Brian Kesterson, a local Civil War expert, displays a bag of bullets found during a search in October at Fort Boreman Park in Wood County by the 35th State Relic Hunters and the Mid-Ohio Valley Relic Hunters. The artifacts were presented Monday morning to the Wood County Commission. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

PARKERSBURG — Artifacts, many from the Civil War era, found in October at Fort Boreman Park were presented Monday morning to the Wood County Commission.

Among the relics found by the 35th State Relic Hunters and the Mid-Ohio Valley Relic Hunters was a friction primer, a device used to ignite the gunpowder in a muzzle-loaded cannon.

The primer was found at the top of Fort Boreman near the flagpole, Jan Hunt of the Mid-Ohio Valley Relic Hunters, said. Hunt, using a metal detector, discovered the artifact in the soil.

“I had an idea that it was,” he said.

“I was pretty excited,” Hunt said. “I was the first person to touch it in 150 years.”

A friction primer, used to ignite the gunpowder in muzzle-loading artillery pieces, center, is among artifacts found at Fort Boreman. (Photo Provided)

The hill upon which Fort Boreman is located was a Union Army fortification overlooking the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers during the Civil War. Originally called Fort Logan, the site was later renamed Fort Boreman after the first governor of West Virginia, created in 1863 after the western counties ceded from Virginia, which sided with the Confederate rebellion,

Numerous Union encampments surrounded Fort Boreman, Brian Kesterson, a local Civil War expert, historian and writer, said. Items have been found from as far as Lubeck Avenue from Fort Boreman, he said.

“A massive number of troops were stationed throughout Parkersburg,” Kesterson said.

Artifacts were found during searches in October, Kesterson said. From eight to 15 hunters would participate, he said.

Items were not concentrated in a specific area, Kesterson said.

A matic and a Civil War era file found at Fort Boreman Park. Fort Boreman, originally known as Fort Logan, was a Union post overlooking the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

“They were scattered all over the place,” he said.

The items included a matic, a file, bullets and musket balls of various calibers from the era, grommets from a poncho and an eagle button, a spoon and an item believed to have been part of a musical instrument, Kesterson said. Other items found were more modern, including a World War II military lapel pin and coins from around 1900, he said.

“We found a few odds and ends,” Kesterson said.

Kesterson thanked the commission for its permission and commissioners thanked the hunters for their presentation.

“You can read the back of this button,” Commissioner Bob Tebay said.

A problem is the acid in the soil will over time eat away the face of the metal, eventually making them unidentifiable, Kesterson said.

Other hunters over the years have used metal detectors to search for artifacts at Fort Boreman,

Commissioner Blair Couch said. The recent finds demonstrate the efficiency of newer modern metal detectors, he said.

While the ability of the user is a factor, the best way to search is to keep the detector as close to the ground as possible, Kesterson said. Some were found from 2-3 inches into the soil and others were as much as a foot, he said.

Raising the detector several inches above the surface decreases the depth it can reach into the ground, Kesterson said.

Metal detecting generally is prohibited at the park, unless permitted by the commission. Previous searches at the park by Kesterson also have produced finds by the 35th State Relic Hunters.

Artifacts found during previous searches at Fort Boreman are on display at the Judge Black Annex on Market Street.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.