Old National Geographics.. and other historical stuff

[JonnyReb]

   I've been on a National Geographics reading binge, i dug 5 magazines from a customers trash can with their permission, a 1909 through 1921,22,34,36,   they are in like new condition but brittle, i'm being real careful with them and am thoroughly enjoying them, the history in the articles and especially the advertising is just striking. One of the most incredible things to me is the modern theme not so much different then today. The cars are sharp, politics is timeless and the houses look quite modern with appliances doing the same thing then as they do today. This was in 1936, of course the difference from 1909 to 1936 is pretty striking. There is really not that many pictures, artwork is more the norm but beautifully done, i couldn't stand to see these thrown away.

  The same customer, an elderly lady in her 90's, told me to also take a box and a picture from her basement that she wanted to go to someone who would like them. She explained that the picture had hung in a plantation house in York S.C. and the box was full of stuff from that same house, pre civil war,which was demolished in the 50's.  She couldn't make it down the steps but i went down and took a look, the picture is a giagantic portrait of a civil war officer, oil i guess but in good condition. The box contained 50 or so lbs of stuff, mostly paperwork, on top was 2 old books, a leather ledger and a hardback, the ledger contains handwritten notes seeming to detail account balances owed on the property, to men and for storegoods. The book was by Ralph waldo emerson and seemed to be a series of essays. I don't know what the other stuff was but i went upstairs and thanked this woman but told her there was no way i could take such signifigant heirlooms. She pretty much said that if i didn't, they would get thrown away when she died, as there was no known family left to pass it too. Or none she wanted to have it, i forget which way she phrased it. Anyways i didn't take the things in the basement but did get all the Nat Geo's out of the trash. I have enjoyed them over the last couple days and don't know exactly what to do about the items that were offered to me, but i guess i'll call her and go over and discuss in further detail what she knows about the plantation and the people who lived there, i'll try to document it, as i love history anyways and compile this stuff into interesting order and see what happens with it from there. It will be fun going through it all for sure, no telling what i might find.  J

[North Pack]

Jonny, - do her and those heirlooms a favor, take them, seriously. Don't let them get thrown out or worse pass into the hands of someone who doesn't understand or care about them. - Years ago I passed up "something similar" - and I still regret it to this day.

[JonnyReb]

 It just seems strange to take it but i hate the thought of it getting thrown away too,, i am meaning to call her but for some reason can't bring myself to do it lol 

[gamo2hammerli]

Yep...what North Pack said.  Take them and preserve them....if you don`t history is going to be thrown out.  That`ll be a shame.

[North Pack]

She's in her 90's Jonny, time is not her (or your) friend at this point - don't do what I did and put it off.

[RedFeather]

The ledger would be useful if you can tie it to whatever business it was for.  Historians and researchers love things like that since they show the real day-to-day life of the times.  The portrait might be the real gem.  Does she have any idea of who it might be?  At least try to get the name of the farm, plantation, etc, where it hung.  Then contact the state's historical society.  If genuine, it is priceless, as any photographs or portraits that can be identified are a real boon.  Even if you can't determine who it is, a good historian can possibly identify the unit from the uniform's appointments.  If you would be so kind as to photograph it and post it here, I would appreciate it.  Love CW stuff.  (Heck, I live just outside of Manassas and within the remains of the Confederate winter encampment following First Manassas (or Bull Run, as the northerners call it.)

[JonnyReb]

 Ok i will. I'll contact her tomorrow and take her lunch, then go over everything, at her convenience of course. She does know exactly who it is and where the house stood, right on main street in York actually. The guy in the picture is her great or great great grandfather and she said the portrait hung there until the 1950's. The stuff in the box is all tied to the same plantation, no telling what but it is. She does know a good bit about whats there and will tell me everything she remembers, she enjoyed it actually. I don't think anyone ever cared before to hear it. The picture is in great shape, it is covered and has been since she got it... wow, 60 years ago. The colors in it are amazing as i will show you. It might be a week or so but i'll definitely post about it. Also i hate to even use the word but there are slave records in the box as well, i have not seen them but she mentioned it, Should be some interesting reading,  Jeff

 Thats cool where you live Redfeather, it would be hard for me to contain myself if i were there, i'd be out roaming the old trench and picket lines every chance i had.. 

[Brushy Bill]

I was at a church yard sale two years ago,
I bought about 20 volumes of them,
all in hard back.
Each hardback book covers 6 months of the magazines.
It was incredible, coverage of
WWI and the early history of flight.


Just opened one From Jan,-June 1919 page 441
The story is,

Helium, The New Balloon Gas
by G. Sherburne Rogers, Ph.D.

Never know what you will see when you pick one up.

[mojomoto]

 "Also i hate to even use the word but there are slave records in the box as well, i have not seen them but she mentioned it, Should be some interesting reading,"

Thats a part of our history. All Americans need to understand where they came from to get where we are today. The good and the bad. It is amazing that some thought it a necessity to continue the prosperity of America.
Your attitude of our collective shame (ALL americans) is an perfect example of  "the better angels of our nature". Abraham Lincoln would be very proud of you.

Too few people respect the lessons history can teach us of human nature.

JonnyReb... it is an honor to get to know a person like you.

My story. (not as good as yours or as important)
I went to a library book sale in Sauk Centre MN when i lived there about 15 years ago. Everything in the basement was for sale. 25 cents a piece. After some searching i brought to the front desk two ledgers from the late 1800s. The time and books checked out by Sinclair Lewis's parents and their signatures were among the people listed in the ledger. I told them that these might be worth more than a quarter and showed them why. Then said if you dont make sure these get to the museum I will buy them and donate them to the minnesota historical society. They were red faced but gracious.

I HATE waste too. I am an unrecovering dumpster diver. The things people throw away is almost shameful.

[JonnyReb]

  Well thanks, that was a compliment in one respect and stark reality in another. "Collective shame" was a good choice of words probably but if i really look at it close, it's no personal shame just a desire to not offend anyone with a term, which online can be easy to do. So many people with so many viewpoints, it's hard to walk the fine line sometimes. Everyone on here does a good job of it though, in all respects.

  I'm a packrat from way back and love digging through old stuff. My favorite stuff is whats under our feet, old trash heaps long covered over and a myriad of items dropped and lost during our nations history. I can spend an entire day behind my house, going through several old trash dumps which were dumped into the pits left from surface mining gold in the late1700- early 1800's. There were said to be 3000 men employed to dig out the creek banks and transport it to a crusher/sluice on Long creek, 1/2 mile west of me. The holes in the creek banks are still very evident but it wasn' t until last year that i pieced it all together and realized what they really were. Then i realized the entire VALLEY was systematically dug, in places the holes are as big as ... maybe a small skyscraper laying on it's side. They moved MILLIONS of lbs of dirt here 200 years ago and subsequent residents used the pits to throw their trash in. I've been digging hrough it lol, i could spend 12 hours a day out there with my dogs and my pellet rifles, happily digging away. The best thing i found was an old side by side barrel from maybe the mid to late 1800's, i sandblasted it and have been meaning to track down what it came off of. When i cleaned it up though, it appeared to still be loaded with a hardened mass of lead pellets of different sizes and a mass of black cake/rust that must have been powder  The barrel has a good bend in it so i imagine it misfired and someone finally had it, they probably wrapped it around a tree..

[RedFeather]

JonnyReb, there is a long road bordering the top of our community.  For about two miles, you can see a low ridge about three feet high running fifty feet or so from the shoulder and paralleling it.  The streets entering the neighborhood are cut through it.  This is all that remains of Confederate earthworks.  They originally started a bit past us and continued in a rough curve for many miles, including large "dirt" or "earthen" forts (now shopping centers).  Up until the French built the Maginot Line, it was the largest fortification in the world.  Precious little remains, another victim of "progress".  In the woods that still remain around here there are old artillery redoubts, but the county will not tell anyone where they are due to relic hunters who aren't too picky about how they go about it.  Would you believe that at the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland the rangers found a large hole cut into a black top road that runs through the park?  Relic hunters had themselves a little dig.  Lots of neat CW stuff here in Virginia.  We had over 900 battles, skirmishes and such take place here.  I used to take my kids fishing at one of the fords on Bull Run that saw some pre-Manassas action.  BTW, relic hunting on public land in Virginia is a no-no and can cost you your metal detector and the horse (or car/truck) you rode in on.

Anxiously awaiting the unveiling of this secret identity!  It will be nice to place another name in that Great Contest.  A relative on my mother's side died in the Wilderness but I can't find any information on him.  Would be nice if I could.  Maybe you will help someone else "get in touch" with their ancestry?

[RedFeather]

Missed the barrel pic somehow.  Yes, it is NOT unusual to come across muzzle loaders that are still loaded.  I always check them at gun shows by dropping a ramrod down the bore and listening for it "ringing" on the breech plug.  That barrel you have came off an old muzzle loading shotgun, judging by the two projections at the rear.  It's what is called a "patent" or hooked breech.  They fit into two corresponding holes in the tang with the barrel usually held in place by a wedge pin in the forend.  Allows you to easily remove them for cleaning or simply take down.

[JonnyReb]

   This shotgun has rusted out percussion nipples so that dates it somewhat, it definitely was a muzzleloader to so that dates it to. It does not match up with any current bore size, it is a .60cal if i remember right. Eli Whiteneys son supposedly made quite a few .60 side by sides from a large number of unrifled, leftover rifle barrels his factory soldered together in the 1850's. I had wondered if it could have been one of those but i quit looking.. From the look of it someone got really mad at it...

  I can understand not allowing people to dig on hallowed ground, on the other hand if no one had dug, the museums wouldn't be so full and the little mysteries of the great war between the states would yet to be unraveled. I'm glad the funded digs are still taking place and development is being stopped on some of the old battle sites. If folks who live in certain areas start to look around, it's amazing what old bits and pieces of the past are evident and right in front of us sometimes.

  I'll get the information on the portrait just as soon as i can, i hate to say it but i think their last name was Smith.  

[dk1677]

Its great you can rescue some history! Its amazing how much gets tossed

[mojomoto]

"it's no personal shame just a desire to not offend anyone with a term" AMEN. Spot on.

Where i live, during the CW (1862), the most bloody settler elimination in US history was going on. When it was all said and done 1200-1800 settlers were dead and the largest mass hanging in the United States had happened. Its a sad story all around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862

There arent a lot of places (dumps) to find really old stuff around here...

The coolest thing found where I live? (about 12 miles from my house) There have been some unexplainable northern European items found around here besides this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone