Found a pocket book....216 years old! APPRAISAL!

Mojjax,

Hey buddy,
It just keeps getting better all the time.
That bureau has a Thomas Hepplewhite look to it.
If so ... another very valuable treasure.
careful to keep all of it's pieces and parts together.

When you move these pieces be very careful not to hurt them too much more than they already are.

Thom

Mojax thank you for sharing this piece of history with us.
here is some info on the pocketknife in your last post.
HH
Jeff
Vintage Henkle & Joyce Hardware Company "Pen knife". Great old knife made circa 1900-1934. Genuine jigged bone handles. Nickel silver bolsters and inlaid crest shield. Both blades have tang stamp. Main blade has nice long nail pull. Both blades are swedged toward point. Real nice solid old knife - a piece of Americana.
Specifications:
(Blade) Steel - Carbon Steel
Handle - Genuine Jigged Bone
Blade - Spear and Pen
Closed - 3-1/4"
Weight - 1.5 oz
Features:
Nickel Silver Bolsters and Crest Shield
Brass liners

Radarwill,

Detecting is a fine method of treasure hunting.
But it has in the scope of the whole picture only a small footprint in the treasure hunting scheme.
Treasure hunters find things everyday without the use of a detector.
Some, don't even own one.
From dumpster diving to Dowsing and diving.
and please include the occasional accidental thing.
Very little actual large treasure is found with a detector.

Look through this forum and see what I mean
You will see finds from all over from Caches in fruit jars to yard sale finds
from dives off the coasts to digs in an old dump.

and everything in between
Treasure is not just coins found in the ground by chance with a detector.

No offence

Thom

I see your point.  I guess there are multiple ways to locate treasure.  Still a great find and I especially like the dug ones.  WTG!!

Mo, it just keeps getting better! The house looks like it is rather old as well. Late 1700's maybe.

Congrats!!

Hal

those are some mighty nice finds and didnt even have to leave home  sheeesh  I love that old drawer pull or whatever it is in that last pic...it is puuuuurty!!

that last thing is a door knob I think it is beautiful, 

How long you owned this piece of property?

It is beautiful  I have never seen but the coast line of Maine before flying

I am wondering the same as others how come your in another house and not living in that house?

Are you going to make into a guest home? 
 

An absolutely fantastic find - I look forward to keeping track of this great story as it unfolds. A wonderfully patriotic song too.

TIC: The Australian cricket team could use it as a battle theme next time we play the Poms (I mean the English Tyrants)  - just kidding Crusader 

Treasure Tales is right! You do have a fortune in that house!

Antiques Roadshow should beg you to do a show!

If you need any help transcribing the older letters, I'd be happy to help. I transcribe 1800s writing nearly every single day, so no problem!

Cavers5

No amount of words can express how much Happiness I have for your treasures right now. Truly an amazing find of a lifetime. Would you consider adopting me???  Tim

Completely Awesome post, CONGRATS!  I'm with everyone else, I'd be in there night and day digging thru it all. Very Impressive   

Here is a link to a website with some experts that may be able to help you. 

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthologists

"Worthologists
WorthPoint Worthologists are men and women with expertise and a passion for art, antiques and collectibles. Their background include auctioneering, appraising, publishing, teaching, and consulting. What all Worthologists have in common is their ability to evaluate items to determine their history, significance, and worth.

To help you find information about the history, worth and preservation of your collectibles, all our Worthologists contribute weekly to our Antiques and Collectibles Research Library, and write collector blogs. If you have a question about an item you own, please use our Ask a Worthologist about your antiques online service."

Good Luck and one more small piece of advice.... don't let any of those documents leave your site for just anyone to examine, you may not get the originals (same ones) back!

Edit to add the link for the Antiques Roadshow FYI Discussion Forum
       http://discussions.pbs.org/viewforum.pbs?f=109

Wouldn't it be totally awesome if antique road show did a show on his entire old homesite with the desk and papers all of it... holey moley

Being a student of historical building and construction,

I Have been looking at the house from the outside as well as what photos you posted of the inside.
This house is not what builders call a foursquare. It predates the foursquare by a bit. My parrents own a foursquare that was built in 1836. this should give an idea of the age of the house. using the chimney position as a guide... one can put the age of the house before 1830, or in the Federal period.
It has been added to a couple times and the original house could be as early as 1780s or 1790s. you might check to see if it is of a log construction. many early houses are added onto an old log home.

Just a little more info for the story, It isn't much but it makes a little more sense.
Kind of cool to see it all come together.

The furniture may have been in the house since it was new. 

Thom

[The most fantastic time to be alive is right now]

I'm gone for a week and look at this find.......the most amazing to date in my book

......and the research by the fellow members........INCREDIBLE

Congrats on the outstanding find....thats truely incredible

Cheers!

Dugholes   

Actually, not just on TNet, but this is one of the best finds that I have EVER seen!  To get the purse with Aaron Blaney's name and date on it and in outstanding shape is just more than most people can ever hope for!  That right there would have been one of the best finds that I have ever seen considering that it looked like the purse was from the 1950s (IN GREAT SHAPE).  But when you combine the handwritten POEM inside the purse and then the amazing desk   It TRULY becomes not just an amazing find, but becomes a Museum quality, national treasure!  The desk looks to be in overall very good shape........and I agree with the guy above, if it is of American construction, than you are looking at a very very good sum of money!

Congrats on one of the best finds I have seen in my lifetime

This entire thread, Has totally blown me away, to find what you have found is just..well, heck, I just dont have words to express myself, but good lord, that is the best thing I have seen in a long long time... I am dying to know what a professional will say about that and the desk,   did he live in that house as well.. talk about American History, this is just as great as the guy who showed up on the antique road show with Pickett's sword and didnt know it at this time...  and who knows what else you may find there... holey moley, I cant wait to hear more info..

I am so very thrilled for you

But is it really worth anything but a good adventure?

Sure it'll be tales to tell for decades to come but without a swarm of experts pouring over the place, who will believe you?

Out from an old desk, in an abandoned house, tumbled a 200 year old document in great shape which you went after on a whim?

I'm just playing devil's advocate and if you really want to get an honest evaluation of your finds be prepared for some pretty intense scrutiny.

Did you ever stop to think maybe you have been charged with a task? Something fate or even spirits want you to do? Maybe there is an injustice here. Perhaps someone took credit for a song that shouldn't have. Or maybe the building is beloved even though it's owners have moved on to another realm and their purity of heart has kept it from rotting and it's your task to preserve it? Maybe you were supposed to involve some of the others here on this board, for they are the ones who could provide clues with research.

So many questions. Such an incredible find.

Sorry, if I found something like that it would freak me out and my mind would certainly assume I found it for a reason. But what reason?

These are fantastic finds you have found..... In fact finds of a lifetime  You have not said if you have looked for secret drawers in that writing desk and that other cabinet. It would be great to find another compartment with more great goodies in them.
As usual, Tnet have found all the great history for you.....  This is what is great with the people on this forum.

Keep us all informed on any other progress, and more pics of the inside of the house would be great.

God bless
peter

This is by 100 times a greater find than I've ever seen by any Tnet member.

Some things are worth far more than silver and gold.

You are the No.1 Tnet finder!

Badger

Nice find!!!  What does it have to do with metal detecting?

What a great find mojjax. Hope it makes you millions.
As for this ol’ boy I’m quoting, sounds like sour grapes to me………LOL
HH, S_F

Absolutely amazing!! 

MY GAWD!

I just now read this thread.

Absotively ASTONISHING!

Mucho congrats on these amazing finds!

Gotta love abandoned houses.

Clearly, there is alot of history in that old house!  What an awesome post 

I like the Antiques Roadshow Idea, but at the very least, this would be a shoe-in segment for one of those discovery channel shows about "Lost Treasure".  I would be documenting all those finds with a video camera-  maybe even call a local news channel and get a professional camera man to help-  I'm sure they would love to do a story on this!  (make sure that the place is very secure before you do any of that though!)

Great post!

but what hes gotta worry about if he goes locally on tv or whatever, is the chance of jerks trying to steal whatever out of that house there..so thats another thing to think about.... stick with the pros.. quietly at first... thats my two cents.

Wiki entry for Dr Williams Pink pills:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Wi...ms'_Pink_Pills_for_Pale_People

what a great thread!

Does the word Antique Road Show Mean Any Thing?

A NATIONAL TREASURE

AGREED !

I would go and search every nook and cranny in the old structures, looking for hidden walls, hidden areas under the staricase, over each door .......etc., etc.

If it has a chinmey look at the mantle, go outside near the bottom of the chimney and see if there are any loose bricks.. (they can be taken out and something hidden behind them)

Check in any attic areas for odd shaped out of sort wood.

You have a "treasure" and finding other items in the house is just like whipped cream and a cherry on top.

AWESOME thread.

Congrats !!!!!!!

This is so cool... and someone said it before me... but this is the best thing I've seen found here. Way to go~!!

I found a little coin purse (red velvet) in not as cool a way.. but it had 2 pages of paper tucked inside:
J &J Tait Flour, Feed anf Lumber
Taitsville, MO
Its a receipt of some sort.
It was in a thrift store in AZ

I love the desk!!
Janiece

I passed up reading this thread a few times. I am very glad I didnt pass it up again.

Amazing find and awesome thread!!!!

I brought it to Kaja Veilleux's Free Appraisal Day up in Thomaston . He is a "high end " auctioneer in Maine .

He was very interested in it . I showed him the Nathan Niles printout "The American Hero ;Sapphitic Ode"(Thanks Gypsy Heart)  I told him that I found Aaron's grave in Walpole .

He  had 2 of his other appraiser's come into the room to take a look . They were all very intrigued . He set the amount at $500.00 - $1000.00  Which he said is the lowest . I told him that I did not want to sell it at this point now .
  He told me that he is having a 2-day Ephemera/Book Auction this fall , and if I did change my mind he would need it 2 months prior to the auction -  his staff would fully research it - he said that if they found any connection between Aaron Blaney and Nathan Niles  - It could go for Multiple Thousands .

He said that one of his "High End" bidders is an Archivist from the Maine State Museum - who may be quite interested in an item like this - he also pointed out that he has a following of 850 international clients and 2,800 USA clients who are on his mailing list and are sent full color brochures ( he takes a lot of Phone bids)

Kaja sold an original copy of the Declaration Of Independence a few years ago . It ended up in a lawsuit . The town of Yarmouth ended up winning .

Congratulations on the appraisal man, I would say that is a very conservative estimate.  If you find the right buyer/collector, it will easily jump into the multi-thousand range.

Truly remarkable find

It could be worth far, far more than 500-1000 bucks.  If you can prove that this guy is the original author you may stand american history on it's head...and make that book worth some tens of thousands or more...but if it's worth a whole lot the Blaney family is going to come out of the woodwork and come after you.

I agree and think it is worth far more, heck 500 it would be better to give it to a museum for folks to see for many many years to come

And with gas at 4.oo/gal you dont even have to leave home. best of everything.  Bob

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out who his high end bidder at the museum is. Make a call.

My local auction house has a 12% buyers premium. That of course means 12% of what the bidder offers goes to the auction house.

Maybe you could cut out the middle man. Make yourself and the buyer happy in a private sale.

Or hang on to it. If it's really historical you might be surprised who ends up contacting you.

Thinking on that, stash it somewhere safe where it won't deteriorate and any papers won't fade or get moldy etc.

Good luck,
Tricia

Man that is Wild! Keep us informed of how this develops please. 

Truly and amazing find, I like the pocket book, song and letter, but those desks are simply AMAZING!!! If I had found those, no amount of "field work" would get done. 

Congrats on the appraisal!! This whole story is so cool!

I'd keep it safe somewhere and never sell, at least not for $500-$1000.  It is way too cool to just have that in your possession.  Then again, I've been broke many times and had to sell some 'cool' things that I probably shouldn't have. 

All I can say is.........WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.................... SPEACHLESS!

Im just speechless. An AMAZING FIND MAN WTG!

Wow! this is the most interesting thread I've read in a long time!

On to the desk now. Whats up with it? Did you ever get to see the back? Are there any tags or labels or marks on the underside that might lend provenance? I'm dyin here!

I dont know how I"ve missed this story but it is absolutely incredible!!! What a cool find for sure and some nice pieces of furniture also. congratulations!!!

Wow, talk about incrediable shape.

[very]

Check out Christies or Sotheby's  past auctions on furniture and ephemera from this time period and you will be shocked beyond belief. Me thinks you may be very wealthy. Do not try to clean or alter any of these things in any way. Bring in the experts. Contact Sotheby's and/or Christies. Also the Keenon(spelling?) brothers may help with the furniture. From what I could see in the pics this is some of the best I've seen and I've been in the antiques/furniture restoration & construction/paper/ephemera business for a number of years. A friend of a friend found a game table from this period at an estate auction, paid around $1600 for it....it fetched, I think, $1.2 million at auction.
Everyone in my business dreams of such a find. Man, all i can say is WOW!!! What a find!
BTW, if you need any help with this, I have a very good friend in Sandwich,Mass., very honest and very intelligent, and knows this stuff well. If he can't ID it, he could definitely point you in the right direction. What ever you decide to do...Good Luck!

BTW, you may already know this but, a couple of other places to check in the house are the doors(I'd heard of people drilling holes into the tops and dropping coins in then plugging the holes) and door hardware can be worth a good bit too, some knobs into the thousands. Also check the typically cast iron window weights(I've heard of these being replaced with melted down silver).
Also, wide boards(over say 14-18", wider the better), especially pine, are worth a premium, I even buy these and any architectural items, columns, moldings, built in cabinets, etc. I build "new" very large furniture from reclaimed lumber and arch. items. Again Good Luck, and can't wait to hear more about this spectacular find.

BTW, you may already know this but, a couple of other places to check in the house are the doors(I'd heard of people drilling holes into the tops and dropping coins in then plugging the holes) and door hardware can be worth a good bit too, some knobs into the thousands. Also check the typically cast iron window weights(I've heard of these being replaced with melted down silver).
Also, wide boards(over say 14-18", wider the better), especially pine, are worth a premium, I even buy these and any architectural items, columns, moldings, built in cabinets, etc. I build "new" very large furniture from reclaimed lumber and arch. items. Again Good Luck, and can't wait to hear more about this spectacular find.

Well if we are talking tear the house down here (which I doubt, but if he did he could probably make more than the property value in materials) you can also get a real pretty penny for the main support beams, especially if they are made from hard woods that aren't legal to log anymore or are just not abundant enough.

 I would think finding a museum to put them on display with some pictures of the house and how you found them would be GREAT !!!! Maybe a museum with early American ties. Oh and they also will pay you a " rental " fee to show the items. Could possibly make some extra cash for a looong time. I for one would like to see them up close.

PLL

Congrats on your find. I found your story very uplifting and the research is amazing with everyone getting together and helping you with it. Good Luck in the Future.
Kellyco Chick

Neat find.. I collect a ton of emphemra stuff.. documents etc of this age is pretty common...unless it has ties to some famous individual they are not worth a ton of money.. What may be worth big $$ is that furniture if it's 1700's stuff. I'm talking THOUSANDS... see if you can find a maker on it and do some research.. I saw one pic of the desk front and it caught my eye!!!  Good luck!

Mojax,

Seriously ...I know you are laughing at me in my earlier rant about the desk.
Take the time to look for a maker's mark.
we are talking the difference between a couple thousand dollars and a couple hundred thousand,
IF you have the right furniture maker.

The mark can be found on the inside of the main cabinet body, the underside of drawers or even simply branded or on a written label glued to the back.

Thom

PS... I hope you make a million.

Here's a newspaper article I found. Sorry for it's condition...this is the best I could find. Hope you are able to read it ok....

I went back and found the original post they spoke of....

I am with everyone else WOW!!!  I love old furniture...I love old houses...Congrats...you have the find of a lifetime

Deedy

outstanding find. coolest story I've read so far. Please keep us posted on events related to the items you find.

[THE END ?]

                                                    THE END ?

I would be restoring that house why are you letting it fall apart?

hey gang,
 Just goes to show how important research is....GREAT JOB !!!!!!

PLL

I would go and search every nook and cranny in the old structures, looking for hidden walls, hidden areas under the staricase, over each door .......etc., etc.

Look Mo, your purse thing is killing me.  To me, this dude has a revolutionary song hand written and HIDDEN in his house.  Things like this were so, so important to the cause of revolution that they were kept (and kept hidden), and in this instance regardless if he was the author of the poem or not.  My thinking is that if this guy were a revolutionary and was hiding this poem and FORGOT ABOUT IT somehow, there is bound to be more significant finds in that house.  What else would have been seen as contraband to the Brits?  Copies of the declaration of independence?  Have all of the silk originals been found?  What about other revolutionary material like other poems, weapons caches, or militia records/money?  Anything is possible here and I have to 2nd what someone else said about there being a reason you have become involved in this.  After seeing how you handled the curious mountain stick my thinking is there is no other person to be working this old house but you.

hey gang,
 I also think after all is said and ( nearly ) done, that there would be a museum that would be willing to put the desk, poem etc on display. Maybe contact some of the Revolutionary museums... They probably have no idea that this exists....

PLL

You better baby the crap out of that place!!! I wouldn't even touch them papers without latex gloves!!!!!!! No telling what the oil in your skin might do to something that old and potentially very valuable. I'd take pics of them and get em to a environmentally controlled safety deposit box too. Be ashamed if something happened to them. I'd be extremely careful with that furniture too and not scratch ANY of it or try to clean or repair ANYTHING!!!!!!! Any old wood restoration should be handled by a REPUTABLE PROFESSIONAL antique restorer. If you alter any of it in any way you'll KILL the value.  PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE be careful and don't screw any of it up!! That'd make me sick. I'd look inside some of them walls and carefully in the attic for sure!!! Just make sure it's stable before climbing on anything. Look for any hiding places in the house. No telling what you might find. I'd give both of my nads to have access to that place!!!

I would go and search every nook and cranny in the old structures, looking for hidden walls, hidden areas under the staricase, over each door .......etc., etc.

...  What else would have been seen as contraband to the Brits?  Copies of the declaration of independence?  Have all of the silk originals been found?  What about other revolutionary material like other poems, weapons caches, or militia records/money?  Anything is possible here and I have to 2nd what someone else said about there being a reason you have become involved in this.  After seeing how you handled the curious mountain stick my thinking is there is no other person to be working this old house but you.

I agree, 100%.  You couldn't be more right.  That was a terrific tale, and this one seems to be shaping up just as wonderfully.

HH
Nan

No updates? he hasn't posted in awhile. wonder why........

No updates? he hasn't posted in awhile. wonder why........

I just purchased the book "Search!" by James Warnke on ebay . It should arrive any day now . It's about cache hunting .
 We've got the place all buttoned up now , to help keep out vandals and scrap metal hunters , etc .

Has anyone ever read that book? I saw it being recommended in a cache hunting thread .
I found this item back in August -http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,174051.0.html

Mojjax, this is an awesome thread. You might contact "If Walls Could Talk" on HGTV. They love this stuff.
I agree with the others. If the fellow hid one thing, He hid others. Tap the walls, floors, stones whatever for loose spots.

Congratulations on the finds.
JG

Mojjax cool find!!
how long have you owned the property, and how long did the
owner/s own it before you, i rememmber reading something
once about a battle over ownership for??, i think something in a well
this was many years ago, and not sure how any of it turned out
so maybe add seeing a lawyer, and your insurance agent, to your
list of things to do about your GREAT find, would be something
else to think about

Aaron Jr. BLANEY
[1071]
18 Apr 1776 - 31 Jul 1834
BIRTH: 18 Apr 1776, Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
DEATH: 31 Jul 1834, Bristol, Lincoln Co., ME
BURIAL: Bristol, Lincoln Co., ME
Family 1 : Betsey DENNIS
MARRIAGE: 18 Dec 1803
 Arnold BLANEY
 Eunice BLANEY
 Susannah Kinsman BLANEY
 Betsey BLANEY
 Aaron BLANEY
 David Dennis BLANEY
 James Monroe BLANEY
 Caroline BLANEY
 Henry BLANEY
INDEX

[1071] !Birth: Chuckie Blaney, 1/98; son of Aaron Blaney and Eunice Segar.check C.C. Blaney's "John Blaney of Lynn and some of his Lineal Descendants", Typescript, 1951.

!Marriage:ditto

!Death:ditto

!Burial: Old Walpole Meeting House Cem. -- C. Blaney

!1793 - went to Damariscotta, Me. as clerk to cousin Oliver Gridley. Worked with several businesses, postmaster of Bristol 1806-1834, treasurer several yers, rep. to state legislature 1824-1827, justice of peace. Mass. Militia 1814. Large landowner, home built 1820, burned about 1876. Letter, reminiscences. -- C. Blaney, 1/98

Fabulous!
HH,
MT
Tom

very nice

Who made the desk?

[Treasure Hunting America Texas Style]

1st sewing machine:

History and development of the sewing machine

In 1791 British inventor Thomas Saint was the first to patent a design for a sewing machine.[4] His machine was meant to be used on leather and canvas. A working model was never built.

In 1814 an Austrian Tailor, Josef Madersperger, presented his first sewing machine, the development started in 1807.

In 1830 a French tailor, Barthélemy Thimonnier, patented a sewing machine that sewed straight seams using chain stitch. By 1841, Thimonnier had a factory of 80 machines sewing uniforms for the French Army.[citation needed] The factory was destroyed by rioting French tailors afraid of losing their livelihood. Thimonnier had no further success with his machine.

The lock stitch sewing machine was invented by Walter Hunt in 1833.[5] His machine used an eye-pointed needle (with the eye and the point on the same end) carrying the upper thread and a shuttle carrying the lower thread. The curved needle moved through the fabric horizontally, leaving the loop as it withdrew. The shuttle passed through the loop, interlocking the thread. The feed let the machine down – requiring the machine to be stopped frequently and reset up. Hunt eventually lost interest in his machine and sold it without bothering to patent it. In 1842, John Greenough patented the first sewing machine in the United States.

Elias Howe patented his machine in 1845; using a similar method to Hunt's, except the fabric was held vertically. The major improvement he made was to put a groove in the needle running away from the point, starting from the eye. After a lengthy stint in England trying to attract interest in his machine he returned to America to find various people infringing his patent. He eventually won his case in 1854 and was awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas covered by his patent.

Isaac Merritt Singer has become synonymous with the sewing machine. Trained as an engineer, he saw a rotary sewing machine being repaired in a Boston shop. He thought it to be clumsy and promptly set out to design a better one. His machine used a flying shuttle instead of a rotary one; the needle was mounted vertically and included a presser foot to hold the cloth in place. It had a fixed arm to hold the needle and included a basic tensioning system.

This machine combined elements of Thimonnier's, Hunt's, and Howe's machines. He was granted an American patent in 1851 and it was suggested he patent the foot pedal (or treadle) used to power some of his machines; however, it had been in use for too long for a patent to be issued. When Howe learned of Singer’s machine he took him to court. Howe won and Singer was forced to pay a lump sum for all machines already produced. Singer then took out a license under Howe’s patent and paid him $1.15 per machine. Singer then entered a joint partnership with a lawyer named Edward Clark, and they formed the first hire-purchase (time payment) scheme to allow people to afford to buy their machines.

Meanwhile Allen Wilson had developed a reciprocating shuttle, which was an improvement over Singer’s and Howe’s. However, John Bradshaw had patented a similar device and was threatening to sue. Wilson decided to change track and try a new method. He went into partnership with Nathaniel Wheeler to produce a machine with a rotary hook instead of a shuttle. This was far quieter and smoother than the other methods, and the Wheeler and Wilson Company produced more machines in 1850s and 1860s than any other manufacturer. Wilson also invented the four-motion feed mechanism; this is still seen on every machine today. This had a forward, down, back, and up motion, which drew the cloth through in an even and smooth motion. Charles Miller patented the first machine to stitch buttonholes (US10609).

Through the 1850s more and more companies were being formed and were trying to sue each other. This triggered a patent thicket known as The Sewing Machine War (see Adam Mossoff's article [6]). In 1856 the Sewing Machine Combination was formed, consisting of Singer, Howe, Wheeler and Wilson, and Grover and Baker. These four companies pooled their patents, meaning that all the other manufacturers had to obtain a license and pay $15 per machine. This lasted until 1877 when the last patent expired.


Dave

This is an utterly astounding find, simply put.  I think those appraisers definitely gave you a very low price; no matter how reputable they are, they definitely seemed to want those relics for a low price, perhaps to sell off at a greater profit margin.  If you're still holding on to the documents and purse, please keep them in a cool, dry environment with extremely clean air.  Moisture, pollen, dust mites, and all that other junk in air can eat away at the material and fade the ink.  Vacuum seal both if you can, of course.  If you must handle them, try and pick up a set of white cotton gloves, which are very cheap when you can find them.  I find that they're better than latex: they breath better, are reusable and washable, and your hands don't get that powdery crud on them or smell funny afterwards.

Anyway, to quote a famous treasure hunter, "it belongs in a museum!"  Of course, check with any surviving family first.  If they don't seem like the kind of people who are capable of properly caring for these artifacts, then proceed to find a museum that's interested, and willing to pay and give credit where credit is due.  I'm not much of a supporter of the keeping of certain artifacts, especially one of a kind pieces such as these.  Things like coins and buttons and even stuff like cavalry swords or bits of jewelry are plentiful, and every museum has at least a dozen examples.  But something like what you found is truly unique and it should be out there to be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone.  (End of "preaching.")

But again, this is a simply spectacular find, and you have done your country a great service by recovering it and finding out all you can about it.

Yes So Cool.... Love history, this story is the best I have ever read anywhere.
I agree with tricia posting, sounds weird definitely....however check her post again.
Do not part with anything... unless you really need the cash

Then I would only part with one or 2 small things only if a must.
BY ALL MEANS IF NOT TOO LATE..... your pocket book 500.-1000 is a joke whomever gave you
that appraisal, will sell for much more.
If No need to sell it Don't.

*** As great as your postings and information I have read here, "If I were you I would" you must be tired of that phrase by now.

"Write your story of this great property as if a journal include your photos, letters, history of and more"
You won't have to worry about cleaning out brush. Save it...... write it....... no location......

I would not let anyone in your area know of your discoveries, unless maybe part of family of
the history.

However, I am not sure I would want to do that either.... wow
Could one of family have claims to any of the personal property?
Which is not considered as real estate.

As a realtor, any property vacant in boo coo land, I want to view walk in,
 my hubby can't stand it but I have to just because, has nothing to do with items always vacant.
It is just the mystery of.

This post will last for many years,
Can anyone update status of?   Of course curious..... owner is probably going crazy by now with
all of the questions and postings since first post.

I noticed over 10,000 viewers for this one,  wow     most definite history....

Thank-You,  just joined treasure net today best story ever glad I joined, have done nothing but
read for the past hour plus more.

Thanks everyone for your info, your research results into is amazing

Respectfully,
Kimberly

["Write your story of this great property as if a journal include your photos, letters, history of and more" You won't have to worry about cleaning out brush ever again. Save it...... write it.......give no location......]

Yes So Cool.... Love history, this story is the best I have ever read anywhere.
I agree with Tricia's posting, sounds weird definitely....however check her post again.
Do not part with anything... unless you really need the cash

Then I would only part with one or 2 small things only if a must.
BY ALL MEANS IF NOT TOO LATE..... your pocket book 500.-1000 is a joke whomever gave you
that appraisal, will sell for much more.
If No need to sell it Don't.

*** As great as your postings and information I have read here, "If I were you I would" you must be tired of that phrase by now.

"Write your story of this great property as if a journal include your photos, letters, history of and more"
You won't have to worry about cleaning out brush ever again.  Save it...... write it.......give no location......

I would not let anyone in your area know of your discoveries, unless maybe part of family of
the history.

However, I am not sure I would want to do that either.... wow
Could one of family have claims to any of the personal property?
Which is not considered as real estate.

As a realtor, any property vacant in boo coo land, I want to view walk in,
 my hubby can't stand it but I have to just because, has nothing to do with items always vacant.
It is just the mystery of.

This post will last for many years,
Can anyone update status of?   Of course curious..... owner is probably going crazy by now with
all of the questions and postings since first post.

I noticed over 20,000 viewers for this one,  wow     most definite history.... less than 200 responses, I had to post mine.

Thank-You,  just joined treasure net today best story ever glad I joined, have done nothing but
read for the past hour plus more.

Thanks everyone for your info, your research results into is amazing

Respectfully,
Kimberly

wow

Any new updates?

AWESOME FIND! I love old places and ya never know as shown in this thread what you will find. I'd pull out all the drawers and check to see if anything is behind them or stuck to them also check it real good for hidden doors and such. Sounds like you could make off pretty good with just the furniture. As stated I would go through that place one wall at a time checking baseboards and everything else I could to see if there were hidden places.

real cool find im kind of a home musian play telecaster guitar song writer1800's neat

WOW,,,Thats Just freakin Awesome!! 

Bumelsheds could be Blunderbuss. That is some find.
Chris

Very Interesting Song And You Should Copyright That Song If You Like Ill Write It Up On Staff Paper Free Of Charge 

Nice comparable at Colonial Williamsburg:

http://tiny.cc/dxew9

Yours is better tho.