• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

The barn did not collapse....

Started by RWB,

20 posts in this topic

RWB

RWB

Posted
Posted

I recently bought a farm with a barn and several outbuildings. Most are in good shape but I wanted to check the barn’s stone foundation and timbers more carefully. It’s easily over 150 years old and although it carries its age well, I wanted to be sure it would be there for another six generations.

 

The stone and mortar were sound and ten-inch square beams looked as if they had been cut only last year. Some were polished to mirror-like smoothness by the rubbing of countless cattle, others bore the sharp image of ancient saw teeth. While inspecting the whitewashed cattle stalls, I noted that some needed a fresh coat – noting unexpected. (Always whitewash livestock stalls – never paint.) But when I got to the back wall of the barn, there was, what seemed to me, an extra beam. It spanned only about six feet of one stall and did not seem to be supporting anything from above.

 

Curious, I got a ladder, climbed up and took a closer look. Yep, the beam simply rested in posts at the back using a half-lap T joint. It didn’t connect anything, or support weight.

 

I rubbed the flaking whitewashed surface and as the material fell off I could see what looked at first like a large box joint. A bit more rubbing revealed a faint rectangular outline about five inches high by fifteen inches long. Up close it looked like a scribe or seam as if someone had marked the wood for cutting a mortise then abandoned the work.

 

That the beam served no obvious purpose intrigued me. Old-time farmers rarely discarded anything they though potentially useful. Did someone long ago give up on this fine piece of wood and just leave it there for future use, then forgot about it? Was it a mistake that was soon whitewashed over and left to gather cobwebs?

 

I found an old putty knife and scratched through some of the whitewash filling the outline. Small chunks of lime popped out revealing a wider line than first visible. I worked the knife all the way around pulling out lime chips but little wood. In one weak spot I could stick the knife in to its full length – this was no failed construction. Working back from the weak spot I removed bits of lime. Along the lower edge and one side the knife would only go in an inch or so, at the top and other side I could slide it in freely.

 

Using the knife like a pry bar, I tried to move the rectangle but it was stuck tight. With curiosity getting the best of me, I took a large screw and drove it into the center of the rectangle then attached a piece of twine to it. A good yank, and the rectangle popped out.

 

The barn did not collapse, but my eyes must have bugged out.

 

The rectangle was a carefully made cover for a small cavity in the beam – a hiding place. Inside, sitting it neat stacks were silver dollars. Nine piles in the front, nine in the back each with 11 coins, except for two stacks that had 12 – 200 silver dollars.

 

The coins were all slightly worn, as if pulled from some farmer’s pocket or possibly from his wife’s butter and egg apron. The earliest was 1878 and the latest 1900. Most were still silvery and lustrous, but all had obviously been in commerce for a while. There were no rarities or spectacular conditions – just honest wear of money honestly earned and hidden long ago. Was it a family’s savings? Was it a windfall? Why were they hidden? Were they put away during some local financial panic?

 

The farm owner died in 1902, a widower since 1900. His only daughter left the farm fallow for several years during which, I was told, the main house was burnt to the ground by squatters. She sold the farm intact soon after.

 

Gingerly, I transferred the silver stacks to a handy box. As I reached in for the last stack I lost my balance, the ladder when one way, I went the other and the box of coins flew in its own direction. Before I could hit the floor, I woke up.

 

An alarm buzzed in my ear. Another work day….

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
praedator-migration

praedator-migration

Posted
Posted

My parents recently purchased and moved into a property just outside Philadelphia that your story reminds me of. I let my imagination run wild with the potential finds around that place, especially within the barn with a date-stone of 1841. I haven't come across anything other than some unspent rifle cartridges so far. :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WoodenJefferson

WoodenJefferson

Posted
Posted

~ I lost my balance, the ladder when one way, I went the other ~

 

I could do an episode of "This Happened to Me!" while building my shed and having the step ladder give-out from under me and breaking four ribs when I fell on a stack of 2X4's.

 

Good tease Roger. (to bad you did not have time to check for VAM's)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wissahickon Collection

Wissahickon Collection

Posted
Posted

A Great Story!!!

 

The combination of knowledge and imagination can create wonderful entertainment and escapes from mundane reality. You had me considering all the options as to how I would enjoy those "silver disks" had I discovered them.

 

Thanks for the few moments of entertainment!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
physics-fan3.14

physics-fan3.14

Posted
Posted

Great story, you could try some numismatic fiction for your next book.

 

 

Story seriously reminds me of a recent (true story) book I read - Treasure in the Cellar Two boys are rooting around in the basement, and find a hoard of gold coins. Only its not a dream for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RWB

RWB

Posted
  • Author
Posted

"Treasure In the Cellar" is real, reality. Excellent book. Like many big lottery winners, the money was soon gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jackson64

jackson64

Posted
Posted

got me too..I was already considering the proper thing to "do right" by the previous owners' family...hook- line- and sinker

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing