gismapper
Senior Member
I had to postpone posting this until I had the final resolution. I think this is my favorite MD'ing experience yet. Wall-of-text warning!
So at the end of October, I went on my first woods hunt. It was way better than I expected, and I came away with two Indian head pennies, a largie from 1822, and a token from the 18th reunion of the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (1884). It was tremendous...I was delighted. It's posted on here somewhere.
I got back out just before Christmas and I found a 1947 wheatie, a 1946 Rosie dime, and a 1935 Washington quarter. Good times.
Well, I finally got time to go back out last week. I hit the same area as the last time and came up empty, so I headed slowly down the trail. A few minutes later, as the sun was getting low, I came across an IHP from 1881...sweet!
But then my detector hit on a solid signal that was somewhere between a dime and a quarter. I thought for sure it was something silver. To my surprise, I came up with a crusty brass token of some kind. I truly thought it was a batting cage token from a nearby baseball place. I've found a dozen of them over the years.
I got it home and started cleaning it up a bit and realized I was looking at something much older. Eventually, I cleaned it up enough to make out "Major General Geo. B. McClellan" and "War of 1861", surrounding the bust of a man.
The other side had the names of several Civil War battles, and the name, rank, and division of a Union sergeant!
A bunch of Googling later, I had the big picture. I'll never know how it got where I found it, but this was a Union soldier's ID tag. Personally identifiable! I also came to find out that they were not supplied by the government. Soldiers would buy ID tags from traveling merchants who followed the armies from battle to battle. One side was pre-stamped with the commanding officer's information, and the other side was engraved on the spot for the buyer. Not everyone had one. You can find blank ones for sale online.
I grabbed a 14-day free trial to ancestry dot com and my wife and I spent way too many hours trying to find a living descendant. The family history was really murky, but we were eventually able to connect with a woman who had married the Sergeant's great-great grandson (or is it 3-greats?). She and her daughter are overjoyed to be getting this family treasure back to pass on to her grandchildren, and I'm honored to be a part of the story.
I've kept the soldier's identity anonymous out of respect for the family. I felt totally creepy looking all these people up, scouring obituaries for the names and locations of those "left behind". And then trying to contact them! So awkward...haha.
I still want to know how it got where I found it. I'm guessing it was lost while hunting, or while camping out. The Sergeant lived a good 25 miles away from where I found his tag, as far as the census records show. And no battles ever took place near my area. Not sure about encampments, but doesn't seem likely. But who knows.
Now for the twist ending...the woman who married the soldier's descendant is a war reenactor - for the Confederacy!
I think it's going to be a long time until I can top this one! Definitely my most satisfying find and return ever. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Mike
So at the end of October, I went on my first woods hunt. It was way better than I expected, and I came away with two Indian head pennies, a largie from 1822, and a token from the 18th reunion of the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (1884). It was tremendous...I was delighted. It's posted on here somewhere.
I got back out just before Christmas and I found a 1947 wheatie, a 1946 Rosie dime, and a 1935 Washington quarter. Good times.
Well, I finally got time to go back out last week. I hit the same area as the last time and came up empty, so I headed slowly down the trail. A few minutes later, as the sun was getting low, I came across an IHP from 1881...sweet!
But then my detector hit on a solid signal that was somewhere between a dime and a quarter. I thought for sure it was something silver. To my surprise, I came up with a crusty brass token of some kind. I truly thought it was a batting cage token from a nearby baseball place. I've found a dozen of them over the years.
I got it home and started cleaning it up a bit and realized I was looking at something much older. Eventually, I cleaned it up enough to make out "Major General Geo. B. McClellan" and "War of 1861", surrounding the bust of a man.
The other side had the names of several Civil War battles, and the name, rank, and division of a Union sergeant!
A bunch of Googling later, I had the big picture. I'll never know how it got where I found it, but this was a Union soldier's ID tag. Personally identifiable! I also came to find out that they were not supplied by the government. Soldiers would buy ID tags from traveling merchants who followed the armies from battle to battle. One side was pre-stamped with the commanding officer's information, and the other side was engraved on the spot for the buyer. Not everyone had one. You can find blank ones for sale online.
I grabbed a 14-day free trial to ancestry dot com and my wife and I spent way too many hours trying to find a living descendant. The family history was really murky, but we were eventually able to connect with a woman who had married the Sergeant's great-great grandson (or is it 3-greats?). She and her daughter are overjoyed to be getting this family treasure back to pass on to her grandchildren, and I'm honored to be a part of the story.
I've kept the soldier's identity anonymous out of respect for the family. I felt totally creepy looking all these people up, scouring obituaries for the names and locations of those "left behind". And then trying to contact them! So awkward...haha.
I still want to know how it got where I found it. I'm guessing it was lost while hunting, or while camping out. The Sergeant lived a good 25 miles away from where I found his tag, as far as the census records show. And no battles ever took place near my area. Not sure about encampments, but doesn't seem likely. But who knows.
Now for the twist ending...the woman who married the soldier's descendant is a war reenactor - for the Confederacy!
I think it's going to be a long time until I can top this one! Definitely my most satisfying find and return ever. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Mike
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I wasn't destined to keep it, either way. 
