It's the second one to be found on this property.
Remnants of a Civil War battle in Independence, Missouri, were uncovered earlier this week by a local tree service that deemed an old tree needed to be taken apart for safety purposes.
Jeff Eastham of Jeff’s Tree Services said he was sent to the home because he was told the tree posed a danger to the rest of the local landscape.
“It was diseased. There were parts of it that were a danger to the houses behind it and we had to take it down,” he told KCTV. “I was splitting wood of some of it and a cannonball fell out of it.”
And what’s more, chains from the era were also found tangled in the limbs, which grew over the chains over the years.
“I don’t know anything about the history of it other than I’ve never seen a tree like that that had chains and cannonballs in it, so it’s pretty cool,” Eastham said.
Local tour guide Ralph Goldsmith explained two Civil War battles had occurred in their town, including the first Battle of Independence that took place right across the street from where the cannonball was found.
In fact, homeowner Randall Pratt said this isn’t the first time a cannonball was found on the property.
During another renovation in 1980, the family found a cannonball lodged inside the structure of the house.
“There was a first one that was shot by the union army defending itself that was lodged in the brick just to the left of the window,” Pratt said.
The new one, Pratt said, will remain at the home as a reminder of the history.
“It was a part of the tree for at least 157 years and it will stay with the house,” he said.
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