Visual Addenda to the satchel and key stories

Several years ago I was attracted to a small leather pouch, measuring abour 13 inches by 5 inches and less than a quarter of an inch in thickness. It it well stitched and was probably a courier pouch attached to a shoulder strap. There are several neat cuts in the outer leaf of the pouch for a shoulder strap. I doubt Conner's satchel looked anything like this pouch but I thought I would put the photo out there. In the William Conner satchel story posted separately I have an artifact from the same farm, or at least a farm located in the vicinity of the find. Over twenty years ago we were building our house in Traders Point. One day while driving down West 79th Street I noticed the demolition of an old barn. I saw several hand-hewn oak beams and selected one of sufficient length for our fireplace mantle. At one end they chiseled a tongue that would have received a one inch diameter wooden pin for fastening the beam to a post. It took two of us to get it in the back of a pickup truck. I hosed it down with water, scrubbed it clean with soapy water and let it dry in the sun. It probably weighed over 80 lbs before it was trimmed down to a ten foot length and placed on the brick supports of the fireplace.