Buried Treasure: Pre-1920 Stover Engine Found in Thicket

Louisiana farmer uncovers 12 hp Stover engine at long-abandoned farmstead

| August 1998

Louisiana farmer Michael “Mike” Bradley described the experience of finding a 12 hp Stover engine in a thicket just off a major highway, 90 miles from his home in Transylvania, simply – as beginner’s luck. 

“We pretty much hit the jackpot,” Mike said. “I haven’t found that many pieces of iron before, and certainly nothing as desirable as this.” The real miracle, he said, was finding an engine of that vintage (the Stover was likely manufactured prior to 1920).

“That just doesn’t happen down here,” he said. “It wasn’t settled here when that kind of engine was being used; the people weren’t here yet. Oh, if you’d go to the big towns, like New Orleans, they would have had engines like this. And there were a few grist mills around here, but mainly it’s farming country. It’s kind of amazing to find something like that in my part of the country.”

Mike and a buddy were out scouring the countryside for finds when they stopped at a country store for a soda. When they asked for leads, they were referred to a nearby resident, who said yes, he had seen some old thing down in the woods, but he didn’t know what it was. There, about 100 yards off a major highway near the Natchez Trace (an early trade route), Mike was stunned to find the Stover.

“It was under a huge oak tree, with what was left of an old homestead, with a 6-inch tree growing through the spokes,” he said.

Wedged deep in a nearby tree was a 5-foot saw blade. “Not much was sticking out,” Mike said. The engine was basically intact.