New Acquisition

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
Bob; do you mean this stuff, or the stuff I go down in over my knee-high boots and get sucked and stucked in. The nice thing; Bog Asphodels, Grass Pinks, and Rose Pogonias love it.

Yes, but he also cites the "glop" at the bottom of bogs that can be "dug out with shovels". That must mean what is commonly called "muck", which is usually black under ground. The orange color is the iron being oxidized by exposure to oxygen.
 
Apr 6, 2004
3,606
551
Galloway
Oddly, in Heart of the Pines, Pearce writes this:

"I always thought that the iron-colored rocks lying around the area were the ore dug from the streambeds. Not so. There certainly is iron in the hard sandbeds of the rivers, but it has too much sand mixed with it to be useful. The real "ore" that was mined from the bogs was the semisolid muck that was loaded with iron oxides called limonite. Only if left in contact with the open air for an extended period of time did it harden into the rocklike substance most of us would think of as "iron ore".

Hey Bob,

I question this claim. The purpose of stamping mills was to break up the hard ore. Hardened ore can still be found beneath the ground throughout the Pines.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
Hey Bob,

I question this claim. The purpose of stamping mills was to break up the hard ore. Hardened ore can still be found beneath the ground throughout the Pines.

Not my claim Gabe, it's just something I read. However, remember too, that when our ore beds started diminishing, they imported ore from up north. Maybe that ore was in hard chunks.
 

Oriental

Explorer
Apr 21, 2005
253
132
The property was originally surveyed in the 1780s. By that time, many of the cedar swamps in the area had already been claimed. In the early 1800s, a farmer from Vincentown purchased the property but he sold it to his son within a few years. By the 1850s, the property was known as Sheeps Neck (or Sheeps Neck Pasture). When the land was divided and sold in the 1860s, the property description referred to a corner being a “cedar post opposite the old Turning Mill”. Several subsequent deeds identify that same landmark.

I seem to have the entire title chain and nowhere in those documents does it mention a Tunking Mill or a Stamping Mill. I have to believe that someone misread an early deed and let their imagination get the best of them. If there is any documentation of a so-called tunking mill, I have yet to see it. Tell a story long enough and it becomes the truth.

Several years ago I visited the site which was challenging as the way in through Wharton is tough going. When I went to the location described in the deed, I discovered a series of vertical cedar posts that had been driven into the streambed. I guessed these were used to underpin a dam that had long been washed away. I will grant that they are not conspicuous but they are exactly where the deed described the location. I was a little surprised that there wasn’t more to see since the dams for many old mill sites are easily identified even today.

Incidentally, the property eventually found its way into the hands of a cranberry company. That venture did not appear to be long-lived though evidence of their activity there is easily found. I did consider the possibility that the cedar posts I discovered may have been connected to the later cranberry concern but since they had not been milled, I thought it unlikely that they would have been a sluice gate for an old bog.
 
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Oriental

Explorer
Apr 21, 2005
253
132
IMG_0126 for upload.JPG

The cedar posts

IMG_0123 for upload.JPG


The deer stand

IMG_0103 for upload.JPG

The old house or cabin
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,177
The cedar posts



The deer stand

View attachment 13002
The old house or cabin


I believe you will find the building was where the pickers would hand in the fruits of their work. It had that classic design. As for the bog, someone we both know actually either built portions of it or updated parts of it.

Their are long canals all over the property in the more remote area's.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,177
Jessica and I circumnavigated the property again today. She noticed this downed tree brought up the remains of a charcoal pit.

IMG_4271a.JPG
 
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Apr 6, 2004
3,606
551
Galloway
Oddly, in Heart of the Pines, Pearce writes this:

"I always thought that the iron-colored rocks lying around the area were the ore dug from the streambeds. Not so. There certainly is iron in the hard sandbeds of the rivers, but it has too much sand mixed with it to be useful. The real "ore" that was mined from the bogs was the semisolid muck that was loaded with iron oxides called limonite. Only if left in contact with the open air for an extended period of time did it harden into the rocklike substance most of us would think of as "iron ore".

Can we get @Spung-Man to chime in?
 
Good. Take your time.

I'll be in AC the next two days at the New Jersey Society of Professional Land Surveyors Conference for my continuing education credits. I'll be seeing only a few of the remaining old school surveyors like myself who are gray in the muzzle and long in the tooth but who can still smell a field stone at 100 yards. ;)
The rest of the people will be in suits and chatting about the latest advances in electronic hardware that is contributing to the dumbification (Lisa Simpson) of the American Surveyor. :D

Yet another instance of hardware supplanting hands-on expertise.
 
Apr 6, 2004
3,606
551
Galloway
Ironstone was a poor-quality ore that was used in last resort. It had to be broken up first in the stamping mill, and was higher in silica than other bog or meadow ore forms. As I understand, the use-preference hierarchy—best to worst—was iron scum to loam ore (mud) to seed ore (scale–pebble sized) to massive or (ironstone blocks).

S-M

Good to know! Thanks
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
All,

The state has acquired another semi large tract of land along the edge of Wharton so the two of us decided to get there before any structure or places of interest were removed. The two of us actually crossed the edge of the property many years ago looking for stones; however, since it was private we only visited the monuments or stones we passed by. With the property now owned by the state it was much easier to get to them. There are many more to visit which we will do this summer or fall. The state has already surveyed the property and will be removing all structures very soon I am sure. I have in the past already acquired most of the locations for the property corners and have made pretty good guesses on the rest. Some of them are pretty deep in the woods so we have some work and walking to do. And many of them have property stones.

I am not going to mention the location or post any photos of what may be there until I see that everything is finialized. I am sure the state does not want people there until that occurs.


This monument in the 1950s had a stone along with it. The records show it to be loose and it now appears to be gone. Not in a good spot anyway.

View attachment 12115


In a really nice cedar swamp.


View attachment 12116


View of the cedar swamp.

View attachment 12117



Oops! For some reason the surveyor skipped or missed this one. The area is disturbed but I was able to find the stone. The monument may be there or it may have been removed many years ago during the digging of a trench next to it. I will continue to look for the monument.

View attachment 12118

View attachment 12119


View attachment 12120


This property will certainly never have vehicle access, and while it may be interesting to explore in the first few years, it will eventually grow in and for the casual explorer there will be no real interest in going there after that. However, it was a great purchase in my book.

Guy


Update: Nearly 4 years later, the ladder stand sections are still waiting on their owner to return in the exact position and condition in which Guy found them..
I was there yesterday looking for coyote and it really looks like the owner would be coming back tomorrow.
medIMG_1497.jpg
 
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