8th great grandfathers property - found some roundballs and a bell

[RustyRelics]

Today I drove down to the "valley" as it's known around here, in Dauphin county Pennsylvania. I got permission to metal detect on a property that my 8th great grandfather built a house on in 1757. He was a militia man for a month during the revolutionary war. No idea why he only served a month, but that's how long he was in for. Anyways, it's always a treat to detect an ancestors property, especially one so old, so here's what I found today. I was also testing for the first time, my new Equinox 600.

The actual house site is still standing, although quite crumbled. It is also impossible to detect near it since it is so overgrown. I know there's some goodies in all of that brush. I took this photo August, last year. It's the same way today. Most of my finds were found in the cornfield behind the house site, and in the lawn belonging to the current property owner. Today, I detected in the cornfield.

11 roundballs, and a... bell. The roundballs were scattered hither and yon, and were fun to find.

I have no idea how old it is. I showed it to the property owner, who has been living on the land for over 50 years, and she had no clue where it came from. But it doesn't strike me as being terribly old. It isn't made of brass, at least not what I can see. It is a very dark, silvery color. No idea what it's made of. This was found on the edge of the cornfield, near a tree line. No animals were ever kept near that area, or on the farm since the landowner has been living there.

And I also found this bullet. Not sure how old it is. Maybe late 1800s, early 1900s? The patina was nice, slick and white, so I kept it. l should probably measure it.




All in all, not a bad day.

 

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[iAmMike]

Our family has a book compiled of information about our ancestors, and the house is shown in a photograph from the 1970s. It was a bit more complete back then. We also have the property tax records showing Johann paid taxes on the land in the 1780s. The house, and a few other houses built by my ancestors, are well known in the valley area.

It's so awesome that you have such great detailed information regarding your ancestral routes. Let us know what you find next time!

 

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[RustyRelics]

It's so awesome that you have such great detailed information regarding your ancestral routes. Let us know what you find next time!

My only concern is the roundballs. They look period, but I've found more modern muzzleloader bullets too. Everything I'm finding, from the rosette, to the bells, to pepsi cans and roundballs and modern jacketed rounds, are about four to six inches deep. I just hope I'm finding period roundballs, and not modern ones.

 

[iAmMike]

My only concern is the roundballs. They look period, but I've found more modern muzzleloader bullets too. Everything I'm finding, from the rosette, to the bells, to pepsi cans and roundballs and modern jacketed rounds, are about four to six inches deep. I just hope I'm finding period roundballs, and not modern ones.

I understand your concern. It's hard to tell whether the round balls are newer or not. I don't see modern round balls often though, so I think it'd be worth trying again. I've been to places were lots of modern stuff is found before the old. Good luck!