Conditions:
Because of the age of most abandoned mines, the ladders hoisting equipment and windlasses are dangerous to use. The rest of the workings should be considered on their merits, as safety of access will depend on the rock type, The method of excavation, the extent of the workings and the size of any individual openings. The effects of water movement, air flow (or lack of it), ground movement, and chemical and/or phsical weathering also need to be taken into account.

As each year passes the condition of underground workings may change. They can be affected by long dry periods followed by a considerable we spell.

Weathering and Deterioration:
Wood rot and rust is the most usual form of deterioration. Fungal attack to timbers in moist conditions can at times be quite spectacular whereas the visual appearance, in the case of dry wood rot, changes very little as the timber dries out and is eaten by fungus. It is qu ite easy to be deceived byt he condition of old timber, the removal of a seemingly insignificant piece of timber may trigger a fall of "poor ground".

Iron and steel in the form of supports, ladder hangers, rungs and fixings also deteriorate. The rust scale increases the visible diameter of, say, a ladder rung, but has in fact reduced the actual solid metal, in some cases to the thickness of fencing wire.

Hangers and bar fixings in rock or ground may appear to be in goo condition externally, but be eaten away within the hole. These should be suspect until proved otherwise.

It is possible therefore that a ladder of wood with iron rungs, all wood, or all iron construction may support a person at first but on climbing down could collapse because of overloading. Even if injuries are not sustained in such a fall, the climber may be left without any way to leave the mine, the use of a separate safety rope tied to the climber is therefore essential.

GAS:
In some mines there was only one entrance, so poor ventilation conditions can be expected. This is the case in the bottom of shafts, winzes and sumps, and the top of rises and stopes. Where two access points were made, or the workings broke through to the surface, natural ventilation usually occurs. This reduces, but does not eliminate, the possibility of "Bad Air".
The form "Bad Air" takes are:
Carbon Monoxide, CO-lighter than air, no smell, poisonous.
Carbon Dioxide-CO2 heavier than air, no smell, not poisonous but may reduce the oxygen content in the air to a point where it will not support life.
Hydrogen Sulphide--H2S--heavier than air, smell or rotten egge, explosive, a product of rotting timber and/or vegetation. This willbe most noticeable if water in a shaft bottm or sump is disturbed.
Methane--timber or vegetation decomposing under water. The methane may rise to the surface and accumulate in a pocket, it is HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE.

A ca;nary is a most sensitive gas or "Bad Air" detector and is still used in many mines today to check abandoned workings and on routine inspections where "Bad Air" is suspected.

Shafts:
Collar timbers and shaft linings which are clos to the surface were originally placed to form and protect the shaft. The collar in some cases is made from material excavated when the shart was sunk. Even though the surface of the collar material has been compacted, the soil underneath could be loose and may collapse if the collar lining is disturbed.

In may cases the collar timbers are forced inwards as they rot. if the collar lining falls in a fully lined shaft the entire shaft could collapse, or partially collapse and "hang Up". The collar should be carefully cleared and secured particularly before any ladder is hung on it.

If there is any doubt about the safety of the collar, it is better to use a rope ladder hung from a bar or beam placed across the collar. The beam should be firmly fixed to "Good Ground" and the ladder hung so that the person climbing can stay clear of the shaft timbering. The folling points are improtant:
Only one person should be on the ladder at one time
Never stand at the bottm of a ladder that is being climbed, in case material or equipment falls or is dropped
The hands must be placed on the ladder rungs, not on the side, so that if the feet slip a firm grip can be maintained
Never look up when climbing a ladder, any rock which may fall will then hit the hard hat.

When descending a shaft for the first time, step straight from the bottom of the ladder into the drive. If this is not possible step off near the side of the shaft because the floor may not be as solid as it appears.

If a mine has been worked to a lower level or become flooded, it is possible that a floor or plat could have been constructed at the last level worked. These plats were usually mad out of timber, with short lengths of rail ine, in some cases, used as bearers. After a time the surface of the plat will look like the floor of the drive, creating a danger. Dropping a large object down the shaft will not clarify the situation. If this is done a fairly secure plat may be weakened, although it is more likely that timbers and loose material would be sidlodged from the shaft sides which could, at worst, totally block the shaft preventing further exploration.

Winzes present a similar problem, although these can be identified as progress is made along the drive.

Shaft timbers should never be climbed to gain access. Inclined or underlie shafts can be negotiated without too much difficulty if the incline is not too great, a rope will generally be helpful on a slight incline. In vertical shafts, climbing equipment or at the very least a caving ladder and safety line are required equipment.