Treasures from the past: Manton family finds time capsule buried in garden

Kayla Kiley | Cadillac News Cole Ordway of Manton found a time capsule while digging in his grandmother Betty DowellÕs garden. The capsule is believed to date back to 1952.

MANTON — As Betty Dowell of Manton was working in her garden on Memorial Day, her grandson excitedly called to her from another part of the garden, “Grandma, come see! Come see!”

“He kept being so insistent that I went over there, and it was interesting,” Dowell said.

What 13-year-old Cole Ordway of Manton pulled from the ground was a large, square wooden box sealed with Celotex insulation. After Cole, his mother Lee Dowell, 17-year-old sister Kayla Ordway and neighbor Denny Emard of Manton pried off the insulation with “the mother of all nails,” they saw writing etched into the wooden box: Keith Daniel. The group realized they uncovered a special kind of buried treasure—they had found a time capsule.

After lifting the lid of the box, the family found feathers, a pair of pliers, a jackknife with a colorful bear picture on the handle, a Chrysler emblem, a burned out tealight candle, a chain and latch, a latch stone, a carabineer and grit newspapers dating from May and July 1952.

Many items inside the time capsule looked “shiny and new,” causing Dowell to question whether the contents actually date back to the 1950s, as the newspapers suggest.

“I’m not sure these things are really that old, because everything in there is amazingly new looking,” Dowell said. “The jackknife looks brand new, the newspaper in its folded form is white, and the key holder seems like it didn’t come from that far back. But the box was apparently airtight and the Celotex and dirt could have preserved it.”

Because of the kinds of items stored in this time capsule, Dowell believes the person or persons who put the box into the ground were boys when the capsule’s lid was nailed shut.

“We’re not sure if the person who put the box into the ground is named Keith Daniel or if there were two people — Keith and Daniel,” Dowell said.

Dowell, who has been living at her Manton residence for two years, plans to go to the Wexford courthouse to try and find who owned her property in 1952.

Dowell plans to add current items then rebury the capsule.

“I hope nobody finds it for another 50 years,” Dowell said.

Dowell plans to add a beanie baby, DVD, her favorite gardening tool, current grocery receipts, gas prices, and a note that reads “we found this in 2007.”

While she is uncertain of when she will put the capsule back in the ground, Dowell asks readers to submit ideas of other current items to put into the capsule. Dowell also asks readers to submit current pictures of Manton.

To offer ideas, contact Dowell at 878-0901.

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