Mystery House Journal

[robertk]

Just about the time I got my new Deus II, I was looking at an old map of my neighborhood and discovered that in 1940, there was a house sitting in what is now my front yard. This surprised me greatly, so I started hunting old photos and found a 1955 aerial photo, with no trace of the house. So it was there sometime before 1940 to get "on the map", but was completely vanished by 1955.

So I worked out the distances from the old map and got a good guess to where the house was, and started hunting. I quickly discovered that my entire front yard is littered with iron.

I don't know when the house was built, but I'm assuming mid to late 1800's. So far I haven't found anything with a date on it, but what little I have found seems to back up those dates.

So I'm starting this thread to post interesting things, mostly for feedback as I try to understand the history of those who were here before I was. Here's some of the stuff I've found so far. Any comments on what they are, or what they are used for, are welcome.

This was identified (thanks to this board!) as a suspender adjuster, pre-1920.


And this one is part of a victorian bed rail attachment.


This one is a spoon, obviously. Silver plated, well worn. I haven't found an exact match on the pattern and I can't quite read the maker's mark, but the stuff I find that's close is in the early 1880's. Interestingly, I found this standing vertically in the ground, big end down. It took some digging to extract it.



I've also found a few shotgun shell end caps. At first I ignored these thinking they were just trash from a careless modern hunter, but after investigating, these are from around 1900 (Union Metal Cartridge Company, "New Club" style, produced between 1891 and 1911).


And some iron stuff...



I've found several of those square nuts. They look like they might be blacksmith-made because while the hole diameter is pretty consistent, the size and thickness of the nut itself varies quite a bit. And that thing that looks like a telegraph insulator is a mystery -- iron wouldn't make a very good insulator.

Then there's this partial plate -- quarter inch thick and heavy. Maybe a stove part?



And then there's this thing.

It's about 8" diameter, about an inch thick, with a 1/4" "rim" around one side, totally flat on the other. And it's heavy -- weighing exactly 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs) in its current state. No obvious handle or anything to indicate use.

So there's what I know so far. I will post more as I discover it...

 

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[robertk]

But tell me, have you figured out why you are finding railroad spikes?

I haven't figured that out yet. I'd love to know. The property is about a quarter mile from the railroad tracks, so it's not far. And the railroad was built through the area in 1872, which is probably around the time this homestead was just getting started. So I don't know if maybe they worked for the railroad, or just thought it was a handy source of big iron spikes, or maybe they hated the railroad and wanted to tear it up. I'm not sure how to know, but I'm very curious.

 

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[releventchair]

Congrats!
Getting into some fun stuff there.

Stake looks like it would work for trapping coon ect. maybe.
A stick would be cheaper though when hand forging was required to make the thing.
Could work as a picket pin for a small animal.
Or to start holes in hard ground for more delicate fencing/stick fence ect..

 

[releventchair]

I haven't figured that out yet. I'd love to know. The property is about a quarter mile from the railroad tracks, so it's not far. And the railroad was built through the area in 1872, which is probably around the time this homestead was just getting started. So I don't know if maybe they worked for the railroad, or just thought it was a handy source of big iron spikes, or maybe they hated the railroad and wanted to tear it up. I'm not sure how to know, but I'm very curious.

Wiki isn't telling me. Understandably...

Logging here in the midwest saw small scale railroads in some places. Narrower track ect..
As timber was removed and logging petered out on a site , the tracks ect. were pulled. Leaving the dirt/earth bed as all that remained. Hard to spot any more. Of course many were leveled over time as land was split up and developed more.
Today it might look like a small tiny ridge here and there snaking along.

Spurs were made too. Track leaving main track to go over here , then reverse out or have a turn.
Temporary as desired.

Not sure your site (and I wouldn't be specific either to keep traffic low.) But part of your state saw logging post civil war. And a boom in track volume.

[The Missouri economy grew steadily from the end of the war to the early 20th century. Railroads replaced the rivers, trains supplanted steamboats. From 817 miles of track in 1860, there were 2000 miles in 1870 and 8000 by 1909. Railroads built new towns as needed to provide repair and service facilities; the old river towns decline. Kansas City lacking a navigable river, became the rail center of the West, exploding from 4400 population 1860 to 133,000 by 1890. Cities of all sizes grew, as the proportion of Missourians living in communities over 2000 population jumped from 17 percent in 1860, to 38 percent in 1900. Coal mining providing the locomotives, factories, Stores and homes with fuel, grew rapidly, as did the lumbering industry in the Ozarks which provided the timber for cross ties and smaller bridges. St. Louis remained the number one railroad center, unloading 21,000 carloads of merchandise in 1870, 324,000 in 1890, and 710,000 in 1910. The total tonnage of freight carried on all Missouri railroads doubled and redoubled again from 20 million tons in 1881 to 130 million in 1904.[179]]

 

[WannaDig3687]

Well there isn't much of a seam to see, but it's there. It runs diagonally from one corner of the body to about halfway up the neck, where it disappears. You can actually see it on the right side of the original photo I posted, but here's a better angle. (Click to enlarge).

View attachment 2113263


As far as I can tell, no, nothing at all on the bottom. You can feel a little dimple right in the center, but it doesn't appear to be a mark of any kind, just a little bump in the glass. (By the way, that rough edge you can see in the bottom of the photo does not appear to be damage. It's just a little extra glass, I guess.)
View attachment 2113264


Thanks!

Pepperj is a bottle expert, IMO. He has at least taught me a few things. Let’s see if the student gets something right.


Look closely at the corners. The seam is there. Then it probably stops somewhere in the bottle neck. This is an applied neck.

It was blown into a mold and I am guessing 1860’s- 1910.

Critique/correct me @pepperj .

 

[WannaDig3687]

Now the 2’ “pin.”

Look at my pic, even though these are newer and longer. I call them hinge pins, but I think it’s what others are calling picket. Not real sure. Could be for a gate, or to stake farm fence down, or on the hinge pin to a wooden farm fence. Some of those triangular hinges are about 2’. Think of a hinge on a regular door in your house.

I found a broken one on my property.

 

[robertk]

I call them hinge pins, but I think it’s what others are calling picket.

That looks very promising! Thanks!

 

[WannaDig3687]

The railroad spikes:

I accidentally found a pic one day (of course I can’t find it again) of a wooden framed contraption that was pulled behind a horse/horses. It had these tines hanging down from it. They looked just like railroad spikes. I have a railroad that was about a mile away. Coincidence? IDK? But my guess is that these were used in the poor farmer’s homemade cultivator. Just a guess. Makes sense to me because I have found them at my place and up at the campground that was once farmland.

 

[robertk]

In the new hole where I found the big pin and the little bottle, I have also found what looks like a flattened piece of stovepipe, a fragment of a piece of china with just a piece of a maker mark (not enough to identify), and what appears to be a large pottery bowl. I don't think I've found all the pieces yet, but I've found enough that I think it might be possible to reassemble it. Here's what I have so far with the first two pieces glued (I didn't think to take a pic first...), then a closer look at the two pieces, and then a look with the rest of the "rim" pieces in place but not glued yet.



It would be cool to get it back together enough to use it for something.

 

[WannaDig3687]

In the new hole where I found the big pin and the little bottle, I have also found what looks like a flattened piece of stovepipe, a fragment of a piece of china with just a piece of a maker mark (not enough to identify), and what appears to be a large pottery bowl. I don't think I've found all the pieces yet, but I've found enough that I think it might be possible to reassemble it. Here's what I have so far with the first two pieces glued (I didn't think to take a pic first...), then a closer look at the two pieces, and then a look with the rest of the "rim" pieces in place but not glued yet.

View attachment 2113470 View attachment 2113471 View attachment 2113472

It would be cool to get it back together enough to use it for something.

So cool that your wife is involved with this hobby!

 

[robertk]

Yesterday I managed to get an hour to dig for more pieces of the bowl we're reassembling. I found some, as well as parts of a different bowl (about half the rim and a few pieces). And I also got enough rocks and dirt out of the way to get the smashed piece of pipe out. It turns out it wasn't a stovepipe after all, but a well bucket for a drilled well. So apparently they had a drilled well but no pump. Perhaps this third filled in hole was the well? But I wouldn't think a drilled well would have to be filled in like this (3 foot circle of rocks and dirt).

Anyway here is the well bucket. It's just sheet metal so I didn't figure it would survive being picked up (and it didn't), so here is a picture in the ground, and then again once removed. The bottom part crumbled apart when I removed it from the hole. That hole in the bottom was my doing -- an accidental poke with the tool I was using to dig.

 

[pepperj]

Pepperj is a bottle expert, IMO. He has at least taught me a few things. Let’s see if the student gets something right.


Look closely at the corners. The seam is there. Then it probably stops somewhere in the bottle neck. This is an applied neck.

It was blown into a mold and I am guessing 1860’s- 1910.

Critique/correct me @pepperj .

Applied neck and lip, as the seam is just at the shoulders.
1880-1890

 

[robertk]

I got just a few minutes of dig time yesterday, so I went looking for more pottery shards to complete the bowl I'm working on. I didn't find a single shard, which is fairly aggravating. But I did find some other interesting things. I'm not sure what the metal bits are (will post them in What Is It). The bottle is the largest "big" bottle fragment I've found yet. From "Fellows & Co. Chemists. St Johns N.B." The company operated from 1850 well into the 1900s, but from what I can find, this particular bottle is probably 1880's or 1890's, which fits with the other things found on site.

 

[Blak bart]

Wow....2 cups of coffee, and im through all 6 pages !! Awsome thread Robert. I tend to agree with the working shop barn theory.....maybe even a railroad related shop. It's been a great read, and your a wonderful writer....your descriptions are clear and detailed, and I've enjoyed this entire thread. Looks alot like the early settler sites here in the Florida keys. I have also found an iron stove like yours, and im looking in to some evapo rust for my own use. Keep digging Robert.....its really interesting.

 

[robertk]

Thanks, @Blak bart ! It’s a far cry from the kinds of things you find, but it’s still a lot of fun. The most amazing thing so far has been that my wife hasn’t gone nuts about me digging pits in the yard.

 

[sibbley]

My wife has been asking me when we're going to dig up the "dump" area and sieve the dirt. She even bought sieves at a yard sale back in August.

 

[pepperj]

Thanks, @Blak bart ! It’s a far cry from the kinds of things you find, but it’s still a lot of fun. The most amazing thing so far has been that my wife hasn’t gone nuts about me digging pits in the yard.

That's a win-win right there!

I can just imagine the Mrs having tea with her lady friends.
The conversation seems to gravitate to the men of the household.
About how they doing this or that, and they don't approve of the men going off somewhere.

Then the look of envy is apparent when your Mrs states.
Oh my Robert just keeps digging holes in the front yard looking for things-tad messy at times-so easy to keep an eye on him.

 

[pepperj]

Wow....2 cups of coffee, and im through all 6 pages !! Awsome thread Robert. I tend to agree with the working shop barn theory.....maybe even a railroad related shop. It's been a great read, and your a wonderful writer....your descriptions are clear and detailed, and I've enjoyed this entire thread. Looks alot like the early settler sites here in the Florida keys. I have also found an iron stove like yours, and im looking in to some evapo rust for my own use. Keep digging Robert.....its really interesting.

I think we need to start one. (Often thought about it) It would keep the finds from the property organized.
Great thread Robert
Enjoy the digging recoveries.

 

[WannaDig3687]

A short hunt last night with a couple of oddities.
View attachment 2090397
Along with the obligatory railroad spike and some other miscellaneous iron, there's a shotgun shell headstamp (illegible), a huge brass "staple", an iron bracket of some sort, and something that looks like maybe a door.

The bracket thing almost looks like a pipe bracket, but it's solid on one end, so wouldn't do much good to hold a pipe. Plus the odd curvature seems unnecessary for that purpose. But I don't know what the purpose was, either. Does anyone know? Here is front and back.
View attachment 2090398 View attachment 2090399

The toughest dig of the day was this guy (front and back):
View attachment 2090400 View attachment 2090401
This was down a foot or more under a bunch of heavy rocks that were very tightly wedged in. I'm guessing it was buried that way because there was actually a hollow air space under and between the rocks, which seemed strange and made me all the more determined to dig up whatever was under there. And this is what it was. It looks to me like a door. Attached at the top via that hole? The little nub at the bottom looks like it has a hole through it, so it could have had a wire or handle or hook or something attached to lift it. It appears to be cast iron, pretty heavy. It has lettering on the center of the front that looks like "M-9". I'm pretty sure about the M and the 9, but the dash is iffy, since it is more of a curve than a straight line. Any guesses on what it is? My wife thinks maybe the ash door for a cast iron stove, or possibly an odd waffle iron?

As I read through this, I want to compare our finds. I read slowly and need to get on with my chores (curiosity is also killing me). Did you get an ID on the door looking thing that has M-9 on it? Well, if not, my guess is a mortise lock broke apart.

 

[releventchair]

Caught up.

Mind is reeling.

Times change.

Horse was eventually replaced by gas engines. Reluctantly by some of course. But eventually...
When that happened on a homestead there was a shelter for the horse a bit tight for an auto. And yes there were autos crammed into carriage houses! And barns, Ect.

Seldom see a saddle dug up. But lots of horse harness and tack. It fit my horse or team. It may not fit someone elses if I found a buyer. Did I keep it clean and horse sweat cleaned off it and condition the leather well? If not it may break. Not what anyone wants in a horse harness. Yes poor folk had to deal with it. That still didn't add great value to your horses harness to someone else. So hang it on the wall for nostalgia or dump it.

I've mentioned an Uncle who used to buy homes. If he was my Uncle he'd have been a great great uncle? On Dads side.
Anyways , he'd buy a house and folks left with thier cloths and some stuff.
But most the homes stuff stayed. How did people move households back then?
Many had little to move anyways. But big or bulky or delicate?
One story went that a set of fine china had most its members by a living room chair stacked.
Cleaned up like it hadn't been used. Strange enough!


First bullet in o.p. or near is a heeled" bullet.
Modern .22's are like that.
Bore diameter of gun barrel vs diameter of case that holds a bullet.
The study of heeled bullets can wear a person slightly. But is a note in history that changed with the advent of smokeless powder.

Heeled bullet - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You have pictured an elongated flattish staple.
It looks like a tiny "log dog". Curious piece , I wonder it's use. L.o.l...

Your circle area of the yards that could be a silo foundation could be where some rock came from.
Or it could be where an animal was tethered.

When the horse was no longer part of the site the wire came down. A horse caught /tangled in barbed wire is not a good thing. Nor is much anything else, but a horse panics and struggles too much.. Then there are deer twanging the fence at a dead run at night.
So lets put the wire where won't trip on it.

You're not unearthing "clinkers" from coal burning?
A wood the kitchen , or for hot weather a wood range under a covered porch or cook house away from the house (better when they burn down).
As you see ,a trip to the dump , or a trash service wasn't the deal. So somewhere is evidence of wood or coal or both.

Wood ash could go in a sifter on a fence to classify it before using it to make lye for soap.
Or to side dress the garden or flowers.
Or for the rich , to be discarded. But where?

Your wire thing with the smaller round end and open bigger other end might hold a bucket. Closed round end fits over a post.
Water or feed a horse. Or punch holes in a bucket , add wood ashes and pour at a drip water into the bucket to start making lye. Ect..

A cistern holds water. Loose stone rock gravel ect, in layers can deal with water drainage.
And road and driveway building can use similar classification by size to drain properly. Biggest stuff on the bottom.

Why just a pit with trash in it?
A Grandfather had me dig trash pits in the yard when I was a kid.
I didn't ask why!
But I know where there are some old catsup bottles I'll not be asking to recover...
.







.

 

[robertk]

Did you get an ID on the door looking thing that has M-9 on it? Well, if not, my guess is a mortise lock broke apart.

I haven't got an ID yet. It's a similar size to a mortise lock, but it seems too thick and heavy for that. It's cast iron, probably a bit less than 1/4" thick. It seems like it would hinge at the top (has some holes there like it would hang from hooks or pins). My first thought was ash door for a stove, but that doesn't make much sense. You'd want an ash door to open sideways, or down, but not up. Unless maybe it just hung there without being attaches, so you could completely remove it to deal with the ashes.