All,
Here is an update on this thread.
I awoke on Friday morning to an email in my inbox from a man named Mike from Tennessee who had came upon this thread concerning manumuskin and my search for the property corners of the small tracks of land across 206 from the Pic-a-lilli along the Wesickaman Creek. I did not fully mention that in the original post but we were looking for them. Mike was traveling and staying in a motel and decided to write me with information that he had concerning a stone he found near his deer stand back in 1994. His father had hunted that area before he was born and he continued the tradition while in his 20's. Below are edited portions of his email's to me.
We found a stone that you would have liked out there. It looked like the same type of stone that you photographed, and it had a couple of letters crudely chiseled in it. I could probably get you within 100 feet of it with coordinates looking at Google Earth. I used to think the stone we found was the corner of one of the plots in the area that you can see here. There are three 10-15 acre plots in the Wesickaman area, other than the obvious ones that are cleared as you know along Atsion Rd. The number "51" is between them. You might have to zoom to see them.
As you would expect I was intrigued so I wrote him back with interest. His edited reply on Saturday morning.
I'm traveling and just checked in to a hotel. I will have more time later this weekend, but I know you are curious, so here are some push pins that might help. Stand 1 and Stand 2 are as exact as my hand held GPS 15 years ago. Probably within 25 feet. These are similar in style to Scott's stands (his friend), and quite high (over 30 feet) *if* they are still there.
Big warning though - the pin marked "Stone" is my estimate of where it was, just from walking by it many times. I did not record its position, just a mental picture of where it was in relation to the stands. It could be covered with brush now, and that push pin could be off by 50-100 feet. It is wider and flatter than the stones in your photos. I would estimate the dimensions at 16x12x4 inches. I believe the engraving looked like "IM" but I could be wrong.
So with his descriptions and locations of three tree stands I decided to make an early morning visit there this morning. I determined that the stone he mentioned most likely would have been the top right corner of the larger lot in the above photo. That property was first surveyed on August 28, 1792 and owned by Joshua Bispham. I set my alarm early and arrived along 206 about 6AM. I pretty much had the road to myself.
The first location I would come upon is "Ladder 3" which he describes here.
And I drew a white X for stand #3, which is very easy to spot if you get close to it, because it has a 21 ft ladder built from treated 2x4s and painted brown. But alas the X is another estimate.
Nothing was written on it but there may have been at one time. I was able to take the paper out and not damage it after all these years. Notice the stand painted brown as mentioned above.
The next stand (Stand2) I should have come upon was his built in 1994. This was Mike's stand.
It has a little seat up there to sit on but you can't really see it here.
And then I went for the stone. He told me the exact location was uncertain and in the end it was about 70 feet off. I almost missed it as I was on the other side of the tree. This was a nice stone and find.
He felt the letters were IM but it appears to me to maybe be SM with the S having a slash design to it but I am uncertain. Jessica and I will return with chalk next weekend. I had taken it out of my bag and forgot to put it back in. I do have a video of my hand tracing it and will post that later.
So whatever the initials are I am still uncertain if they were for the lots mentioned above. I would have to think they are but until I find more I will not really know. I tried looking for more this morning but I was just guessing. Now that I know the stone location I have a chance of being more accurate.
I would be remiss if I did not thank Mike for all of his hard work and help on this. The flurry of emails were undoubtedly while he was working and I appreciated each and every one of them. I will give him more detailed info when I get a chance.
Guy