Missouri Lead

[Crockford]

Does anyone have any information on the age and what factory this may have come from. Was found in a field behind a house that was built in the early 1800's in Selma,AL. Not sure why it would have been painted blue at some point either? Weights around 5 lbs. Thanks, Crockford

 

[1950DAVE]

Maybe here.
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_mo/A00000781

 

[Crockford]

I will look that up. Thank you

 

[Buckskinquin]

Does anyone have any information on the age and what factory this may have come from. Was found in a field behind a house that was built in the early 1800's in Selma,AL. Not sure why it would have been painted blue at some point either? Weights around 5 lbs. Thanks, Crockford View attachment 173684

Google “Missouri lead plant closing”. In business for 120 years, but based on this article street dust had never been analyzed. Once they did, it was found that the dust on the roads that people drove through and kids played in was 30% lead. Closed 2012, hard to believe no one was concerned or tested it before. Seems government and company dropped the ball on this one. It was the last lead manufacturer in the US.

 

[waksupi]

Google “Missouri lead plant closing”. In business for 120 years, but based on this article street dust had never been auinalyzed. Once they did, it was found that the dust on the roads that people drove through and kids played in was 30% lead. Closed 2012, hard to believe no one was concerned or tested it before. Seems government and company dropped the ball on this one. It was the last lead manufacturer in the US

That was Doe Run. It was the last lead SPECIFIC mine in the country. Tons of lead are still produced yearly in the US as a byproduct of silver and gold mining.

 

[sheriff john]

First one of those I've ever seen. Thanks.

 

[andy52]

I don't think any lead mines in Missouri smelted their own lead, so you should be looking for a smelter company. Herculaneum and Glover where the main two smelting plants for 121 years, both were owned by the Doe Run mining company.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The Ozarks produced a lot of lead at one time. Much used during CW. I often thought it would be neat to find an old mine and dig out some to smelt for round balls. Never got to it.

 

[Crockford]

"Missouri" is the only words on it. I know there was a lot of CW activity in the area. Thought this stamp would be the trade mark for a lead mine/foundry that may tell it's age. The only other activity in this area since the CW would be farming. It is also very close to the Alabama river, but I wouldn't think it was washed up during a flood. But I guess it could have been uses for weight in a boat? It is also a very crude pour with a spru on each side, like maybe there were several attached to each other.

 

[Buckskinquin]

That was Doe Run. It was the last lead SPECIFIC mine in the country. Tons of lead are still produced yearly in the US as a byproduct of silver and gold mining.

Thanks for the info, good to know.

 

[1BadDart]

If it was civil war era, why would it be painted? I wonder if it's a weight from an old piece of farm equipment?

 

[Crockford]

I don't think the paint is original. The field I found it in had not been planted in over 50 years. We were cleaning it up to plant a food plot and dug it up with a disk.

 

[Crockford]

Found this one that was in an online auction. Don't know if I trust the description.

 

[TDM]

Well it’s one heck of a nice find, that’s for sure!

 

[64Springer]

Doorstop.

Painted to match the room.

Or someone really likes Ford Grabber Blue.

 

[Crockford]

That's funny, I was thinking doorstop too!

 

[Barry Strickland]

Plumbers lead was commonly poured in "Pigs" which were five of these connected by sprues to form a 25 pound "pig".
Cast iron bell & spigot pipe and fittings were joined by inserting the spigot into the bell of the pipe or fitting. The joint was
then spirally wound with "oakum" and packed down first with a "yarning" tool and then packed down with a "packing" tool.
The result would be a gap of about one inch from the packed oakum to the face of the bell. The melted lead would then be
poured up to the surface of the bell. The lead was then "caulked" by using inside and outside "caulking tools" and a hammer
to drive them.

 

[DanL]

Interesting find.

 

[andy52]

Plumbers lead was commonly poured in "Pigs" which were five of these connected by sprues to form a 25 pound "pig".
Cast iron bell & spigot pipe and fittings were joined by inserting the spigot into the bell of the pipe or fitting. The joint was
then spirally wound with "oakum" and packed down first with a "yarning" tool and then packed down with a "packing" tool.
The result would be a gap of about one inch from the packed oakum to the face of the bell. The melted lead would then be
poured up to the surface of the bell. The lead was then "caulked" by using inside and outside "caulking tools" and a hammer
to drive them.

Very good description, I've done exactly that as a teen in the 60s my father was a general contractor. Got in trouble for overpacking the oakum and cracking the cast iron..

 

[Clint Meier]

Neat lead artifacts! Thanks for sharing those with us Crockford! I remember reading something about the closure of the Herculaneum mine by Obama as one of his last official acts as [pres. The article went on to state that this left the US with no source of domestically produced lead, and that we would need to get it from China from then on, which did not sound like a good plan to me. Waksupi, thanks for adding that we do still have some sources of domestically mined lead, that is a little more comforting, and am glad to know that.