Now that reminds me of the McCain Barn near the rural San Diego County
(California) town of Boulevard. There is a board with the name McCain and date
of 1918 burned into the wood. The McCains left the American South after the
Civil War and came to this rural community to homestead. However, they
could not file until the 1880s and this barn is one of the last of their
buildings. I have not seen it in 20-years, but suspect it is still out there.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
In a message dated 7/9/2009 9:55:06 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
When I was renovating a British Columbia ranch house built in 1921 we
found not only the builders name but a sketch of the house on a board
used for siding. Lumber labels also helped with the house research.
In barns the builder's name was often scratched over the door.
Richard Wright
On Jul 9, 2009, at 9:38 AM, Ron May wrote:
> I have found board with the names of carpenters who worked on the
> houses.
> In one instance, this was done in 1926. In another, the carpenter
> scratched
> his name into the plaster before they put down the wall paper in a
> 1924
> house. The earliest example from around here is a 1870s house
> erected next to
> an olive orchard.
>
> This practice is akin to "builders pits" excavated beneath the wall
> foundations. The practice goes back to pre-Roman times and was an
> appeasement to
> the deities that "owned" the land before the people arrived. The
> practice
> usually involved inverted wine bottles, which drained wine into the
> ground.
> The later builders pits involved hoards of coins or metal objects.
> By the
> 19th century, builders simply buried open bottles of liquor in a
> pit beneath
> the foundation or inserted a coin between the bricks. Essentially,
> the
> builder was buying off the spirits.
>
> Now, you may ask if good Christian people actually created builders
> pits
> out of tradition or with knowledge of this pagan practice? I
> suggest you read
> my article recently published by the Rocky Mountain Reader
>
> _Rocky Mountain Reader Index_
> (http://www.rockymountainreader.com/california/
> soldierinthechimney.html)
>
> Oh and before I forget, a skilled laborer left his shoes up in the
> rafters
> of Notre Dame with a note, which was essentially the same effect as a
> builders board.
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.
>
>
>
> In a message dated 7/9/2009 9:21:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Anyone familiar with so-called builders boards that are apparently
> found
> in walls (or under floors) of antebellum homes. I have heard of one
> such find in Virginia listing the names of the builders and slaves
> that
> purportedly built the house...
>
>
>
>
>
> thanks
>
>
>
> Raymond Ezell, RPA
> Sr. Archaeologist
>
>
>
> ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC
>
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>
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