Shannon,
My guess would be that it is the fob off the end of a "cheap"
watch-chain once belonging to George E. Corey of Hamlet, New York.
A further guess might be that he could have been a student enrolled at
the famed (Methodist) Cazenovia Seminary located in that town, (and even
wilder and further imagined), as outlined in the history of that
institution [ First Fifty Years of Cazenovia Seminary 1825-1875: Its
History, Proceedings ... 1877 ... see at page 52, here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=5K9GAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA683&dq=%22Hamlet+NY%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDUQ6AEwA2oVChMIvL6sy7KmyAIVjJINCh1chQc7#v=onepage&q=watch&f=false
] he might have been presented a similar watch by his father [such was a
traditional gift at the time on such an occasion ... ca. 1868] as that
described for an actual enrolling seminarian, one Daniel D. Pratt:
"His father made him a present of an old "bull's-eye" silver watch,
valued at five dollars - not so much for its time-keeping capabilities,
for it would not run a tick, but for the solid silver in it."
The chains and fobs on those things, however, often tended to be less
precious, like your example ... NOT solid silver, only plated.
Regards,
PS - For whatever it may be worth, according to the same source-book,
Mr. John Williams, a teacher at Cazenovia, then [1877] deceased, had
married Miss Eliza Corey in 1831. Further, according to another source
[1884 Annual Report American Missionary Association 38:51] Miss Julia M.
Corey of Hamlet, NY, was then a student at the LeMoyne Normal Institute
at Memphis, TN.
On 10/2/2015 11:59 PM, Shannon S. Mahoney wrote:
> Does anyone have any ideas about the utilitarian purposes for this tag? I
> would appreciate it (you can click past the dropbox sign in):
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/oa5ilmtgxriipe6/24060%20LC_Miner%20Tag.jpg?dl=0
>
> The tag reads: "Geo. E. Corey. / 1868 / Hamlet. N.Y."
>
> It was found in an 1860s mining camp in southeastern Nevada. I'll be giving
> a paper on this site at SHA 2016. So, stay tuned.
>
> Shannon
>
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