We found this little button in Feature 5, a.k.a. the dump along the south wall of the cemetery - the same place we found the teapot, the stomach bitters bottle, and the eyeglass lenses. We were all thrilled when we saw the eagle and the anchor. Based on its size, it seems to have been a cuff button.
We had initially thought it dated from the Civil War, but Angelika did some research on buttons used by the United States Navy and suggested that it may be earlier. I sent these pictures to a grad school friend who happens to be a Civil War buff, and he was nice enough to forward them to a friend who knows about military uniforms.
Perhaps someone reading this post is an expert and can tell me when the button dates from! It's difficult to see the details, but the eagle seems to have its head facing to the right, and there seems to be a rope wrapped around the anchor. There is a ring of stars around it, but due to the condition of the button I can't count how many there are.
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