Once in a lifetime find - take three!! :o!!!

[gtoast99]

Hey everybody!! Sorry in advance for the long post, I'm capturing this for posterity, LOL.

I managed to get most of my "have-to"'s on the farm done fairly early, so I had some time to MD. I was debating where to go. I'd been to too many tot-lots lately, and the only good ones I haven't cleaned out recently were a bit of a drive. I tried to call Found to see if he wanted to door-knock, but didn't get up with him. I have a couple old spots up my sleeve, but it's been so dry lately, I wanted to wait until we got some rain. So where to go....

I decided to stick to my own played-out farm. I was out there for what seemed like forever, and was getting bupkis. I finally got one nifty thing (icebox latch?) and came in to post it to the ID section. Afterwards I hemmed and hawed about going back out. It's hot, I'm tired, yadda yadda. BUT I did NOT want to get SKUNKED today. So once more I hit the fields.

I decided to try the spot where I had found Sam Webb's 1927 United Confederate Veterans reunion medal last July, and the second half of the two piece medal in February. The area had produced in the past, and I had yet to try it with my new SEF coil.

I got a tiny little buckle by the "medal" tree, a good start. The SEF is awesome at finding the smaller and deeper targets than the stock. Then I got another one, 70-73, and a small pinpoint area. Probably another small shallow target. Dug shallow - nope, deeper. I started getting excited - maybe this time an old coin?

Down Down Down I chiseled away at the sunbaked North Carolina clay. Finally I see it emerge from the hole, an oddly shaped flat piece of brass, caked in the orange clay. I was thinking (hoping?) pin of some sort. UCV even crossed my mind, how funny would that be?

I ran to the spigot and started rinsing. A building appeared... and letters... "Memphis, Tenn." I ran off to show the wife - "Dollars to Donuts" I said "This is another UCV pin!" She rolled her eyes and went back to untacking her pony, LOL.

I ran inside, and a 2 second google search proved me right. The 1924 reunion of the United Confederate Veterans in Memphis, Tenn. Another two-piece medal, so you can guess where I'll be all day tomorrow! Wish me luck on finding the other half!!!

Oh, and here's a pic of what it *should* look like, LOL Sorry for the novel, but hopefully some of you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!!

[Beach Bum]

WOW, that is so cool! Wish ya TONS of luck!

[Bonesquat]

I mean no disrespect at all. What is the significance of those medals? They're certainly really cool. What do they mean to you though?

nice finds.

[midwest]

Originally Posted by bonesquat

I mean no disrespect at all. What is the significance of those medals? They're certainly really cool. What do they mean to you though?

nice finds.

It's civil war reunion artifacts! I don't think you need a reason to be excited about that. No offence, not trying to be rude. That is a really cool find.

P.S. I'm a Yankee, but CS is the most valuable find. CS buckle...holy grail of relic hunting.

[Qball]

Great post!!! Congrats on the nice find!! Good luck tomorrow searching that spot again.

[midwest]

Wow, that is amazing. I love history, and the fact that you have a place to really research and understand what took place there is simply amazing.

[gtoast99]

Originally Posted by bonesquat

I mean no disrespect at all. What is the significance of those medals? They're certainly really cool. What do they mean to you though?

None taken! My wife and I bought this farm 3 years ago. Not long after we were discussing the giant oaks on the property, and wondering about their history - what they might have seen. So I began a long process of researching who walked these lands before me. I learned of the family who moved here in 1845, the Webb's, and wanted to write their story. The journey has taken me years (and isn't over!) introduced me to new friends and new people. I've met with Webb descendants from almost every line of the family. One of them even dubbed me an "honorary Webb". I've done more research on their genealogy than my own! I've emailed with descendants of both slave and slave and slave owner. I've held in my hands their writings, letters, journals, even the family bible. To hold these relics in my hands, knowing where they came from and who owned them, is really an amazing experience. Add to that the fact that they are so intimately intertwined with such an important part of American history and it just gets better. Here's some of the fruits of this endeavor, though I have more as yet unpublished.

Moreover, it's the reason I MD the way I do. I had a MD for quite some time, but I really only used it for the occasional beach trip. The reason I took up land detecting and searching for history the way that I do is because I wanted to find something exactly like these relics. Something connected to the land and the people who lived here before me, and the greater history of our nation. To me, this is the perfect find. I feel so blessed to have made it not once, but now 3 times.

So that's why, to me at least, it's eye-popping and mind blowing. But if a mod feels differently and wanted to move this to "stories", I won't take offense.

[MoBob]

Like to have it in my collection , very nice congrats !

[Megagold]

I love the story! Thanks for sharing...your doing such an awesome job on all the research. Keep us all posted if you find the missing piece of medal. I wish you luck!

[dixiedigger57]

my friends and I found a bunch from the Macon Ga Confederate reunion in 1912 in Macon Ga. 5,000 vets showed up and the city awarded medals. Camp John B Gordon. Many things were found at the edge of an old dump site from this era, including the campaign watchfobs for the Mayor at that time, and horse and buggy hack badges, hotel porter badges, bootblacks, laundress badges, all permits with numbers. We assumed since this dumping site was filled over in 1916, that the mayor left office then and the leftovers from his admin was dumped. I got, out of the the collective dig, and i found it actually, a reunion watchfob from the Annual Convention of the Resurgens in Atlanta Ga. It has a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Atlanta was the Phoenix of the South. This convention was for the rebuilding of Atlanta, and would have been attended by people like the Mayor. And the Mayor according to the archive newspaper gave out the Confederate reunion badges to the veterans. Many of us are decendents of the soldiers, mine on both sides. its history not hate. great find! i wonder if there was a picnic or reunion or ceremony where you found these? maybe hosted a event? the events and parades were quite popular for years on both sides. In Fitzgerald Ga they had one for both sides COMBINED for years. Fitzgerald was founded as a place for the Union troops to live after the war, and it seems everyone got along. look up that history! Great reading! PS Grandma's people were from Pennslyvania but i dont normally claim yankee blood!

[emoryjim]

The medals by them self are cool, but when you researched the history and the added the story to finds that makes it pretty awesome. How big is the farm and do you need help MDing it!!!

[gunsgt1863]

VERY cool! I am a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. It was formed from the old GAR. The UCV was the Confederate equivalent to the GAR. The modern equivalent to the UCV is the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). There is more information and contacts here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...erate_Veterans
http://www.scv.org/whatis.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.A.R.
http://suvcw.org/

[Myrddin]

Nice find man... thanks for the pics

[BusyB]

Originally Posted by gtoast99

Hey everybody!! Sorry in advance for the long post, I'm capturing this for posterity, LOL.

I managed to get most of my "have-to"'s on the farm done fairly early, so I had some time to MD. I was debating where to go. I'd been to too many tot-lots lately, and the only good ones I haven't cleaned out recently were a bit of a drive. I tried to call Found to see if he wanted to door-knock, but didn't get up with him. I have a couple old spots up my sleeve, but it's been so dry lately, I wanted to wait until we got some rain. So where to go....

I decided to stick to my own played-out farm. I was out there for what seemed like forever, and was getting bupkis. I finally got one nifty thing (icebox latch?) and came in to post it to the ID section. Afterwards I hemmed and hawed about going back out. It's hot, I'm tired, yadda yadda. BUT I did NOT want to get SKUNKED today. So once more I hit the fields.

I decided to try the spot where I had found Sam Webb's 1927 United Confederate Veterans reunion medal last July, and the second half of the two piece medal in February. The area had produced in the past, and I had yet to try it with my new SEF coil.

I got a tiny little buckle by the "medal" tree, a good start. The SEF is awesome at finding the smaller and deeper targets than the stock. Then I got another one, 70-73, and a small pinpoint area. Probably another small shallow target. Dug shallow - nope, deeper. I started getting excited - maybe this time an old coin?

Down Down Down I chiseled away at the sunbaked North Carolina clay. Finally I see it emerge from the hole, an oddly shaped flat piece of brass, caked in the orange clay. I was thinking (hoping?) pin of some sort. UCV even crossed my mind, how funny would that be?

I ran to the spigot and started rinsing. A building appeared... and letters... "Memphis, Tenn." I ran off to show the wife - "Dollars to Donuts" I said "This is another UCV pin!" She rolled her eyes and went back to untacking her pony, LOL.

I ran inside, and a 2 second google search proved me right. The 1924 reunion of the United Confederate Veterans in Memphis, Tenn. Another two-piece medal, so you can guess where I'll be all day tomorrow! Wish me luck on finding the other half!!!

Oh, and here's a pic of what it *should* look like, LOL Sorry for the novel, but hopefully some of you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!!

That's awesome! I've just started my try at MD, and actually live in Memphis, TN. Well, actually in Collierville which is southeast of Memphis close to the MS state line.

Congrats!

Denise