Found at the Notorious Carleton Place Poop Fields

 

Adam Dowdall‎–Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group Photo

 

Found this the other day at the notorious poop fields. It’s an antique breath freshener package. Apparently people use to chew violet leaves to freshen bad breath. Very interesting find if I say so myself.

Victorians had a deep love for violets. Violet scents were incredibly popular in Victorian toiletries. They ate violets, candied, in cakes and pastries, and violets were at the heart of the cut flower boom: violet-sellers would stand on street corners, selling nosegays and bunches which women pinned to their dresses, or men tucked in their hat brims or wore on their lapels. And Victorian women – who were big on that so-feminine hobby of flower-pressing – pressed violets into scrapbooks, picked on leisurely country walks through woods where violets flourished.

 

The Carleton Place Poop Fields– Photo Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum–What Was a Honey Wagon?- The Job of a Night Soil Scavenger

In Europe and the U.S., tins of breath fresheners, called cachous, became a must-have item in the 1800s. The candies (sucked or chewed to “disguise a stinking breath,” according to one 1850 self-help book) were made from cardamom, ambergris, musk, essence of violet, essence of rose, licorice or oil of cinnamon. Oil from plants in the potent mint family later became commonly adopted as a way to freshen breath.

 

Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group- FACEBOOK PAGE

 

What Was a Honey Wagon?- The Job of a Night Soil Scavenger

What Did Adam Dowdall find this week?

The Mystery Ruins of Carleton Place- Photos by Adam Dowdall

The Luck of the “Irish”– Coins Found by Adam Dowdall

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

What’s the Strangest Thing You Have Found Outside?

Adam Dowdall‎Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group

If you follow Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Facebook page you know I have written about some of his finds (see links below)–mostly coins and other bits of paraphernalia. But,  what have people really found outside in Lanark County?

Some have found old abandoned cars standing for what must of been for 20-30 years in the middle of the bush– kilometres into the bush, no roads or forestry roads near by. They look like they might have been dropped from the sky, but no real indent in the ground of possible impact.

How about an old shovel and a grave marking which in reality still exists when they built the railway and it is not unusual to find old grave sites at the rapids from expired loggers during the Spring runoffs.

What is the oddest thing someone found?

 

Photo Dualsport

 

This happened in 2013 and I wrote about it and it was in my book: Naked Yoga, Twinkies and Celebrities

Helpful Hints before Burying Your Husband in the Backyard

What happened to 74-year-old Novato, California resident Dale Smith? His wife Evelyn age 55 never mentioned he had left to anyone until two weeks ago. She had told a questioning neighbour Phil Olbranz that her honey was missing and then began speaking about her spouse in the past tense. The concerned good neighbour did what anyone else would do and called the police.  Cadaver dogs were brought to the home and found poor Dale’s body buried in the backyard.

So Evelyn being a tad concerned when the body was discovered hired an attorney after the FBI was called in. Her attorney told the press that Evelyn said that Dale had been very sick. If Dale did simply die of natural causes Evelyn might get off lightly. Burying his remains improperly under the new brick BBQ she had just built over his body would simply be a misdemeanor.

Why on earth would you do such a thing? Did she not think maybe the kids might contact dear old Dad at some point? Father’s Day was barely three months away at that point of discovery. Helpful Hints before Burying Your Husband in the Backyard

What happened to 74-year-old Novato, California resident Dale Smith? His wife Evelyn age 55 never mentioned he had left to anyone until two weeks ago. She had told a questioning neighbour Phil Olbranz that her honey was missing and then started talking about her spouse in the past tense. So the concerned good neighbour did what anyone else would do and called the police.  Cadaver dogs were brought to the home and found poor Dale’s body buried in the backyard.

So Evelyn being a tad concerned when the body was discovered hired an attorney after the FBI was called in. Her attorney told the press that Evelyn said that Dale had been very sick. If Dale did simply die of natural causes Evelyn might get off lightly. Burying his remains improperly under the new brick BBQ she had just built over his body would simply be a misdemeanor.

Why on earth would you do such a thing? Did she not think maybe the kids might contact dear old Dad at some point?  Father’s Day was barely three months away at that point of discovery. An autopsy by the Marin County coroner could not determine the cause of his death. Dale Smith was a Korean War veteran and retired contractor. His wife used to work for the U.S. Postal Service.

There are so many things that Evelyn could have done before it got this far.  I mean she used to work for the postal service and as the USPS’s motto says:

“If it fits it ships” !

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in Hometown News and now in The Townships Sun

 

Related reading

What Did Adam Dowdall find this week?

The Mystery Ruins of Carleton Place- Photos by Adam Dowdall

The Luck of the “Irish”– Coins Found by Adam Dowdall

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

Abandoned

The Abandoned Appleton Mill

The Abandoned Smiths Falls Hospital 2011

Photographer Finds Money in a Local Abandoned Home

The Abandoned Farm House in Carleton Place — Disappearing Farms

The Church that Died

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

Burning Down the House — Literally in Lanark County

Investigating the Basement of the Carleton Place Canadian – If These Walls Could Talk

Channeling John Gillies

Memories and Mentions of Names in Maberly

The Forgotten Clayton School House

 

Our Very Own Tom Sawyer–Adam of Arklan Island

 

 

Arklan Farm–is a tract of land without homogeneous character or boundaries. Arklan refers to the vicinity immediately east of Carleton Place and includes an island. This island was formerly utilized as a water power site and was first called Bailey’s Mills, then Bredin’s Mills and later Arklan Mills. Arklan Island on the Canadian Mississippi River.

The Timezone in Arklan Island is America/Pangnirtung
Sunrise at 05:43 and Sunset at 18:33. It’s light

Latitude. 45.1501°, Longitude. -76.1327°

If Tom Sawyer and his gang went to Jackson’s Island, Adam Dowdall went to to Snake Island last week. The real name is Arklan Island, but many locals call it Snake Island, because of the brown watersnakes by the shore.) 

Latitude. 45.1501°, Longitude. -76.1327°

Arklan is derived from the County name. This land was purchased by A. C. Burgess and his brother, G. A. Burgess (who was the mayor of Carleton Place in 1903 and 1921). The name Arklan was given to this property by Burgess.

The McNeely’s, who first owned the land for most of the twentieth century, maintained the name Arklan. Those of you who have grown up in Carleton Place know of this location as simply the Arklan Farm. Like Tom Sawyer Adam walked across the river on his two day visit as the river is low due to drought-like conditions. Adam said said the crossing took about 5 minutes as the riverbed is all bedrock. It was hard to take pictures as the island is all bush and full of poison ivy.

Arklan Island River finds: 1837 province du Canada half penny, 1852 Quebec half penny bank token, an awesome bell and a beautiful blue gemstone, which I do believe is cut glass.

 

 

 

 

Finds from Arklan Island Carleton Place. 1859 Canada large cent, 1854 American cent and an unknown American cent and 2 very old rings

Update from Adam Dowdall —Thank you but we don’t know if it’s cut glass yet and the 1859 large cent is to be appraised because if its valuable then I’ll have won the lottery

 

 

 

 

Related Reading to Arklan Island:

New Photos from Mysterious Arklan Island

Tales from Arklan Island–Odds and Ends

The Natives of Carleton Place — Violins and Deer

Tales From Arklan –The Midnight Heist

 

Related reading to Adam Dowdall:

Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group- FACEBOOK PAGE

The Mystery Ruins of Carleton Place- Photos by Adam Dowdall

The Luck of the “Irish”– Coins Found by Adam Dowdall

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

What Did Adam Dowdall find this week?

 

 

The Mystery Ruins of Carleton Place- Photos by Adam Dowdall

For those of us who have grown up on William Street, we all know of the ‘Old Stone House’ at the very end of the road. Here is what it once was, as my Grandmother Margaret & her friends “raided” the house. Even then, this house was empty. And for my Grandmother & her friends, this was a wonderful playhouse. Early-Mid 1940’s–Photo from Amanda Armstrong-From the photo collection of Margaret Martin”

Years ago Art’s Fruit and Variety was a popular go to place on Townline. in Carleton Place. Before there was no McNeely Bridge I used to wander down behind their property like others, and always marvelled at the ruins of an old stone building. My mind is old now, but I do believe it is located on the other side of the bridge behind 53 Colours, but it is recorded as being on the extreme end of William Street. For years I have wondered what it was, and this week the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum shared an old newspaper clipping with me they had just received this week.

For anyone that wonders like I did: the old stone ruins used to be an old Methodist parsonage. There was once a floating sidewalk across the *swale to get to the parsonage. It was described as being built along the river bank to the old felt mill which would be Bates and Innes, and along a strip of land that belonged to Robert Bell. North of Town Line  (notice how Townline is spelled) was something called The Kings Bush owned by James Morphy. This week Adam Dowdall was there metal detecting and took these great photos.

ALL PHOTOS BY ADAM DOWDALL

*A swale is a low tract of land, especially one that is moist or marshy. The term can refer to a natural landscape feature or a human-created one.

Duncan Rogers Linda
Years ago my next door neighbour who lived in the old Box house on James Street (Mr. Doug Allan) told me as a young boy he used to play at this house with the children of the “Lake family”. I believe that would of been about 1905 or in that time period. There was an article in the Carleton Place Canadian about this house. I am familiar with this property as on behalf of the Town of Carleton Place I purchased this property from the Dr. Redfern in about 1983 for about $5,000.00 to be used as recreational land. The Redferns had moved to the United States and did not need the property any longer. The property was then dedicated as parkland by Council and named after Mr George Findlay who I had the honour of working with on one of the Committees at the time. Mr. Findlay was quite interested in the environment. I hope that this is helpful to you.

Regards

Duncan Rogers

With files from the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

Todd Greer Photo

Located at the end of the McNeely Bridge to the bush on the right hand side in the George Findlay Conservation area in Carleton Place- Very swampy.

Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Group- FACEBOOK PAGE

The Luck of the “Irish”– Coins Found by Adam Dowdall

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

What Did Adam Dowdall Find in My Carleton Place Yard?

Adam Dowdall Just Found the Oldest Coin in Beckwith County

 

Last time I wrote about metal detector enthusiast Adam Dowdall was the day he searched for things in my yard. Today he found his very first Spanish silver coin with a clear date of 1766– which makes it the oldest coin he has ever found.  His father, Councillor Brian Dowdall agreed. He said it’s probably one of the oldest coins to be found in Beckwith. Why are there Spanish coins in this area?

The shortage of currency that had been experienced in the original North American colonies prior to the War of Independence continued in the remaining British North American colonies into the 19th century. The economy was still dependent on the fur trade and coins from England. Trade with various colonies plus the United States, resulted in an influx of additional additional Spanish-American coinage. In Prince Edward Island, officials punched out the centres of the Spanish American coins and made two coins: the one shilling and the five shilling.

<

Adam’s coin dealer said the British government issued Spanish coins to the settlers because of a shortage of Canadian tokens so that’s how his coin made it to the area. He is right–but there is also another reason. Local fur traders would take their goods to New York state where they would get more bang for their buck.The fur traders would either barter for goods, or get hard cold cash paid in Spanish currency. Spanish coins came into Canada as early as 1662 and were also charted as currency.

 

Adam Dowdall’s Metal Detecting Facebook Group

Rick Roberts just added this:

Another potential reason for the Spanish coin to be in Beckwith is that several early military settlers (both British regulars and Swiss mercenaries of the DeWatteville Regiment) had been posted to Cadiz, Spain c1811-1813. The DeWatteville Regiment then served on garrison duty at Kingston from October 1813 to the winter of 1816, then at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Sorel, and LaPrairie, Prescott and back to Kingston, before being disbanded and awarded land grants in the Perth area in June of 1816.

Watch for Ron Shaw’s upcoming book ‘Influence and Ambition, The First Persons of Perth’ which will be published by Global Heritage Press in spring 2016 for more details

Filed under Uncategorized and tagged adam dowdall, metal detecting, silver coins, spanish coins, treasure hunts | 3 Comments