1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:06,566 GUEST: It's a Revolutionary War drumhead. I first found out about it probably when I was a 2 00:00:08,633 --> 00:00:12,066 teenager. My grandmother had it in her house, on the back porch in a closet. It says on it it's, 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,400 "This little wallet is made from a drumhead from the Battle of Trenton," and it belonged to my 4 00:00:23,033 --> 00:00:28,033 great-great-great- whatever-grandfather, who was in the, um, German regiment fr, 5 00:00:30,133 --> 00:00:33,266 out of Baltimore, Maryland. So I saw it a couple of times then. My mother is an only child, 6 00:00:35,566 --> 00:00:39,233 so she got it when my grandmother died. Then we sort of lost track of it a little bit... 7 00:00:40,566 --> 00:00:42,433 APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. 8 00:00:42,433 --> 00:00:44,466 GUEST: ...after my mother died. My father didn't remember about it, 9 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:47,666 and so my brother and I searched through the house and found it in a box in a box 10 00:00:47,666 --> 00:00:52,266 in the closet. And so I've had it for the last several years. 11 00:00:52,266 --> 00:00:57,233 APPRAISER: Archives like this from the revolution you don't see that often, and specifically from 12 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:02,866 this campaign. Lieutenant Samuel Gerock was your ancestor. Um, he was born in Lancaster, 13 00:01:02,866 --> 00:01:07,866 Pennsylvania, in 1754. At some point, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, area, probably because of 14 00:01:10,133 --> 00:01:14,066 his father's work as a, as a minister. He joined the German battalion, which was comprised of men 15 00:01:14,066 --> 00:01:19,066 from Pennsylvania and Maryland who were of German ancestry. And as you said, he was at the Battle 16 00:01:21,433 --> 00:01:24,233 of Trenton, which was one of the first great victories of the revolution for George Washington, 17 00:01:24,233 --> 00:01:28,900 uh, when he crossed the Delaware and, and captured the German troops, the Hessian troops, 18 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:33,133 that were in Trenton, and these guys were German troops that were fighting on the other side. 19 00:01:33,133 --> 00:01:38,100 He was at the Battle of Princeton. You've got some letters, um, from his officers to him and 20 00:01:38,100 --> 00:01:42,500 his family. You've also got some receipts, and some of those date from '76 all the way through 21 00:01:42,500 --> 00:01:47,466 about 1786. So you've got some that are just postwar. And you've got this great almanac here. 22 00:01:49,766 --> 00:01:53,066 We've positioned the almanac like that so you can see the printed almanac page, which is sideways, 23 00:01:53,066 --> 00:01:58,033 but that sketch he did of the Battle of Woodbridge and Amboy in February 1777 is upright, 24 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,633 so that you can see the cannon, fence lines, the main road. You can see the wood line, with the, 25 00:02:06,066 --> 00:02:08,266 uh, riflemen who were positioned in there during the battle, which is really cool. I've never seen 26 00:02:08,266 --> 00:02:13,100 another depiction of that battle before. Also in that book, in between the printed leaves of 27 00:02:15,333 --> 00:02:18,333 the almanac, are, uh, notes of his-- he kept a diary in between. So this is really cool. Um, 28 00:02:20,733 --> 00:02:23,433 it's a drumhead for sure, made out of calfskin. And the early rope-tension drums they would have 29 00:02:23,433 --> 00:02:27,200 been using would have used this head. And when it got wet, with the heavy drumsticks, 30 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,866 it could have punched a hole in it. So it looks like he repurposed it into a wallet by 31 00:02:30,866 --> 00:02:35,466 cutting it out. And then he wrote in it where that drum was used, at the Battle of Trenton, 32 00:02:35,466 --> 00:02:40,466 uh, Princeton, and throughout the Jerseys during '76 and '77. It seems in 1777 to '78, 33 00:02:42,866 --> 00:02:47,466 he ended up with rheumatism and went home for a while. So he was out of the Army for a little bit, 34 00:02:47,466 --> 00:02:52,433 and then he ended up back in the Army as an artilleryman in a place that was known around the 35 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,800 War of 1812 as Fort McHenry. So he was stationed at that fort during the Revolutionary War. 36 00:02:58,466 --> 00:02:59,800 GUEST: Really! 37 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:00,533 APPRAISER: It wasn't McHenry at the time... 38 00:03:00,533 --> 00:03:02,100 GUEST: Yeah. 39 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:03,466 APPRAISER: ...but, um, that's what it became. 1784 is when 40 00:03:03,466 --> 00:03:06,333 he moves to New Bern area of North Carolina... 41 00:03:06,333 --> 00:03:08,166 GUEST: Right. 42 00:03:08,166 --> 00:03:10,266 APPRAISER: ...and had a successful business. He was a postmaster. He was, 43 00:03:10,266 --> 00:03:14,933 worked in the bank. And in 1818, he applied for a pension. And that's a great place to 44 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,200 find out information about these folks, if a pension was applied for. And luckily for us, 45 00:03:22,533 --> 00:03:25,000 he did, in that all of these documents are mentioned. 46 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,433 GUEST: Oh, good. 47 00:03:27,433 --> 00:03:30,400 APPRAISER: So during that time period, in order to get a pension, you had to prove that you were in 48 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,700 the service. And sometimes they had muster rolls that would show you were in, and sometimes they 49 00:03:34,700 --> 00:03:39,600 couldn't find those muster rolls. Um, and one of the things that he presented, um, to the local 50 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,166 court to prove his service are these letters and the almanac, because they're described. 51 00:03:44,166 --> 00:03:45,533 GUEST: Oh, okay. 52 00:03:45,533 --> 00:03:46,933 APPRAISER: And I think I can read that description. 53 00:03:46,933 --> 00:03:48,866 GUEST: Okay. 54 00:03:48,866 --> 00:03:52,066 APPRAISER: So on April 15, 1818, when he applied for the pension, one of the, 55 00:03:52,066 --> 00:03:55,700 uh, court officers wrote this down in his pension application, and it says, 56 00:03:55,700 --> 00:04:00,700 "He has laid before me sundry papers bearing the evident stamp of authenticity, which are, in 57 00:04:03,033 --> 00:04:06,333 themselves, sufficient to enforce a like pension. He has shown me an interleaved almanac for the 58 00:04:06,333 --> 00:04:11,333 year 1777," which is right here... (laughs) ..."in the blank leaves of which he kept a diary. And he 59 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,700 noted the services he performed. Also several letters addressed to him as a lieutenant of 60 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,000 the company of Captain Keeport, and several receipts recognized him in his military capacity, 61 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,033 signed by the colonel of the regiment, Nicholas Haussegger." And that's what you have right here. 62 00:04:26,033 --> 00:04:27,800 GUEST: Yeah. (laughs) 63 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,933 APPRAISER: So one of the cool things is, is that we know these existed, 64 00:04:29,933 --> 00:04:33,600 and these are real, too, uh, because they were used to apply for the pension in 1818. 65 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:34,833 GUEST: Right, wow. 66 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:36,700 APPRAISER: We feel that for the group, 67 00:04:36,700 --> 00:04:40,200 a conservative auction estimate would be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. For an 68 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,400 insurance appraisal, we would probably say in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. 69 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,100 GUEST (chuckling): Wow. APPRAISER: Yeah. Yeah, very cool stuff. 70 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,633 GUEST: Wow. 71 00:04:47,633 --> 00:04:48,533 APPRAISER: Yeah, things you don't get to see every day. 72 00:04:48,533 --> 00:04:51,000 GUEST: Yeah-- great, good.