House sites from the mid 1850s aren’t an easy thing to come by or research in my area of the Midwest. There were certainly people homesteading here in this time frame but unfortunately mapping is not available and the records can be tough to sort through.
Through genealogy research and census information I was able to backtrack off of an 1897 map and locate a homesite that I believed to be here in the 1850s, maybe sooner as census records stop around then.

I located the site late in the season last year and came up with a few older relics, including a shield nickel with rays,1863, as well as a Jacksonian button and flat button.

Went back out for my first hunt at this site this year and was able to produce a few cool relics.

First is the second Jacksonian button I’ve pulled from here. The face is completely gone but the very thin brass rim/ring and shank were still intact, mostly. The second was a flat button with a busted shank. It reads “Warranted Rich Orange”. I believe both of these buttons date to around the 1820s-1840s. I don’t suspect the buttons were here in that date range but most likely the owner still used them in his clothing fashions as he was born very early in the 1800s.

The owner of these buttons lived on this farm until his passing in his 90s. He is buried not far from the site in a small rural cemetery. Here is a photo of him, maybe even wearing one of the buttons I have found. His name was Gideon and now his story gets to live a little longer.

You have to love history.

Thanks for looking and happy hunting

First and foremost, a Big Welcome to you to the forum here from Georgia. You will both like and fit in here just fine. There are a lot of relic hunters on the forum here, myself being one of them. Congrat's to you on some nice Saved History. Artifacts are cool to find, and it makes them so much more on a personal level when you know something about the owners, or who may have lost them, such as your Mr. Gideon. Congrat' s to you on both the nice Saves and for doing the research which paid off in your locating this homesite. You are correct in that History will Never Die. Well Done and Continued Successto you.

Your research paid off with some nice finds and a great story!!
The picture and information on the owner makes them even more interesting!!

Great research. The picture of the person resembles Johhny Cash.

Nice write up Cody, now if we could just figure out what the brass piece with a ring on is!

Here is another picture of it

Jelly936 said:

Here is another picture of it

Click to expand...

A bolt latch for a door, cabinet, window?