Slave Tag or Something Else?

[ctalmadg]

What are your thoughts on this?

It reads:

Jay . House


23


N . M



A house servant named Jay?

N.M?

Negro Male?

I've seen many Slave tags and this his a couple similarities, but I have my doubts.

 

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[Mich. Wolverine]

It looks like a hotel key tag. Try looking for a Jay House in Google Books, you might find something there.

Wolverine.

 

[creskol]

Posted this same thought in the Today's Finds : Wonder if it is connected in any way to the famous John Jay Homestead in Katonah? (aka: Jay House)

 

[ctalmadg]

Posted this same thought in the Today's Finds : Wonder if it is connected in any way to the famous John Jay Homestead in Katonah? (aka: Jay House)

Just got a chance to look into that. Very interesting!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Sorry, but it is definitely not a slave tag. All of the known genuine slave tags are marked Charleston (South Carolina), and have a "full" year-date, such as 1853.

Just to help educate the forum's readers, the attached photo shows several examples of modern-made fake slave-tags, which are (unfortunately) very plentiful in the Historical Relics collector-market, and especially on Ebay. I am not implying any fakery about your tag...I agree with the other posters that your find is probably a room-key tag, or a similar type of tag.

 

[Breezie]

My thoughts are: It doesn't look excavated or either you have cleaned it. The patina doesn't match the age look, in other words, the tag looks older than the patina shows. Jay maybe the last name; as in The Jay House. (Boarding house/hotel) N M could be New Mexico. I find the clipped corners interesting because it reminds me of the clipped corner Civil War North Carolina brass plates. The stamped fonts have serifs. Interesting, Breezie

 

[creskol]

Posted this same thought in the Today's Finds : Wonder if it is connected in any way to the famous John Jay Homestead in Katonah? (aka: Jay House)

Just got a chance to look into that. Very interesting!

I notice that you are in New York. You might try contacting these folks to see if there is any connection: http://johnjayhomestead.org/history.html

 

[ctalmadg]

Posted this same thought in the Today's Finds : Wonder if it is connected in any way to the famous John Jay Homestead in Katonah? (aka: Jay House)

Just got a chance to look into that. Very interesting!

I notice that you are in New York. You might try contacting these folks to see if there is any connection: http://johnjayhomestead.org/history.html

I also found this:

Jay Heritage Center - 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House
210 Boston Post Rd., Rye, NY, 10580
(914) 698-9275 - Venue Website
JAY HERITAGE CENTER - 1838 PETER AUGUSTUS JAY HOUSE -
JAY PROPERTY

The Jay Property in Rye is the boyhood home of New York State’s only native Founding Father, John Jay (1745-1829). Located next to a marshlands preserve with public trails, this sylvan and historic 23 acre park is all that remains... more

JAY HERITAGE CENTER - 1838 PETER AUGUSTUS JAY HOUSE -
JAY PROPERTY
The Jay Property in Rye is the boyhood home of New York State’s only native Founding Father, John Jay (1745-1829). Located next to a marshlands preserve with public trails, this sylvan and historic 23 acre park is all that remains of the original 400 acre Jay family estate where America’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and author of The Jay Treaty grew up, and where he chose a final resting place for himself and all his descendants. Located just 35 minutes from Manhattan, the Property has an 10,000 year old scenic vista of Long Island Sound over a meadow bordered by sunken stone ha-ha walls, a European garden design feature added by Jay’s eldest son circa 1822. It is also located on the historic Boston Post Road where mile marker “24” out of 230, designated in 1763 by Jay’s colleague, Benjamin Franklin, is set into the perimeter wall.
The centerpiece of this National Historic Landmark (NHL)is an 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Corinthian columns built by Peter Augustus Jay atop the footprint of his father and grandfather’s original home “The Locusts” reusing original timbers and nails from the same house. Out of more than 80,000 places on the National Register, only about 2,430 are NHLs.
Visitors can literally see the layers of history being uncovered here. The PA Jay House has been called an "architectural masterpiece" and is being carefully restored and managed by the not-for-profit organization, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) for use as an educational facility hosting Programs in American History, Social Justice, Landscape Conservation and Environmental Stewardship. The house is an official project of the Save America’s Treasures Program and at 171 years old, it is the oldest National Historic Landmark structure in New York State to be using an energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system.
The Jay site is also listed on Westchester County’s African American Heritage Trail. John Jay is well known for advocating emancipation, serving as President of the Manumission Society and establishing the first African Free School.
A second building being restored by the JHC, is the 1907 Van Norden Carriage House, a Classical Revival masterpiece in its own right; it serves as the JHC Visitor Center and houses the permanent exhibit “The Design of Providence” that explores the cultural imprints that mankind leaves on the landscape and how that very same landscape shapes human character and behavior.
The Jay Heritage Center was designated an official site of the Hudson River Valley Heritage Center in January 2009 in recognition of its historic and architectural significance and its best management practices.
Tags: american history, sustainable, national historic landmark, hudson valley, african american heritage, john jay
Venue Type: Historic

http://www.jaycenter.org/Home.html