USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana : from the earliest times to the present, with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc. : together with an extended history of the Northwest, the Indiana territory, and the state of Indiana > Part 22
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Treasurers of State .- Daniel C. Lane, from 1816 to 1823; Samuel Merrill, from 1823 to. 1835; Nathan B. Palmer, from 1835 to 1841; George H. Dunn, from 1841 to 1844; Royal May- hew, from 1844 to 1847; Samuel Hanna, from 1847 to 1850; J. P. Drake, from 1850 to 1853; Elijah Newland, from 1853 to 1855; William B. Noffsinger, from 1855 to 1857; Aquilla Jones, from 1857 to 1859; Nathaniel F. Cunningham, from 1859 to 1861; J. S. Harvey, from 1861 to 1863; Matthew L. Brett, from 1863 to 1865; John I. Morrison, from 1865 to 1867; Nathan Kimball, from 1857 to 1871; James B. Ryan, from 1871 to 1873;
247
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
John B. Glover, from 1873 to 1875; B. C. Shaw, from 1875 to ---; William Fleming, from 1879 to 1881; R. S. Hill, from 1881 to 1883; John J, Cooper, from 1883 to
Attorney-Generals .- James Morrison, from March 5, 1855; J. E. McDonald, from December 17, 1857; J. G. Jones, from December 17, 1859; John P. Usher, from November 10, 1861; Oscar B. Hord, from November 3, 1862; D. E Williamson, from November 3, 1864; Bayliss W. Hanna, from November 3, 1870; James C. Denny, from November 6, 1872; Clarence A. Buskirk, from November 6, 1874; Thomas Woolen, from November, 1878, to November, 1880; Daniel O. Baldwin, from 1881 to 1883; Francis T. Hord, from 1883 to
Judges of the Supreme Court .- James Scott, from 1816 to 1831; John Johnston, from 1816 to 1817; J. L. Holman, from 1816 to 1831; Isaac Blackford, from 1817 to 1853; S. C. Stev- ens, from 1831 to 1836; J. T. Mckinney, from 1831 to 1837; Charles Dewey, from 1836 to 1847; Jeremiah Sullivan, from 1837 to 1846; Samuel E. Perkins, from 1846 to 1865; Thomas L. Smith, from 1847 to 1853; Andrew Davidson, from 1853 to 1865; William L. Stewart, from 1854 to 1857; Addison L. Roache, from 1853 to 1854; Alvin P. Hovey, appointed, to 1854; S. B. Gookins, from 1854 to 1857; James L. Worden, appointed, from 1858 to 1865; James M. Hanna, appointed, from 1858 to 1865; Charles A. Ray, from 1865 to 1871; John P. Elliott, from 1865 to 1871; James S. Frazier, from 1865 to 1871; . Robert S. Gregory, from 1865 to 1871; James L. Wor- den, from 1871 to --; Alex C. Downey, from 1871 to --; Samuel H. Buskirk, from 1871 to -; John Pettit, from 1871 to --; Andrew L. Osborn, from 1872 to -; Horace P. Bid- dle, from 1874 to --; Samuel E. Perkins; George V. Howk; William E. Niblack; William A. Woods; Byron K. Elliott; Allen Zollars.
United States Senators .- James Noble, from 1816 to 1831; Waller Taylor, from 1816 to 1825; William Hendricks, from 1825 to 1837; Robert Hanna, appointed, 1831; John Tipton, from 1831 to 1839; Oliver H. Smith, from 1837 to 1843; Albert S. White, from 1839 to 1845; Edward A. Hannegan, from 1843 to 1849; Jesse D. Bright, from 1845 to 1861; James Whitcomb, from 1849 to 1852; Charles W. Cathcart, appointed, from 1852
248
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
to 1853; John Pettit, from 1853 to 1857; Graham N. Fitch, from 1857 to 1861; Joseph A. Wright, from 1861 to 1863; Henry S. Lane, from 1861 to 1867; David Turpie. 1863; Thomas a Hen- dricks, from 1863 to 1869; Oliver P. Morton, from 1867 to 1877; Daniel D. Pratt, from 1869 to 1875; Joseph E. McConald, 1875; Daniel W. Voorhees, Benjamin Harrison.
Territorial Delegates .- William H. Harrison, delegate from the territory northwest of the Ohio River, resigned in 1800; succeeded by William McMillan, who took his seat November 24, 1800.
Indiana Territory .- Benjamin Parke, December 12, 1805, resigned in 1808; succeeded by Jesse B. Thomas, who took his seat December 1, 1808; Jonathan Jennings, November 27, 1809.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.
1817-22 .- William Hendricks.
1822-24 .- Jonathan Jennings.
1823-25 .- Jonathan Jennings, William Prince, John Test and Jacob Call.
1825-27 .- Ratliff Boon, Jonathan Jennings, John Test.
1827-29 .- Thos. H. Blake, Jonathan Jennings, Oliver H. Smith.
1829-31 .- Ratliff Boon, Jonathan Jennings, John Test.
1831-33 .- Ratliff Boon, John Carr, Jonathan McCarty.
1833-35 .- Ratliff Boon, John Carr, John Ewing, Jonathan McCarty.
1835-37 .- Ratliff Boon, John Carr, John W. Davis, Edward A. Hannegan, William Herod, George L. Kinnard, Amos Lane, Jonathan McCarty.
1837-39 .- Ratliff Boon, George H. Dunn, John Ewing, Will- iam Graham, William Herod, James Rariden, Albert S. White.
1839-41 .- John Carr, John W. Davis, Tilghman A. Howard, Henry S. Lane, George H. Proffit, James Rariden, Thomas Smith, William W. Wick.
1841-43 .- James H. Cravens, Andrew Kennedy, Henry S. Lane, George H. Proffit, Richard W. Thompson, David Wallace, Joseph L. White.
1843-45 .- William J. Brown, John W. Davis, Thomas J. Henley, Andrew Kennedy, Robert Dale Owen, John Pettit, Sam- uel C. Sample, Caleb B. Smith, Thomas Smith, Joseph A. Wright.
249
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
1845-47 .- Charles W. Cathcart, John W. Davis, Thomas J. Henley, Andrew Kennedy, Edward W. McGaughey, Robert D. Owen, John Pettit, Caleb B. Smith, Thomas Smith, Wm. W. Wick.
1847-49 .- Charles W. Cathcart, George G. Dunn, Elisha Embree, Thomas J. Henley, John Pettit, John L. Robinson, William Rockhill, Caleb B. Smith, Richard W. Thompson, Will- iam W. Wick.
1849-51 .- Nathaniel Albertson, William J. Brown, Cyrus L. Dunham, Graham N. Fitch, Willis A. Gorman, Andrew J. Har- lan, George W. Julian, Joseph E. McDonald, Edward W. Mc- Gaughey, John L. Robinson.
1851-53 .- Samuel Brenton, John G. Davis, Cyrus L. Dun- ham, Graham N. Fitch, Willis A. Gorman, Thomas A. Hendricks, James Lockhart, Daniel Mace, Samuel W. Parker, John L. Rob- inson.
1853-55 .- Ebenezer M. Chamberlain, John G. Davis, Cyrus L. Dunham, Norman Eddy, William H. English, Andrew J. Har- lan, Thomas A. Hendricks, James H. Lane, Daniel Mace, Smith Miller, Samuel W. Parker.
1855-57 .- Lucien Barbour, Samuel Brenton, Schuyler Col- fax, William Cumback, George G. Dunn, William H. English, David P. Holloway, Daniel Mace, Smith Miller, John U. Pettit, Harvey D. Scott.
1857-59 .- Charles Case, Schuyler Colfax, John G. Davis, William H. English, James B. Foley, James M. Gregg, James Hughes, David Kilgore, William E. Niblack, John U. Pettit, James Wilson.
1859-61 .- Charles Case, Schuyler Colfax, John G. Davis, William M. Dunn, William H. English, William S. Holman, David Kilgore, William E. Niblack, John U. Pettit, Albert G. Porter, James Wilson.
1861-63 .- Schuyler Colfax, James A. Cravens, W. McKee Dunn, William S. Holman, George W. Julian, John Law, Will- iam Mitchell, Albert G. Porter, John P. C. Shanks, Daniel W. Voorhees, Albert S. White.
1863-65 .- Schuyler Colfax, James A. Cravens, Ebenezer Du- mont, Joseph K. Edgerton, Henry W. Harrington, William .S. Holman, George W. Julian, John Law, James F. McDowell, Godlove S. Orth, Daniel W. Voorhees.
250
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
1865-67 .- Schuyler Colfax, Joseph H. Defrees, Ebenezer Du- mont, John H. Farquhar, Ralph Hill, George W. Julian, Michael C. Kerr, William E. Niblack, Godlove S. Orth, Thomas N. Still- well, Daniel W. Voorhees, Henry D. Washburn.
1867-69 .- John Coburn, Schuyler Colfax, William S. Hol- man, Morton C. Hunter, George W. Julian, Michael C. Kerr, William E. Niblack, Godlove S. Orth, John P. C. Shanks, Henry D. Washburn, William Williams.
1869-71 .- John Coburn, William S. Holman, George W. Julian, Michael C. Kerr, William E. Niblack, Godlove S. Orth, Jasper Packard, John P. C. Shanks, James N. Tyner, Daniel W. Voorhees, William Williams.
1871-73 .- John Coburn, William S. Holman, Michael C. Kerr, Mahlon D. Manson, William E. Niblack, Jasper Packard, John P. C. Shanks, James N. Tyner, Daniel W. Voorhees, Will- iam Williams, Jeremiah M. Wilson.
1873-75 .- Thomas J. Cason, John Coburn, William S. Hol- man, Mortou C. Hunter, William E. Niblack, Godlove S. Orth, Jasper Packard, Henry B. Sayler, John P. C. Shanks, James N. Tyner, William Williams, Jeremiah M. Wilson, Simeon K. Wolfe.
1875-77 .- John H. Baker, Nathan T. Carr, Thomas J. Cason, James L. Evans, Benoni S. Fuller, Andrew H. Hamilton, William S. Haymond, W. S. Holman, Andrew Humphreys, Morton C. Hunter, Michael C. Kerr, Franklin Landers, Jeptha D. New, Mil- ton S. Robinson, James D. Williams.
1877-79 .- John H. Baker, George A. Bicknell, Thomas M. Browne, William H. Calkins, Thomas R. Cobb, James L. Evans, B. S. Fuller, A. H. Hamilton, John Hanna, M. C. Hunter, M. S. Robinson, Leonidas Sexton, M. D. White.
1879-81 .- William Heilman, Thomas R. Cobb, George A. Bicknell, Jeptha D. New, Thomas M. Browne, William R. Myers, Gilbert De La Matyr, Abraham J. Hostetter, Goodlove S. Orth, William H. Calkins, Calvin Cowgill, Walpole G. Colerick, John H. Baker.
1884-85 .- John F. Kleiner, Thomas R. Cobb, Strother M. Sockslager, W. S. Holman, C. C. Matson, T. M. Brown, S. J. Peelle, J. E. Lamb, T. B. Ward, T. F. Wood, G. W. Steele, Robert Loury, W. H. Calkins.
PART II.
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY,
COMPILED BY PROF. Z. T. EMERSON.
CHAPTER I .*
GEOLOGY-BOUNDARY-SECTION OF THE COUNTY STRATA-LOOAL DE- TAILS-THE COALS-CATALOG OF FOSSILS-SANDSTONE AND LIME- STONE-NEW HARMONY AS A GEOLOGICAL CENTER-EMINENT SCIEN- TISTS-ARCHEOLOGY-ALLUVIUM, WATER, LACUSTRAL LOAM AND THE DRIFT.
POSEY COUNTY is bounded north by Gibson, east by Gib- son and Vanderburg, south by the Ohio River and the State of Kentucky, and west by the Wabash and the State of Illinois, and contains 420 square miles, or 268,000 acres. The leading streams are the Ohio, Wabash and Black Rivers, and Big and other small creeks which ramify the county, giving ample drain- age. The following general section is combined from the shafts, bores and explorations made from out-crops in eastern and north- ern parts or adjoining regions, and doubtless gives the unex- plored strata of the county:
1. Buff, brown, red and mottled shales.
2
to
0
20
to
25
34. Dark gray or buff shales and flaggy sand- stones, with clay iron stones.
4. Brown impure coal, 3drash coal.
1} to
00
4}. Flaggy or thick-bedded sandstone, ripple- marked ..
5. Hard, clinky, gray limestone, at bottom irreg- ular and sometimes flinty, passing to the west to a calcareous shale.
Feet.
Feet.
2. Merom sandstone, soft, shaly, upper div ..
3. Merom sandstone, massive in quarry beds.
10
to 30
10
to
20
9 to
4
2
to
6
*Adapted from the report of the State Geologist, John Collett, of 1883.
252
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
Feet.
Feet.
6. Argillaceous shale and shaly sandstone.
7. Black slate, with fish spines and fossils.
1} to
0
8. Second rash coal.
0 to
10
9. Fire-clay
1 to
0
10. Gray shale.
6
to
0
11. Limestone, yellow ferruginous.
3
to
12
11}. Gray shale.
98
to
0
12. First rash coal and black slate.
0
to
13. Fire-clay.
1
to
2
14. Soft, flaggy, blue, buff and gray sandstone, with much gray shale and beds of clay iron- stone and nodules.
60
to 121
15. Yellow and gray sandstone, often giving 15 good quarry beds. to 29
16. Gray and buff alluminous, arenaceous or shaly, flaggy sandstone, with ironstone nod- ules and shaly concretions.
29
to
8
18. Coal N, choice, gassy, caking.
2
20. Buff or gray limestone, with Chcetetes
8 to
5
21. Gray or white shale, with nodules of iron- stone and bands of sandstone.
30
to
40
22. Siliceous shale, passing to massive sandrock to south and west; Anvil rock of Lesque- reux and Owen
60 to
71
23. Black slate and clod, with many animal and vegetable fossils.
2 to 1
24. Ingleside Coal M, laminated coal, 1 ft. 4 in .; parting, 2 in. to 0; solid cubic coal, 2 ft. 8 in.
4
26. Fire-clay, with pyrite balls
3
27. Siliceous shale.
11
28. Argillaceous sandstone.
5
29. Gray shale and soapstone.
64
30. Soapstone, with plant remains.
1
32. Fire-clay.
2
34. Siliceous shales and coarse massive ferrugin- ous sandstone. .
90
to
120
35. Bituminous limestone and black slate.
2
to
8
36. Coal K, coking pyritous.
0
to
1
37. Laminated fire clay
2
to
1
38. Siliceous and black aluminous shales with lands and pockets of nodular iron ore .. . .
10
to
30
40. Coal A
3
to
0
41. Dark or black shale with iron ore.
30
to
5
Unknown
42. Chester sandstone and lower carboniferous limestone
34 to
0
39. Conglomerate sandrock.
110
to
180
25. Fire-clay
4
31. Coal L, impure cannel coal, 1 ft. 6 in
1
19. Fire-clay, at bottom shaly, with iron balls ..
5
17. Black slate or clod, with fossils.
253
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
THE COAL STRATA, ETC.
It may be said in general that the entire county lies within the area of the upper coal measures. The above tabular state- ment of the strata requires no further description than appears in the local details given in the succeeding pages. The following section was observed at New Harmony cut off :
Feet.
Feet.
1. Alluvium (river bottoms). 30 to 10
2. Loess.
20
to 10
3. Clay, sand, gravel, etc., sorted from glacial drift. 30 to 13
4. Merom sandstone; massive in eastern parts, to the west laminated. 50 to 20 4 to 12
5. Limestone, with fossils.
6. Black shale.
7. Upper Rash Coal.
10
to
0
8. Shaly sandstone
10
to 40
9. Concretionary iron balls. 1
to 2
10. Calcareous shale, with fossils. 1
to 2
11. Black, sheety shale, with coprolites and fossil remains. 1 to
2
12. Lower Rash Coal. 0 · to
1}
13. Gray shales, with plant remains to low water in river. 2 to
4
Total 116}
The lower sandstones of this locality present fossil casts of strong growing plants of the Permo-Carboniferous age, Calami- tes, Sigillaria and numerous beautiful ferns. A Sigillaria pre- served by Mr. Sampson, was of wondrous size. A part of the fossils seen in his collection were: Lophophyllum proliferum, Bryozoans, Productus longispinus, P. punctatus, P. costatus, Orthis Pecosi, S. lineatus, Athyris subtilita, Myalina Missouri- ensis, Entolium aviculatum, Bellerophon carbonarius, B. percari- natus, B. Montfortianus, Peurotomaria carbonaria, P. tabulata, P. spherulata, P. Grayvillensis, Orthoceras Rushensis, etc., etc. This section does not reach down to the bottom of the upper coal measures, and indicates that the horizon of the workable Coals M, L and K are from 200 to 500 feet below. A section was taken near the county line, at M. Gluck's, southwest quarter of Section 32, Township 6, Range 11, where the upper limestones were well developed:
254
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
Feet.
Loess loam
20
Red sand, Loess 4
Soft Merom sandstone 26
Shaly sandstone 12
Blue limestone .. .3 feet to- 1
Calcareous argillite, with plates of chert of 2 inches to 8 inches, and containing Spirifer lineatus, Orthis Pecosi,
Bellerophon, Athyris, Productus, and crinoid stems and arms. 3
Gray and buff limestone, crowded with a crushed mass of above fossils. 8
2
Gray shale to brook.
Total 76
An outcrop of this flinty (hornstone) limerock was seen further on in the West Franklin road, which has been a noted curiosity with geologists who have made this region famous by their labors.
RASH COALS.
In the southeastern part of the county the rash coals are well exhibited, although to no workable extent. Northward from this the Merom sandstone is several times exposed, dipping slightly to the west-southwest. There is much false bedding. Calamites and worn trunks of coal plants are found in the lower strata. A thin coal was formerly worked for blacksmith's use on Section 1, Township 6, Range 12. Two and a half miles southwest of St. Wendel the Merom sandstone has not been eroded and crowns an almost knob-like elevation. The lower strata are soft, while the middle is more compact, forming occasional "rock houses." These were formerly used for shelter by the Indians and wild animals. Coal has been found at St. Wendel, but is thin, impure, and will not justify expensive work. Six miles north of New Harmony, near Mr. Calvin's, the following section appears:
Feet.
Covered tops of hills 70
Limestone with fossils
2
Shaly sandstone. 5
Soft shales with plants and stems. 21
Coal .. 1
Fire-clay 2
Total 101
Two thin seams of coal are seen eight miles northeast of New Harmony. On Big Creek, near the New Harmony & Mount Ver- non Road, a ten-inch bed of coal is exposed and in the roof, shales
255
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
ore, plant and fish remains and fossil mollusca. At the mouth of Rush Creek is a thin bed of coal ten to eighteen inches thick, overlaid with sandstone, four to six feet thick, and on the borders of the Wabash a bed of soft shales is exposed containing many plants and fossils. The following is the section at Blairsville:
Feet.
Alluvial soil and loess
5
Shales and shaly sandstone. 15
Coal, rash.
Fire-clay with broken plants
6
Sandstone .
6
Fire-clay and trace coal.
Shales and shaly sandstone, to creek.
1
Total 33₫
In the sandstone of this section remarkable fossil remains of trees have been discovered. One of the largest specimens pre- served in the cabinet of Dr. D. D. Owen was two feet three inches high, perfectly cylindrical and thirteen inches in diameter at the top, where it was broken off. It was sent to the State University, and was destroyed there by fire. A very valuable specimen was found near Blairsville. The following section was taken at New Harmony :
Soil and sub-soil
Feet. 1 to 6
Loess .
6 to 30
Drift, yellow clay, with small crystalline boulders 10 to 20
Hard, blue clay (hard-pan). + to 1
Merom sandstone; sometimes thick-bedded, yellowish red color and spotted with iron stains; often fria-
ble, and seldom suitable for building purposes. 10 to 50
Argillaceous and siliceous shales
5 to 10
Coal.
+ to 1 Fire-clay. 1 to 3
Limestone; earthy, and of accretionary structure, and without fossils. 0 to 2
Argillaceous, jointed, bluish-gray shale. 20 to 30
Thin-bedded and schistose sandstone, highly mica- ceous, and carrying stems and trunks of Sigillaria Oweni and Asterophycus Coxii. 3 to 6
Banded limestone, with Palcophycus Milleri. 0 to
Calcareous shale and limestone, full of fossils (West Franklin limestone) 2 to 25
Argillaceous shales, with some coal plants, black, bituminous, sheety shales, with fish teeth and Coprolites 0 to 2 Coal.
0 to
Bluish underclay, full of fossil plants 0 to
Feet.
256
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
SANDSTONES, SHALES, ETC.
Underneath the Merom sandstone is a massive bed of siliceous and argillaceous shales with intercolated beds of fossiliferous, cal- careous shales and earthy limestones. Opposite Diamond Island, the limestone is of great thickness and is very valuable. On Big Creek, near the road from New Harmony to Mount Vernon, this limestone is not so thick, and is of a black color, very close-grained, breaks with irregular fracture, and has a strong fotid odor. It contains a few fossils, perfectly preserved and very white. The stone admits of a high polish, and can be and is used for table tops, mantel pieces and other decorative purposes. In Bethel Township, the limestone is of an earthy accretionary character, and is destitute of fossils. At the cut-off at New Harmony, the lower part of the Merom sandstone and the upper portion of the underlying shales are well shown. About ten feet of the sand- stone are friable and coarse-grained and reddish-brown in color, and have underneath five or six feet of argillaceous shale contain- ing a seam of poor coal, eight inches thick, underlaid with fire- clay; and beneath this is an earthy, accretionary limestone wholly destitute of fossils. Under this is a massive bed of bluish-gray, jointed argillaceous shale, and below the shale is a bed of sand- stone thirty feet thick in layers of two to twelve inches. This stone is extensively used for building purposes. Under this stone is another mass of shales, containing flat iron-stones rich with remarkable fossilized ferns. Many of these are described by Prof. Leo Lesquereux in his report of 1875. These shales and schistose rocks are found throughout the county, and may be seen in low water at the bed of streams. On Macadoo Creek they are quite siliceous and contain casts of many fossil shells, conspicuous among them being Monopteria longispina.
"At Blairsville, on Big Creek, they contain upright trunks of trees, Sigillaria Oweni, Lesq, From this famous locality Dr. David Dale Owen obtained many specimens, from six inches to a foot and more in diameter and three feet high from the branching roots to the top of the broken body. Sir Charles Lyell, when on his second visit to this country, accompanied by Dr. Owen, made a careful examination of this locality. Not only has it been ex- amined by the above mentioned parties, but during the years be- fore it had received the attention of William McClure, Thomas
257
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
Say, C. A. Leseuer and Dr. Troost; subsequently by Norwood, Shumard, Pratten, Worthen, Lesquereux, Cox, and many others. Below the roots of these standing trees is a bed of argillaceous shales, containing some fossil ferns, and other coal plants, and a thin seam of coal.
"The calcareous beds which underlie this member of the gen- eral section are best exposed on the bank of the Wabash, just above the mouth of Rush Creek; but they have been so exten- sively worked for fossils by the many geologists who congregated at New Harmony, that the subsequent freshets of the Wabash have filled up the excavation to such a depth that it would be a vast and expensive undertaking to excavate it so as to again ex- pose the fossil bed. At the cut-off the fossil bed is not so thick; but it is crowded with fossils, many of which have gone to enrich the cabinets of the country.
"It should be stated that the two massive blocks of limestone, above alluded to, in the cut-off and the Rush Creek locality, fur- nished the fossils for the excellent monograph on carboniferous fossils published by Norwood and Pratten, also a subsequent pub- lication by J. H. McChesney. Anyone wishing to study the fossils of these famous localities must visit the extensive collection made and owned by Mr. James Sampson, of New Harmony. Every available part of his residence contains cabinets that are filled with fossils and other objects of natural history.
EMINENT SCIENTISTS.
"Mr. Sampson is not the only collector and naturalist at New Harmony, for this is also the home of Prof. Richard Owen, the former State geologist of Indiana, and for many years professor of geology and natural history in the State University at Bloom- ington. Mr. John Chappelsmith lived for many years in New Harmony, and drew all of the fossils that were described by Prof. E. T. Cox, and figured in the Third Kentucky Report. He was a skilled artist and engraver.
"The calcareous shales of the cut-off and Rush Creek are also seen in the bank of the Wabash River, at Grayville, Ill., twelve miles above New Harmony. At the latter locality, it is highly fossiliferous, and there is a band of ironstone just above it, which has furnished a large number of remarkable Cephalopo-
258
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
da, Lamellibranchiata, Brachiopoda, Gasteropoda, Pteropoda, Bryozoa, and corals. Like Rush Creek and the cut-off, this also has been a place of great resort for the New Harmony naturalists, and has furnished specimens that were new to science.
" William McClure was, himself, one of the earliest workers in geology, and, indeed, might properly be classed as one of the founders of the science. He crossed the Alleghany Mountains many times on foot, to study their rocky structure, and lived long enough to see his conclusions, which were published in book form, verified by the research of modern students. Associated with him at New Harmony was Thomas Say, styled the great Ameri- can naturalist; C. A. Leseuer, the great artist and ichthyologist of the expedition of "La Peruse," fitted out under the auspices of Napoleon I, to explore Australia; D. Troost, the eminent geologist and mineralogist, who afterward moved to Nashville, where he died, leaving a cabinet of great scientific value. These eminent men were followed by the late David Dale Owen, M. D., and his brother, Prof. Richard Owen, who came to New Harmony in 1832, fresh from the schools of Europe. Dr. D. D. Owen com- menced at once to arrange a chemical laboratory and museum of natural history on a scale that, in those days, had no superior in this country. William MaClure turned over to him his vast col- lection of rocks and minerals that had been made in Italy, Spain, Portugal, West Indies, Mexico and France, at a great cost. So vast was this valuable collection that many boxes remained un- opened up to the time of their removal to the State University at Bloomington. In 1837 D. D. Owen was appointed United States Geologist, with headquarters at New Harmony. He was in- structed to make a reconnoisance of what was then the great Northwest, now Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the northern part of Illinois, in order to point out, for preservation by the government, the salt springs, lead and other mineral-bearing rocks, previous to offering the lands for sale. This herculean task was accomplished in two months, and the report laid before Con -. gress at the opening of the next session. Several hundred men were employed in making the survey. They were divided into companies, having an intelligent head to look after the work, and each company was alloted a district, in which every section was to be visited and samples of the rocks collected. At stated points
259
HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY.
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