DownEast_Detecting

Sr. Member
Feb 26, 2020
428
1,102
Maine
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Minelab CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I had about an hour to kill after work Friday. So i tried to think of a place i could go that didn't require a long hike in the woods first. One of the first places that popped into my mind was this old house foundation right next to the road, in the town i grew up in. Local legend says there was a fire that destroyed the building. And of a woman who owned a massive diamond ring. Every night she would take it off and set it on her night stand while she slept. The night of the fire, she awoke in a panic and ran out of her house. Supposedly the firemen had to hold her from running back into the house, when she realized what she had left behind. Now i'm not sure how much of that im suppose to believe. Its probably all bologna. But i do know there is a cellar hole there from playing in the neighborhood as a kid.


C957086C-4114-415F-81E9-B45FA74E7627.jpeg

And its right next to a stone bridge that is very old. so that was good enough for me.



B83BDBF1-29EE-4C67-AA69-B317562F5945.jpeg

The topo maps show there use to be a house there in the late 1800's. Up until the 1930 map. So sometime between 1930 and 1960 the house either burnt down or was demolished/abandoned. Actually the earliest aerial photo from 1953 doesn't have the house there. Do you think that's the chimney making the shadow in the 1953 aerial and its gone in the 67 one. So perhaps it did burn down sometime between 1930 and 1952. And the chimney stayed standing for a bit?


562DF829-C83F-4A50-A3F7-1D17F24E3BE3.jpeg4D574783-D28C-4FBD-844B-702BF2A81637.jpegFBE76020-F399-4971-928B-23808D029C46.jpeg08900B4D-E8EB-484E-9EAB-A9FEF287DA5F.jpeg470E91D3-51DA-4A11-9189-F38F6A46C7D5.jpeg
So looks like there was definitely a fire here. see the melted glass in the photos from inside the foundation.


E963C745-DD77-4539-B6E8-31663514748A.jpeg803F2097-AB08-4D90-B7EE-A5138F959EE9.jpeg
i found the privy pit or garbage dump out back 70 feet from the house.


C4EB1197-CBB1-42F9-A27A-CE84DC3101C6.jpegBE5F648B-0946-494A-A49F-57CA33FEB81C.jpeg
But the whole area is covered with that low growth vine stuff. It makes it impossible to swing a detector around. I will have to come back in the late fall. When some of the vegetation has died off. Or early spring before it has had a chance to grow.



9D87DDE3-A6D0-49DD-AF59-9F17CF0916A9.jpeg

so i had to restrict my searching to mostly inside the foundation. Which has never worked out well for me. But i got a decent tone and dug this up. Its a metal social security card? i think its bronze or copper. Upper left seal says "Passed by Congress 1938or9". I know this person has probably been dead for a while. But it still didn't feel right positing their social security number. So do I track down a living relative? how would you feel about it? I personally would think it was pretty cool that some guy found my grand or great so and so's social security card at a house they lived in that burned to the ground some 70-100 years ago. but that's just me. I'm going to do a little research anyway. i'm curious and its a very unique name for a small town in Maine. I'm assuming this person wasn't originally from Maine or the U.S.A.
I know this post is kinda long winded for what many would think isn't that great of a find. But i'm way more into the relic side of things and the history that goes with it. So if i can track this person's name to the owner of the house. i will be happy. Its also the first thing I've found with someone's name on it.

2F7D73D8-9665-45AE-9D27-C6426FE9E0E9.jpeg

FFE33E90-D823-4455-868B-8AF4E65177E0.jpegEA363C27-41EA-48EB-9BE3-3C3CDF3FC885.jpegD8B86470-E9E4-40F8-978D-4533490A699D.jpeg8035F942-1766-443E-90F7-9798448E0C1B.jpeg
View from the opposite side of the river. And a big fresh water snail. and the old stone bridge
 

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Upvote 32
Did you have permission to be hunting the site?
That would be paramount before chasing prior owners or tenants in my opinion.
Followed by the question , what if the mention of the site or a relic derived from it's affect /reaction or response going to be?

Metal S.S. cards are likely still available today.
In the past there were advertisements for a place (or places) that could make them for customers.
Promoted as durable copies.

On you what to do.

Meanwhile you have a name.
Keep digging old maps (plat maps for example) of that township section and you might find the cards owner was the sites owner at one time. Or not.
Lots of places a card could come from / travel though...

Chimney idea is a good one. They being hard to burn!
 

Did you have permission to be hunting the site?
That would be paramount before chasing prior owners or tenants in my opinion.
Followed by the question , what if the mention of the site or a relic derived from it's affect /reaction or response going to be?

Metal S.S. cards are likely still available today.
In the past there were advertisements for a place (or places) that could make them for customers.
Promoted as durable copies.

On you what to do.

Meanwhile you have a name.
Keep digging old maps (plat maps for example) of that township section and you might find the cards owner was the sites owner at one time. Or not.
Lots of places a card could come from / travel though...

Chimney idea is a good one. They being hard to burn!
yes ive got permission and the present owners of the lot are not related to this person. Im going to dig into the name on the card more. Its so unique im hoping it will be easier than most. i wont have to riffle through hundreds of John Smiths
Beautiful old stone bridge! If you have permission to hunt this site you may find some good targets! Please let us know! Good luck with it!
The bridge is beautiful! it was built in the 1700's. I'm not sure how getting permission would go for the bridge. Its on a 4 war intersection with 4 other lots. But technically the bridge itself is on a road, so its state property. and really,
i believe the state owns 8ft from the yellow line on both sides of the road. Not sure how that works with bridges. But i guess if i wanted to hunt the banks of the river near the bridge. I would have to get permission from the other 3 lot owners. i already got the one.
 

I had about an hour to kill after work Friday. So i tried to think of a place i could go that didn't require a long hike in the woods first. One of the first places that popped into my mind was this old house foundation right next to the road, in the town i grew up in. Local legend says there was a fire that destroyed the building. And of a woman who owned a massive diamond ring. Every night she would take it off and set it on her night stand while she slept. The night of the fire, she awoke in a panic and ran out of her house. Supposedly the firemen had to hold her from running back into the house, when she realized what she had left behind. Now i'm not sure how much of that im suppose to believe. Its probably all bologna. But i do know there is a cellar hole there from playing in the neighborhood as a kid.


View attachment 2095241
And its right next to a stone bridge that is very old. so that was good enough for me.



View attachment 2095074
The topo maps show there use to be a house there in the late 1800's. Up until the 1930 map. So sometime between 1930 and 1960 the house either burnt down or was demolished/abandoned. Actually the earliest aerial photo from 1953 doesn't have the house there. Do you think that's the chimney making the shadow in the 1953 aerial and its gone in the 67 one. So perhaps it did burn down sometime between 1930 and 1952. And the chimney stayed standing for a bit?


View attachment 2095075View attachment 2095076View attachment 2095077View attachment 2095078View attachment 2095079
So looks like there was definitely a fire here. see the melted glass in the photos from inside the foundation.


View attachment 2095080View attachment 2095081
i found the privy pit or garbage dump out back 70 feet from the house.


View attachment 2095082View attachment 2095083
But the whole area is covered with that low growth vine stuff. It makes it impossible to swing a detector around. I will have to come back in the late fall. When some of the vegetation has died off. Or early spring before it has had a chance to grow.



View attachment 2095088
so i had to restrict my searching to mostly inside the foundation. Which has never worked out well for me. But i got a decent tone and dug this up. Its a metal social security card? i think its bronze or copper. Upper left seal says "Passed by Congress 1938or9". I know this person has probably been dead for a while. But it still didn't feel right positing their social security number. So do I track down a living relative? how would you feel about it? I personally would think it was pretty cool that some guy found my grand or great so and so's social security card at a house they lived in that burned to the ground some 70-100 years ago. but that's just me. I'm going to do a little research anyway. i'm curious and its a very unique name for a small town in Maine. I'm assuming this person wasn't originally from Maine or the U.S.A.
I know this post is kinda long winded for what many would think isn't that great of a find. But i'm way more into the relic side of things and the history that goes with it. So if i can track this person's name to the owner of the house. i will be happy. Its also the first thing I've found with someone's name on it.

View attachment 2095073

View attachment 2095085View attachment 2095086View attachment 2095087View attachment 2095242
View from the opposite side of the river. And a big fresh water snail. and the old stone bridge
What is the name on the SS card? I can't quite make it out.
 

so i did a keyword search of the local newspaper archive and found him.

october 2nd 1947.png

October 2nd 1947



Screenshot (43).png

November 27th 1947




LCN 1978- 30 years ago.jpg

This is actually describing the night of the fire! it was in an April 20th 1978 local newspaper edition, but it was in a 30 years ago section. so 1978 - 30 = 1948. So the house fire happened in 1948. and judging by the newspaper article. It looks like they left quincy, MA after another house fire there. wow, bad luck
 

Last edited:
I had about an hour to kill after work Friday. So i tried to think of a place i could go that didn't require a long hike in the woods first. One of the first places that popped into my mind was this old house foundation right next to the road, in the town i grew up in. Local legend says there was a fire that destroyed the building. And of a woman who owned a massive diamond ring. Every night she would take it off and set it on her night stand while she slept. The night of the fire, she awoke in a panic and ran out of her house. Supposedly the firemen had to hold her from running back into the house, when she realized what she had left behind. Now i'm not sure how much of that im suppose to believe. Its probably all bologna. But i do know there is a cellar hole there from playing in the neighborhood as a kid.


View attachment 2095241
And its right next to a stone bridge that is very old. so that was good enough for me.



View attachment 2095074
The topo maps show there use to be a house there in the late 1800's. Up until the 1930 map. So sometime between 1930 and 1960 the house either burnt down or was demolished/abandoned. Actually the earliest aerial photo from 1953 doesn't have the house there. Do you think that's the chimney making the shadow in the 1953 aerial and its gone in the 67 one. So perhaps it did burn down sometime between 1930 and 1952. And the chimney stayed standing for a bit?


View attachment 2095075View attachment 2095076View attachment 2095077View attachment 2095078View attachment 2095079
So looks like there was definitely a fire here. see the melted glass in the photos from inside the foundation.


View attachment 2095080View attachment 2095081
i found the privy pit or garbage dump out back 70 feet from the house.


View attachment 2095082View attachment 2095083
But the whole area is covered with that low growth vine stuff. It makes it impossible to swing a detector around. I will have to come back in the late fall. When some of the vegetation has died off. Or early spring before it has had a chance to grow.



View attachment 2095088
so i had to restrict my searching to mostly inside the foundation. Which has never worked out well for me. But i got a decent tone and dug this up. Its a metal social security card? i think its bronze or copper. Upper left seal says "Passed by Congress 1938or9". I know this person has probably been dead for a while. But it still didn't feel right positing their social security number. So do I track down a living relative? how would you feel about it? I personally would think it was pretty cool that some guy found my grand or great so and so's social security card at a house they lived in that burned to the ground some 70-100 years ago. but that's just me. I'm going to do a little research anyway. i'm curious and its a very unique name for a small town in Maine. I'm assuming this person wasn't originally from Maine or the U.S.A.
I know this post is kinda long winded for what many would think isn't that great of a find. But i'm way more into the relic side of things and the history that goes with it. So if i can track this person's name to the owner of the house. i will be happy. Its also the first thing I've found with someone's name on it.

View attachment 2095073

View attachment 2095085View attachment 2095086View attachment 2095087View attachment 2095242
View from the opposite side of the river. And a big fresh water snail. and the old stone bridge
Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!
 

Raapzaad Hassell​

1906–1976​

BIRTH 14 OCT 1906 • St Eustatius, DWI
DEATH 1 JUL 1976 • Bradford, NH

LifeStory Facts Gallery

Show

When Raapzaad Hassell was born on October 14, 1906, his father, George, was 46 and his mother, Feliciana, was 32. He married Olive Lillian Workman in 1930 in Boston, Massachusetts. He died on July 1, 1976, in Bradford, New Hampshire, at the age of 69.



Raapzaad’s family​

Children​

No known children​

Selected person​


Raapzaad Hassell​


Spouse​

Parents​


George Janion Hassell​



Feliciana Ann Antonia Moore​




Click to see updated map​

Residence: 1920 • Boston Ward 10, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA, Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head: Grandson; Marriage: 1930 • Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Residence: 1935 • Brighton, Massachusetts; Residence: 1940 • Avon, Norfolk, Massachusetts, Relative Relation to Head: Wife; Residence: Before 1951 • Massachusetts; Death: 1 Jul 1976 • Bradford, NH; Residence: Avon, Massachusetts, USA

Life Events​

  • 14 OCT

    1906​

    Birth​

    Raapzaad Hassell was born on October 14, 1906, to Feliciana Ann Antonia Moore, age 32, and George Janion Hassell, age 46.
    14 Oct 1906 • St Eustatius, DWI

  • 1906​

    Residence​

    1906

  • 29 SEP

    1909​

    AGE 2

    Birth of brother​

    His brother Michael D was born on September 29, 1909, in Sint, Northern Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone, when Raapzaad was 2 years old.

    Michael D Hassell​

    1909–1961

    29 Sept 1909 • Sint Eustatius

  • 2 DEC

    1912​

    AGE 6

    Birth of sister​

    His sister Zona Augustine was born on December 2, 1912, in Sint, Northern Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone, when Raapzaad was 6 years old.

    Zona Augustine Hassell​

    1912–1915

    2 December 1912 • Sint Eustatius

  • 16 APR

    1915​

    AGE 8

    Death of sister​

    His sister Zona Augustine died on April 16, 1915, in Sint, Northern Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone, when Raapzaad was 8 years old.

    Zona Augustine Hassell​

    1912–1915

    16 April 1915 • Sint Eustatius

  • 1915​

    AGE 9

    Arrival​

    1915

  • 1917​

    AGE 11

    Death of mother​

    His mother Feliciana Ann Antonia passed away in 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 43.

    Feliciana Ann Antonia Moore​

    1874–1917

    1917 • Boston, Massachusetts, USA

  • 1920​

    AGE 14

    Residence​

    Raapzaad Hassell lived in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1920.
    Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head: Grandson
    1920 • Boston Ward 10, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

  • 1924​

    AGE 18

    Death of father​

    His father George Janion passed away in 1924 at the age of 64.

    George Janion Hassell​

    1860–1924

    1924

  • 1930​

    AGE 24

    Marriage​

    Raapzaad Hassell was married in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1930 when he was 24 years old.
    1930 • Boston, Massachusetts, USA

  • 1935​

    AGE 29

    Residence​

    Raapzaad Hassell lived in Brighton, Massachusetts, in 1935.
    1935 • Brighton, Massachusetts

  • 1940​

    AGE 34

    Residence​

    Raapzaad Hassell lived in Avon, Massachusetts, in 1940.
    Relative Relation to Head: Wife
    1940 • Avon, Norfolk, Massachusetts

  • 27 MAY

    1949​

    AGE 42

    Death of brother​

    His brother Martin M. died on May 27, 1949, in Boston, Massachusetts, when Raapzaad was 42 years old.

    Martin M. Hassell​

    1894–1949

    27 May 1949 • Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

  • BEFORE

    1951​

    AGE 44

    Residence​

    Raapzaad Hassell lived in Massachusetts in 1951.
    Before 1951 • Massachusetts

  • 1953​

    AGE 47

    Death of brother​

    His brother George Thomas died in 1953 when Raapzaad was 47 years old.

    George Thomas Hassell​

    1897–1953

    1953

  • 17 NOV

    1961​

    AGE 55

    Death of brother​

    His brother Michael D died on November 17, 1961, when Raapzaad was 55 years old.

    Michael D Hassell​

    1909–1961

    17 Nov 1961

  • 1967​

    AGE 61

    Death of brother​

    His brother George Janion died in 1967 when Raapzaad was 61 years old.

    George Janion Hassell​

    1900–1967

    1967

  • 1 JUL

    1976​

    AGE 69

    Death​

    Raapzaad Hassell died on July 1, 1976, in Bradford, New Hampshire, when he was 69 years old.
    1 Jul 1976 • Bradford, NH

  • Residence​

    Raapzaad Hassell lived in Avon, Massachusetts.
    Avon, Massachusetts, USA
 

From what I gather, he had no children and all of his immediate family members are deceased. Only two had children, but their information is private. So, it may be darn near impossible to track down any family members.
 

From what I gather, he had no children and all of his immediate family members are deceased. Only two had children, but their information is private. So, it may be darn near impossible to track down any family members.
Thanks you so much for doing that. I was doing research last night as well. how do you go about it? do you pay for one off those sites like Ancestry? I got from just googling those town records of newbury. where it shows he ran for some kind of office and owed, a bunch of different kinds of taxes. Funny being in New Hampshire.


those census from boston 1920, showing Rebecca Doyle as head of household.

Screenshot (64).png



Him being the master of his masonic lodge in norfolk,MA in 1947.
But then i have a free family search account and got a lot of info there.
on one page its says his parents had 8 kids. im not sure how accurate it is being free. most stuff was the same as yours.
Screenshot (65).png




but him and olive had a kid named Richard. i saw it on some census or something were he was 3 years old. But he is also mentioned in the local newspaper articles i posted above.☝️👆
 

lol. i was just trying to click on some of those links. Yes you do use ancestry. i wonder why his son Richard doesnt show up.
 

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