Amasa Hathaway Foundation

Amasa was the son of Benjamin and the grandson of Jacob Hathaway (Jacob had purchased the property from King George III in 1787). This foundation is all that remains of the home that Amasa once shared with his family. We have no way to be sure if he had built/assembled this foundation or if it pre-existed. However, the only land records that have been found and studied suggest that he was the builder. He lived here for a thirty year period (1861-1891). In 1891, following the death of his father, he moved into what we now affectionately refer to as the farmhouse.

Robert Hathaway Foundation

Robert was the brother of Amasa with the same lineage. After extensive research we have concluded that this foundation was built by Robert at about the same time (perhaps up to five years after) Amasa's. We can not pinpoint exactly what year it was built. He fought in the Civil War and had been injured and we do not know if he was mustered out with his regiment or if he received an early discharge.

Stove Top

Amongst the many items that were uncovered was this pot-belly stove top. The handle was also recovered but is not pictured here. The manufacturing date was 1865 and it was produced in New York City.

Stone

This stone is what remains of a sharpening stone. This was used to sharpen sickles, knives, and axes etc. When viewing the actual stone up close, you can still to this day see the deep groves left by the blades 140 years ago!

Pottery shard

This brown pottery shard was also uncovered in the Amasa foundation. It is a particularly interesting piece in that it has a fingerprint in the clay that was sealed in when the glazing hardened. When? We really do not have a way of dating this piece. This leaves us with a rather perplexing mystery! Whose fingerprint was this?

The Schoolhouse Foundation

This foundation we refer to as the "Schoolhouse Foundation". It was indeed a schoolhouse but first existed as a sawmill in the early 1800's. This building was later changed into a schoolhouse for the local children around the late 1860's. The building ultimately was converted back to a sawmill and as far as we can tell it remained that way until it collapsed sometime in the early 1900's. The second week junior high Woodsmoke campers cleared out and around the foundation for their project in the hopes that we can have someone do an archaeological dig. Thanks to all you hard workers in Woodsmoke!