miserman said:

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

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miserman said:

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

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fwcrawford said:

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.

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miserman said:

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.

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miserman said:

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.

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miserman said:

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

Click to expand...