A Good Weekend for PB and His Girlfriend

And by girlfriend I’m referring to his metal detector.  And due to the federal holiday on Monday, they got to spend plenty of quality time together this weekend.

February 18th

In addition to an old button and the bottoms to some old shotgun shell’s, PB found a 1941 quarter and his first three ringer mini ball.

February 20th

Two days later he found 3 more three ring mini balls, the backing from a uniform button and emblem and something that resembles a fishing tackle but I’m not sure.  Maybe PB will enlighten us?

February 21st

And on the 21st, he found even more mini balls, two rivets and two items that even he has no idea what they are.

 

Even though the mini balls were pretty cool, and I know how excited PB was to find them…I thought the badge he found on the 20th was his coolest find this weekend.
Turns out this is a pretty rare thing to find.  It’s an association badge for the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty Association of the U. S. A.

Association Badge. An excessively rare item from a largely unknown chapter of American history. This medal was worn by ex-slaves who joined this Association attempting to obtain reparations in the late 19th century. It is a two piece medal with a simple top bar below from which hangs a crescent moon and star on which are printed: “National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty & Pension Ass’n of the U.S.A.” This sophisticated group is reported to have been organized by I. H. Dickerson in 1897 in Nashville, TN. Dickerson stated that the objective of the group was to unite all the ex-slaves and their friends in petitioning Congress to pass the Mason Bill, which would provide Federal assistance to ex-slaves. Callie D. House became the secretary of the association, and ultimately took it over when Dickerson died. This association chartered several groups and sponsored agents throughout the South, and held annual conventions. By the end of World War I, the movement, for the most part, had come to an end. The realization that Congress had no desire to provide pensions also settled in among the ex-slave generation. What remained were broken dreams, lost money, a few rare badges such as the one offered here, and a small amount of Federal Records that help tell the story.~ Source: Cowan Auctions.

To see a better picture of the badge, go here to the Cowan Auctions site.

You can read more about the The National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty Association of the U. S. A. at Achives.gov.~ No Pensions for Ex-Slaves

Tags: bounty hunter IV, civil war 3-ring bullets, metal detecting, national ex-slave mutual relief bounty and pension association of the U.S.A.