Civil War-era cannonball detonated in Mansfield
MANSFIELD – A cannonball from the Civil War ear had to be detonated in Mansfield Thursday night.
Marsha Hayes said her husband loved collecting antiques.
But when he passed away in January from COVID, Keith Hayes left behind decades' worth of collectables.
On Thursday, Keith's youngest daughter, Amber, found what she believed to be a rock in a room the family worked to clean out.
"She brought this rock out to me and she said, 'Mom what is this? I am just going to go throw it in the dumpster,' and I said, 'Ahh, I don't think that you should throw it in the dumpster," said Marsha.
Instead, the family opted to call 9-1-1, and by the end of this story, they were glad they did.
Mansfield Police showed up to the home on Charlene Drive, and, according to Marsha, didn't know what to make of the four-inch diameter ball.
They called the State Police Bomb Squad, who X-rayed the cannonball and found it was packed with an explosive material.
The cannonball was taken to another location where it was detonated.
"And who knows if I wasn't home, and she just tossed it. My god it would have been awful," said Marsha.
The Mansfield Police Department posted a warning to their Facebook page praising the Hayes family for calling it in, but warning others of the potential dangers of owning such artifacts.
