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  • Announcement and latest escapades

    Hello friends, it's been a while since I did a big ol' update like this one, but I have a feeling you'll enjoy what I found as much as I did. I'll save the announcement for later. No one died, and I'm not getting married, so there's your hints for now.

    This past August, I made the trip up to Schuylkill county Pennsylvania to visit family, and search for relics. I Found a bottle dump on my first day up there that tops any I've ever dug just for size. There are two sections of it, with the smaller section being the oldest. My grandfather dug out the oldest section many years ago, finding many nice bottles. He left me a bunch of spoons and a pipe bowl for my troubles.

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    The small spoon on top, and the large spoon on the bottom, date to the 1850s - 1860s. The others come from the 1910s or 1920s. All had silver plating on them at some point, but not a lot remains now.



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    The pipe bowl dates to the 1880s through the 1900s. It has a very crisp harp and floral design on the bowl. 'Tis very nice I gotta say, and it's a nice first.



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    The bottles that I found were mostly 1950s milk bottles and food jars. The vast majority of the milk bottles had Applied Color Labels on them that wore away over time in the dump. I kept them all, readable or not. I found several local sodas, mostly Peppers Ginger Ale from Ashland Pennsylvania, a very small mining town located within walking distance of my grandmas house, and some Mount Carmel bottles like Kramer Bros, and Krystal Bottling Co. Above you can see the ones I brought back to my house. The rest are in Pennsylvania at my grandmothers house.



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    These two pharmacy bottles are the stars of the show. These are the only two known in existence from this pharmacy. Like I said before, Ashland is a very small town in a rural county, so these bottles are a great find. Knapps opened in 1911, and closed down in 1964. These bottles date to about 1911-1915.

    The only other rarity in the dump was a broken Ashland Brewing Company bottle, a scarce bottle from a brewery that was only open for one year.


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    This was also in the dump oddly enough. Arthur was a Quartermaster Sgt. in the Panama Canal, one of the most heavily guarded places in the entire world during WWII.



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    Yours truly.





    Currently typing the rest of the post below:
    "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

  • #2
    The highlight of the trip however wasn't the bottle dump, but rather metal detecting the houses where my ancestors lived.

    The Lykens Valley in Pennsylvania was home to generations of my family, dating back to the 1750s, when my 8th Great Grandfather immigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania, where he became the first to buy land in the central section of Pennsylvania from William Penns family. From there on, Trautmans (and Troutmans) settled in the Lykens valley and lived and died in tiny villages like Lykens, Klingerstown, Hebe, Pillow, and Rough and Ready.

    My dad and I knew that the house our 5th Great Grandfather built in 1834 was still standing, so we made the pilgrimage to see it. When we got there, we found out that it was being renovated by an Amish family, so photographing the place wasn't a good idea at the time. However, the owner was a VERY kind and generous man, and he took us on a tour around the house and property, and showed us where our 5th Great Grandfather harvested lumber, operated a mill, and built his barn. He even drove us around (he was one of the Amish who drive cars, maybe Mennonite) to show us where my 4th Great Uncle Daniel Trautmans house was, a few other Trautman houses, and even the remains of the original Trautmans house built in the 1750s. Then he offered to let us metal detect Daniels house! Like I said, a really generous guy. We were ecstatic, so of course we said yes, and the search began.



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    Unfortunately Daniels house was not standing, the only remains of the place was a huge system of rock walls, and a large hole in the ground with a rock foundation.


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    I swung the detector around for a few minutes, then BANG! I found a flat button! The backmark dates it to around the 1820s! We knew we were in the right spot. After an hour or so of detecting, we were finding household items; square nails, a spoon, an 1860s lock, another flat button, and odds and ends. Then I swept my coil over a loud iron signal that made me jump. Whatever it was, it was lying right underneath the leaves. When I kicked the leaves away, I was stunned to see a butt plate to a musket!

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    My dad was very surprised, as was I. We had stumbled into a dumping area. A worm syrup bottle or some other kind of med was lying on top of the ground next to a broken wine bottle, a Dr. Jaynes Vermafuge bottle (broken) a clay marble, and other pieces. We ping ponged all over looking for stuff that was laying right on top of the ground. I picked my metal detector back up and went over where I found the butt plate and got another banging signal. This time I reached down and pulled out a whole barrel!


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    This time my dad and I were both screaming, laughing, yelling, jumping - we jumped right into a hornets nest. We ran like hell, making sure to grab everything we could. We went back the next day armed with bee killer and vanquished the little backstabbers and immediately found the trigger assembly. A Springfield! We didn't find the lockplate unfortunately. It might be there, it might not be. At any rate, it is an amazing Civil War musket!

    Daniel Trautman had a son, named Emanuel. Emanuel was in his early 20s when the war broke out, and he enlisted in early 1864 and joined the 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiment. He fought in the toughest battles the Army of the Potomac ever had, fighting in the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and more. The 50th Pa Vol. were outfitted with Springfield muskets in 1863, and that is what this appears to be. It is in very good condition for the amount of time it's been buried, and is solid. The nipple, the sight, the trigger, is all intact. It is very, very special to me to find this musket. I've been reading about Daniel and his family for a few years now and to own things that he and his family used, along with the musket his son carried during the war, gives me goosebumps.



    The man who gave us permission was ecstatic about the find, and even gave us a large board from our 5th great grandfathers attic to mount it on. It is truly a special find that will hang proudly on the wall for as long as I live.




    "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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    • #3
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      Some of the other finds from the site include pieces of harmonicas, buckles, silverware, a bottle, railroad locks (not shown) a shoe toe plate, and other odds and ends.



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      Indian Head Pennies found at the site.
      "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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      • #4
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        We also had the incredible fortune to detect our 8th Great Grandfathers house, the first of our Family to come to America. He was a soldier for one month in a rag tag militia during the revolutionary war. They would run around the countryside shooting Tories and harassing British soldiers whenever the chance arose. After only a half hour of detecting, we found artifacts from his time in the militia, a 1700s horse bridal rosette, and musket balls! Also found was a Civil War era bullet for some reason.


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        "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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        • #5
          So all of this comes to the announcement.

          I will officially be moving to Pennsylvania this winter. While I was up there, I noticed the wages being paid are double what I could make here, and currently triple what I make now. I'll be living with family during the money making time. I will not have a computer, only a phone, so I won't be able to do contests until a future date. I can still do them up until I leave. I'll let y'all know beforehand.
          "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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          • #6
            Lots of cool finds Ethan
            South Dakota

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            • #7
              Out of all those cool finds it’s the dog tag that speaks to me the loudest, of smiles and tears...Good fortune to you along the way Ethan
              Floridaboy.

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              • #8
                That is absolutely Awesome! Very cool to find things connected to your own family.

                A tip- I assume you plan on going back, a great gift for an Amish family (or conservative Mennonite farmers) is a fruit basket. I've hunted a lot of Amish owned farms in Indiana and fruit basket in the spring is rarely frowned upon. (It doesn't have to be expensive, oranges, lemons, grapes and things that they don't grow are good.)
                Last edited by clovisoid; 09-03-2021, 08:47 AM.
                Hong Kong, but from Indiana/Florida

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                • #9
                  Awesome kp....the gun is top find I think!
                  SW Connecticut

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                  • Kentucky point
                    Kentucky point commented
                    Editing a comment
                    To know that my 3rd Great uncle Emanuel carried it into battle, held it when he charged the rebels at the Wilderness, and clung onto it when he got wounded in the face at Petersburg, that's something really special to me.

                  • redrocks
                    redrocks commented
                    Editing a comment
                    That is just awesome knowing a family member carried it! Maybe u will find a gun flint when ya go back!

                • #10
                  Congrats on the cool finds Ethan no worries about the contests we will keep them going . That Springfield is an amazing find.
                  TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post

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                  • #11
                    Great story and great finds. Can't imagine how much fun you had finding these family heirlooms.
                    Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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                    • #12
                      Those are priceless finds Ethan 👍
                      🐜 🎤 SW Georgia

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                      • #13
                        Growing up and moving on is a part of life. Go for it and be proud of what you achieve. Good luck and great finds
                        NW Georgia,

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                        • #14
                          Awesome, KP. I enjoyed reading your post. Wishing you all the best in your new adventures.
                          South Carolina

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                          • #15
                            Family ties and histories can sometimes be taken for granted. Those ties to the past and histories can be lost within a generation if no one cares to keep them alive. I applaud you for celebrating the history of your family. Links to a family’s past can sometimes be hard to find but you sir have done an amazing job of finding and saving that past. Thanks for sharing your finds and family history. Keep up the great work.
                            Uncle Trav- Southwest Michigan

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