Washington native finds piece of local history buried underground

Metal detecting is a hobby Mick Wade picked up in the ‘80s and eventually took a break from after getting discouraged with not finding anything good. A few years ago, he picked up the hobby again and in 2015 his luck changed when he found a wedding band belonging to Clara Conger, of the Conger family in Washington.

Wade said his brother-in-law originally got him into the hobby and his interest in history helped him continue. He has visited city parks, in and out of the county, and even spent several hours on Florida beaches during vacation looking for treasure.

When the metal detector picks up on something in the ground, it makes a distinctive sound that determines what kind of metal it is and a number is displayed on the detector correlating to the kind of metal. Memorizing these sounds and numbers is key to successful detecting.

'It takes a lot of practice. I've been through the learning curve, too,” he said. 'I've spent the time where you get disappointed and it ends up getting put in the closet and you forget about it, but now that I'm retired, I have more time to do it.”

He's found a variety of things with some of his favorites being coins dating back to the 1800s, a 1931 University of Iowa letterman's football pin and an award from Desert Storm. In March 2015, Wade found his best haul to date in the corner of the Washington County Fairgrounds.

'Back at the turn of the century there was a horse-racing track back there and that's where I found the ring,” he said.

When he first pulled the ring from the ground, he brushed it off and saw the initials and wedding date of 1872 inside. He then took it to Jo Greiner, county recorder at the Washington County Courthouse, to see if she could help him trace back who it would belong to.

At first she wasn't sure if she could help, but 30 minutes later she called back.

'She said, 'Well, Mick, I think I found it,'” he recalled. Greiner was able to find a wedding date that matched up with the exact initials after looking through court records. 'She says, ‘You won't believe who it is,'” he recalled.

The ring Wade found turned out be the wedding band of Clara Conger, the daughter of Jonathon Conger, who occupied what is now the historic Conger House on the corner of South Ninth Avenue and East Washington Street in Washington.

For the past four years, the ring has been securely kept in a safe but now Wade is ready to have it on display to share with the public.

'This is actually a part of history. It means more to me to be out and viewed by somebody or so people can see it,” he said. 'There's no monetary value any other way as far as I see it.”

Shortly after he found it, he took the ring in to be appraised and was told it was worth about $150 in gold but decided to hang onto it because he felt the historic value was much higher.

'It means more to me that it's still in one piece and people can see it,” he said.