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I didn't find my sister's time capsule, but...
BentFork
Posts: 829
Howdy from Texas folks! The Norris clan is out on their annual three week vacation. This year we decided to take the “Big Rollin’ Tu*d” and the dogs to visit family and friends in Northeast Texas.
I’ll give you a little background about the message title. Many years ago when my sister was 14, she and a friend supposedly buried a fruit jar in my mom and dad’s back yard as a time capsule. That was 1960. She and I are both closing in on being senior citizens now. When asked what she put in it, she can’t remember. Plus, the area she buried it in is questionable. Nevertheless, this is my first trip back to visit my mother that I’ve had the MXT along. I didn’t have any problem getting permission to hunt there.
BTW, many years ago when my dad and I first started detecting we hunted the back yard. But that was in the days of these monstrously heavy detectors that could detect something on a good day at 4 inches max. We never found her capsule back then. And what coinage we did find was petty at the time. I’m sorry to say I didn’t find the time capsule again. Either it is buried beyond the depth of my machine, I’m not hunting in the right area, or there's no such thing. But I did give it my best attempt. I did find some interesting things though.
My mother’s property is in Dallas. The house is a post WW II tract house built in 1947. The area is known to have been heavily traveled through during the 1880s - by military and civilians. It’s on the line the troops traveled from Dallas to Ft. Concho and also near where the troops stopped overnight in-route. Also nearby back in the 1880s was a feed store, livery, stage stop, general store, and a few houses. This was probably the overnight stop. That locale is now an island community with a town name the message board filter told me is a no-no
Numerous attempts on my part over the years to locate the exact spot of those establishments have failed. But enough of that. 
Here’s what I found in a 4 hour hunt of my mom’s property.
The first picture is a collection of the finds. In the upper left are two cast iron ornaments I’m unable to determine what they came from. I found them at 5 inches depth. Then there are the remains of two shotgun casings. They were quite deep. One fishing lure. A couple of ammo rounds. One is a pistol and the other is a rifle caliber. Besides the clad coinage I found, I found five wheaties. All are from the 40s and they were at 5 to 7 inches depth. I found two keys. The horse’s head is interesting. It’s pewter. I think either it is a part of a toy, or maybe the head of a walking stick. But I’m probably wrong on both guesses. There’s also a pendant of sorts from Amish Acres, Nappanee, Indiana. Who knows how that got there. It isn't old - although Amish Acres is.
I also found a Diamond Edge handsaw stud.
This is a button with a train locomotive on it. It’s about the size of a half dollar and it was 6 inches or so deep. Don’t know how old it is either.
I found another button. It’s military. Hopefully I can get one of our button experts to give me a clue to its age.
And I found a pendant. It’s kind of like a cameo. All pewter also. I don’t its age either, but it was on the order of 6 or 7 inches deep.
I really hoped to find my sister’s time capsule. According to her it was your standard one pint Mason jar with the zinc lid. Even after being buried for 40 years, it should be easy to find if I’m in the correct area. Oh well! I didn’t fing any silver either. Dang!
Thanks for looking folks.
Gary
P.S. Next stop on the trip – it’s the mother-in-law’s place. It’s 60-70 years old. Wish me luck.
G man
I’ll give you a little background about the message title. Many years ago when my sister was 14, she and a friend supposedly buried a fruit jar in my mom and dad’s back yard as a time capsule. That was 1960. She and I are both closing in on being senior citizens now. When asked what she put in it, she can’t remember. Plus, the area she buried it in is questionable. Nevertheless, this is my first trip back to visit my mother that I’ve had the MXT along. I didn’t have any problem getting permission to hunt there.
BTW, many years ago when my dad and I first started detecting we hunted the back yard. But that was in the days of these monstrously heavy detectors that could detect something on a good day at 4 inches max. We never found her capsule back then. And what coinage we did find was petty at the time. I’m sorry to say I didn’t find the time capsule again. Either it is buried beyond the depth of my machine, I’m not hunting in the right area, or there's no such thing. But I did give it my best attempt. I did find some interesting things though.My mother’s property is in Dallas. The house is a post WW II tract house built in 1947. The area is known to have been heavily traveled through during the 1880s - by military and civilians. It’s on the line the troops traveled from Dallas to Ft. Concho and also near where the troops stopped overnight in-route. Also nearby back in the 1880s was a feed store, livery, stage stop, general store, and a few houses. This was probably the overnight stop. That locale is now an island community with a town name the message board filter told me is a no-no
Numerous attempts on my part over the years to locate the exact spot of those establishments have failed. But enough of that. Here’s what I found in a 4 hour hunt of my mom’s property.The first picture is a collection of the finds. In the upper left are two cast iron ornaments I’m unable to determine what they came from. I found them at 5 inches depth. Then there are the remains of two shotgun casings. They were quite deep. One fishing lure. A couple of ammo rounds. One is a pistol and the other is a rifle caliber. Besides the clad coinage I found, I found five wheaties. All are from the 40s and they were at 5 to 7 inches depth. I found two keys. The horse’s head is interesting. It’s pewter. I think either it is a part of a toy, or maybe the head of a walking stick. But I’m probably wrong on both guesses. There’s also a pendant of sorts from Amish Acres, Nappanee, Indiana. Who knows how that got there. It isn't old - although Amish Acres is.
I also found a Diamond Edge handsaw stud.
This is a button with a train locomotive on it. It’s about the size of a half dollar and it was 6 inches or so deep. Don’t know how old it is either.
I found another button. It’s military. Hopefully I can get one of our button experts to give me a clue to its age.
And I found a pendant. It’s kind of like a cameo. All pewter also. I don’t its age either, but it was on the order of 6 or 7 inches deep.
I really hoped to find my sister’s time capsule. According to her it was your standard one pint Mason jar with the zinc lid. Even after being buried for 40 years, it should be easy to find if I’m in the correct area. Oh well! I didn’t fing any silver either. Dang!
Thanks for looking folks.
Gary
P.S. Next stop on the trip – it’s the mother-in-law’s place. It’s 60-70 years old. Wish me luck.
G man
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Comments
<< <i>This is a button with a train locomotive on it. It’s about the size of a half dollar and it was 6 inches or so deep. Don’t know how old it is either. >>
1880s would be my wild guess. I found a similar one but it was smaller.
Love the locomotive button!
Look forward to further installments of "On The Road With The G-Man"
Have a safe trip!
GR