Staff photo / Chris McBride
Ronald Urchek displays what he says is potentially a centuries-old wooden carving of Thomas Jefferson he has kept at his Mecca residence and has sent him on a search to figure out its origins.

The 87-year-old discovered the object by chance on a roadside stop. He believes the carving could date back a century or more. For Urchek, the statue isn’t just wood, but a time capsule and a testament to forgotten artisans. Propped up now on a felt pad he added for stability, Urchek explained the base was uneven, likely from being set on a pedestal during carving. It stands as a reminder of his relentless curiosity.

“I’m not interested in the money,” he said. “I am interested in finding out who did the work to give them credit, because it is a nice piece.”

In a world of mass-produced goods, Urchek said he marvels at “(T)he old ways of how people went about how they made things.”

One option Urchek is working toward is taking the statute through carbon dating the wood to see just how old it is.

The retired antique enthusiast stumbled upon the statue more than a decade ago while driving home from visiting his wife in a Hartford nursing home. Spotting a collection of antique brass lamps from old cars and buggies outside a garage sale, Urchek pulled over. There, leaning against the trailer on the ground, he said he saw a carving of Jefferson, standing tall.

“I saw that and I said, I’m going home with that,” Urchek said. After some haggling, he walked away with it for $125 cash, down from the asking price of $150.

What followed was a quest to uncover the statue’s origins, blending detective work, dead ends and a deep appreciation for craftsmanship.

Urchek, a lifelong collector of antiques like massive wine presses — with one standing 6 feet tall — was drawn to the piece’s artistry.

He noted the patina suggesting years in an “earthen barn,” the kind with dirt floors, something that he remembers from his farm-country upbringing near auctions where he and his siblings helped move goods as kids.

The wood, Urchek theorizes, was carved green and has dried over time, creating telltale cracks and divots where arms were attached with nails.

“Look at the intricacy on his eyes and lips and everything,” Urchek said, pointing out the fine details. “It’s just exceptional.”

The seller told Urchek he’d acquired it from an antique store in Sharon, which in turn sourced it from one in Garrettsville. That sparked multiple trips to the area — six to Garrettsville alone.

One shop owner, after seeing photos, told Urchek the piece should be housed in Monticello, Jefferson’s Virginia estate and museum.

Another antique store had burned down in a fire that claimed half the town years earlier.

Undeterred, Urchek returned to the seller’s home a couple of years later, this time speaking with the man’s wife. She was glad it had found an appreciative owner.

His 95-year-old uncle, a historian, pointed him toward a local carver in Garrettsville who teaches the craft.

Two visits yielded nothing; the carver was away displaying work in Montana and his wife sold antique jewelry in the shop.

Broader searches led to Middlefield and Geauga County, home to seven Amish museums focused on furniture-making, but no leads on the Jefferson carving.