More history in the walls

[Jeff_H]

A few weeks ago I posted about finding a old photo in the wall of my house. You can read it here:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?101181-Another-interesting-find-in-the-walls

So, the original interior of the house is tongue and groove planking. On another wall of the current bath, under the drywall I pulled out I found where in some prior configuration there had been an electrical octagon box.



I'd peeked in the wall and noticed some writing in pencil on the backside facing boards for the other side of the wall. So, I decided to remove one of the boards for a better look.

There was part of a sketch of a house and at least 3 names and towns written on one of the boards. It must have been done prior to the board being installed in the wall as a stud covers part of it up.

One name and home town for a man from Chicago, another for a man from Minneapolis, and the 3rd name with same surname as who I believe to be the original owner when the house was built in 1918.



The name is Arthur Clemenson. Turns out, Arthur was one of the original owner's sons (youngest child of 9). He'd have been about 19 at the time (born in 1899).

Arthur joined the US Army sometime in the 1920s and in the 1930 Census was living in the barracks at Ft Snelling near Minneapolis. The 1940 census he was at Hamilton Army airfield in Novato, CA. The '40 census has a question about where the person was living in 1935 and that is filled in as the Philippine Islands. He must have been a career Army man and was never married.

Arthur apparently was sent back to the Philippines and was captured in the Japanese invasion during WW2 and died on the Bataan Death March in 1942.

There is a entry for him with a picture of him in uniform on this page of the ND Veteran's affairs website:

https://www.nd.gov/veterans/heroes/arthur-clemenson

I need to get some better pictures of the writing in there before I close the wall back up this weekend. I have no plans to try extract that board since I'd need to empty a closet and tear open the wall from the other side. Maybe I should staple a note or something in there with this info for some future person to find though...

[52hawk]

This is amazing! I have 2 upstairs room with the tongue and groove interior still there. You're making me want to tear into it,see what I could find!

[53commander]

My house was built in 1964 so no good finds yet during renovations. I do however purposely leave things in walls for future owners to discover. Things like soda cans or beer cans with the "born on date" on them and some "graffiti" from when my kids were younger.

[jclary]

This is amazing! I have 2 upstairs room with the tongue and groove interior still there. You're making me want to tear into it,see what I could find!

Before you do, put your ear to the wall and listen for buzzing. I spent my teenage years in a rented two story farm house. The boys were banished to the upstairs, while the girls & adults enjoyed the cooler downstairs rooms. At night, I would place my ear to the wall and let the honeybees sing me to sleep. Finally, my father and a friend of the farmer we rented from, tore into the outside planking. I don't recall how much honey they removed, but we ended up with so much, we gave lots away and still ate honey for years. In addition to the wild honey, we already had four domestic hives. Within a couple of years, another swarm of honeybees had repopulated the house too.

On Jeff's discovery...apparently authentic due to the fact that even "scribbling," on a piece of wood, back then, was neater than most handwriting today.

[christophe]

Thay's a very nice find. Your previous ones were very interesting, too. It has always been my belief that a good old car carer should be half mechanic, half historian and half archeologist. In fact, as you've demonstrate it, this applies to anything.

[t walgamuth]

In my years of remodeling things we have found some interesting stuff. A very old sears catalogue, writing on boards, a receipt book from a dental office that had been in my building and the occasional whiskey bottle. Most common being old newspapers I suppose. Never any gold or gems so far, but we'll keep looking.

[RadioRoy]

While remodelling my kitchen in 1994, I found a letter from the city, dated 1937. I put it back into the wall, along with my resume.

[FlatheadGeo]

A family friend was restoring a SI house that overlooked the NY waterways. Upon taking the attic walls apart he found notes on Nazi stationery. Apparently the house was rented to someone who was spying on ship movements and reporting to the Germans.