Confederate Heart Breaker

[miserman]

I was able to detect a former one-room schoolhouse site this week. Toward the end of the day the owner stopped by to see what I had found and I was able to show him several Indian Heads and a couple of Wheat Cents. As we were talking, he shared the history of the farm that has been in his family for the past 158 years. He stated that his Great X 3 Grandfather in Virginia, bought the Indiana land, moved his entire family here and built a house in 1865 after returning from the Civil War, where he fought for the Confederate States of America. He also stated the family still has his personal diary and it tells of the battles that he fought in including Gettsyburg. There is a well marked family graveyard on the property and he stated that many of family members that came from Virginia are buried there and informed me there were more Confederates than Yankees in this Indiana cemetery! He then informed me that he still lived in the second house that old great grandad built in 1902. My next question was "what happened to the original 1865 house?" He pointed out a high spot about a quarter mile out in the bean field and stated it was "out there" until 1926. Then with his permission I returned yesterday and made the walk to the site. Glass and brick covered the site and after digging a couple 1880's Indian Heads, I dug a loud signal that was about three inches deep. It was a gold gilded button that had a nice gash thru the middle from a farmers plow. After a thorough cleaning I realized that it was a Confederate State of Virginia Button. Old Grandad did indeed fight in the Virginia Military and this button went with him thru the many battles and came to Indiana with him and was eventually lost on the home site. The significance of this find stayed with me all day and the family land owner was very happy when I presented it to him after the hunt. Latter in the day I also dug an Eagle I button and a three ringer minnie ball that i'm sure belonged to old grandad. Even though the button was badly damaged and was indeed a heart breaker,I still feel it is one of the better recoveries that I have been able to make...Thanks for looking

 

[T-DUB]

I was able to detect a former one-room schoolhouse site this week. Toward the end of the day the owner stopped by to see what I had found and I was able to show him several Indian Heads and a couple of Wheat Cents. As we were talking, he shared the history of the farm that has been in his family for the past 158 years. He stated that his Great X 3 Grandfather in Virginia, bought the Indiana land, moved his entire family here and built a house in 1865 after returning from the Civil War, where he fought for the Confederate States of America. He also stated the family still has his personal diary and it tells of the battles that he fought in including Gettsyburg. There is a well marked family graveyard on the property and he stated that many of family members that came from Virginia are buried there and informed me there were more Confederates than Yankees in this Indiana cemetery! He then informed me that he still lived in the second house that old great grandad built in 1902. My next question was "what happened to the original 1865 house?" He pointed out a high spot about a quarter mile out in the bean field and stated it was "out there" until 1926. Then with his permission I returned yesterday and made the walk to the site. Glass and brick covered the site and after digging a couple 1880's Indian Heads, I dug a loud signal that was about three inches deep. It was a gold gilded button that had a nice gash thru the middle from a farmers plow. After a thorough cleaning I realized that it was a Confederate State of Virginia Button. Old Grandad did indeed fight in the Virginia Military and this button went with him thru the many battles and came to Indiana with him and was eventually lost on the home site. The significance of this find stayed with me all day and the family land owner was very happy when I presented it to him after the hunt. Latter in the day I also dug an Eagle I button and a three ringer minnie ball that i'm sure belonged to old grandad. Even though the button was badly damaged and was indeed a heart breaker,I still feel it is one of the better recoveries that I have been able to make...Thanks for looking

Excellent background story, thanks for sharing.

 

[fwcrawford]

I was able to detect a former one-room schoolhouse site this week. Toward the end of the day the owner stopped by to see what I had found and I was able to show him several Indian Heads and a couple of Wheat Cents. As we were talking, he shared the history of the farm that has been in his family for the past 158 years. He stated that his Great X 3 Grandfather in Virginia, bought the Indiana land, moved his entire family here and built a house in 1865 after returning from the Civil War, where he fought for the Confederate States of America. He also stated the family still has his personal diary and it tells of the battles that he fought in including Gettsyburg. There is a well marked family graveyard on the property and he stated that many of family members that came from Virginia are buried there and informed me there were more Confederates than Yankees in this Indiana cemetery! He then informed me that he still lived in the second house that old great grandad built in 1902. My next question was "what happened to the original 1865 house?" He pointed out a high spot about a quarter mile out in the bean field and stated it was "out there" until 1926. Then with his permission I returned yesterday and made the walk to the site. Glass and brick covered the site and after digging a couple 1880's Indian Heads, I dug a loud signal that was about three inches deep. It was a gold gilded button that had a nice gash thru the middle from a farmers plow. After a thorough cleaning I realized that it was a Confederate State of Virginia Button. Old Grandad did indeed fight in the Virginia Military and this button went with him thru the many battles and came to Indiana with him and was eventually lost on the home site. The significance of this find stayed with me all day and the family land owner was very happy when I presented it to him after the hunt. Latter in the day I also dug an Eagle I button and a three ringer minnie ball that i'm sure belonged to old grandad. Even though the button was badly damaged and was indeed a heart breaker,I still feel it is one of the better recoveries that I have been able to make...Thanks for looking

Great story and fantastic finds…. Not sure if you are aware, but there is another Virginia State button in the group photo!!
The lower button.
These eagle button is a Union infantry button.
The bullet looks like a Williams Regulation bullet.

 

[miserman]

Great story and fantastic finds…. Not sure if you are aware, but there is another Virginia State button in the group photo!!
The lower button.
These eagle button is a Union infantry button.
The bullet looks like a Williams Regulation bullet.

I do believe you are right about the lower button now that I look at it closer. It is back stamped 'YOUNG SMITH & CO .I found two of those and I did keep one and gave the land owner the other. The bullet info is also very helpful. We don't find a lot of Civil War era type of items here in Indiana and are not that well versed on them. Thank you for informing me on the button, now I have a nice reminder of this site to keep.

 

[hawgdawg]

Awesome finds and the history behind them .

 

[fwcrawford]

I do believe you are right about the lower button now that I look at it closer. It is back stamped 'YOUNG SMITH & CO .I found two of those and I did keep one and gave the land owner the other. The bullet info is also very helpful. We don't find a lot of Civil War era type of items here in Indiana and are not that well versed on them. Thank you for informing me on the button, now I have a nice reminder of this site to keep.

If that button is a one piece button, I think it is example 2A in the photo.
That backmark dates from 1830- 1858.
Very nice find in addition to the other items you found!!

 

[miserman]

fwcrawford: That's a great catalog reference photo. Yes it's a one piece button and It's interesting because mine has all the characteristics of 2D such as spear location and dots between each word but it measures at about 0.875 which is 22mm as like the 2A.

 

[fwcrawford]

fwcrawford: That's a great catalog reference photo. Yes it's a one piece button and It's interesting because mine has all the characteristics of 2D such as spear location and dots between each word but it measures at about 0.875 which is 22mm as like the 2A.

They are very similar… I was looking at both of them too.
I was focusing on the leg position to make my decision and 2A looked like a match, but you may be able to tell better since you can see more details on the button.
Either way, you made some great finds!!

 

[laplander]

Nice find indeed, still looking for my 1st piece of Confederate military. The site needs more time in on it.
HH Jeff

 

[Wild Willy]

Such a nice story, esp. with the comments.

 

[Steve 1280x user]

I was able to detect a former one-room schoolhouse site this week. Toward the end of the day the owner stopped by to see what I had found and I was able to show him several Indian Heads and a couple of Wheat Cents. As we were talking, he shared the history of the farm that has been in his family for the past 158 years. He stated that his Great X 3 Grandfather in Virginia, bought the Indiana land, moved his entire family here and built a house in 1865 after returning from the Civil War, where he fought for the Confederate States of America. He also stated the family still has his personal diary and it tells of the battles that he fought in including Gettsyburg. There is a well marked family graveyard on the property and he stated that many of family members that came from Virginia are buried there and informed me there were more Confederates than Yankees in this Indiana cemetery! He then informed me that he still lived in the second house that old great grandad built in 1902. My next question was "what happened to the original 1865 house?" He pointed out a high spot about a quarter mile out in the bean field and stated it was "out there" until 1926. Then with his permission I returned yesterday and made the walk to the site. Glass and brick covered the site and after digging a couple 1880's Indian Heads, I dug a loud signal that was about three inches deep. It was a gold gilded button that had a nice gash thru the middle from a farmers plow. After a thorough cleaning I realized that it was a Confederate State of Virginia Button. Old Grandad did indeed fight in the Virginia Military and this button went with him thru the many battles and came to Indiana with him and was eventually lost on the home site. The significance of this find stayed with me all day and the family land owner was very happy when I presented it to him after the hunt. Latter in the day I also dug an Eagle I button and a three ringer minnie ball that i'm sure belonged to old grandad. Even though the button was badly damaged and was indeed a heart breaker,I still feel it is one of the better recoveries that I have been able to make...Thanks for looking

WOW!

 

[Tinhorn]

thanx

 

[SJones]

Amazing pieces of history.

 

[Ronstar]

Sometimes learning of the history is more profound than the holding of the piece.