A Quarterly Publication

Of The Dayton

Diggers

Volume 1

Issue 3

Summer 2009

This Quarter’s Feature:

1ST Dayton Diggers Group Hunt

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Catch it now on PBS!

Antiques Roadshow

Everday Collectors bring in their “treasures” for

identification and appraisal…. Channel 16

in Dayton, Ohio

Calendar of Upcoming Events

November 8th, 2009------------------Dayton Diggers Fall Invitational Hunt November 22nd, 2009-------------Dayton Diggers Regular Meeting @6:00 PM Chairman’s Sounding Board Diggers, please join me in welcoming three new members. Cindy Carver, clcarver@woh.rr.com from Ludlow Falls has recently developed an interest in metal detecting and has been learning her machine, Carol Bartley, BBartley3@yahoo.com from West Milton became interested in metal detecting along with Cindy, Jeff Landis,LandisDebbieLANDIS@yahoo.com list's history as his hobby, an admirable interest. He first swung a coil in the early seventies and has some very good stories. Look for more info on our newest members in the winter edition of Diggers' Gazette.

**NEWS FLASH** The group hunt plans are nearing completion, we hope for the 8th, but the property owner has the flu, and that may set us back. We wish him a speedy recovery........not just because we want to hunt that day. LOL Thanks, Steve

Editor’s Corner This edition of your Digger’s Gazette includes a story about a trip to Kentucky and a write up about our first ever Dayton Diggers Group Hunt. This cornerstone of development for the club should be used as a guide in formatting future group

outings. Everyone who came enjoyed themselves and that was the goal. I am proud to say there are a lot of submissions and input from the membership in our 4th edition and I could not be more pleased from behind the editor’s desk. Keep up the good work you guys (and gals) and keep the storyboard

growing!!!! Ron Fulcher

INDEX Pg.2 News and updates

Pg.3 Quick Hunt With Doug Schilling and Son Pg. 4 In the “Hart” of Cave Country

Pg.6 Tony Turns Up Silver Pg.6 Dayton Diggers August Hunt

Pg.8 The Background Pg.9 New Member Roundup

Pg.11 Finds to Remember

The Digger’s Gazette is a quarterly publication for and by the members of the Dayton Diggers. We are a locally based organization specializing in historical research and recovery in

and around Dayton, Ohio. The Digger’s Gazette is the property of and, copyrighted by the Dayton Diggers. All requests for reprint must be accompanied by the written permission of the author and

approval by the Editor of the Digger’s Gazette Copyright 2009 Volume 1 Issue 4 Fall

1305 Arbor Avenue, Dayton OH 45420

Chairman---------------------Steven Lee Greene

Treasurer--------------------Brandon Dixon

Secretary---------------------Phil Townsend

http://www.daytondigger.com

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Treasurer’s Report

The account balance is $175.04 and $40.00 cash on hand from new members. Three new members,Cindy Carver,Carol Bartley and Jeff Landis paid their 2010 dues, everyone else is current through the end of the year. Diggers Treasurer, Brandon Dixon

Meeting News & Notes

August 15 2009 1st Dayton Diggers Group Hunt and Meeting!!! The Summer Editon of the Newsletter was handed out and we enjoyed the best meeting and hunt attendance to date.

September 21, 2009 No report received

October 14, 2009 We enjoyed the company of three new members and quite a few more “seasoned” members for a great overall attendance! Tony Mnatia provided a nice selection of brownies and Steve opened up the Dayton Diggers Cooler and provided the beverages. Steve showed off the all new Dayton Diggers brochure (print work and layout donated by Nick Arnold) and a great you tube video from down south about locating a CSA cover. New members Cindy and Carol told us how they have been checking over the family properties and have found a few small items of interest. New member Jeff Landis told us about his earlier days of hunting on his farm and is looking forward to doing so again real soon!

Quick Hunt with Doug Schilling and Son I had about 1 hour to hunt so my son and I ran up to a spot we know and had a

quick hunt. With about 10 min to go I got a good semi deep quarter signal on the e-trac 16-47 as I recall. Dug down about 5 inches and found this sweet coin looking up at me, I was very careful about handling and cleaning this one. This is my new current old coin,

it’s one of the best I have ever seen come out of the ground so I thought I would share. I will be posting on Coinhunting.net and have been meaning to join buckeyetreasurehunter.com for awhile. This gives me a good reason. Enjoy Doug

Very Nice Doug, Keep up the Good Work! Editor

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In the “Hart” of Cave Country

October 16th through the 18th, 2009 By: Ron Fulcher

Sometime during our not so distant

past some 157 years and 9 days prior to our visit, Kentucky was the Civil War battlefield near the quiet little town of Perryville. In the fall

of 1862 the Southern armies of Braxton Bragg and the Northern

armies under the command of Don Buell engaged each other in violent combat and with considerable loss

suffered by both. The end result was the Confederate victory at Perryville and the rapid withdrawal of the their forces to Tennessee. Our objective for this weekend would be to try

and authenticate an old story about a local Confederate General holding Union prisoners in a sinkhole near

his home.

Steve Greene had met a member of the family of that now owns the sinkhole we would be exploring on a cave clean up effort five years before and had been waiting that long to follow up on the local legend of the sinkhole prison. Rose had related the story originally and gave us permission to visit the sight now. Into the back of Steve’s trusty Jeep we loaded metal detectors, GPS, shovels, cave gear, and an assortment of other bags. It was hard to tell what we might need to really effect an artifact recovery from the sinkhole but we felt confident it was somewhere in that pile of gear. A chilly wind chased us down the highway Friday night until the distant sign for Horse Cave, Kentucky was in view. Manny had reserved us a great room at the Hearthside with an all to convenient restaurant next door. Our

conversations swirled about the events and the soldiers involved in the Kentucky Campaign. General Simon Buckner served in many positions during the war but his home near Munfordville known as Glen Lily afforded him a unique knowledge of the battlefield and in particular the sinkhole. Looking over the map it is clearly possible that Buckner made use of this geological oddity directly north and in the hills surrounding his farm. Once we reached the private driveway owned by Rose’s family it was clear why the 4X 4 would be a necessity. The recent rains had turned our graveled and rutted road into a, clay slickened, mudhole interrupted, path where few, at least with any sense, might tread. Our luck held though and Steve carefully picked our way through the woods and overgrowth until we reached the once cleared fields near the sinkhole. Today our research subject is in a remote location and the forest have replaced once active farms and homesteads and may have been much easier to reach by foot and horseback in the 1860s.

Steve and Manny grabbed their respective metal detectors and I grabbed the camera and gear bag. After hiking for a terribly exhausting few hundred feet we found ourselves in the high walled sides of the sinkhole and cave complex. It is easy to see why it could have been used as a short term holding pen, with only one easy way in or out and the sheer walls some 100 feet distant from each other, it would have been

relatively easy to guard many men with just a few.

Eagerly the detectors began swinging through the few spots that afforded a clear shot at the ground. The ground is littered with giant boulders, trees and limbs and a generous amount of old leaves. I followed the path into the cave located at the very bottom of the Sink depression that marks the contact between the sandstone and cave forming limestone beds famous to the area. The Mississippian age beds compare favorably to the Union limestone beds found in the Cave belt of West Virginia and the Upper Newman formation we find in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.

At the bottom of the horizontal and winding passage, a 50-foot plus pit may be the final resting-place of artifacts but, we did not have the vertical gear with us. The sand-floored rooms that we could reach had been scoured during the clean up efforts and the passage of time itself. Steve and Manny joined me later and found it just as precarious near the shear drop off so we all backed out of the cave and worked our way out of the sinkhole. On top we continued looking for any evidence of Civil War

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occupation. The coils were singing in and around the trees but the many items that were dug all proved to be twentieth century in origin. Next to the parking area is an abandoned building with a large wooden porch and all the haunting noises one can expect. We sent Manny to the door but there was no answer and as he neared the half-open screen the boards around him seemed to “sing” a haunted creaking tune. We soon loaded the equipment and decided to visit some of the Civil war battlefields in the neighborhood.

The roads quickly took us to Munfordville and the old Louisville & Nashville Bridge famous for not only the fight but the surrender as well. We parked at the Anthony Woodson House and walked down to the battlefield. Surrounding the sinkhole plain field is a mowed path with markers describing the September 1862 actions. Visiting these once blood stained fields commands reverence and silent repose. It is easy to see how the Union troops were able to repulse four advances of the superior Confederate forces.

Very prominently on display are signs saying, “Relic hunting is forbidden.” Understandably so, the private property owners and local historical society have preserved these areas for all to visit and enjoy in an undisturbed fashion. We

followed the path and read all of the markers detailing the fight for this very strategic railroad bridge. We are reminded of how important a crossing this is when a CSX freight train rolled out of the hills and across a newer span just a 1/2-mile away. This “Battle For the Bridge” and the impromptu victory set the stage for the coming “Battle of Perryville.”

General Simon Bolivar Buckner played a key part in the surrender of the Union troops at Munfordville and is the closest documentation of his involvement with prisoners in the vicinity of our still unproven sinkhole prison sight. On Sunday our trip continued north and to Bardstown where Confederate General Kirby Smith bivouacked his troops for nearly a month. Near the center of Bardstown Steve stopped at an antique store. A local metal detectorist owns one of the more prominent booths and had several finds on display for sale.

Manny got a call into him and he brought down a whole bag of minie balls he had found. He had detected them at a picket post on the Salt River where guards on the opposite sides of this river and the war fired at each other. What a find! Manny bought the bag and we quickly drove on towards Perryville while enjoying the roadways the troops would have relied on so long ago. Just past the small-town we are in the Battle of Perryville State Park. The gently rolling green hills surrounding Doctors Creek do well to hide the evidence of the bloody carnage on October 8th, 1862.

The marker for the Confederate mass grave bears silent testimony to the aftermath of the brilliant and shortly enjoyed victory for the south. After having matched and beaten back the northern armies, the outnumbered confederates moved away during the night on an well-orchestrated retreat to Tennessee. Manny toured the Museum while Steve and I toured the battlefield by jeep.

Although our opportunity to explore the boundless caves and detect the many fields had been few we all had a great time on our visit in the “Hart” of Cave Country. Until the next time, keep your powder dry and your discrimination on low.

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Tony Turns Up Silver!! By Tony Mantia

A beautiful day for a hunt so a small group from the Dayton Diggers made a road trip to one of Steve’s favorite places, the crew was Steve, Mark and Tony. The weather was a bit cool but it soon

warmed up along with Steve’s machine he had a nickle trifecta today including a 1912 V nickle which matched the one Mark showed us on the drive to the hunt site. I thought it was funny that

they both found 1912 V nickels within a few days of each other. I was a bit slow starting but I found some clad including 4 nickles, which doubled my previous

nickle, finds ever. I also found a square nail.

Mark found a bunch of wheats and a silver

Roosevelt and then just before we had to go I got a good signal and dug a

beautiful Merc dime. A very nice 1930

Thanks to Steve for providing much encouragement and providing a wonderful site to hunt.

Thanks to Mark as we had a blast!

Dayton Diggers August Group Hunt by Mike Haer (buckeyetreasurehunter)

Reprinted with permission from OHIO METAL DETECTING • OCTOBER 2009 • pages 16 &17

The farm of Ron Fulcher in historic Greene County was the location of the Dayton Diggers first group hunt on August 15th. About a dozen detectorists and diggers converged on the farm located near one of the early routes through the area. The history of this property was well researched, Ron’s home was built of brick in 1849 and before that there was a log cabin dating back to circa 1815. Everyone showed up around 9 a.m. at the site on the

outskirts of Washington Court House. Ron and Steve walked us through the property showing us where

electric and propane lines ran on the grounds and giving us a brief history. After we toured the grounds Steve had us each introduce ourselves and talk for a minute about our recent and best finds and how we got into metal detecting. We soon got down to business and detectors and equipment quickly hit the

ground. It wasn’t long before Tab McBlane (tabdog) found a 1929-S Standing Liberty quarter that got everyone excited and swinging their coils a little faster. A few finds started coming in, wheat pennies, relics and Terry

Everly (teverly) found a Mercury dime. Steve took time from taking pictures and running the video camera to swing his detector for a while. He hadn’t been hunting long when he found an 1876 Carson City Seated Liberty dime! We all stood around waiting

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for our chance to take a peek. Once again we us all forgot how hot it was and we were back to swinging hoping we would be the next to make a great find. Manny Carillo dug the prize token which awarded him items

donated by Steve and myself. Doug Schilling found the “Mystery” coin which won him a trip with Steve to a special site he has exclusive permission to hunt and where many older coins have been found.

Ronald Dean Fulcher (back to camera, center), then clockwise, Bill Baeker, Mike Haer, Manny Carillo, Steve Greene, Doug Schilling, Tab McBlane, Tony Mantia, Bob Brigeman. We took a nice lunch break while Ron made hamburgers and brats; we all sat around showing our finds, talking about the hobby and getting to know each other a little better. After we all got our bellies full and were re-hydrated we split up into two separate groups, one group going with Tony Mantia to an old school house while myself and others stayed behind with hopes of making it to another site that had been planned. Unfortunately that site was not available and we continued to search at the farm. Tony and the group got back from the school house hunt with not much in the way of good finds and showing us the proof that it was very trashy. They joined back in the hunt around the farm, but the heat had gotten to us all and most everyone was ready to head home. Terry, Steve, Ron and I were sitting around after everyone else had left, talking detecting and I was waiting for my fiancé to show up. A few of us had tried to go in the field behind the house earlier but the heat was just to much, now that it was slowly starting to cool off somebody suggested that we try to hunt the freshly cut alfalfa field.

As Steve tells it, “Mike, Ron and Ronny checked out an area around some old oaks while Terry and I hit the middle and right side of the field. I swung quietly until I suddenly started hearing the low tone of iron, the iron targets increased and I began to

think we were coming up on some-thing. As the bright sun was beating down on my blood shot, sweat burned eyes, I heard Terry yell something, I’m not sure what, but I knew it was good. I pulled my headphones off and heard Spanish silver. Holy cow! I’d been talking all week about Spanish silver and here it was. Not long after I heard a nice solid sweet coin signal. Could it be more Spanish silver? I knew it would be a larger coin by the sound of it and was not surprised to see a large copper. Cleaning revealed an 1825 large cent.” Steve really captured the excitement of the find. By the time

Ron and I made it over where they were hunting we were amazed to see the large cent, flat buttons and the Spanish 4 reales! Once I started hunting in this area I found two flat buttons and some new bullets and Terry had managed a few more

buttons. Nick later identified the 4 reales as having an NG (Neuva Guatemala) mint mark which means it was minted in Guatemala City, Guatemala and dates between 1773 and 1821. The whole day was just great; it was nice to hunt and meet fellow Dayton

Diggers club members, a really good group of folks and a club that you can say you’re proud to be a member of. Thanks to Steve and Ron for putting on a great hunt and giving us all the opportunity to hunt such a great and historical site!

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The Background By: Ron Fulcher

The 1874 Atlas of Greene County shows the area where the silver was found as a sizable orchard on a small rise.

The 1855 Atlas of Greene County shows the current home that replaced the original log cabin homestead.

He (George Shigley) and his wife were Methodists and the first services conducted in that community were held in their house. SOURCE: "History of Greene Co., Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions: Vol II (Hon. M. A. Broadstone--Indianapolis: Bowen & Co., 1918), page 585

Charles Mahan lived on the Limstone Road South (Should say North!) of Jamestown. yearly camp-meetings were held on his farm. SOURCE: Robinson’s History of Greene County Page 228

James Mahan, another brother, lived near the campground; I think where George Shigley

resided. SOURCE: Robinson’s History of Greene County Page 229

The Deeper History

Just down the street from the Shigley-Franklin house is a marker commemorating the campground used by General Benjamin Logan on his raids against the Shawnee Towns in 1786. St. Rt. 72 (the old Limestone Rd.) is known as the Simon Kenton Trace. It

followed a well worn buffalo trail through this part of Ohio and is less then 600 feet from the house. Where was the campground? That is a very tantilizing question and one we might have shed a little more light on.

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Manny Carrillo Where are you from originally ie your hometown.? I am from Amarillo, Texas. I have been stationed at WPAFB, OH now for two years, and sure glad I got to come.

What is your area of interest in treasure hunting or metal detecting? My area of intrest is Civil War Artifacts. Unfortuntaley, I have not had the oppurtunity yet to unearth any relics from that era, but I cant wait to get my chance. I would say my area of expertise would be clad, and trash lol. On the serious note I would say anything that has to do with the Military.

What was your best find, before you were 18 and what was your best find as an adult? I just recently started Metal Detecting in Jan. of 2009, so I would have to say so far my best find being over the age of 18 was two wheat pennies and a 1943 Mercury dime in one hole (my second silver). As a kid I always loved finding Indian Arrow Heads in the cotton fields, but my favorite find was a fozzilized dinosour tooth found at Palo Duro Canyon State Park..

Do you belong to, or have you been a member of any similar organizations? No, I have never been a member of a similar organization. Sure glad I am now! This club has some great guys in it.

How did you hear about the Dayton Diggers? I heard about Dayton Diggers through google. I was on kellyco's website and I noticed they had a club forum from several different cities. I did not find any from Dayton, Ohio so I just googled Metal Detecting clubs in Dayton. Sure glad I did!

Dan Szonnell Where are you from originally ie your hometown.? Born in Dayton, lived here most of my life.

What is your area of interest in treasure hunting or metal detecting? I will dig for most anything, but haven't done any in a few years.

What was your best find, before you were 18 and what was your best find as an adult? Probably being the first to hunt Philipps Aquatic Club, even being a complete novice and not really tuning a Coinmaster 2, I found literally pockets full of coins and quite a bit of jewelry.

Do you belong to, or have you been a member of any similar organizations? Back in the 70s I belonged to Trove Hunters, Prospectors Club International, and a few others.

How did you hear about the Dayton Diggers? I Heard about it at the Riverside Historical Society.

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Mike Notarvicola Where are you from originally ie your hometown.? I was born and lived the 1st 40 yrs of my life in Catskill N.Y.. From there I moved to Colorado and spent 10 years. I've been here 1 1/2 yrs.

What was your best find, before you were 18 and what was your best find as an adult? Oh, that's a hard one. In 30+ years detecting there have been so many. One that will always stick in my head was a spill of 5 large cents on Rogers Island on the Hudson River in Catskill. I didn't start detecting until I was about 20 but the very 1st thing I found even before a bottle cap or piece of foil was a man's gold high school class ring.

Do you belong to, or have you been a member of any similar organizations? Yes one. The club had over 100 active members. The 1st meeting I attended only 1 person bothered to talk to me. I never went back.

What is your area of interest in treasure hunting or metal detecting? I'm a coin shooter 1st. Old coins. No new crap. I can get that out of the ash tray in my car. I love finding old buttons and of course Civil War relic hunting which I got to do a lot of in upstate N.Y..

How did you hear about the Dayton Diggers? Treasure net

Anything Else you would like to add? Sunday night meetings are very hard for me. It's the one night we get together with my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. My daughter is a captain in the A.F. stationed in Afghanistan right now and has made us promise to keep it up while she's gone. That's a promise I can't break. 9 days of a 6 month tour left. Then 1 Sunday a month won't matter. Its a great group of people and I look forward to spending more time with them and getting to know them better. A hats off salute to your daughter and all who are seving with her…….Editor’s note

Mark Ferguson Where are you from originally ie your hometown.? I was born in Dayton. I lived in Rochelle Illinois from age 14-17. I lived in Boulder Colorado from age 22-31., Have lived in Dayton ever since.

What was your best find, before you were 18 and what was your best find as an adult? I did not metal detect before 18, but as an adult I would have to say I have had many good finds. Anytime you detect and find anything of interest it is a good find.

Do you belong to, or have you been a member of any similar organizations? No.

What is your area of interest in treasure hunting or metal detecting? I am a coin shooter of course, but I like to recover anything interesting.

How did you hear about the Dayton Diggers? Via the internet.

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FINDS TO REMEMBER This is where we record our best finds during the past few months and the awards are determined by anonymous

ballots cast by an equally mysterious group of concerned coin and bottle experts.

Best Silver Coin….. 1833-Matron Head Dime found by Nick Arnold on August 1st at Goodale Park in Columbus.. Should be all clear for the hunt on Saturday. The 1833 dime will be my best find for the previous 3 months. Will keep you posted. Nick

Best “FIRST “ Silver Coin! ….. 1930 Dime found by Tony Mantia (Please see accompanying story in this edition)

Best “OLDEST” Coin…. 1852 Matron Head Large Cent found by Doug Schilling and son (please see accompanying story for details)

Best “SECOND OLDEST “ Coin ….. 1825 Matron Head Large Cent found by Steve Greene on 1st Dayton Diggers Group Hunt (please see accompanying story for details)

Best Historical Artifact…. Spanish Silver Coins found by Terry Everly on 1st Dayton Diggers Group Hunt (please see accompanying story for details)

Best Iron Artifact …….. 19th Century Chisel found by Tony Mantia in August. My only significant find and I guess my best is the 19th century chisel found on the site of the carpentry and furniture manufacturing site established in 1850 by John M. Stake of Bellbrook. It is 14.5 inches long, 1.25 wide. It is hand forged where the shank joins the blade. Tony

Best “FIRST SILVER OF THE DAY” Coin….. 1929 S Standing Liberty Quarter found by Tab McBlane on the 1st Dayton Diggers Group Hunt (please see accompanying story for details) Best Can….. 8 Oz. Country Club beercan lighter conversion purchased by Chuck Cannon, this is a rarer can and a lucky find for his massive collection.

Best Token Purchase…. Louisville Railroad Co. traction token purchased by Ron Fulcher in Bardstown, KY. I bought this from the same detectorist in the Hart Co. story and Manny bought a bag full of shot minie balls found near the Salt River and from the Civil War. Thanks again for your submissions!!!!

COMING SOON: The Dayton Diggers Winter Invitational Hunt so mark your calendars and get

ready for our next historical recovery.

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The Digger’s Gazette Editor 1305 Arbor Ave. Dayton, Ohio 45420