Sometimes Luck Shines Your Way

[Specster]

I live in a small town and a revolutionary war general grew up here and there is a museum deicated to him. It is ingored. They say u can get in by appointment, but it took over a month to get in. In the interim, I joined the town historical society and made friends with the curator. I got in today....Bang! No guns but nice ephemera, blade weapons, cartridge cases, Confederate buckles and button, to me a treasure trove. No one is taking care of this stuff or has any idea what it is.... they are looking to me for advice! There are earlier items as well - King Phillips war, other indian war items, some revolutionary war plus many war items after the ACW. Jackpot.

I intend to get it organized and secured.

I will have the opportunity to do this. We have even been assigned and intern/archivist to help sort things out, from the state.

 

[AndyHall]

Most excellent!

 

[MRB1863]

Congratulations! What a wonderful opportunity! Green with envy. Would think it a great honor to be in contact with such tremendous pieces of history. I'm confident they've chosen the right person for the task!!

 

[johan_steele]

Take pictures of EVERYTHING and document things.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

So often with local historical society museums there is a handing off of the reins with no transfer of vital information to go with the responibility. I have seen several small local historical societies suddenly lose their long term curator, usually due to the sudden death of an elderly curator who had most of the information in their head. The society then scrambles to replace that irreplaceable individual and can only come up with someone who is willing to give it a try with little or no previous knowledge of the stories that go with the majority of the historical artifacts in the care of the society.

Sir, your intentions are admirable, your task is daunting, and I wish you well! I'm sure the group here would be more than happy to assist you with identifications and information if they can. I have one question, you mentioned they had "...cartridge cases...", by any chance do you mean cartridge boxes?
J.

 

[Specster]

Take pictures of EVERYTHING and document things.

I will, and I will make sure I keep u in the loop. U R aces....

 

[bankerpapaw]

Sounds like you've got a job ahead of you. Good luck!!!

 

[lelliott19]

Sounds like a challenging project @Specster My favorite personal quote: "If it was easy, everybody could do it, and then... what would be the point?" and another "All the easy problems have already been solved." Good luck to you and I look forward to visiting the museum one day. After you complete your work. Please tell us where it is located and the name of it?

 

[War Horse]

That excellent, I know you will do an excellent job. Congratulations

 

[FarawayFriend]

As you said "Sometimes luck shines your way". Good luck with your project and your dedication will guarantee a success.
Maybe you should start with listing everything and start a proper inventory...
That's what I would begin with...
Congratulations!

 

[ole]

I like these warm fuzzies.

 

[Specster]

As you said "Sometimes luck shines your way". Good luck with your project and your dedication will guarantee a success.
Maybe you should start with listing everything and start a proper inventory...
That's what I would begin with...
Congratulations!

There is an inventory, but its is a mess, we have been assigned a professional archivist to direct us.

 

[FarawayFriend]

Good luck with that. I'm working in a library/archive myself. Nothing as important as a thoroughly written catalogue. Otherwise you'll get lost (who knows better than you now!)

 

[redbob]

Think about the treasures that you are about to uncover.

 

[Old Hickory]

I like these warm fuzzies.

Me too, Ole. Our local society is much the same, by appointment, only open two days a year to the public. It's nice the bank donated their old building for the museum though. The building is a treasure in itself, scene of a robbery/gunfight in 1901, I believe it was. One teller shot and killed, another bank employee shot a robber and the other captured at gun point by an alert citizen with a shotgun. The robbers were later hanged together in Harrisburg for murdering the teller. I believe there's a picture of the hanging in the museum.

 

[Specster]

Good luck with that. I'm working in a library/archive myself. Nothing as important as a thoroughly written catalogue. Otherwise you'll get lost (who knows better than you now!)

I am begining to understand that in the harshest way. I have some, Confederates (well, maybe Allies) who should be able to help me out thru the dark times. Yet, if I learn something and preserve items along the way, what could be better than that?

Txs for your interest.

Spec.

 

[18thVirginia]

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Specster]

Me too, Ole. Our local society is much the same, by appointment, only open two days a year to the public. It's nice the bank donated their old building for the museum though. The building is a treasure in itself, scene of a robbery/gunfight in 1901, I believe it was. One teller shot and killed, another bank employee shot a robber and the other captured at gun point by an alert citizen with a shotgun. The robbers were later hanged together in Harrisburg for murdering the teller. I believe there's a picture of the hanging in the museum.

That is awesome....We are in a stranage, transitional time when we can record these things somewhat accurately...although not 100%.. but we are getting close. I recall the Bards, the blind man in the village of Norethern Europe who's task it was to recall 100s of lines of history....and I would imagine the rythm helped him to recall the story accurately. Yet, even the best Bard, IMO, would be pressed to recall every line with total accuracy.

It is a strange time, on average in the US, I heard we are recorded, on video, about 23 times a day. on 1 side of the coin that is great, on the other, I dont like my privacy invaded like that.

In 2000, I was on a major, quirky artery in Boston, the 5th of July, adjacent to the Hatch Shell. No trucks over 9' or so r allowed. The underpasses are low, being over 100 years old. A truck ignored all the warning signs. He stopped because of his height before an underpass. about 8 other cars stopped after him. A car came up from behind and hit me, and my girl, going about 40-50 MPH at impact. Somehow, he was able to back up, catch the next ramp and flee. He totaled my car and then some - we were OK. When I asked for video, and I could see the cameras, the police would not pursue it. I should not go on...


I digress.

Tx for your interest.

 

[Specster]

Sounds like a challenging project @Specster My favorite personal quote: "If it was easy, everybody could do it, and then... what would be the point?" and another "All the easy problems have already been solved." Good luck to you and I look forward to visiting the museum one day. After you complete your work. Please tell us where it is located and the name of it?

If you look at my profile the quote I cite is very similar...basically, If it doesnt hurt you are not trying... the author Ortega E Gasset......we are in agreement.

 

[FarawayFriend]

That is awesome....We are in a stranage, transitional time when we can record these things somewhat accurately...although not 100%.. but we are getting close. I recall the Bards, the blind man in the village of Norethern Europe who's task it was to recall 100s of lines of history....and I would imagine the rythm helped him to recall the story accurately. Yet, even the best Bard, IMO, would be pressed to recall every line with total accuracy.

It is a strange time, on average in the US, I heard we are recorded, on video, about 23 times a day. on 1 side of the coin that is great, on the other, I dont like my privacy invaded like that.

In 2000, I was on a major, quirky artery in Boston, the 5th of July, adjacent to the Hatch Shell. No trucks over 9' or so r allowed. The underpasses are low, being over 100 years old. A truck ignored all the warning signs. He stopped because of his height before an underpass. about 8 other cars stopped after him. A car came up from behind and hit me, and my girl, going about 40-50 MPH at impact. Somehow, he was able to back up, catch the next ramp and flee. He totaled my car and then some - we were OK. When I asked for video, and I could see the cameras, the police would not pursue it. I should not go on...


I digress.

Tx for your interest.

That is incredible! So glad you and your girlfriend went unharmed. And I'm afraid that other driver did not even feel like a criminal.