Smithtown resident finds hidden treasures from LI’s past скачать в хорошем качестве

Smithtown resident finds hidden treasures from LI’s past

A Smithtown resident discusses his love of metal detecting and the discovery of a button given to those who attended the inauguration of George Washington in 1789. -------- “One of the biggest questions people have about metal detecting is, ‘What is everything worth?’ I tell people, if you do it to make money, you probably couldn’t afford the battery in your metal detector. It’s not why I do it, although I have found things that are valuable. I do it as a hobby, and what draws me into it is the 1700s history on Long Island. Some say I should leave things like these to archeologists, but I’ve reached out to many local officials and other figures about exploring sites, and so far in my experience, unless there’s a structure to preserve, the responses I receive is that there’s no historical value to explore. I wish the towns would be interested, because I do think these sites are significant, but honestly, if I didn’t find what I find, these artifacts would be lost. “I own a large land-clearing company, and we clear properties from Manhattan to Montauk. We’re clearing for roads, developments and stuff like that, and at some of these sites, I can save something before it’s literally gone. For example, this man had purchased a big farm on the North Fork where I did a job, and he gave me permission to metal-detect there. Once I started bringing up the property’s history, he was interested, so I said, ‘Whatever I find, build a display and I’ll give everything I find back to the farm.’ I found musket balls, buttons from the War of 1812, all kinds of really cool artifacts from the 1700s to the turn of the century. Some things I donate to local historical societies, but I also have a huge collection of things I’ve found that I just don’t have the time to sort through. “I have never sold anything. Someone once offered me $40,000 for my best find, a George Washington inaugural button, but I told the guy, ‘No.’ I don’t need the money. I have a pretty successful business. Most of the things I find, it’s more significant to me about where they came from and where I found them than what I could get for them on eBay. I’d rather find the right home for these things, especially the early military stuff. These artifacts will probably end up in a local historical society someday.” “One of my best sites was in eastern Suffolk County, because detecting there told a story. The more I dug, the more it told me about what they were doing on that land. Some of the artifacts were clam and oyster shells, and it turns out it was once a trading post where they brought shellfish of the Carmans River. I also found around 50 Colonial coins, plus buttons and British coins. Just by metal-detecting the site, I can tell you how long the site was occupied, and if they were more for or against the British, just by the artifacts. “I always really cared about history. It was one of my best subjects in school, and I had metal detectors as a kid, but they were always the cheap kind, and I had no idea where to go and detect. A lot of people, they just turn up nails from the ’70s or bottle caps, but one time when I found the remnants of a house in the woods, within minutes I started finding buttons and artifacts from the 1800s. It made me realize, ‘Wow, this stuff really is out there,’ and it can be found if you know what you’re looking for. “It comes down to getting a knack for how to find sites and how to get permission to look. I start with old maps, which give me an idea of where a site might be or how old a property might be. Sometimes I can walk through woods and can tell by the vegetation whether it naturally grew there or was planted. If it was planted, it usually means a house was once nearby. If I find a site that dates back to the 1700s, I can dig it for a few hours a week over six months and find things. If it’s a farm field, you can dig there for 10 years and still find things. Plus, every time you dig, you open the ground up to find things that are deeper. The first dings I hear are often silver coins from the 20th century, but then all of a sudden, you find a large cent from the 1800s, and then maybe coins from the 1700s; they’re underneath everything, buried deeper. The best finds are usually between six inches and a foot deep, although in a farm field, they can be right on top because the soil gets plowed. For the deep stuff, you need expensive equipment because the cheaper machines just aren’t going to do it.” Interviewed by Ian J. Stark Read more: https://facesoflongisland.newsday.com... --------- Newsday celebrates the uniqueness of Long Islanders one story at a time with Faces of Long Island. Our video series takes a deeper look at the stories behind the diverse people of this wonderful place we call home.