Actually, pre-Civil War vehicles often carried the name plate of the manufacturer on the body. The hubs (naves), spokes, and felloes, and even the fifth gears, might have been manufactured by a specialist from whom vehicle manufacturers bought parts. Don Berkbile published a dictionary of horse-drawn vehicles and vehicle parts through the Smithsonian in 1979. Not necessarily for the discoverer of this vehicle, but I refer scholars interested in wheelwrighting and horse-drawn vehicle making to the two trade journals available through the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago: The Blacksmith & Wheelwright and the Hub dating from the 1860s through early 20th-century. And if you are ambling though Binghamton, New York, you can stop in at the university and check out my 1985 MA thesis. Unfortunately, I only have my bound copy and no digital file.
 
 
 
James G. Gibb

Gibb Archaeological Consulting

2554 Carrollton Road

Annapolis, Maryland USA ?? 21403

443.482.9593 (Land) 410.693.3847 (Cell)

www.gibbarchaeology.net ? www.porttobacco.blogspot.com
 
On 09/30/14, Charles Neel<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
Wagons were pretty generic with many interchangeable parts and will only have the part manufacturers name on them and not the wagon manufacturers name. 

Look on the metal hub bands for a manufacturers name. 
They will be on the outside and inside bands on Photo 5. 
I believe the distance measured across the inside bands of the wagon axle will give the wagon bed width. 
Here is a good reference to identify the parts you are looking at:

Towana Spivy (editor) 
1979
A Historical Guide to Wagon Hardware and Blacksmith Supplies. Museum of the Great Plains, Lawton, Oklahoma

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Branstner, Mark C
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 12:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Identifying Wagon Remains

Folks,

A local property owner found this wagon washing out of a stream bank and would like any information that can be offered as to date ... It seems pretty generic to me, but not a topic that I would claim ANY expertise in ... So, if anybody can see any clues in the photos, I would greatly appreciate any info that you can share.

http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/MarkBranstner/library/Mobile%20Uploads

Thanks in advance,

Mark

___________________________________


Mark C. Branstner, RPA, AARP

Senior Historical Archaeologist


Illinois State Archaeological Survey

Prairie Research Institute

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571

23 East Stadium Drive

Champaign, IL 61820


Phone: 217.244.0892

Fax: 217.244.7458

Cell: 217.549.6990

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"The difference between genius and idiocy? Genius has its limits." -- Albert Einstein