It could be ash. Do you know any woodworkers to show them a picture?

Beginning in 1904, a fungal blight began wiping out mature American
Chestnut trees until most none existed. I don't know at what date these
trees were considered endangered, maybe by 1930. There are pockets of few trees existing today and many of those are protected. I doubt that any are
harvested to saw into lumber today. If your table is American Chestnut,
then judging by the size of the boards, I'd guess that it was made
before 1930.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_chestnut

Could be chestnut....but more likely oak. The style puts it squarely about 1900.

viola, I know one or two woodworkers but they're not readily available. I should take the damaged leaf into Ace Hardware, maybe they will know the wood as well as how to repair it best.

jemdandy and lindac92, thanks for narrowing the date down. I was wondering if the piece incorporated reclaimed old wood -- that could possibly explain the "pre-civil war" story, if some of the wood were from an old structure. Were furniture-makers doing that in the early 1900's?

It looks oaky but chestnut can look oaky too.

I would not expect Ace people to know chestnut unless they are also antiquers or vintage wood aficionados on the side. It's just not a common material and would not come up in their jobs often enough to be familiar with it.

It is nice though, whatever it's made of. How is it put together underneath?

Once in a while I'm in our local Ace and either have a question, or overhear someone asking a question, and they seem to know what they're talking about. (One time a man rushed in, "How do you get a lot of blood out of an oak floor before it stains" "Oh, MarySue will know all about that" ... I'm not sure which part of that conversation was more disturbing!)

Back to what I'm now calling the Groovy 1900 Table -- here's a picture of the underside, with one of the sliding mechanisms. The 5th leg is attached to its sliding panel with a big nail that doesn't look original to me. Each grooved decorative piece (two per outside leg) has a teeny tiny finishing nail. The scalloped decorative pieces each have three larger finishing type nails on the bottom, going up into the side panel. An oddity, is that on the underside of the two longer edges, there are holes that look as if someone had tacked or stapled a tablecloth down (see 2nd pic for example). I don't know why else there would be holes there. Strange that someone would do that, but ??

linda, crossposted with you, sorry! I've got some mineral spirits, so will wipe it down today. Thanks! I am wondering if it's really a polyurethane finish under there, as the seller said. I don't really mind, as long as the wood is protected and it doesn't feel sticky.

I can ask about hide glue at Ace. I'd like to keep the cracks from getting any worse.

Sometimes you do run across someone at Ace (or yes, even Home Depot) who has way more knowledge than their pay grade. Look for the old guys!

There is a woodworking forum here and it might be helpful to post there as well. It's not the fastest moving forum, but there are wood people there who might have ideas about species and repairs. :) https://www.houzz.com/discussions/woodworking

It was very common to cover a kitchen table with oil cloth...surprising there aren't more holes! I bought a square oak kitchen table, missing the 5th leg and the leaves and cut it down to coffee table height. It had several layers of oil cloth on the top.
And at one time I bought a small oak ice box, covered with many many layers of oil cloth ( for insulation?) and the front where the doors were were painted with silver radiator paint. I paid $1.50 for it and my husband didn't want it in the house and I couldn't bring it in myself, so it spent the winter on the carport. When I got the oil cloth off and found a pristine finish underneath and got the silver paint off which came off easily with ammonia....he thought he invented it! Used it for wine storage!
Yep....sometimes you find some "old guy" who knows a lot about surprising things. That's how I know most of what I know about a lot of antiques..from some old guy who was likely born in 1900 saying "What you want to look for...."
I've been going to sales since about 1964.

Oilcloth, that make sense, thanks. My grandparents always covered their table -- I always assumed it was vinyl/flannel, but in their younger days it was likely oilcloth. My parent's table was formica, so much easier to wipe off. We forget what cleaning challenges our ancestors had to deal with :-)

Haha yes! And now Formica is considered "cheap" instead of "incredibly practical".

and linoleum.....came in a roll and in various sizes...like a rug. My grandmother always had a linoleum "rug" on her kitchen floor. I remember going to Woolworths and seeing the rolls of linoleum standing up....and racks with rolls of interesting printed oil cloth. it wasa available by the yard and in varying widths. Some people pinked or scalloped the edges and used it as a table cloth....others tacked it down.

I don't think it's chestnut; to me it looks more like butternut, or possibly ash. Sounds like it's been badly "refinished," so yep, sling a tablecloth over it while you decide on the best path to take.

Interesting, thanks! There are places you can send your DNA for analysis, or your dog's DNA and they'll tell you what breed(s) they are. How long until we can send a pinch of sawdust someplace and get a definitive answer....

My usual take is....as Shakespear said..."a rose by any other name smells as sweet..."

and it's true...it's a nice old hard wood, oak or chestnut or butternut or ash table...

Oak is very heavy. Chestnut is not. I once refrained from buying an "oak" table at an auction because I knew the two of us there couldn't get it into and out of our truck. Then two women lifted it and went off with it--chestnut. Same with a desk I bought years later as oak and when we lifted it we knew it was chestnut.

The top almost looks like pine, but I have no idea. In any event, here’s a very helpful resource. If after going through the steps you still can’t identify the species, ask for help — with pics — in the comments section. If this guy can’t identify the wood, no one can. Wood Identification Guide

There are places you can send your DNA for analysis, or your dog's DNA and they'll tell you what breed(s) they are. How long until we can send a pinch of sawdust someplace and get a definitive answer....

Actually, you don’t have to wait, @nickel_kg; the technology already exists and is used primarily for distinguishing white oak from red oak, and red maple from hard maple. (I learned that just five minutes ago, btw, from the guide I posted the link to. 😬)

True....chestnut is lighter than oak, but not so much that you could tell the difference by lifting a table. If you had the identical table White oak weighs about 46 lbs per square foot....chestnut about 30 you likely could easily tell which is heavier. But, to pick up a piece of furniture and try to judge the wood by the weight is not an accurate judge at all. an added corner brace or a "true inch" thick board will make enough difference in weight that a piece will seem heavier than expected....or lack of these items lighter.
As I said above...it really doesn't matter if the difference isn't obvious.

But, to pick up a piece of furniture and try to judge the wood by the weight is not an accurate judge at all.

I don’t see where anyone suggested this. Was a comment with this advice deleted or something and that’s why I’m not seeing it?

I’m not sure these photos are of good enough quality to be of any help, but this is an American chestnut door, circa 1900:

I grew up in a house that was built in 1903 and the previous owners said it had oak woodwork ( this was in New Jersey)...my grandfather who was a carpenter said it was chestnut....no one could tell for sure. But it had pine flooring....beautiful but splintery. Wish I could count the number of splinters my mother gouged out of my feet from that floor.

What a beautiful door, Sammy!

Some things will remain a mystery, but I appreciate everyone's helping us learn more about this piece. Oh one more thing -- today I noticed that there is a marking on the underside of one of the leaves. The number "61" looks like it was stamped into the wood. Any importance, or just another one of those things we'll never know for sure?

Thanks, @nickel_kg! That’s the front door of my grandparents’ house, which (coincidentally) is located in NJ. Do you have any pictures of the house you grew up in, @lindac92?

Here is an interior door in the same house:

HERE is my wood ID quiz from a previous thread. This includes American Chestnut. Some posters got it right, others didn't.

Sammy, of course!! but not with detailed wood pictures. It had oak ( or chestnut!) colonaids between the entrance and the living room...battens on the wall in the dining room, a huge slag glass chandelier in the dining room and a Quezel electric fixture in the living room with dual fuel side light in both the living room, dining room den and bedrooms.

The only reason I have detailed wood pictures is because the house is still in the family. :)

That's definitely chestnut, but dates more like 1885-1900

Thank you Sombreuil, that is good to know.

The doors in the house I grew up in were "witch's doors".... no large panels of wood but with the cross bar at the top

laceyvail is right, chestnut is noticably lighter than oak.

Following door panel is from a c.1905 house. Doors, casings, baseboards, stair bannister, joists, rafters and roof deck all American chestnut. Location is Maryland.

Want to know more about chestnut? Ross Taylor has a youtube channel about furniture restoration. He discusses a definitive way to distinguish ring-porous woods like chestnut and oak. HERE is the video, scroll ahead to 16:25