Oak Island – More Clues

Season 10 of The Curse of Oak Island continues to show new discoveries and theories.

This week on Oak Island they first showed the latest developments in the swamp and the Garden Shaft.

In the Garden Shaft they started clearing out the final ten feet so they could finish the reconstruction.

In the swamp they continued to investigate the new rock feature that seems to gently ramp up from the paved area to the stone road.

While metal detecting on Lot 5 they found another nail and also something that really surprised them.

Curse of Oak Island, History Channel, Did they find anything?Of course, one thing to remember is that the dig season is already over. They have taken the time to determine how to present things each week to build suspense and keep viewers tuned in.

oak Island, Money Pit, Mahone BayThe item that they found on lot five with metal detecting turned out to be a round coin like object made of lead. Perhaps it was a trade token, and more investigation was scheduled. The piece has two holes through the disc and has scalloped edges.

On Lot 5 they also looked at a round depression that seems to be lined with stones. It looks a bit like a circular foundation and they will start to investigate it to find out more. It was first shown to Laird more than 20 years ago, but has been unavailable for investigation until the recent acquisition of the lot.

Curse of Oak Island, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

In the war room, they met with an Italian researcher whose research including looking at what is called the Cremona document. The document possibly mentions Oak Island as it talks about an island of Oak across the sea. Perhaps the Templars stored a treasure on the island as they fled Europe looking for a safe haven.  This would’ve happened about 150 years before Columbus.

The researcher also talked about an old document that was recently found. It was written decades before the voyages of Columbus and mentioned trips to what is today North America. He also mentioned that he had just found out that he has gained access to the Vatican archives which are a treasure trove of early documents that have not been reviewed for centuries.

oak island, curse of oak lsland, satellite, money pitBack at the Garden Shaft they found a wooden barrel hoop at a depth of 70 feet as they were cleaning out the shaft. They also started drilling test holes to find if anything is close to the shaft.

As the swamp has continued to dry out, they are looking closer at the paved area and doing some more metal detecting. They also found a wood item that is hand cut which may help to date the area.

They found that the metal composition signature of the round lead piece is similar to an item that could possibly connect to Roman mines on Sardinia off the coast of Italy.


Update: I finally remembered what the lead piece reminded me of. It is a good possibility that it is a hem weight or something similar. In Oak Island talk, it looks exactly like a hem weight.

Hem weights would have been used with uniforms to keep them in place during high winds or swift movement. They could also have been used in numerous other ways to simply weigh things down to keep them in place. The two holes would have been used to attach them to fabric (similar to attaching a button) or any other item.


In the preview of the next episode they showed the round depression on Lot 5 being measured and it is the same size as the Money Pit. Perhaps there is some connection. They also talked about find the oldest metal object so far in the swamp and also someone talking about 5th century Rome. What did they find?

Steven

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Amish Genealogy Books

Tonight I will re-share a few of my best Amish genealogy books. These are the ones that I use the most when I am trying to trace Amish ancestry. I have been using them tonight to trace several families. This is something I posted before, but I have made a few small changes.

Amish Genealogy, Jacob Hochstetler, Descendants, Harvey HostetlerThe first and oldest is Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler by Harvey Hostetler. This genealogy was compiled in the early 1900’s and was published in 1911.

The book has information on about 9,000 families that are descendants of Jacob Hochstetler. There is also an appendix that covers other families that were related to or intermarried with the Hochstetler family. These have been helpful as I have researched the German Brethren branches of my family.

The book is also know as DJH and is referenced in many other Amish genealogy resources.

I bought my copy of the book while attending a Yoder family reunion in Arthur, Illinois. It has been worth every penny of the $26 I paid for it at the time.

Barbara Hochstedler, Christian Stutzman, Amish Genealogy, Harvey Hostetler, GenealogyDescendants of Barbara Hochstedler and Christian Stutzman was also compiled by Harvey Hostetler.

After the release of DJH, Harvery found that Barbara Stutzman was the daughter of Jacob Hochstedler. He then compiled a genealogy of her descendants.

With more than 15,000 entries, it is even larger than DJH, but was published in 1938, so contains another generation of descendants.

This book is referred to as DBH in other Amish genealogies and also refers back to families in the DJH book by number.

I bought this one at the same time as DJH and paid $32 for it.

Amish, Mennonite, Genealogy, Hugh F. Gingerich, Rachel W. KreiderThe best resource for Amish genealogy that I have is Amish and Amish Mennonite Genealogies by Hugh F. Gingerich and Rachel W. Kreider.

Originally published in 1986, I purchased my copy in 1992 at the Gospel Bookstore in Berlin, Ohio. I paid $60 for the book, but it has been worth the cost. I have used it to help many others learn about their Amish or Mennonite ancestors.

In the numbering system of this book my grandfather would be YR26116955.

Amish Settlements, David Luthy, Amish in America, Settlements that FailedAnother great source is The Amish in America: Settlements That Failed 1840-1960 by David Luthy.

I purchased my copy for $19 at the Gordonville Book Store while visiting Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1991. The book was published in 1986 and is full of genealogical information on the families that were part of settlements that failed.

This book has really helped me learn more about the different places some of my Amish ancestors lived. One of my Amish ancestors, John A. Miller, lived in at least six states.

I have also used information from this book in posts about Amish in California, Amish in Oregon, Amish in Oklahoma and Amish in New Orleans. Someday I will get around to writing about Amish in some of the other states.

Do you have Amish ancestry?

Steven

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