Saving History Makes Historic Recovery at Smith-McDowell House

The Smith-McDowell House in Asheville, NC was built in 1833 by Col. Daniel Smith on a land grant he received as a Revolutionary War veteran. The Smith-McDowell House was once the home of mayors, a Civil War major, and friends of the Vanderbilts. Rescued from destruction, Asheville's oldest surviving dwelling is now a National Register property and a window into how life was lived here in the 19th century.

Within History, there are always stories, myths, and legends. Many times, however, they are just that...stories...passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. Many times, the facts get skewed and there is most often no physical evidence to substantiate the story. One such story exists with the Smith-McDowell House. It is said that a young girl that lived in the home around the turn of the century had lost a small gold ring after dropping or throwing it from a second story window. The ring was a gift from her parents. She feared getting in trouble for losing the ring and never told anyone about it. This brings us to August 19, 2012. Mike Post, of Woodland Detectors, had organized several detectorists, under the direction of the museum curator, to participate in a relic recovery project on site. All finds would be donated back to the museum. Saving History was fortunate to participate in this project.

After a couple of hours of digging my digging partner, Russ Hebert had recovered a nice eagle button, and I had dug a kepi buckle, spoon handle, 1800s Indian Head penny, lantern parts, etc. I worked my way around the front of the house in the vicinity of the window that the ring was supposed to have been lost. Getting a low but repeatable target, I dug...last thing on my mind was "the ring"...I picked up the clump of dirt that held the target, picked away the dirt to reveal GOLD! Staring back at me was a small girls 10K gold ring with red stones (actually, only one red stone...two were missing). I texted Mike and sent him a picture of what I was holding. His reply, "OMG! Could it be?"

I cleaned it off, and Mike took it inside to give it to the museum curators. He told me that one of them started to cry when she saw it. Since the recovery, the museum researcher has confirmed the story with historical records, the ring has been taken to a jeweler to to confirm that it dates to the right time period (it did). And the find has become part of the tangible history of the Smith-McDowell House and Asheville, NC...it's no longer just a story.