- Oct 12, 2022
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On my family's property was a house built in the very early 1800s, which was so damaged by a storm in the latter quarter of the 20th Century that we had to demolish what was left, salvaging what logs we could. The house had board covering the outside of the logs and the logs inside were sealed, but we found a few things in the remains that had likely were dropped down between them. A mold for a musket ball. A homemade clay marble. a short whip carved from wood. And a knife.
When we found it, we assumed it was a butcher knife. It's about the right length and has a handle we thought was homemade. The blade was rusted, but we didn't think terribly so, but the handle seemed oddly lose.
In researching Bowie knives, I happened to think about that knife, and looked at it again. The pattern was similar to that described by Rezin Bowie, but the blade thinner and didn't have a guard at the hilt. Once again I thought "butcher knife," but why was it found in an area of the house used for sleeping? Didn't think about that before.
Today I came across a site about scalping knives. I'm not posting a link it because it gets into a lurid subject. But what leaped out at me was a description of some of the knives: the one we found was a close match to cheaper ones offered for trade.
No, I don't think we found one of those. I really hope we didn't find one of those. But it does match descriptions of cheap 19th Century knives.
Whatever it is that we found, I no longer think it was a butcher knife, unless it was repurposed.
When we found it, we assumed it was a butcher knife. It's about the right length and has a handle we thought was homemade. The blade was rusted, but we didn't think terribly so, but the handle seemed oddly lose.
In researching Bowie knives, I happened to think about that knife, and looked at it again. The pattern was similar to that described by Rezin Bowie, but the blade thinner and didn't have a guard at the hilt. Once again I thought "butcher knife," but why was it found in an area of the house used for sleeping? Didn't think about that before.
Today I came across a site about scalping knives. I'm not posting a link it because it gets into a lurid subject. But what leaped out at me was a description of some of the knives: the one we found was a close match to cheaper ones offered for trade.
No, I don't think we found one of those. I really hope we didn't find one of those. But it does match descriptions of cheap 19th Century knives.
Whatever it is that we found, I no longer think it was a butcher knife, unless it was repurposed.
