The study of history through the excavation of discarded items, exploring people's attics, flying drones, and stuff….
Obviously on one of my favorite topics: pipe tomahawks. This, along with the flintlock, is a quintessential symbol of the American frontier in the 18th century. Perhaps more so than the flintlock, since there were flintlocks around the world; but pipe tomahawks are almost solely associated with North America.
This diary is so interesting, Julie had me read it to her aloud while she was cooking yesterday. It’s a quick read, and believe it or not, you can experience the Civil War in about 8 minutes time. The good, the bad, and the ugly….
When I originally found this huge iron object at the fort, I first assumed it was a big forged hinge of some sort, or other architectural hardware. After examining it, it’s not a hinge at all, it’s part of a very large fireplace trammel, which would have been used as an adjustable hanger for kettles for cooking in an open fireplace.
Estill Blockhouse. Built 1773. Indian Creek, Monroe County, West Virginia. This is the real thing. One of the coolest structures in all of West Virginia. A stone blockhouse fortified home from the Virginia frontier still standing, in its original location. With a history of Indian attack, and with a legendary frontier family.
We’ve found quite a bit of treasure under the ground at Willowbrook, and quite a bit inside the house as well. This property has seen the entire history of the Greenbrier Valley, from beginning to the present.
It was a little easier to read the text once I took a photo of it and manipulated the colors, etc., using photoshop. It appears to read, “State of the Roll, Borough of Greenwich, December 1832.” Then there’s some names, but they’re pretty difficult to read, even after running it through photoshop. So I turned to google with the things I did know: the date of 1832, the “Borough of Greenwich” and some sort of vote or roll call….
In the autumn of 1770, a mysterious stranger appeared in town, who had “a rather remarkable appearance.” The man stopped at Benjamin’s Tavern. He introduced himself as John Sterling, from Edinburgh, Scotland. Locals immediately were suspicious of him, since he appeared as a traveler, and not to be engaged in any worldly or religious business. However, in reality, he was the son of a Scottish Baronet, and had been sent on a trip by his father to tour America and Canada. It doesn’t sound as if he immediately disclosed this fact to the town. However, he was reportedly pleasant and entertaining.
One of my first attempts at uploading some of the Facebook videos we did this winter, into one larger video for Youtube. This documents our search for the homesite and grave of James Bryan, my 5th great grandfather – the only paternal grandfather who’s grave I haven’t found. At least back to the first of them to come to America.
Standing high and proud on the edge of a bluff, overlooking a ravine in which flows Byrnside Branch of Indian Creek on its way to join New River, is the Byrnside-Beirne- Johnson House. The Byrnside-Beirne-Johnson House is also called Willowbrook….
