I have been hunting a very difficult lake area in Ontario Canada for a number of years now. It is in pretty deep water and the lakebed is made of construction debris and trash - iron nails, roofing nails, door hinges and the like, but there are good targets in there somewhere, sometimes... I bought my CTX just for this site (and sites like it) because it is the only detector I have found that can cope with an underwater site with extreme amounts of trash. This site is a detrectorist's nightmare, and any other detectors I have used in this area just can't cope - they all just null out or shut down because of all the other bits of metal at various depths in the lakebed. The CTX seems to see the trash AND the treasure simultaneously. With some patience and by going slowly, I found this amazing gold wedding band from 1884... I really felt some energy off this ring when I pulled it out of the sifter. Never felt that off a found ring before. It is a wonderful 18k carved rose gold band engraved "Annie from Harry 1884." Two of Toronto's early residents. Hallmarked RW&CO 18K.
After some intensive research, a friend found Annie & Harry's marriage documented in the archived registry of the City of Hamilton (near Toronto Canada). On February 5th, 1884 in the County of Wentworth, City of Hamilton, a Harry Hedge, 23, Shoemaker married Annie Bowen, 17, Spinster. Apparently, back in the day, all unmarried women were referred to as 'Spinster' or 'Widow'. I wanted to find their descendants so I could pass on the ring to them. I kept researching... They had a son, William, in 1885. Records indicate Annie and son immigrated to the USA in 1887 and moved to Rochester NY where she lists herself as 'Widow' in US census documents. Harry must have died young.
Son William married and moved to Jersey City, NJ where he volunteered for WWI and later volunteered for service in WWII at the age of 57 where he listed his occupation as 'unemployed'. William didn't have kids apparently so the trail of descendants ends there. All that is left of them is this beautiful ring, their legacy, found again.
Beachdude – Ontario, Canda
