Macon Ridge Metal Detecting

A successful wedding band recovery for my good friend Dave!

Episode 12 is up! Go check it out!
https://youtu.be/KrW_vhuVays

We Metal Detected FIVE different 1850’s Sites, and Had AMAZING Luck!

Happy Saturday! Episode 11 is up, go check it out!

https://youtu.be/Bu5sZNuvgcM

I crossed this little COIN off my BUCKET LIST! Metal Detecting an 1859 CABIN site

Thank you to everyone who attended “Metal Detecting 101: Finding Buried Treasure” I had 42 people in attendance! And it was great meeting all of you!

Here is the information for tonight’s program at Tecumseh Public Library!

Tecumseh District Library to feature Macon Ridge Metal Detecting during program Thursday Lucas Wielfaert of Macon Ridge Metal Detecting will talk about the fundamentals of metal detectors Thursday at Tecumseh District Library.

Had a good day today metal detecting, found an 1852 U.S. 3-cent silver trime. A very hard coin to find and a first for me!

Episode 10 is up! Go check it out

https://youtu.be/K4PZ9NTent8

OLD American COINS found while metal detecting an 1800’s CABIN site!! Dave and Chad join me for a short hunt Metal detecting a homesite that is on the 1857 plat map and gone by 1893!

New video is up! Check it out!
https://youtu.be/zgQJ4o5D4Ek

Metal Detecting an 1832 Homestead Site James Stottlemeyer joins me for a hunt where we travel to a farm where an old homestead once stood. It was settled in 1832 and was in the plat maps until 190...

Rappahannock River - Virginia
December 25, 1862
“My Friend, the Enemy” by Mort Künstler

“We talked the matter over and could have settled the war in thirty minutes had it been left to us." So said a Southern solider after he and a Northern counterpart sat on a log between the lines and enjoyed an unauthorized but friendly chat. As Americans, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank had far more in common than typical combatants. That familiarity was frequently revealed in friendly contact between the lines. Countless episodes of enemy soldiers helping each other occurred during the war. During the battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1864, a ground fire threatened wounded Northern soldiers lying between the lines – until a Confederate officer stood up, exposing himself to enemy fire, and shouted, "We won’t fire a gun until you get them away." An impromptu cease-fire followed immediately while Federal troops removed their wounded – then the battle resumed.

Following the battle of Second Manassas, two Confederate soldiers were carrying a wounded friend through the darkness when they were challenged by a sentry who demanded identification. "We are two men of the Twelfth Georgia, carrying a wounded comrade to the hospital," they shouted back, only to learn they had accidentally crossed into Federal lines. "Go to your right," the Northern sentry called out, directing the men back toward the Southern lines. "Man, you’ve got a heart in you," hollered one of the retreating Southerners.

When the opposing lines were close enough, and the shooting had temporarily stopped, army musicians sometimes engaged in battles of the bands. On the banks of the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Southern soldiers listened admiringly to a Northern band performance during the winter of 1862. When it concluded, a Johnny Reb called out, "Now give us some of ours" – and the Yankee band obliged with a rendition of "Dixie." When the band concluded, soldiers from both sides broke into a melancholy chorus of "Home, Sweet Home."

The lines were so close on the Rappahannock during the winter of 1862-3, that contact between Northern and Southern soldiers became commonplace. They often met on an island in the river, where Confederate troops exchanged Southern to***co for the coffee ration issued to Northern soldiers. When officers discouraged contact, they would make their exchanges by small, hand-made boats that the soldiers called "fairy fleets." Sometimes they met to play cards; other times they just exchanged stories. The war was the real enemy, they concluded, and not each other – and if they had to go back to shooting at each other the next day, it wasn’t personal for many of them. For most, the camaraderie became genuine reconciliation at war’s end, and when Johnny Reb and Billy Yank chanced to meet after the war, it was often with obvious friendship and mutual respect. “My friend, the enemy,” veterans of the war came to call each other – with the understanding that, Northern or Southern, they were Americans all.

Got on a nice little hot spot this afternoon, and scored some relics and this 1863 civil war store card token from Jackson. 9 years before this token was struck, on July 6th, 1854, a state convention was held in Jackson, Mich where anti-slavery and abolitionist met to form the Republican Party known as “Under the Oaks”

Made it out for a bit today and found a few Indian head pennies and this late-1800’s watch fob from the “National Sportsman’s Magazine”

We were able to recover a couple Large cents and some relics while metal detecting a gone by 1893 homestead site this week. The matron head Large Cent was a 1831 and the braided hair Large Cent was a 1851

Today we’ll be tracking down and metal detecting where a mid-1800’s starter cabin was before the pioneers built their permanent home in 1874. Wish us luck!

A set of c. 1820’s New York State Militia Officer’s coat buttons and a piece of horse rack buckle that I recovered a couple days ago on a gone-by 1874 homestead site. I was unsuccessful in researching the original land owners name to try and figure out his military records, unfortunately.

Macon Ridge Metal Detecting is excited to announce that it will be doing a public presentation at the Tecumseh District Library on March 24th, 2022 from 7pm-8pm! I will be teaching others about how to get into the hobby of metal detecting, where and what to look for, some local history, and showing my finds from the past year and a half. Can’t wait!

New Episode! Go check it out!

https://youtu.be/tlelJuQOTT8

Spanish Silver and a LARGE CENT SPILL on Button Hill! In this episode, I revisit Button Hill and find some incredible, old things. Buttons, coins and more! Make sure to follow me on Instagram . Than...

A short hunt this morning back out at “Button Hill” gave up my first Spanish one reale silver coin. Looks like King Carlous IV on the obverse, so early 1800’s

Episode 6!
https://youtu.be/AxDW6ZrJtQk

Coins, Relics and More Out in the Middle of a Field! “Button Hill” In this sixth episode by Macon Ridge Metal Detecting, Dan and I track down a spot off the beaten path where an old homestead once was. This site showed up on...

Found a couple firsts lastnight while metal detecting. It was my first time finding a 18th century tombac button, and also first time finding a conestoga bell

New video is up if anybody wants to check it out!

https://youtu.be/5YuJDK4HqlA

Metal Detecting Henry Ford’s Summer Home

Had a blast today looking around historic Macon, MI!

Here are some finds from our most recent hunt. I was able to find this beautiful 1834 Capped Bust Dime, as well as an 1796-1810 U.S. Navy button. Can’t wait to make it out for some more hunts!

CIVIL WAR store card time I dug this morning. “DR. BENNETTS, MEDICINE, CURE, SICKNESS AND PAIN” it’s from a quack-medicine/snake oil doctor from Cincinnati, OH. Only 100-135 are known to exist!

Farmer discovers 2,600-year-old stone slab from Egyptian pharaoh

A good find from today, a yard-dug 1834 U.S. “Matron Head” Large Cent. Dug in front of a beautiful colonial architecture house, built around 1830. 1834 is the same year slavery was abolished in the British Empire, Andrew Jackson was the U.S. President and the region known as Michigan was just becoming settled by pioneers.

Last night I found this 1820’s New York State Militia button on a gone-by 1874 homestead site. Here are some of my most recent finds as well

We had an awesome morning metal detecting a couple different farmsteads today. Our first stop was an 1853 farmstead where Dan found a Ford Tractor Testing Fields Employee pin and I found an 1837 US Large Cent. Very cool seeing that Ford pin cleaned and what a great piece of local history, big congrats to Dan!

History alert 🚨 today I found this odd coin in Britton at a farmhouse settled by L.E. Curtis of New York in 1838. Hard to believe but this “coin” is a presidential token and once had a young Abe Lincoln pictured in glass on each side. This is a 1860 Abraham Lincoln presidential campaign token 😁 -Luke

Bob and I were out metal detecting a Field in Britton yesterday afternoon when Bob pulled this button out of the ground not realizing what he was holding. This is a Union Infantry soldiers coat button from the civil war, you see the eagle with its wings stretched, and the letter “I” in the middle for Infantry.

Children having their class picture taken in front of their unusual Florida (Everglades?) schoolhouse. c.1890.