Teegate: your and Manumuskin's reports and pix read like a detective story. Great stuff! Please write down somewhere what the "old man" named Taylor told you; it (and your Taylor family information) will make someone's day some time later - written from my genealogical perspective.
Lebanon State Forest Project
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
A small bit of historical information. The bog in Lebanon that is currently owned by Bill Poinsett was one of William Reeves bogs in 1936. There is a house there that individuals still reside in which is mentioned in some notes I have. The tenant back in 1936 was a man named William Stevenson.
A 1936 map showing the house.
The location.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.87692923088064&lng=-74.46786302726747&z=20&type=hybrid&gpx=
Guy
A 1936 map showing the house.
The location.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.87692923088064&lng=-74.46786302726747&z=20&type=hybrid&gpx=
Guy
I think surveyors should go back to using inscribed stones.All anybody wants to do anymore is shove a piece of rebar in the ground and call it a day:-(
When in 1984 we bought 8+ acres off the Babbi Fox "Fox Ridge Farm", originally a 240 acre farm owned by the Stevenson's, we had put in concrete markers at the inland corners and nails in the middle of Smithville Rd in Springfield Twp. The background to their placement is a fairly long but I think interesting story, involving errors in the tax map, land in a township that didn't know it owned, small errors propagating into big ones, requests by the governing body for transfer of right-of-way property to them that they already owned, etc. But it's not in the Pines......
Went back with chalk today. The number 1 is almost gone.
Closer view.
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/10252014/IMG_0361.jpg
Guy
Closer view.
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/10252014/IMG_0361.jpg
Guy
Thank you Jerseyman! Since it is book T I can assume it is fairly old and the date on the stone may correspond to that info. Does the date seem to fit the time frame?
Researching that info is something I wish I had more time to do. Something I will have to save until I can't hit the woods anymore.
Guy
Researching that info is something I wish I had more time to do. Something I will have to save until I can't hit the woods anymore.
Guy
Yes, she went with me. I wanted to make sure she visited it.
I was out early this morning looking for a tie in to find one of the Asa Pittman property corners for the North Branch of the Mount Misery Brook. I have worked on finding the two corners since April and have so far fell flat. However, yesterday I stumbled on some info here that gives me a tie in. I calculated last night and it was not coming out correctly. So I decided to go today and find the stone mentioned in the tie and Jessica spotted it along an old unused road. The trees in the road are 10 inches in diameter so it has not been used for some time even though the ruts are still there. The stone is right at the road and it looks like vehicles have hit it long ago while passing by. Hopefully, this week I can come up with a location and next week I can find the corners. I am tired of Asa Pittman eluding me
The stone along a road.
We then went again to the South Branch looking for another stone that has eluded me. While roaming around we came upon a grave. I was within 10 feet of it in the summer and never saw it. Today, it stuck right out.
RIP Ajax!
I would have to believe after all these years that the dogs collar or leash is still connected to it. The fishing weight has kept it on. I am alway's very interested in these finds. Notice the capital L and A but an under case b.
Guy
Thanks again Jerseyman! I think we can be pretty confident that this stone has been there that long. A very interesting find. I can tell everyone that J.J. White Inc. purchased the tract which was still intact on 3/16/1912. I have to assume that he or his heirs sold it to the state still intact sometime after about 1936/1937. I know in about 1965 quite a few tracts of J.J. White's property were acquired by the state so it may have even been as late or later than then.
All,
I headed out before sunrise and spend 6 hour roaming around in the woods near the Taylor stones checking on possibly two more. To get to the first one I had a 1000 foot push through briers that really took it's toll on me. I was exhausted when I got to my destination and that set the tone of the day with knee and hip pain. I struggled to walk for the rest of the day and still am hurting. Anyway, it was obvious to me after searching for a half hour there is no stone at the southern most tip of the Taylor property. The water has eroded the ground and if it is there it may be many feet underground.
So as to not have to go through the briers again I headed north along the cedars looking for a final stone. I found the location and all that is there is a state monument placed there in the early 1930s.
I am also interested in an adjacent 50 acre tract called Bennett Bards 50 acre tract. It passes about 75 feet away so I went to check on it. I again found another state monument placed there in the 30s.
I was hoping to find an incised stone for this tract because while researching it I noticed this post on Ancestry.com.which may give us a clue that Bennett or Bonnett Bard may have owned this in the same 1782 time frame as Taylor.
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.byard/9.14/mb.ashx
My only stone find of the day was this one which I as of yet have no idea what it's purpose was. More research needed on this one.
This has something to do with it.
I found this in the woods today. There were broken white ones nearby so it may have been someone practicing for the night before Halloween.
Guy
I headed out before sunrise and spend 6 hour roaming around in the woods near the Taylor stones checking on possibly two more. To get to the first one I had a 1000 foot push through briers that really took it's toll on me. I was exhausted when I got to my destination and that set the tone of the day with knee and hip pain. I struggled to walk for the rest of the day and still am hurting. Anyway, it was obvious to me after searching for a half hour there is no stone at the southern most tip of the Taylor property. The water has eroded the ground and if it is there it may be many feet underground.
So as to not have to go through the briers again I headed north along the cedars looking for a final stone. I found the location and all that is there is a state monument placed there in the early 1930s.
I am also interested in an adjacent 50 acre tract called Bennett Bards 50 acre tract. It passes about 75 feet away so I went to check on it. I again found another state monument placed there in the 30s.
I was hoping to find an incised stone for this tract because while researching it I noticed this post on Ancestry.com.which may give us a clue that Bennett or Bonnett Bard may have owned this in the same 1782 time frame as Taylor.
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.byard/9.14/mb.ashx
My only stone find of the day was this one which I as of yet have no idea what it's purpose was. More research needed on this one.
This has something to do with it.
I found this in the woods today. There were broken white ones nearby so it may have been someone practicing for the night before Halloween.
Guy
I also over did it today but my stone find turned out a little better then yours.I got semi ripped up by briars but I have flared both heels up twisting them in the mud and my groin is tightened up and in pain from pushing briars and brush all day.I"m battle scarred and bowlegged and too damn old for this but I keep going anyway
I can't imagine a day when you will be too old to hit the woods....
What are modern day property markers made of? The same concrete marker, or do they do away with stones entirely and just use GPS coordinates now?
They put rebarb underground for the most part. Some places I have noticed concrete monuments having been put in but the concrete is crap and won't last long. The monuments in Lebanon are for the most part the highest quality I have found. The lead top with the numbers on them are not the best but the concrete is.
the older better concrete seems to have a lot of gravel in it.The newer junk has no stone in it,is very white a fine and crumbles quickly.Better concrete seems to mean more stone in it.
I took today off from work and after having breakfast with my mom at 6AM I headed out to look for a few things that have been eluding me. I came up empty but still enjoyed the day. I visited what is called "Grassy Pond" along the North Branch of the Mt. Misery Brook looking for Asa Pittman's North Branch property. It is an interesting little pond that I hope to visit again.
Guy
Guy
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