I found this to be so cool! I can't wait to see the contents once its opened.
Paul Revere's 1795 time capsule unearthed
Paul Revere's 1795 time capsule unearthed
By Kevin Conlon, CNN
updated 8:45 PM EST, Fri December
12, 2014
CNN-- Paul
Revere hasn't stirred up this much anticipation in Boston since his midnight
ride from Charlestown to Lexington.
More than
two centuries later, a recently unearthed time capsule he buried with fellow revolutionary
Samuel Adams -- the man whom Revere was riding to see that night to warn that
the British were coming -- has got his former city, state and most of the
Internet abuzz.
The
artifact was unearthed Thursday thanks to a water leak near its resting place
inside a cornerstone at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
When
workers investigating the leak stumbled upon it, Secretary of State William
Galvin, who heads the state historical commission, called Pamela Hatchfield,
the head of object conservation at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
"There
was a big discussion about whether or not it should be removed,"
Hatchfield told Brooke Baldwin on "CNN Newsroom" on Friday.
"(But) because there was water infiltration in that area of the building,
it was decided that we'd try to see if we could find it, investigate and see
whether the box was still intact."
Hatchfield
spent seven hours Thursday delicately and painstakingly chipping away at the
stone to extricate it.
"The
contents are of concern, but the plaster that held the box in place is in good
condition," Galvin said.
According
to Galvin, the box-shaped capsule was placed by the Revolutionary-era duo in
1795, a year when Adams was governor and when construction began on the State
House and its iconic dome, which would eventually be overlaid with copper by
Revere.
Both he and
Hatchfield said that based on historical records, the box is believed to
contain coins, a plate and a Revere-inscribed plaque -- but no one knows for
sure.
"It
may contain other stuff, too," said Galvin. "We don't know that
yet."
But we
might soon: Galvin, whose office is inside the State House, said the capsule's
contents are expected to be revealed sometime next week.
For now,
it's getting some TLC and a thorough exam -- including X-rays over the weekend
-- by the museum's staff.
This is not
the first time this capsule was unearthed. In 1855 it was dug up during
emergency repairs to the State House and put back in place, something that has
Hatchfield "a little worried."
"We're
a little worried because in 1855, they cleaned the contents with acid,"
she said. "So we're a little concerned that things maybe deteriorated
inside."
Galvin
sounded more optimistic.
"There
were some coins that were tossed in the 1855 ceremony in the mix of the mortar.
They are in good condition, so we are optimistic that the box itself has
withstood the test of time and that it will therefore be holding the contents
securely," he said.
Galvin told
CNN affiliate WBZ the capsule will probably be returned to the State House, and
that he's mulling both a new container for the capsule and new items from the
current era.
~From January 6, 2015:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Time capsule
dating to 1795 included coins, newspapers
By STEVE LeBLANC
Associated Press | 01.06.15 | 2:12
AM
BOSTON (AP) — Early residents of
Boston valued a robust press as much as their history and currency if the
contents of a time capsule dating back to the years just after the
Revolutionary War are any guide.
When conservators at the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston gingerly removed items from the box Tuesday, they found five
tightly folded newspapers, a medal depicting George Washington, a silver
plaque, two dozen coins, including one dating to 1655, and the seal of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
While some of the coins appeared
corroded, other items were in good condition and fingerprints could be seen on
the silver plaque.
The capsule was embedded in a
cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse when construction began in 1795. It
was placed there by Revolutionary era luminaries including Paul Revere and
Samuel Adams, governor of Massachusetts at the time.
The contents were shifted to what
was believed to be a copper box in 1855 and placed back into the foundation of
Statehouse. The box remained there until it was rediscovered last year during
an ongoing water filtration project at the building. The box was actually
brass, according to conservators.
The oldest coin in the box was a
1652 ‘‘Pine Tree Schilling,’’ made at a time when the colony didn’t have royal
authority to create its own currency. Pine trees were a valuable commodity at
the time. The trees were used as ship masts. And
at the bottom, an inscribed rectangular silver plate, "probably made by
Paul Revere and engraved by him," Rogers said.
Experts
say they haven't been able to confirm whether Paul Revere made the silver
plate, which commemorates the placement of the legislature's cornerstone by
Adams and Revere on July 4, 1795.
Michael Comeau, executive director
of the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum, said he has seen the
coins offered for as much at $75,000, although given the context of this
particular coin and the association with Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, the
value would likely be much higher.
The newspapers were folded in such a way that the names of the publications weren’t always visible, but one might have been a copy of the Boston Evening Traveller — a newspaper operation that was eventually absorbed into the current Boston Herald.
The newspapers were folded in such a way that the names of the publications weren’t always visible, but one might have been a copy of the Boston Evening Traveller — a newspaper operation that was eventually absorbed into the current Boston Herald.
A portion of one of the papers that
was visible showed a listing of the arrivals of whalers from various ports to
Boston. Conservators didn’t try to unfold the papers.
Pam Hatchfield, the head of objects
conservation for the museum, removed each item using a slew of tools including
her grandfather’s dental tool. Hatchfield said the paper in the box was in
‘‘amazingly good condition.’’
Massachusetts state Secretary
William Galvin said he expects the items will be on display at the museum for a
period of time, but that eventually they will again be returned to the
foundation to be discovered by a future generation of Bay State residents.
Officials
are considering adding something contemporary for future generations to
discover.
Galvin said he didn’t know if modern
items might be added to the foundation.
Comeau said the objects in the box
are a bridge back in time.
‘‘This is the stuff of history,’’ he
said.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Speaking of history, read my blog post about Paul Revere HERE
.
No comments:
Post a Comment