All,
   I am trying to pin down a date for a US Naval Button from a plowzone
context.  It is a pattern used from before 1850 right through 1941, so I
am depending on someone recognizing the maker, or being able to point me
to a good button maker book.
   The button is a gilt dome type with an eagle resting on a horizontal
anchor, three cannon balls below, with 13 stars encircling on a lined
field.  The eagle faces left, and the upper fluke of the anchor may or
may not be behind the wing, it is very hard to tell.  The maker mark on
the back appears to be "TWBW PARIS".  The Paris part is clear, as is the
TW, but the BW part is unclear, so may not be so.  If anyone has Albert's
"Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons Bicentennial Edition",
this button is the same as number 112 on page 102, except for the maker.
   As long as I have your attention, are there any Civil War buffs out
there that would know why we would have a South Carolina Militia (State
Seal) button in Poquoson (near Hampton), Virginia?  Were there any South
Carolina units here during the Civil War?  Our site is primarily 17th and
18th century, but there are residual Civil War finds on it.
   My thanks.
 
Steve Boxley
The Virginia Foundation for Archaeological Research
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