Relic forensics

Every year I give a tour to a bunch of nice folks that come out on the day that the illumination candles come out. They are big relic guys and it is always fun to compare notes on our latest finds. One guy recently acquired what was represented as a shingle from the Dunkard Church. When he was first researching the piece he found an old post of mine in which I quoted O.T. Reilly from an old 1892 newspaper item:

The old roof of the Dunkard church has been replaced with a new one. O.T. Reilly bought two spring-wagon loads of the wood and will sell some of it as relics of that historic church.

During our tour he mentioned the shingle and I, forgetting about the earlier post, chimed in about the article I had that dates when O.T. probably got the shingle he owned. The problem was that I got the year wrong. He corrected me, but I did not mind because, I jested, I was being corrected by such an "authoritative source"...myself!

Anyway, he asked if he could send me a photo of the tag to see if I thought it was O.T.'s writing on his artifact. I pieced together his image with some samples from Reilly's own hand and I have attached the result. I have my opinion, but you can decide for yourself.