Rob Rizzo shares “The History Beneath our Feet” at the Lincoln Heritage Museum

 

[July 15, 2024] 

At the Lincoln Heritage Museum Saturday, July 13, metal detectorist Rob Rizzo talked about his metal detecting adventures and finds.

Lincoln Heritage Museum Curator and Director Ron Keller introduced Rizzo, who he called a passionate historian, metal detectorist and storyteller.

For over 30 years, Rizzo helped Fortune 500 companies leverage future technologies. Now, Keller said Rizzo searches for yesterday’s lost artifacts and the stories they reveal about our collective past.

As Keller said, Rizzo’s dedication to uncovering “rusty treasures” has made him a compelling figure in the circles of historical exploration and metal detecting. In interviews, Rizzo has said “recovering old items and preserving their stories for others to enjoy is what makes metal detecting so special.”

Keller asked everyone to join him in welcoming Rob Rizzo as Rizzo shared “The History Beneath our Feet.”

Rizzo’s presentation focused primarily on why we metal detect, Lincoln’s connection to metal detecting and metal detecting ethics and equipment. He also discussed common questions asked of detectorists, some of the history beneath our feet and Lincoln related items.

Known as the “History Digger,” Rizzo has made YouTube videos about some of his experiences. His presentation began with a video showing some of his finds, which included rings, arrowheads, coins and bullets.

For Rizzo, recovering old items makes metal detecting special. These items tell stories of history beneath our feet. Rizzo loves history and loves talking about various finds and treasures.

Rizzo’s nine-year-old son Axel, who functioned as Rizzo’s assistant, has already found treasures of his own through metal detecting. Axel’s first find was a silver ring on a chain.

When Rizzo asked people to guess why he does metal detecting, guesses included liking it, being curious, not knowing what you will find, the thrill of discovery, having adventures and saving history. Rizzo said all those answers were correct.

Many people ask whether metal detecting can make you rich. A meme Rizzo showed has a boy asking his dad whether metal detecting can make you a millionaire. The dad’s answer is “yes it can, son, if you start out as a billionaire.”

One reason Rizzo does metal detecting is that is it about unlocking the stories [about items] and the part they play in history.

When Rizzo found a silver coin with a hole drilled in it, he did some research and asked friends in the metal detecting community about the reason the coin had a hole in it. He got answers like being used for jewelry, as a medallion, as a button. Coins were also sometimes smuggled by people on ships.

Bells are something else Rizzo has found and researched. He said bells were a sign of prosperity when people had a lot of bells on their carriage.

As people were travelling by carriage, Rizzo said if they came across a fellow traveler in distress, they provided help to the traveler in distress. People would give bells as a thank you to someone who helped them out when they had trouble. The phrase “I’ll be there with bells on” seemingly originates from this era. Arriving at a destination without the bells hurt a driver’s professional pride, whereas getting there “with bells on” was a source of satisfaction.

Being a history buff, unlocking stories is something Rizzo enjoys. Rizzo said, “metal detecting is the closest thing to time travel that one can experience. It connects the past to the present and helps preserve artifacts and their associated stories for years to come.”

Metal detecting has an interesting connection to Abraham Lincoln, too. To understand the connection, Rizzo asked everyone to do a little time traveling with him by going back to the Washington Potomac Railroad Depot where the lives of three men interestingly intersected on one fateful day in July 1881. These men were Robert Todd Lincoln, President James Garfield and Alexander Graham Bell.

On July 2, 1881, two shots were fired by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled civil servant who had expected to get a coveted position in President James A. Garfield’s administration. When Guiteau did not get the position, he decided to take fate into his own hands.

At the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C, Guiteau fired two shots at President Garfield. One bullet grazed President Garfield’s top right shoulder. The second bullet entered his chest.

Also present that day was Robert Todd Lincoln, the only one of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln’s son who survived to adulthood. Robert Todd Lincoln had been appointed Garfield’s Secretary of War.

The wounds President Garfield got from the shot were not immediately fatal. Rizzo said he survived for two months.

One of the first physicians to attend to President Garfield was Dr. Bliss. Rizzo said back then it was common practice to find a bullet by probing a finger into the wound. If that did not work, a metal probe would be used to try and locate the bullet.

Though Dr. Bliss tried these methods multiple times, Rizzo said he was unable to find the bullet. As Rizzo pointed out, doctors did not necessarily wash their hands before the procedure.

While President Garfield laid sick in the hospital, daily reports went out about his condition.

Alexander Graham Bell heard about the president’s condition and thought he could help using an electromagnetic device/ metal detector. Rizzo said Bell was the inventor of the metal detector and the first one to use it. Bell thought this device could locate the bullet. Bell told Bliss about the device, but Bliss thought the device was “quackery” and initially refused to allow Bell to use it.

Though Dr. Bliss did not think the device would work, he eventually allowed Bell to test the device. The first time Bell used the device, it detected the bedsprings. The next time, Dr. Bliss told Bell where he thought the bullet would be found, but Bell was unable to locate the bullet. Rizzo said Bell’s name for the first metal detector was “the induction balance.”

Unfortunately, President Garfield died within a couple of months of being shot. Rizzo said when an autopsy was done, the bullet was found on the opposite side of where it had entered. Many believe the device would have found the bullet [if Bell had been looking on that side].

As for Robert Todd Lincoln, Rizzo said he is almost more fascinating than his father. Some people refer to Robert Todd Lincoln as a reluctant witness to history. For example, besides being President Garfield’s Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln had served as Captain on General Ulysses S. Grant’s staff, was present at Appomattox when General Lee surrendered and served as an ambassador to Great Britian. Robert Todd Lincoln was also present at President McKinley’s assassination. Along with several dignitaries, Robert Todd Lincoln attended the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in his later years.

In another instance, Rizzo said Robert Todd Lincoln was standing on a train platform and leaning against a stationary railcar. When the car moved, Lincoln nearly fell onto the platform some distance down. In an interesting twist of fate, Robert Todd Lincoln was pulled back onto the platform by Edwin Booth, whose brother John Wilkes Booth had assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Robert Todd Lincoln verified the story of Edwin Booth saving his life.

Next, Rizzo talked about metal detecting ethics and equipment. The code of ethics can be summed up as respect, preserve and make a difference.
 

Under respect are three basic guidelines:

1. Do not trespass or do metal detecting with the owner’s permission.

2. Never go metal detecting around archaeological monuments.

3. Report all finds to the landowners/occupier. Report the discovery of any items of possible significant historical value in accordance with local regulations.

Preserving relates to the care of the land you do metal detecting on. This list includes never doing anything that might contaminate wells or other water supplies, not damaging crops and not deliberately disturbing wild or domestic animals. It also means using the correct digging equipment to make the least intrusion or marks, always filling in holes, not littering, gathering trash you create or find and leaving as little sign of your passing through as possible.

To make a difference, you need to report any live ammunition or potentially lethal or toxic objects you may find to authorities after carefully noting or marking the location. It also means protecting the metal detecting hobby by being a good will ambassador. Rizzo said talking about the topic is part of making a difference.

The metal detecting equipment Rizzo showed everyone including a metal detector, pinpointer, hand tool, shovel and finds pouch. Gloves are a good idea because Rizzo said people sometime find sharp objects.

Cost wise, Rizzo said you can find good detectors for in the $200 range. Technology has raised the price of metal detectors. Rizzo said it is best to buy them from dealers because the dealers can answer questions. There are many different companies who sell the equipment. Rizzo and others have spent thousands of dollars on equipment.

Rizzo shared a list of a metal detector’s favorite questions:

• Looking for treasure?
• Find anything good yet?
• Find any gold?
• What’s the best thing you have ever found?

These are all questions Rizzo has heard many times.

When people do metal detecting in the United Kingdom, Rizzo said they have to turn in their finds to Liaison Finds Officer. The National British Museum has the right to claim the treasure and purchase it on behalf on the museum. If the find is disclaimed, Rizzo said the person who found it can take it home.

On a recent road trip, Rizzo and friends went to Manassas, Virginia because they had heard union soldiers had had an encampment there. Among their finds in Manassas were artifacts related to Union Soldiers, a thimble, medallion, button and a cleaner bullet.

With the rifles soldiers used during the Civil War, Rizzo said gunpowder would accumulate in the rifle, which made it hard to put more bullets in the gun. The “cleaner bullets” reduced the accumulation of gunpowder in the barrel. Rizzo said there was a misconception that these bullets cleaned the rifles.

The Lincoln Highway is another area Rizzo has traveled. He said the Lincoln Highway is the first coast to coast road in memory of Abraham Lincoln. Rizzo traveled that road when heading to Goshen, Indiana, where he found an old button from Maine. Uncovering the story of the Lincoln Highway, which Rizzo said is like Route 66 stories, was the real treasure for Rizzo.

In New Bern, North Carolina Rizzo learned there may have been a World War II Prisoner of War camp where Germans had been captured. He found a block from the POW camp and gave it to New Bern’s Historical Society.

An artifact Rizzo recovered in New Bern was connected to the town’s first sidewalk. Rizzo said the State of North Carolina sued the company that made the concrete because the concrete crumbled very quickly. It was the first case that went to the State’s Supreme Court.

As for a much wider span of history, Rizzo said he has found several medieval coins. Rizzo’s friend Tim Blank, who was at the presentation, once found a coin dating back to 70 B.C.

Another of Rizzo’s finds was a medieval train token. He has learned not to throw anything away from a find. For instance, Rizzo nearly threw away what he thought was a rusty nail. The “nail” turned out to be a Roman Fibula, which was a pin that connected their cloaks. What seemed to be a rusty penny was a second century Roman Bronze coin.

At the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in Peppin, Wisconsin, Rizzo found various artifacts related to stories from her books. He donated all the items he found to the homestead’s museum.

With metal detecting, Rizzo said a lot of patience is required. On Rizzo’s first time metal detecting in his hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, he did not find anything. On Rizzo’s next two hunts there, he found three types of silver dimes, a crotale ball, an 1800s broach, an 1856 Leman Pen nib tin, a Russwin Dragon Key, an 1847 large cent, Indian Head pennies and a hem weight. He has learned persistence is important.

A button from a boy’s school was one of the interesting finds there for Rizzo.

In Oconomowoc, there was an old home known as Mon Bijou that was originally owned by Peter Schuttler of Chicago’s Schuttler Wagon Company. Rizzo got permission from the current owners to search the property, which is now a bed and breakfast. After a few days of searching and almost giving up, Rizzo found a 19th century watch fob. He gave the watch fob to the inn’s owners.

Rizzo next showed a photo of several Lincoln related finds friends of his have found such as a ribbon fob representing the first crossing of the Mississippi River. The fob has Abraham Lincoln and trains on both sides. Others have found campaign tokens or belt buckles from organizations Lincoln established.

Audience members then had a chance to participate in some metal detecting. Axel Rizzo handed out envelopes with various items to several people. Rob Rizzo waved his metal detector over each envelope and tried to guess what was in it. Items in the envelopes included a Buffalo nickel, an Indian Head Penny, a button, silver Liberty dime and a matchbox car. Rizzo correctly guessed some, but not all of the items.

Towards the end, Rizzo asked if anyone had questions.

One person asked how you decide who keeps what.

Rizzo said when doing metal detecting, you are welcome to keep what you find, but can also share the find with the property owner. It is best to establish the expectations with the property owners. He said signing a liability waiver is also wise.

Another question was about weather effects and moisture on finds.

Moisture may degrade metal items. However, Rizzo said some of his best detecting has been on days after heavy rains.

When Rizzo was asked how deep he usually has to dig, Rizzo asked his friend and fellow detectorist Jim Winter to provide an answer.

Winter said his metal detector can go about one foot into the ground and it is pretty precise. He can dig a four inch wide plug in the ground to get his target.

With the depth, Rizzo said it can depend on the size of the target. Bigger items can be detected more deeply. When Rizzo flips over the plug and finds coins on top, he gets excited.

There was a question about whether metal detectors can detect pottery.

Though metal detectors can only detect metal, Rizzo said sometime hot rocks, meteorites or coal will set off the detector. He will find non-metal items like marbles when he digs the holes.

Once Rizzo finished his presentation, he invited people to come to talk to him or look at some of the items he had on display.

For more information, find Rizzo on his YouTube channel, The History Digger. You can also find him on Facebook and Instagram under the History Digger name.

[Angela Reiners]