Visiting the homestead of Nathaniel T. Dodge

In April of 2021, I posted about the homestead of Nathaniel T. Dodge. In that post, I talked about the history of the homestead and the land changing hands throughout the years. I also talked about the Google Image dad found showing the foundation of the house that Nathaniel built. We decided that instead of going in 2022, we needed to go out there that Summer (2021), so we did. We reached out to the current landowners, and they were only too happy to have us over. When we got to the homestead, and specifically to the foundation of the house, we were overwhelmed by what we saw. There were shards of glass, pieces of pottery, chunks of brick, and a few remains of the wood that was used to build the house our ancestor lived in. We picked up what we could, took pictures and enjoyed our stay there.

Last month, we returned to the old homestead, and once again the current landowners were happy to have us over and let us look around. This time, we were more prepared for what was there. We found even more pieces of pottery, glass, nails, metal, wood, as well as four bricks that were completely intact. It is amazing to think about all of the objects that are still out there, as well as those that are now in our possession, that our ancestors used and handled in the course of their daily lives.

Below are a few pictures of what is left of the foundation of the house that Nathaniel built that we took on this most recent visit. When we were out there, we had a copy of the picture of the home with us, and were able to line up the house in the picture with the foundation that is still there today, and it is a spot-on match. He built his house down in a gulley, instead of on top of the gulley. There are a couple of reasons for this. One: he could keep his house out of the wind and snow in the wintertime. Two: it is possible this gulley was a small creek, and made sense to have his house next to a water source. Three: in building his house, he possibly wanted it close to the entrance of his land, and building his house here provided a place where could observe anyone who may be entering onto his land. 

This picture was taken in August of 2021

Below are pictures of some of the bricks, pottery, glass, metal and other items that we found between our trips in 2021 & 2023. These pictures were taken from our 2023 trip. We were so surprised by what we saw on our first trip to the homestead that we didn't take as many pictures as we should have.

The bricks were part of the foundation of the house and are more than 120 years old. The bag I used to carry all four of the bricks in was very heavy, much more so than carrying a bag of four modern-day bricks. There are other pieces of brick that are still there...and I'm sure others that are buried underground.

We decided to leave this wash pan at the homestead.

Below are additional pictures of many of the items that we found and brought home with us. Looking at the pieces we brought home from both trips, we found that a number of the pieces of pottery actually go together. In fact, some of the pieces fit together perfectly, and we were able to glue these together. Who knows how long these pieces have been sitting out on the ground, outside in the elements, broken apart.

Along with several pieces that fit together, there are other pieces of pottery, such as plates, cups, saucers and bowls that we found.

The mouth of a jug

This one is likely part of a plate that held a porcelain wash basin

I like seeing the moss on this piece. It definitely shows how long it has been outside

There were also several pieces of pottery that we found that had patterned designs on them. It is very likely that these pieces (as well as those above) were all manufactured in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. I'm surprised at the number of pieces of patterned wares we found.

This one is my favorite. The current landowners found this one shortly before our 2021 visit. They let me take this one. I currently have it framed.

There are also three pieces that have the makers mark on them. The first one we found in 2021, the other two we found in 2023. The first makers mark is K.T. & K. - China. This is Knowles, Taylor & Knowles, out of East Liverpool, Ohio. After looking online, we found this pottery manufacturer operated between 1854 and 1931. It is likely this first piece is a coffee or tea saucer. More information can be found here: http://www.laurelhollowpark.net/elo/ktk/ktk.html

The second piece is from Homer Laughlin - Premium Stone China. I found this one on our 2023 trip and was very surprised to find it. This particular makers mark was used between 1877 & 1900! For more info, please see: https://www.themuseumofceramics.com/gallery1

This last makers mark is from John Maddock and Sons in England. This makers mark dates to around 1906. For more info, please see: http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/m/maddock.html

We also found several broken bottle necks, all of which appear to date from the late 19th & early 20th Centuries.

Finally, we found several pieces of metal, from old nails to a belt buckle to harvesting blades to other metal items.

All in all, these two trips we took were very much worth the effort and time to go out there. We were able to make a connection to a time and place where our ancestors lived through the items that were left behind which we were able to recover. Again, thanks to the current landowners for allowing us the opportunity to visit the old homestead and bring home these items.