Searching For Stones Inscribed AL

Teegate

Teegate

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All,

Back in November 2013 you may remember when manumuskin, Jessica and I found two stones inscribed with the initials AL on them. Recently I learned there were more of them and in the very near future I will be looking for some of them. In the meantime today we revisited the location where two of them should have been located that we could not find on our last visit there in 2013. And as expected they were not there. It is a well traveled area and I am confident they were taken.

While in the area this morning I decided to look at a few other locations in the area and was rewarded by finding another AL stone I did not know about. This was a complete surprise.


Coming up on it.

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AL

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And after putting chalk on it.


IMG_2116.JPG



I mentioned the AL stones to someone recently and they gave me a suggestion on who it may be. I believe they are most likely correct. I will be going with them and manumuskin in the very near future to look for more of them and will let you know what we find. I will then tell you who AL may be. I think you may be surprised.



If you want to read up on our privious find in 2013 check out this link.


https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/sunday-stone-searching-seriously-started.8792/


Guy
 
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turtle

turtle

Explorer
Feb 4, 2009
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a village...in the pines
It almost looks as if there is a " + " between the "A" and the "L". That would change things....
As an aside, these names come up in the old Washington Township tax records from 1864-1924 :

Amaja Leek 1865
A. Legrand 1897
Augustus Lowther 1913
A.D. Lane 1903
Andrew Leeds 186?
 
Teegate

Teegate

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All,

This morning Jessica and I met up with manumuskin and Piney Warden to look for 4 more AL Stones. Piney Warden has surmised that the property was owned by Albert Leduc who lived near Johnson Place on Sooy Road. You may recognize the name from Beck's book "More Forgotten Towns of Southern NJ" in the chapter titled "From Bread And Cheese Run To Apple Pie Hill." He was born in 1879 and died in 1951. I will investigate further to find out if Piney Warden is correct.


First lets look at the property. You may notice it is behind the Hedger House and up until 2000 the property was part of the Hedger House property. The state acquired it in 2000 for $52,552.00. In 1930 the property had been almost completely logged.


1930.jpg



By 1940 something was growing there. Bobpbx gave a suggestion of Hay which may be correct.


1940.jpg



http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...st=33&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=102397577&df=all&




Our first point of interest was located by Piney Warden and it was almost completely underground unlike the other AL stones we have found. I had to dig to see the inscribed AL.



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From there we moved on to the next stone which was not inscribed with letters. I believe that the letters were there but the stone itself has been wearing away eliminating the letters.


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From there we traveled about 1000 feet to the next location where the stone was seriously tilted. However, the AL was intact making it an interesting looking stone.


IMG_2132.JPG




Here is Al checking out AL.


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On our way to the last location we came upon a clearing where someone has been cutting down large trees. In that clearing Piney Warden and myself discovered this metal contraption. Piney Warden instantly recognized it as a "Scratch Harrow." This was used to scrape fields for Hay or other types of plants such as that. This may confirm that Bob's theory mentioned above was indeed correct.


IMG_2138.JPG



A mystery then arose when I noticed that on the Scratch Harrow was duct tape still in fairly good condition. Did someone find this piece of equipment there and use it to clear the clearing there? What was the reason for this? I suspect we will never know.


IMG_2139.JPG



And finally we found our last stone along a ditch on the edge of the property. The letters again were missing from either natural damage or human damage when the ditch was dug.


IMG_2142.JPG



The stone count is as follows for the AL stones. I believe there were 9 and we have found 7. The two we have not found were most likely taken. If I learn of more I will certainly update this thread.


It was a great day with great conversations, and I hope to explore with Piney Warden and manumuskin again this coming year.


Guy
 
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PINEY WARDEN

PINEY WARDEN

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Jan 13, 2012
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I had a wonderful time out in the woods today! Thanks again Guy, Al, and Jessica! It is always nice to explore a different area. I look forward to the next adventure. :) Al, I am still trying to find your chisel you used to write your name on them! :D
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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You are right, that tape is really odd. Suppose someone had it as a lawn ornament, then decided to trash it? How far off the hard road is this?
 
Teegate

Teegate

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It was too far in to have been just trashed. It was an odd area that was cleared with big trees cut with a chain saw.
 
Teegate

Teegate

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All,

I did not have much time and was not able to get the final answer to the question of who AL is. However, I do have some information.

In 1974 the Hedger House property was owned by George and Vera Nayshkin along with George and Odessa Leoniak. They had purchased it that year from Hazel and Alfred Sweet. The Sweet's had purchased the "Hedger House Tract" as it was called from Cosmo Fantozi on 10/15/1948. At that point I had to leave but I did see that at one time the property was owned by Mitchell Ritzendollar. I am unsure of the date on that. The Ritzendollar name was quite prevalent in Chatsworth years ago and you can see many of the tombstones in the cemetery nearby.

However, I did do a search of Albert LeDuc for property purchases and the result was a resounding zero. I found nothing. I did find plenty of purchases by Constant LeDuc who I believe was his father. I may be wrong and will have to check on that. There is a possibility Albert never purchased anything and may have inherited each of those properties. But I still have not traced any LeDuc as having ownership of the Hedger House property. I am very poor at this type of research and will try again some other time.


Guy
 
Teegate

Teegate

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Jerseyman,

I guess I don't need the help now as you have narrowed it down quite well. I do appreciate all of the historical information you have given me in these matters. I would have never came up with that name.

Guy
 
L

Lynn Cremona

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Feb 9, 2016
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Neptune
I have been taking photos of plants in the Pine Barrens. Just came across your posts on incised stones. Fascinating ! Where Can I find out more history about them ? Lynn
 
Teegate

Teegate

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Lynn Cremona said:
I have been taking photos of plants in the Pine Barrens. Just came across your posts on incised stones. Fascinating ! Where Can I find out more history about them ? Lynn
Click to expand...


You would have to trace the property history back at the county clerks office. Not an easy thing to do unless you are Jerseyman or someone who knows the ins and outs of the system.
 
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C

Chatsworthian

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Dec 27, 2016
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Thank you for sharing this post. I came across one of the A+L stones in the middle of a cedar swamp area and was wondering what the marker was for.
 
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