11/24/2002 BILL YOUNG: The rest of the metal artifacts from Visionary Hill

We found several other metal artifacts associated with the kitchen. Two badly rusted three-tine forks were recovered. Please note that in those early times, forks had either two or three prongs rather than the typical four-prong fork used today. To date, I haven't read any publication explaining why the prongs on a fork have changed from three to four. I would imagine there is a simple logical reason probably associated with better sticking and holding whatever the person was eating. I think this comes under the heading of progress.

Three pewter spoons, all broken at or near where the handle attaches to the bowl, were recovered. A raised design similar to a sea shell was molded on the bottom side of each bowl. Each handle had a simple design comprised of parallel lines. Two fragmentary rusted table knives were also found. A portion of the blade from a large kitchen knife was recovered along with only the bowl part of a large iron spoon. I must assume that most of these kitchen utensils were discarded after the pieces were broken. I would think that when the occupants of Visionary Hill moved away, they would have taken everything they owned that was still useable. However, we must remember that children would take kitchen utensils, especially spoons outside to dig in the dirt and still do!

A small group of interesting metal objects associated with a cast iron stove may explain why the number of bricks found at the site were so few in number. One metal leg and a couple of side pieces definitely are part of a stove. Two sections of one of the top burner plates marked "Charter" indicate that this stove was manufactured by the Charter Oaks Stove Company. We also found part of one of the doors marked with the last five letters of the city of Philadelphia. We didn't recover enough of the stove to determine whether it was a big rectangular cooking stove or one of the smaller "potbelly" units. If the original occupants brought a metal cooking stove with them when they first arrived, they might not have needed a brick fireplace. We also found a complete damper unit that fits into the vent pipe on a stove. Both the eyelet and the blade of a large hoe were recovered but I haven't taken the time to see if they fit together. We also found one small hasp with a small oval loop. The size probably represents a hasp made for a little box.

Five railroad spikes found on the site have created some questions. We feel comfortable in stating that the Visionary Hill was abandoned by the earliest settlers after the sheriff's sale in 1860. Since there wasn't any railroad in the area until 1871, someone else brought the spikes to the site. Or, railroads existed in the eastern states in the 1850s which means the early settlers could have brought the spikes with them for some unknown use. Curiously, one of the spikes has been heated and bent at an angle about 1 1/2 inches below the head. Someone has removed two of the sides of the head probably using a forge. The purpose of this modification is not known at this time.

We found a few fence staples across the site, especially near the eastern fence but these must have entered the soil at a much later date. A number of fairly large pieces of at least two 5-gallon buckets were recovered. These may date to either the early or later occupation. Two 6-inch fragments of a sheet of corrugated metal indicates that at least a portion of the roof had been repaired utilizing sheet metal. In every excavated unit near or under the house, many small pieces of metal were recovered. Many of these are tiny fragments of tin cans but a few are pieces of sheet metal roofing.

I have saved the discussion about the nails that we found until almost the very last of the metal artifacts. Without the nails, we might still be guessing as to what type of construction was used to build the house. However, the high volume of small square nails about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length indicate that the roof was made of wooden shingles held on with these small nails. On the other hand, the low volume of larger nails such as 8 penny or even larger size 16 penny indicates that the structure was made of logs rather that milled lumber. Some of the bigger sizes were recovered but most of these were used to toenail the roof rafters into place. A few hand-forged nails with very large heads were produced for a special purpose: It was common for the early settler to use wide strips of leather to hold doors and shutters in place instead of metal hinges. We didn't find a single metal hinge on the site. If I placed these few hand-forged nails in a pile with the forged nails from the 1716 Spanish Mission I found back in 1983, I would be hard pressed to separate the nails from Visionary Hill.

Next week: More information about the Heritage Lakes Trail

12/15/2002 BILL YOUNG: More about the artifacts from Visionary Hill

On the front page of the Nov. 25 Daily Sun was a photograph of my wife, Bobbie Jean, and two members of the Tarrant County Archeological Society who came down to help excavate test holes. We were trying to determine the age of a log cabin that we dismantled and moved to Pioneer Village this past February. The photo was done by Kirk Sides of the Corsicana Daily Sun who, along with his wife, spent several hours with us while we put in the test units. In the photo, Jim Blanton of Fort Worth, is standing next to my wife and is wearing a hat similar to mine. I have had several people mention that I was in the photo which is incorrect. At a distance, Jim and I might resemble each other but up close, it is easy to tell us apart.

Four days later, Joan Sherrouse wrote a very good article about the double pen dog-trot cabin that we moved from the Timothy area to Pioneer Village. A few days after the article appeared in the Corsicana Daily Sun, I received a phone call from Bob Lakin whose wife, Mary Lakin, donated the cabin to the Navarro County Historical Society. He said that I needed to contact Wayne Burkhalter at Chatfield who could give me some important information pertaining to the log cabin. I contacted Mr. Burkhalter who told me that the cabin was the original stage stop in the city of Chatfield and that the structure had been moved from Chatfield to the Timothy area. He stated that Rob Witherspoon bought what they refer to as the "Pinkston Place" and soon thereafter, Mr. Witherspoon moved the old stage stop to this tract of land. Mr. Burkhalter said this cabin was moved prior to his growing up in the Chatfield area. This is a great piece of information provided by Mr. Burkhalter since it helps confirm the date we had determined by the various artifacts that we found when we tested the site. Even though we will never be able to date the cedar logs from the cabin, we can now surmise that this stage stop was originally built during the early beginnings of Chatfield in the 1850s.

One thing of interest pertaining to the moving of this structure: None of the logs were marked with any type of numbering or lettering indicating that the cabin had been moved. Typically, when a log structure was relocated, the logs were marked in some fashion so that when the cabin was rebuilt, it was much easier to reassemble. In this particular case, the logs were notched by three different individuals using three separate types of notches: Single-dove, double-dove and square. This may have aided the persons reassembling the cabin.

Before I start writing about the other artifacts from Visionary Hill, let's review what we know so far. First, the Native Americans utilized the site off and on from as early as 9,000 years ago (one artifact, a Waco Sinker) to around 1,400 A.D. (eight diagnostic arrow points). However, the largest concentration of dart points date from around 1,500 B.C. to 500 A.D. (Gary points). Nearly everything recovered is either dart points or fragments of the same. Other stone tools are almost completely absent and only a few tiny sherds of Native American pottery would indicate the presence of one small vessel.

The artifacts from the historic component tell us a lot about the people but also raise several unanswered questions. In the category of brick, there are less than six bricks present. This raises questions about the presence of a chimney. The bone recovered from the site indicate deer, pig, fish, and bird, either turkey or chicken, and the presence of egg shell tells us they were raising chickens.

Under the various sub-classes of metal, parts from a wagon indicates they stored part of a wagon near the house. Stove parts, possibly from both a cook stove and a pot-barrel stove tell us they had a little extra money to purchase these items imported from the northern states. Musket balls of several different calibers and percussion caps and one part of a percussion cap container indicate the presence of several different guns, both pistols and rifles. One complete brass spur and two pieces of another different type of brass spur indicate horses. Also, the one complete spur is a military type probably indicating that someone fought in the Civil War.

A few barrel staves indicate the presence of at least one barrel. This vessel was probably used possibly to store water drawn from the un-lined well still present at the site. Several kitchen utensils such as pewter spoons, three- tine bone handle forks, and bone handle knives along with blade sections from two larger butchering knives tell us food was consumed at the site. Many square nails, most of which are roofing nails tell us that the structure was a log cabin rather then being constructed of milled lumber. A lot of tiny metal fragments tell us they purchased some food products packaged in cans. And finally, the presence of numerous charcoal fragments in the area where the structure once stood tells us that the log house eventually burned down.

Keep in mind that many of the above artifacts can be found around any rural homestead site. However, the particular age of each category lets me know that Visionary Hill is older than most sites in the county. Next week, I will write about some of the other classifications that will help prove the age of Visionary Hill.

Next week: More metal and glass from Visionary Hill

12/22/2002 BILL YOUNG: The Rest of the Metal Artifacts From Visionary Hill