Bookshelf feed and all of our podcasts on the free cspan no mobile video app, or wherever you get your podcasts, and our website, cspan. Org podcasts. Cspan shop. Org is cspans online store. Browse through our latest correction of than five products, apparel, books, home decor, and accessories. Theres something for every cspan fan, and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. Shop now, or anytime, at cspan shop. Org. Ive been subconsciously preparing this lecture for 33 years. The subject im about to delve into his so near and dear the thought of turning it into a talk wouldnt have occurred to me without a prompt, so id like to begin with some extraordinarily sincere thank yous. To matts kick, had a better, phil mead, and Scott Stevenson here at the museum of the american revolution. For approaching me with a request for a lecture on this subject for this particular audience, i think i may owe you all a beer. I was honored by your indication , and im very, very excited to be here but so how about a quick round of applause for the entire staff, including their hospitality staff, our wonderful hosts for putting this all together exit . Im going to go on the record and say that your scones are tastier than ron hursts. So. Is there anyone amongst us who has not heard of the legendary dual of calvert and bolton . To our particular sect of nerd them, theyre superheroes. They are, to us, what batman and robin are to comic geeks of all ages. They know is ridiculous to our 21stcentury sensibilities, rather than leotards and a cape, our gents did their best work clad in starched collars, neckties, and thick wool. William Lewis Calvert grew up along the hudson river near west point, and had been interested in history since youth. His profession was that of a railway machinist, and he worked for what would become the new york city subway system until his retirement in 1930. By the mid1880s, calvert was spending his free time roaming northern manhattan in search of objects left behind by native americans, and by the late 1880s, the revolutionary war soldiers who lived there. During his lifetime, he had some fame as an authority on and collector of the literary buttons. At the time, such a hobby was considered a gentlemanly pursuit, a can to coin collecting. Britishborn reginald pella and bolton came to the United States when he was 23, and finally settle in new york in 1894. By profession, bolton was an engineer, and consulted with new york Citys Department of water supply, Grand Central terminal, and even macys. He was also an early preservationist, having led an Unsuccessful Campaign to save the home of naturalist John James Audubon in 1931. Holden did help save a few others, though, and his legacy is still evident today. With interests almost identical to calverts, its no surprise they became best days and partners in pursuit of early manhattan relics, the bolton was much more of a prolific author. Here are two of his long, out ofprint titles, which are must haves for todays revolutionary antiquery. I highly recommend picking up a copy of each, and i know for a fact that digital copies of relics of the revolution can be downloaded for free. Our twosome is indelibly linked to a 1950 New York HistoricalSociety Publication with a long title. History written with pick and shovel, military buttons, badges , and other relics excavated from colonial revolutionary and war of 1812 campsites, Yada Yada Yada yada. But thats now commonly referred to as simply calvert and bolton. But this indispensable book appeared years after its namesakes had passed away. The tome is a compendium of select articles published over the course of decades and brought together under one set of covers with a gem of an introduction and an especially useful index. Though it may be tempting to think so, calvert and bolton, the book, represents the tip of the informational iceberg left behind by the team. There is much more waiting to be studied and shared in the form of photographs, maps, records, and the recovered relics themselves. Now, one caveat. My goal for today is not to regurgitate what can be found within the publications, but to provide an updated perspective on some of their work and hope that i solid reexamination of the corpus may be considered, and perhaps brought to fruition in time. This topic is way too big for a lecture. So ill be covering one of the more important strategic areas explored by our stars at the extreme northern tip of manhattan. As the crow flies, the sites im going to discuss our 11 or 12 miles from what was then considered new york city at the southern tip of manhattan, wrested from the rebels in late 1776. Now, i prepared this slide specifically, little bit for you, but a lot for todd bracelet, who had the audacity not to show up. So. But it is true, i am a mets fan. So. Nothing illustrates the considerable distance in 18th century terms between these sites in the city better than the outrageously skilled headquarters map of 1782. During the revolution, it wouldve taken hours, either by land or water, to get from one to the other. One has to ask, what the heck was all this going on way the heck up there . Zooming in on the headquarters map, we see this place was essentially a well fortified complex. Its key geographic feature is speight and diebel, or spitting double creek, which connects the hudson and harlem rivers and is hemmed in on its north and east banks by heights and clips. Youll also see there are, in close proximity, four crossing points, one fairy and three bridges. One of these constructions, well known to us rev war types, gave the area its period name, kingsbridge. And it was the defensive kingsbridge which provided the rich marshall quarry for our dynamic duo. New york city was the ultimate war booty prize by the british, and washington and the Continental Congress salivated at the thought of taking it back. But could they actually do so even after frances entry into the war following the victories of saratoga . Britain was not going to gamble losing her wartime state of operations. New york harbor could be defended by the royal navy and its shoreline defenses, what about a land attack . That would have to come from the north. Emanating from rebel positions at west point and the hudson highlands, perhaps combined with forces based in rhode island. For this to work, number eight. Im on the right slide. I always have paranoia about that. For this to work, washington would have to get his army onto manhattan island, and amphibious questioning of either the hudson or the east river wouldve been suicidal. That left the four crossing that kingsbridge is the only viable avenues from which to besiege new york city. Defending them was all important to the crown. The kingsbridge military zone successfully kept the land attack on the british held city at an arms length from november 1776 until they left for home in late 1783. So today, were going to look at just four of these sites, not necessarily chosen for their strategic importance, but by the nature of the goodies discovered there by our guys. We wont have time for future number five on the screen, Fort Washington. Though it yielded a treasure trove of material, like 500 buttons. But it wasnt really part of the kingsbridge crossing defenses. And theres too much traffic in the area anyway. We dont want to go there. Im going to assume this watercolor is familiar to many folks here today. If not, dont worry. It will be. Executed by captain thomas of the royal artillery, it is often presented at face value as a view of the british attack on Fort Washington in november of 1776. Were going to use it differently. As a unique snapshot at the site of the upcoming at the fortification in cantonment at kingsbridge, taken from what is now fordham heights in the bronx. If youre reckless enough to dodge traffic on the major deacon, you can go to the same spot davies made his watercolor from print the vista is noticeably built up, but much of the topography is recognizable under its thick urban veneer. Thrown into our mix will be a few remarkable maps created by bolton between 1905 and 1920. With the exception of one at New York Historical, the others reside in relative obscurity in the papers of the American Geographical Society at the university of wisconsin milwaukee. 27 spices maps up with tantalizing notations, using a swashbuckling cartographers x to mark the spot where they found things like part of a howitzer. Halbert, and a button of the first pennsylvania discovered near a knife. If youre interested, check out uwms website, where you can download highresolution copies of four of boltons treasure maps for free. Our first site is a misnamed place which yielded the greatest hall of historic materials and data of all the sites calver and bolton explored, the socalled hetkamp of the 17th regiment. Calver found boltons buttons of said unit there as early as 1890, and bolton dedicated two chapters to it in relics of the revolution. Three chapters discussing the camp headed up history written with pick and shovel, to which must be added a file of photographs taken by calver , another map by bolton, and two Oil Paintings by john ward dunsmore. Over time, their names at the site varied. It started out during the world war i years as the hot camp on the dikeman farm, morphed into the 17th regiment hot camp, and finally the greenhill camp by the early 1920s. While the first and last are technically correct in describing the location as it was variously referred to during the revolution, it wasnt exclusive to the 17th regiment by any means. But im willing to keep using it for convenience sake today, so i hope everybody will forgive me. Now, the list of units which recorded there, and how long they stayed, has yet to be fully sussed out. If the buttons are any indication, we could be looking at a dozen or so regiments spending seven years of war time. Until the northern tentacles of the new york city subway and elevated train system reached the once kingsbridge and now in what area, it was rural and sparsely populated. The lx marks the same general place in all three photographs, by the way. This is where our heroes wandered, unknowingly in search of each other, with eyes glued to the dirt and any eroded slope they could access. Shortly after world war i, it was all graded away, or semi permanently obscured. The heart of the hut camp was ably depicted as it appeared during the revolution by john ward dunsmore, an artist and illustrator who also labored at the site under the direction of calver and bolton. You may recognize this as the color piece from relics of the revolution, but you probably have not seen its companion canvas, executed at the same time, but showing the vista as it was in 1915. Central to both is a lone tree, perhaps representing the same one, intended by dunsmore to suggest the passage of 135 years. Unhealthy, this ancient apple is prominent in many of the photographs taken during the excavation of the unkempt. It is a survivor of what was once an orchard on the prerevolutionary dikeman track, and is a key reference to anyone studying calver and boltons visual and documentary materials. Were going to see it again later. As dunsmore created his polychrome views, bolton was hard at work drafting a series of maps of the camp. Superimposed at the lower right is a detail of a redraft of a wartime drawing done by lieutenant von kraft of regiment von both in 1779. It shows the hillside with a smattering of huts labeled, camp of the 17th english regiment, which had been taken prisoners, in reference to the unfortunate event at stoney point. But it also reveals the reason why calver and bolton slight misnomer for the camp got into our vernacular. So much has changed over the last hundred four years that its very difficult to understand the location and layout of the camp when standing on site or looking at it on google. Then empty spaces are now completely built over or forested, the ground has been regraded, structures have been demolished, streets have been removed, and new ones cut in. With the help of some contemporary survey maps and calvers photographs, i decided to update boltons plan, early for my own grandson giggled, and partly to enable modern enthusiasts to wrap their brains around the topical graphical vehicles. The strength of the bottom of the map are largely unchanged, while the main uphill lane in the camp has been altered from prescott avenue to payson avenue , and has acquired a sharp bend towards the middle of the map. Its four houses are frequently visible in the dig photos, i plotted them to scale on the updated version. Please note the blue dash at the top. A rock outcropping visible in so many of the old views. This humongous formation of manhattan shifts is the only as it was future of the campground accessible today. If you want to see it, youll have to hop the wall running along payson avenue and bushwhacker a few yards into tryon hill park. Though its completely treat over now, you cannot miss it. All right, i got a little carried away with this slide. Since calver and bolton really rubs my engines and power points and things my ocd, i couldnt resist slapping thumbnails of, you know, some of the houses and camp landmarks on this map. Just as a side note, if anybody wants a copy of this digitally, i am happy to send it to you. If youre similarly afflicted, im willing to share, so. But this slightly dysfunctional panorama is a photoshopped composite of three of calvers images. It is rare in that it was taken from the foot of the rock outcropping along prescott avenue, with the photographers location marked by a red x on the thumbnail. At left is the payson residence, called the mans on boltons map, and we see huts number 51 in the process of being dug out in the foreground. These shots will illustrate the sloping ground the british heard their camp into. It is a perfect spot with good water, situated on the leeward side of a ridge with offered some protections from the winds and winter weather, stopping coming from the west. Here we see a better day for our sweaty and ticket bitten adventurers. Bolton tells us why. The rows of huts lay in three lines about 33 feet, or, say, half a chain apart, and the central line on which so far nine huts had been located was a very nearly parallel to the roadway of prescott avenue as constructed. This indicated that both had followed the natural topography of the ground, and at the present rough lane may even have been the successor of a camp pathway. The distance between those huts which lay nearest to each other along that line seem to have been 30 to 33 feet. A presumable third row was staked out, starting from the most recent find under the mulberry tree, and having worked with large cards on stakes all the hot sites, a large photograph was taken of the entire area on sunday, september 6, 1914. Now, you have to look really hard, but you can see the little white rectangles. Denoting hut sites that are slithering their way up the hill. Build a stone fireplace, one prescott avenue that at the juncture of one of the paths traversing the slope is number one, or a, on the map. History written with pick and shovel pelvis of an interesting find there, one which held my interest by decades. 1200 soldiers buttons, which had been strung up on a cord and fall in beside the heart, word found in a dugout hut. The iron shanks of the buttons as aligned by the court had rusted together. The buttons pertains to the 52nd regiment of foot. More information is to be gleaned from boltons note , still attached to the back of the frame housing a photograph of the dig and 11 of the 57 recommend bhajans. They were found on may 24th, 1914, along with buttons of the 14th and 17th regiments. But the best 52nd regiment button was later removed for an exhibition of a complete numbered set of british buttons found by the pair. No, they didnt sell it on ebay. While the bulk of calver and boltons contributions to the study of rev war material culture came in the area of buttons unbilled place, they did make a unique find, a pair of identical infantry hanger guards. Rod of iron, they are distinctive, and mimic some of the popular semi basket helps of the last half of the 1770s with a d guard and two outward branches. But these are plain, differentiating them from more expensive peers patterns made for senior ncos and officers. How many of you recognize this photo, captioned mementos of conflict on the hill, at right . I stared at it for years for i noticed the proverbial copper light in the punch bowl. Can anybody spot that . Come on, theres got to be ace geek here. No . Really . See this thing . Thats a baker rifle sword band from the 1810 period. Now, last i checked, thats not rev war. So im just going to assume that when bolton was writing this caption, he couldnt lay his hands on his copy, you know . Okay, back to our relic hills. We know that british privates and corporals stopped carrying hangers a few years before the war, but grenadiers and sergeants continued to do so if regimental brass thought it proper. Having two suggests, both guards belonged to the same unit, often described nowadays to the 17 foot based on calver and boltons misleading name for the camp. The hangers couldve belonged to any of the many infantry regiments which were camp there they look to be fairly well preserved, and i want to see if theyve got a punch rack number , as observed on a few of the surviving intact swords. Wouldnt it be neat if both the calver and bolton relics and the complete hangers share a Common Company in weapon numbering system . The intact example onscreen is number 30 in company i, in no the ellensburgs example is number eight in company age. We do need to look for a few more to begin theorizing exactly what the swords represent. There are some things about them which suggests to me, using just my spidey senses, that these may have been made in ireland. Which could potentially narrow it down the ownership will to the regiments which came to america from the emerald isle. And yes, 17th regiment is one of them. So as the war to end all wars wound down, so did calver and bolton excavation at the hot camp of the 17th regiment, a. K. A. The hot camp on the dikeman farm, a. K. A. The hot camp honoring hill. By 1918, the team had identified and excavated 64 huts. With countless others going undiscovered or destroyed before their arrival on site. Lets move to the banks of the harlem river, and the house built by jan naegele younger in 1736, as attested to by its stakes own, now in the collection of the dikeman Farmhouse Museum. By the time the spot was explored following the turnof thecentury, it was a burned out shell. Sadly, the house had been derelict for years, and in an attempt to save it by moving it elsewhere, it failed. Davies give us a focused view of the naval complex at lower right. Typical for dutch homes built in what was once new netherlands, it had a number of projections and outbuildings associated with the main house. With a fulllength porch, a sunny southern exposure, and a beautiful breeze cloaked river, it was an attractive spot in the 1770s. British officers of importance and their associated guard adopted his home while stationed at kingsbridge. Bolden deemed the site significant enough to give it its own chapter in relics of the revolution, dedicating six pages and one illustration to record this austerity of their discoveries. Id like to draw your attention to a little structure circled on davies view. The stone and Brick Foundation is this tiny building, was revealed by our diggers between 1905 in 1907. And bolden told us, quite a harvest of old objects lay within the space. A quantity of old barrel hoops, which had held together barrel of liquor, powder, and flour, lay around, and among them two naps and the hammer of several flintlock muskets. In the fireplace lay to 16 pound navy bar shots, which had evidently been used as fire dogs, with the charcoal of the last fire kindled about them. Below the sandy floor lay a speaking reminder of the revolution, a large part of an exploded shell, which had burst through the building and buried itself deep below. I dont know if i buy that. But well go with it. Other goodies were uncovered within the subterranean traces of the outbuilding. Calver bolton further elaborates, some british penny pieces of george ii and sundry bullets told us the presence of british troops, but the most undisputed evidence is of their onetime presence where the numbered pewter buttons of the tory regiment of the royal credentials and by the steps. Buttons of the 23rd welsh future leaders during the three feathers of the principality and others of the 30th 57 foot regiments. Now, heres one of those very 23rd fuse of their buttons. Not only was its fine story published, but accompanying photograph of bolton actually digging out the steps of the nagel outbuilding were taken. How this battered button survived , fixed with red sealing wax to the inscribed, calver amounted to 116 years ago is beyond me. Perhaps its condition wasnt good enough to be popped free and improved violator owner. Now, this button is one of my personal possessions, and its one of my absolute favorite things, and has been for more than 30 years, for a number of reasons. Yes, it is a tangible link to one of britains best regiments. And the revolutionary war and occupying new york city, and certainly to calver and bolton. But its not really because of those reasons. Its because of the trade i did which brought me, in the 1980s, to drive to connecticut, and i got to meet don try any in person. I was kind of starstruck. I was in my 20s. Don is now my, my oldest friend in the rev war collecting community, and hes one of my closest friends. On top of all its history, this button reminds me of one of the most important and influential relationships of my adult life, and, by the way, hes right here. Its going to be in my pocket later, if you want to see it as were drinking. Ive got it sealed with tape, so scotch will not sleep in and destroy the in. Now, if this talk inspires you to walk the streets, hills, and open spaces of inwood, dont bother trying to find the site of the nagel house. Youll get arrested for trespassing. Yeah. The whole area was bulldozed in the 1920s, and the spot is now under the rail yards of calvers employer, new york city subway system. Moving south and ascending 200 feet from the valley floor, we come to the site of fort george , also recorded by davies in 1776. Long referred to as laurel hill, it was then home to a pair of rebel readouts we see firing futilely on the british light infantry as they roll in. Once these battalions were ashore, the pennsylvanians on the hillside abandoned their posts, and the lights advanced. Their positions would remain in british for the rest of the war, and would be drastically expanded into an integral part of the areas defenses. As you can see, these heights commended the valley and river below. For reference, the yellow star marks the site of the nagel house, and the red one the Ferry Landing. And talk about that in a few minutes. By 1900, a pony track occupy the side of the lower readout to the north of fort george, once referred to as fort clinton, which is not to be confused with the rebel fort of the same name further up the river. Fort georges namesake stuck with the neighborhood, which was to become home of this abomination of amusement, shortly after calver and bolton explored the site. Once it disappeared during world war i, the karen George Washington high school was built on the site, returning some dignity to the hallowed ground. Within the front gate of the School Remains a portion of the boulder plated in boltons 1922 history of Washington Heights , where he laments it as the last trace of fort george. To house the garrison atop laurel hill, a great camp was erected right outside of the ramparts to the west. The ground was to become a very interesting vegetable garden, where one could harvest right regimental buttons and dull plates, with surprisingly little cultivation. Sounding much more enticing than lettuce or celery, calver and boltons bounty ripped in may or june of 1960 included pocketknives, poorly preserved canteens, british buttons of the fourth, 14th, 28th, 38, 48, 44th, 57th, 63rd, 65th, and 76 regiments. Previous to that spring, the only known belt plate of the on spot beiruts regiments artillery company, now in the collection of New York Historical society, was found by the gardener, a mr. Hoffman. By the early 1780s, the complex at fort george was the 8000 pound gorilla guarding the valley and its final crossings from the south. While those to the north were bridges, the crossing right under its bristling nose with a landing. , described by von kraft in 1779 to someone named holland. Just a wooden spit of land jutting into the harlem river in 1776, we see there was nothing of any consequence occupying the point then. On boltons map of 1905, the place was labeled as the camp of the 10th and 37th regiments. Finds indicative of an extensive military presence there included usa buttons, soldiers buttons of the third guards, the fourth, fifth, 10th, 17th, 23rd, 62nd, and 64th regiments, in addition to those of the royal credentials and officers buttons of the 26, 33rd, 37th, and, oddly enough, the second and third dragoons. Open then discover the Head Quarters map because his 1906 plan of the point shows the dock and the date 1782. He says as much in relics of the revolution, demonstrating his compulsion to get things right. Bolton also included outlines of the four huts which are inked in red on the original headquarters map, and the road leading to the landing he labeled military road to hollins ferry. Clearly, this was much more than a picturesque for a pair of yellow faced british regiments. At the southernmost crossing in the zone, it was a key strategic point, attested to by the complete build over the british gave the spot, and the diversity of materials calver and bolton found there. Hollins was a rope drawn ferry, and an essential part of the line of retreat for those soldiers based across the river along the height of boredom. The extreme frontline facing rebel held territory to the north. Furthermore, any supply shipped upriver from new york could be landed at holland stock and distributed to the garrison on both sides of the waterway, making the spot an essential part of kingsbridges lifeline. Weve taken a peek at a measly four sites of dozens explored by calver and bolton , but this isnt about topography or old topography, its about acquiring materials related to the revolutionary war, and the objects gathered into a collection, for some reason, be at the educational benefit of others or just personal satisfaction. So lets now. And talk about the artifacts recovered by calver, bolton, and friends. True, the duo gets all the credit, but anyone who has seen the photographs of their digs no they didnt do it alone as i call it, bill and dredges most excellent adventure started out small and slow. They were acting on their own behalf, accumulating treasures and fostering recognition over the years, while attracting a team of dedicated helpers. Im sure youre wondering what quantities of goodies were found by calver and bolton , and where are they all now . If youve not read both relics of the revolution and history written with pick and shovel, you may be frustrated to learn that they seldom get specific quantities of anything they find , like regimental buttons. My impression is that they found a few thousand. Yes, thousand. Between 1890 and the early 1920s. Many of which were probably too far gone to be preserved. Well never know exactly, but the number recovered is simply staggering, especially when compared to the way Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists find them in just ones and twos. One must consider the way such relics were viewed a century ago, being more of a curiosity than a commodity, and with little or no cash value. In most cases, the team recovered multiple specimens, and had a depth of redundancy. What was found became the personal property of the finders , who freely gave, sold, and traded the materials to other interested parties. Up until 1918, that is, when the New York Historical society brought the parent of the official fold by creating the field Exploration Committee, with calver as chairman and bolton as secretary. The Committee Also included historical artist john ward dunsmore, and oscar t. Mark, youll hear a little bit more later. From that point forward, all recovered serials became the property of New York Historical society. Calver and bolton recovered materials , found homes on both sides of the atlantic. Buttons of the 17th regiment, along with calvers illustrated writeup of that hot camp, were given to the museum of the leicestershire resident, the descendent regiment of the 17th foot, while one of the guard belt plate, not this particular specimen, was donated to the guards museum in london. Lewis said lohse amelio, a now forgotten hero, serve as cabin in the 54th massachusetts volunteer infantry. The second allblack regiment raised by the union during the civil war. He emerged from the attack on fort wagner and command of the regiment since every other officer was killed or wounded. Now, if you remember Matthew Broderick as colonel Robert Gould Shaw and glory, yeah. That. Thats the event were talking about. He was there. Emilio was a rabid button collector, and was long in contact with calver. In 1911, he donated his collection of 1569 military buttons spanning three centuries to the Ethics Institute in salem, mass. Todays Peabody Essex museum. As for the terms of the gift, the ethics issued a partly illustrated catalog of the collection. It was to become the standard reference work on revolutionary war buttons until history written with pick and shovel was released in 1950. Published under the title, the emilio collection of military buttons, the authors introduction gives detailed insight into the mind of a highly sophisticated late 19th century collector who was also a military man. Of the revolutionary war buttons amelio collected, 46 came from camps in new york city, including those marked on screen with a little star. He says this about the kingsbridge area. The region was the most fruitful field of british army buttons in this, or probably any other country. For no other known place to the writer were so many quartered and temporary structures for so long a time during hostilities. The various british, prudential, and german regiments were frequently changed. They were practically in the field in the debris of the camps discarded utensils, broken crockery, glass, rum bottles, clay pipes, metal parts of the swords, equipment, and rubbish of every kind was gathered into refuge seeps or buried to clear the ground. In the localities and in company with such objects, the button generally were found. The cloth of the uniforms having disappeared. They were turned out of the ground while cultivating the soil in excavation for foundations and opening streets. At this time, and subsequently, several localities in this region were visited, and relations established with people there, which resulted in the purchase of many buttons. Others were also secured through exchanges, and a small but valuable lot of about 25 was purchased, including the beautifully designed button of the second dragoons, the 16th light dragoons, and a remarkably preserved one of the 23rd foot. Wl calvert, who had explored this region, was most helpful with donations, exchanges, and information. Three of the four dragoon buttons emilio obtained were from hollins Ferry Landing those three are all officers buttons, and two of them are from heavy calvary units which neville observed in america. The second and third dragoons. Theres a solid lead here. Has anyone looked for the officers from those two units who either transferred to or volunteered to serve the 16th or 17th light dragoons . I havent. I imagine the list of button losing candidates wouldnt be too big. I, i chris, brian just picked up his phone. By the time i finish this lecture, hell have the name. Yeah, i guarantee it, you know . Chris is on it. No doubt. Dangle the carrot, you know . A subject of bolton generosity was the still thriving dikeman Farmhouse Museum of about 1785, which stands as inwood is only structure of the revolutionary era. I want to draw your attention to the mansion to the left of the dikeman house in the 1890s view, which is actually built right smack in the middle of the socalled 17th regiment hot camp. Taking that into consideration, anybody want to guess whose house that was . Come on, somebody. No plexi im not making this stuff up. Yup. Actually, this is, this is with his, with his pet octopus. Thats my only gag slide. This is very unusual for me. So bolton was instrumental in the acquisition and preservation of the Dyckman House and it the quint renovation and furnishing. When it opens to the public in 1916, visitors were treated to the relic room, featuring an old timer display of many of boltons best objects, which he donated to the museum, and where they remain. When i first visited in the late 1980s, the relic room was still intact, but sadly, its gone now. Last year, i had the opportunity to go through the bolton artifacts at the dyckman, where they reside in the care of a very passionate and able staff. One or two of the original relic panels remain, but the real showstopper with the exquisitely mounted photo album , created by bolton to accompany the collection. I especially love this image of the apple tree at the center of the hut camp. Look how big an neural that is in 1916. Mustve been hundreds of years old then. Almost certainly from the 17th century. No doubt the soldiers who were stationed there during the revolution enjoyed its fruit and shade. In the garden behind the farmhouse is the soldiers hut, reconstructed, air quotes, by calver and bolton. Now, true, its, its a little cheesy by modern museum standards, but i really adore this. Almost all the stone and iron used in its construction were salvaged from hudsons 17th camp, and the wooden framing came from 18thcentury buildings elsewhere. Now, the relics installed as part of the huts furnishing in 1916 have since been removed for safekeeping, but if you go there, you can go inside this reconstructed hut. South of inwood is the morris mansion of 1765, the only standing prerevolutionary house in the island of manhattan. Because George Washington used it as his headquarters in october and november of 1776, it had become known as such by the early 20th century. As with the trend 13, bolton donated an installation of artifacts for a display in what was then called the guard room. These bolton relics, with the exception of some cannonballs and bar shot, were all transferred to the New York Historical society in 1947. And there, folks, is where you can find the lions share of the best and most interesting objects recovered by calver and bolton , including things found both before and after the formation of the field Exploration Committee in 1918. At the moment, many are partially catalogued and accessible online, but with less than optimal low resolution images of the frame groupings that were assembled by calver and bolton over a century ago. In the societys library reside the photographic archive of the committee, packed into 17 boxes taking up 4. 33 linear feet of shelf, and chockfull of glass plate negatives and film negatives. And theyve also got some of calvers papers, too. Now, does that sound interesting . I think so. Now, i know im biased, and perhaps preaching to the choir, but i strongly feel these archaeological materials, and the supporting documents, maps, and photographs, are screaming for a modern reexamination. Id like to see them surveyed, catalogued, conserved where required, and properly photographed. Would a full on 21st century reboot of calver and bolton be well received and useful plexi well, what do you guys think . Yeah . I agree. I agree. So im going to wrap up with our pal calver in what is the tip for the inquisitive professional or private commissar. When he died in the spring of 1940, a paragraph in his official New York Historical society obit began with the sentence, mr. Calver was a collector of military buttons. Calvers entire button then went on to oscar t bark, fellow digger, button collector, Founding Member of the field Exploration Committee, and author of one of the few books about british occupied new york city. Edwin bark died in 1953, all of his and calvers buttons went to dewey albert, author of record of american uniform and historical buttons, a bicentennial era reference which still holds its own today. After alberts death in 1983, the collection was partially dispersed, with a large chunk of it hitting the marketplace for a split second in the late 1980s, when the collection of thomas owens was sold to a prominent. Calver kept many of his buttons with the cards recording their prominence. In some cases, the two were married with red sealing wax. Today, to survive with their original cards. It seems either albert or bark added new shanks to many of calvers buttons, or crimp them into metal puzzles so they could be mounted to the replacement cards inscribed with more information. Its interesting to note that two of the buttons on screen, the 43rd and the first american, a. K. A. The queens rangers, or, excuse me, yeah, yeah, the queens rangers, were found at the same site on the same day, yet theyre on cards inscribed two different hands. Perhaps one is calvers and one is berks . Further investigation is certainly needed. Within the last two years, one of the most important assemblages of early american coins and medals ever put together, the Donald Partridge collection, was sold on our skin. After the numismatic stuff went, his election of revolutionary war buttons cross the block and included dozens of new york city found specimens from the calvert, part , albert, and owen collections. They were hammered down in big lots and hatched to large cards recording unit histories and their fine sites. Some carry statements like, exit weighted 1891, 17th regiment campsite, prescott avenue, nyc. Writing a solid link to calvers early button hounding days. That was original cream colored card is now lost. So keep your eyes peeled, and you may get lucky by reeling in one of these great little relics of the revolution, one which is also an evocative souvenir of william l calver and reginald p bolton, two of the pioneers of american historical and military archaeology. Thank you. Thank you so very much, eric, for that. That was wonderful. I think im going to share one question here with you, which selfishly comes from some of us here. I think youve managed to convince a lot of us that a reboot of this catalog would be very valuable and exciting, so when does that come out . If, if i was anywhere near new york city, you bet id be on it. Assuming ny hs would cooperate, but there are other places too. All right. Well see what strings we can pull. Thank you so very much but this is how a conversation starts. Perfect. 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