Do these bottles carry a message?

It's anyone's guess what was in the hundreds of bottles unearthed while excavating work was being done at First Presbyterian Church in Carson City.

Two outbuildings, added to First Presbyterian Church in 1949, were torn down Jan. 18 to begin work on the new church sanctuary. It was under those outbuildings the glass vessels were discovered.

Bottles as small as two inches up to those that carried wine or other spirits are being cleaned by members of the congregation and will be offered to the public for a minimum $25 donation.

"We thought there might be something there," said Rev. Bruce Kochsmeier of First Presbyterian Church. "Those buildings had been there a long time, and we figured there were interesting odds and ends under them."

A small amber bottle with the name "Humphreys' Homeomed Co." was found. According to the Web site www.drkowalski.com, the company was founded about 1844 and is still in business today, under the name Humphreys' Pharmacal Inc. "Products are based on traditional botanical ingredients."

Also found is a bottle with the name - W H CHEDIC, DRUGGIST, CARSON CITY, NEV.

Longtime church members and "bottle experts" Jack and Joy Weaver said some bottles increase in value.

"The rarity and color will increase a bottle's value," Jack Weaver said. "The big square bottles, if 99 percent of them were amber in color, a green one would be worth the bigger money."

Kochsmeier said Reno resident Kevin Tennant and church member Ken Jeter, worked about 50 hours on the dig with metal detectors specifically looking for interesting material.

They dug up a small, rectangular Colgate Co. tin that held sickroom fumigating wafers, "heteroma." There is still a faint smell of mint and clove, with a hint of must from the remaining wafers.

"The outhouses were out there, and on the corner was a home with a stable," Kochsmeier said. "Basically it was an outdoor dump."

According to archival maps, a private residence was on the northeast corner of the intersection of Division and King streets. It was there after 1890 and removed prior to 1941.

"The (excavation) area could have been used as dump for the church," said Guy Rocha, state archivist. "People buried their garbage then. To the west of the church was a school, grades K-12."

Weaver estimated the production years of the bottles to be between 1800-1900. The smaller bottles he figures were medicine-type bottles, the larger were champagne and wine bottles.

"There has been some question (historically) as to whether Mark Twain ever visited the Presbyterian Church," Kochsmeier said. "Him having said 'he was born a Presbyterian but got over it.'

"Upon excavating the property and finding a large cache of empty whiskey bottles, verifies the fact he was in close proximity to the church," he joked.

"With all that has been going on with the history of the church, Mark Twain had about as much use for the (old) church building then as we do now."

Weaver said some of the black glass bottles were hand-blown with ply tops, making them worth more than tooled-top bottles. Many may have been made prior to World War I.

"Some are in almost mint condition," Weaver said. "Most are just musty looking and stained from the soil."

• Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.

Color of bottles

• Purple - manganese added

• Aqua - selenium added

• Collectibles - depend on rarity, color and condition

WHAT: Unearthed bottles available to the public (about 200)

WHERE: First Presbyterian Church office

COST: Minimum $25 donation (small bottles), money will be used to fund the new 9,600-square-foot sanctuary.

CALL: 882-1032

Noted names on bottles:

• W.H. CHEDIC, DRUGGIST, CARSON CITY, NEV

• F BROWN'S ESS of JAMAICA GINGER, PHILADa

• LM GREEN Pro, WOODBURY, NJ

Also, a Roman Catholic holy water receptacle about six inches tall.

According to the Nevada State Census for 1880, Walter H. Chedic lived in Ormsby County and his profession is listed as laborer, age 23.

In the 1910 census, Chedic, 53, has been married 18 years; his profession is now listed as a dealer working in the meat industry. And he is living on Carson Street. It is unknown if he and the druggist are one in the same.