for some reason they give me a mid 1800's vibe
You may well be right about your hunch.
The reason i'm saying this is the photo in the post up above,where the esteemed Mr Lyttle is holding it in his hand.
In the top view,note the crevice at the poll-end of the eye,literally like the corner of a human eye.
Then in the same photo there's another crevice,toward the front,but not centered on the front of the eye,but off to the left side.
Finally,in the next photo below it,of the left-side view,there's what Looks like(to me,and may or may not be so,photos are a poor way to judge such details),a seam looking feature running across the axe....
What it all possibly means is that the axe was welded out of irregular,assymetrical pieces;one larger-pretty much encircling the eye,and a shorter one making up half the poll,and a part of one side(left).
It was likely a poor quality local bloom(maybe a poorer quality remnant of making something requiring better stuff),containing too many inclusions to bend properly,and therefore of course entirely unsuitable for slitting an eye in,too brittle...
I have seen small "bag" axes from the Eastern seaboard made up from 4,sometimes as many as 7 chunks...
People commonly make a mistake of surmising that the material,the steel of whatever quality,was "precious".In actuality,it was not that that made people forge like this,but simple expediency...
Steel,even the highly refined medium to high C kind,was readily available,and not overly costly,but sometimes,a trip to town,et c.,and it was just simpler to bang something like that out....
Obviously,IF the above stands,whoever made this was probably a professional,skilled smith,vs a casual farmer,and possibly just short on material that day....
(ALL of the above may well be wrong...
IMG_20170712_191533 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr
IMG_20170712_185909 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr
IMG_20170712_191206 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr
IMG_20170712_191224 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr
IMG_20170715_094546
IMG_20170715_094551
