USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Steuben County, Indiana, together withbiographies of representative citizens > Part 23
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Water at 212º F.
8.00 per cent.
Carbonic Acid and Combined Acid
41.50
Insoluble Silicates.
.30
Oxid of Iron, a trace
Alumina.
1.50
66
Lime.
45.36
66
Magnesia.
3.42
Sulphuric Acid.
.10
Phosphoric Acid.
.38
Total.
100.56
A heavy deposit of lime or marl lies along the west margin of James Lake, and in the early settlement of the region it was worked for lime for making mortar, the pits being still visible. Aquatic plants are now encroaching on the water in almost all di- rections, which give the margins a marshy appearance.
Coal has been discovered in one or two places in Steuben County, and indications exist in other localities; but it is not likely that much can be found in the way of mineral wealth. The State Geologist says in regard to coal and petroleum in this county that
255
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
coal was brought down here in the early drift period by the ice along with the boulders and material that now enrich the soil. Beneath bituminous shales and deposits of the Devonian age there is often found a small quantity of petroleum which oozes out, but after a time is exhausted and ceases This is the case in all counties in Northern Indiana. He pronounces such discoveries as have been made here to be of no economic importance whatever.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
BY T. J. SANDERS, A. M.
Having in mind the thousands of pupils who receive instruction in the excellent schools of Steuben County, and conscious that the greater part of those who have come to maturer years are unac- quainted with the subject of general geology, I desire, in the first place, to describe the formation of the world as a whole and give such an account of the great periods of the earth's history that we may be able to find our place in that history, and thus, as in locating a place upon a map first, we may be the better able after- ward to study it more satisfactorily and understandingly. Indeed, without this method of procedure, all our ideas are vague and the entire work unsatisfactory and unscientific.
Omitting the nebular hypothesis, which assumes the earth, to- gether with all our bodies of the solar system, to have been in primeval times in the form of an incandescent gas of incompre- hensible dimensions, and the second step derived from the former, through long cycles of whirling motion, radiation, and condensa- tion, the liquid or molten earth, with its wonderful processes of crust formation, we begin our brief description with the process of
ROCK-FORMATION.
The first or original rock is what was first formed as a crust, igne- ous rock, rock without form or strata-a mere slag. The earth, losing heat by radiation and becoming smaller, the crust, in ac- commodating itself to the smaller sphere, must necessarily rise in some places and sink in others, just as by the shrinking of an orange the rind becomes wrinkled. Then the water, having been previously formed as the result of the great world formation, the residue, the ash-heap of the great conflagration, obeying the law of gravity, is gathered together into the depressed areas and thus the dry land, or rather the dry rock, appears.
256
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
Now, by the action of winds, rains, waves and the various chem- ical and mechanical agencies, the exposed rock is decomposed, carried to the sea, and deposited in horizontal strata, which, in process of time, becomes stratified rock, just as is being done at the months of the rivers and the beach and bottom of the oceans of to day.
BASEMENT ROCK.
From the preceding, we may conclude that there is everywhere beneath the waters and soil of the earth's surface a basement of rock, sometimes called bed-rock. The outcropping of rock above the surface, the rocky bluffs forming the sides of many valleys, the ledges projecting from the sides of mountains, and the cliff's of the sea-shore are portions of this rock exposed to view. Now, the various strata which compose the stratified rocks of the globe, with their included fossils, are the leaves of that great book which unfolds to us the history of the earth through its incomprehensibly long periods of time. The lowest strata, of course, furnish us the first chapter in that history. In no part of the earth's surface is the record complete, but all have their long blanks-periods in which no strata occur. This is caused by the elevating of the crust above the waters of the ocean, and, when this is continental, finis is appended to the chapter and the history of the rocks is finished forever.
In North America we have an excellent example of the unfold- ing and development of geological history, and as the continent gradually emerged from the ocean, it left us the record almost complete. The following section is a representation of the succes- sive geological ages, with the corresponding formations and periods of the globe, by the side of which is placed that of Steuben County with its many and immensely long blanks between the Devonian and Quaternery or Psychozoic Ages.
Thus a glance at the section will show us our place in the history of the formation of the globe, not the least interesting part of which is the long blank between the Devonian and Quarternery Ages, showing us conclusively that our soil rests upon the Devo- nian. At the close of the above-named period, all Northern Indi- ana and a strip extending through the central part of the State to the Ohio River emerged from beneath the sea and the history of the rocks of Steuben County was finished forever.
VERTICAL SECTION OF THE ROCKS D
OF THE GLOBE.
OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
A G.E.S. ROCKS.
PERIODS.
ROCKS.
TERTIARY QUATERNARY,
25 Recent.
24 Champlain. 23 Glacial.
22. Pliocene.
21 Miocene.
20 Alabama: 19 Lignitic.
18 Cretaceous:
17 Jurassic.
16 Triassic.
15 Permian.
14 Carboniferous.
13 Sub. Carboniferous
12 Catskill.
II Chemung.
10 Hamilton.
Old Red Sand Stone
of Scotland and Wales.
9 Corniferous.
8 Oriskany.
7 Lower Helderberg.
6 Salina.
5 Niagara.
4 Trenton
3 Canadian.
CARBONIFEROUS.
DEVONIAN.
UPPER.
SILURIAN:
LOWER.
REPTILIAN.
258
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
THE DEVONIAN FORMATION.
So named by Sedgwick and Murchison from Devonshire, Eng- land, where it occurs well developed and abounds in fossils, and its age, the Age of Fishes, so called because in it the first known fishes are found, is in no part of the county exposed to view, neither has it been reached in the sinking of wells; hence all our knowledge of it must be gained from exposed areas and sections in other localities. Omitting the rock formation, because completely hidden from view, we come to the study of that which is apparent to all, that in which the farmer plows, upon which our wagon roads and railroads are builded, and upon which we all depend for our daily bread-the immense superincumbent mass of soil known as
DRIFT.
The farmer boy, as he walks over the meadow with its carpet of green and wanders beside the babbling brook, or, as with sturdy hand he turns the grassy sward, uncultured though he be, asks himself the question, "From whence came all this that is spread out so beautifully around me ? These huge stones which I see ly- ing upon the surface or imbedded within the soil, how came they here? Do they grow? 'The hills, rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,' how were they formed? and what is their history?" Ah! If they could speak and tell us what scenes they have witnessed, the story would be of far more interest than that of Belzoni's mummy, for it could tell us of the world not merely as it was " three thou- sand years ago," but stretching far back into the illimitable past, they could tell much of the Creator's plans in fitting up the earth as the abode of man.
All soil, with the trifling exception of the thin stratum of vege- table mold that covers the ground in many localities, is formed from the disintegration of rocks. Now, there are two great classes of soil, to one of which every kind of soil may be referred, that is, soil formed in situ-in the place where found-and that which has been transported, when formed, to places more or less remote from the parent rock. It is to the latter of these that our soil belongs and hence that which we wish to treat.
* For a description of the rocks of this age, and also of its Life-System, both animal and vegetable, the reader is referred to the three excellent works of Prof. Dana, the " Geological Story," the " Text-Book," and the " Manual," the masterly work of Prof. Le Conte, and to the many and valuable Geological Reports of Ohio and Indiana.
259
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
Strewed all over the northern part of North America, over hill and dale, over field and plain, covering alike, in places, all the country rock to a depth of thirty to three hundred feet, thus largely concealing them from view, and extending in general from the Rocky Mountains eastward, and southward to the fortieth parallel of latitude, is found this peculiar surface soil or deposit. It consists of a heterogeneous mixture of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, sub-an- gular stones of all sizes, unsorted, unsifted, unfossiliferous. The lowest part lying in immediate contact with the subjacent rock is often a stiff clay including sub-angular stones; hence this is often called the boulder clay or hard pan. "These included boulders," says Prof. Geikie, "are scattered higgledy-piggledy, pell-mell, through the clay so as to give the whole deposit a highly confused and tumultuous appearance." On examining many of these stones, they will be found to be angular in shape, but the sharp corners and edges are invariably smoothed away, their faces will be smoothed and frequently grooved with parallel scratches. Indeed in concretionary stones and others having an egg shape, often one whole end has been ground off, showing conclusively its history. On the other hand, lying all over this drift soil, in clusters, in iso- lated rocks, and in belts varying in width from a single line to two or three miles, are found many boulders of all sizes; in some lo- calities they are of huge dimensions and weigh hundreds of tons. These unscratched, or erratic blocks, as they are sometimes called, have attracted the attention and excited the wonder of those in the humblest walks of life, and since they are composed of materials foreign to the local geology, were regarded by them as foreigners which had been brought from a distance and strewed over the sur- face or perched upon declivities in some incomprehensible way. It is now very appropriate to investigate the causes for all this phenomena spread out before us.
Whenever the underlying rock is of sufficient hardness to retain an impression, and for any cause is exposed to view, it is always found to be plowed and planed and grooved with long parallel striæ and ruts. Thus, these scratches, with the superincumbent drift, the boulder-clay, and the surface boulders, furnish for us phe- nomena, the exact counterpart of which is found on a smaller scale in all the glaciated regions of the world to-day-Alaska, Green- land, Switzerland, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Antarctic continent. Given identical phenomena, we must conclude there was an identical cause. Given identical phenomena in the one
260
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
ease on a much larger and grander scale, we must conclude there was a cause of far greater and grander proportions. There was, then, a time in the past, when for hundreds of years the winters grew steadily both longer and colder; the equatorial current, be- ing pressed southward at Cape St. Roque, was pouring more and more of its waters into the South Atlantic. The moisture was all precipitated as snow, and these all mutually reacting upon each other so that each effect strengthened the cause, brought about the period known as the great Ice Age, and formed an immense con- tinental ice-sheet or Polar Ice Cap which extended in general to the fortieth degree of latitude, with local extensions of its icy fingers down river valleys far to the southward.
In the beginning of the Archæan Age, at the time of the first known continental emergence in the history of the world, there was formed a high mountain range north of the great lakes, ex- tending from Labrador to the Lakes of the Woods and thence northi- ward to the Arctic Ocean, the degradation of which has furnished the material for the stratified rocks that surround it, and, being especially active in the glacial period, it also furnished the greater part of our drift material. Thus through the lapse of countless ages down to the present time, all the mountain peaks and chains of this Laurentian continent, as it is frequently called, have been removed and carried into the sea, and, as a result, there remain only the truncated bases of the various arches and folds to testify to their former existence and magnitude. Thus we see that these archæan mountains are the means, and the Ice Cap, together with what follows, the melting of the ice, are the agents in performing the final work in fitting up this part of our earth-home. For with its ponderous mass of ice a mile in thickness and constantly increas- ing as it approaches the pole, moving southward, it ground the softer rocks to powder, brought hither our soil, scooped out the great lakes and the multitude of smaller ones in their latitude, and by the retreating of the glacier, the immense floods and the conse- quent hosts of icebergs, the river valleys were hollowed out, the hills and the gravel beds formed, and the surface boulders were dropped by the river's side and over the fields and plains.
The glacier in forming the Erie basin, as is indicated by the fur- rows made at different points, moved from east to west along the line of its way or axis. It plowed up the Huron and Erie shales, in the east end, to a great depth, but moving westward it came upon the hard floor of corniferous limestone and but a shallow basin
261
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
was formed. Here the many beautiful and fertile islands particu- larly testify to the unyielding hardness of the rocks. Thence pass- ing southwest to New Haven and Fort Wayne, and from New Haven on down the Wabash Valley, it determined the valleys of two rivers which would, in turn, one day, through long periods of time, drain the waters of Lake Erie to the gulf and convey to itself all of the waters of the great Maumee basin. Now, by a process the exact reverse of that which produced the glacial epoch, there was brought about a period of much warmer climate known as the
CHAMPLAIN.
This was characterized by melting of ice and snow, a far more extended and higher condition of the great lakes, by multitudes of icebergs floating sonthward over these inland seas and dropping their loads of earth, sand, gravel and boulders, by numerous floods which broadened and deepened the river valleys and the pell-mell dumping of gravel and stones over hills and valleys, with the strat- ification of whatever was deposited by the water.
As proof of the greater extent and elevation of the lakes we have, for example, about Lake Erie five successive margins up to the elevation of 250 feet above its present level. Of these, the first and highest passes from Adrian, Mich., through Fayette, Ohio, Hamar, West Unity, Pulaski, Bryan and Farmer Center. From the latter place it passes into Defiance County and is divided into two nearly parallel lines west of Farmer Center, and continues its course southwesterly through Hicksville into the southeast corner of De Kalb County, thence on to New Haven and Fort Wayne. Here it forms parallel lines on the opposite sides of that old river which never had a name and no man ever saw; thence it passes eastward through Van Wert, Delphos and Findley.
A higher and equally continuous ridge lies back of this, passing from Hudson, Mich., on the left bank of the St. Joseph River, through Pioneer, Montpelier and Edgerton to Fort Wayne, and on the right bank of the St. Mary's running southeasterly to Lima and Kenton.
This is not usually regarded as an old lake beach, but rather as a swell of the Erie clay determined by a buried moraine .*
* The formation of the lake beaches and ridges constitute the last scenes in the great geological drama; nor should we look upon them as taking place in rapid succession, but slowly through long periods of time, just as in the near future, geologically speaking, the present margins of Lake Erie will be left far inland by the wearing away of Niagara's rocky bed and the retreating of the Falls.
17
262
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
This ridge, commonly called the St. Mary's Ridge, though it seems to me it would better be called the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Ridge, exerts a very controlling influence over the drainage of the country ; for it determines the basin of the two noble rivers, the St. Joseph and the St. Mary's.
These properly have tributaries flowing into them from one di- rection only, in the St. Joseph from the right, and in the St. Mary's from the left, and by their confluence at Fort Wayne, the one flow- ing in a southwesterly course, the other in a north westerly course, they form the Manmee, which flows back to Toledo, Ohio-not the resultant of the two forces, but directly the opposite of it. Thus this system of drainage, of which Steuben County furnishes an honorable part, has two most interesting features, the like of which, except the Tiffin and Auglaize and the second lake beach, so far as we know, is not to be found elsewhere upon the globe. Now, if the reader will refer to the section, he will be able to see our place more clearly. Far beneath us is the original or crust rock. Super- imposed upon this we have formed chiefly by the degradation of the Laurentian Mountains, the many and diverse strata that con- stitute the periods of the Silurian and Devonian ages. At the close of the last-named age, our county arose from beneath the ancient sea and its rock formation was at an end. It will also be observed that simultaneous with these formations there were formed in Scot- land and Wales the strata of the Old Red Sandstone, by the study of which, with chisel and hammer, Hugh Miller rendered both them and himself immortal. Thus, with the long blanks before us, it would be idle to look for coal or any of the interesting and useful formations of the Carboniferous, Reptilian and Tertiary ages; but while these phenomena were taking place, our county, with its head above the waves, like a silent and lonely sentinel, gazed upon these wonderful transformations, including the emer- gence of the continent southward and the gradual yet wonderful formation of the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. After all this was accomplished, the ponderous and mighty glacier, moving southward with grandeur and irresistible force, brought hither our 300 feet of drift-soil, rich in the elements of the old granitic rocks, and consisting of alternate layers of yellow and blue clay, sand and gravel of varying thickness. Thus there is formed for us the best of conditions for obtaining good water. There are three strata of sand with impervious clay on either side, having an average depth of twelve, twenty-five, and forty-five feet. This is known by the
263
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
many excellent wells all over the country, the greater number and best of which are generally obtained by sinking the tube to the second stratum of sand, having an average depth of twenty-five feet. On the retiring of the glacier, there was left upon the sur- face in the northwestern part of De Kalb County numerous boulders which may be traced northward through Steuben County and the State of Michigan, increasing both in size and number to the place of their origin-the region beyond the lakes. About this time, or just subsequent to it, was formed the St. Joseph, and, for the first time in its history, the waters of this phenomenal river are coursing southward, not yet to Lake Erie, but through the chan- nel of the Wabash on to the Gulf. Following this began the dep- osition of the alluvial bottom lands on either side of the river and its tributaries, of which are formed our most beautiful and fertile farms. Now, the margins of Lake Erie crossing the south- eastern part of the county, through the action of winds and waves, formed those beautiful ridges, previously described. These, "being composed chiefly of sand and fine gravel with sufficient clay to pack well, and yet sufficiently porous to drain well," have from the first afforded the people in their vicinity the best of roads, known here and wherever found as the "Ridge Roads."
Proceeding from below upward in our investigations, we arrive at last at the thin stratum of vegetable mold, covering the drift, which has been formed by the annual coating of leaves for untold years. This, together with the pulverized and partially decomposed granitic rock, the enormous drift covering, furnishes for the farmer a soil that is at once fertile and inexhaustible; for if he will but " plow deep, while sluggards sleep, he will have plenty of corn to sell and keep."
Thus, though we are not blessed with mines of the precious metals, nor coal, nor iron, nor copper, yet we have in our soil an inexhaustible mine of true wealth, the foundation of a nation's true greatness, the basis, the hidden spring that sets in motion the wheels of trade and commerce throughout the world. And the farmer, in his high and time-honored calling, holds in his hand the electric key, by means of which he sends the thrill of life-giving pulsations throughout the whole world of human industry and sets in motion its countless spindles and wheels the sweet music of whose hum is heard in every clime.
ZOOLOGY.
Although no large body of water exists within or near the bor-
26+
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY.
ders of Steuben County it formerly had a respectable number of both species and individuals of the animal kingdom. It afforded the Indian and the pioneer an abundance of wholesome wild meats, and in great variety, as well as a plentiful supply of useless or mischievous animals. According to the rule the world over, the larger animals disappeared first before the advancing tread of human occupation, and then the next in size, and so on, down to the rac- coon, opossum, etc., which still exist, though in diminishing num- bers. The buffalo and elk were the largest, and they disappeared on the very first approach of the white man, with his deadly rifle and indefatigable hound.
ANIMALS.
The common deer, which was abundant in pioneer times, is now very scarce in Indiana, being occasionally seen in some of the wildest portions of the State. The last one known to be in Steuben County was killed as inuch as twenty years ago.
The panther (Felix concolor) and two species of wild cat (Lynx Canadensis and rufus) used to infest the woods, and render travel- ing somewhat dangerous to the early settler, but the last seen in the county were about a third of a century ago.
The black bear, porcupine and beaver have not been seen here for a still longer period.
Minks, weasels and skunks, once common, are diminishing. Twenty to thirty years ago there was a brisk trade here in their furs and other peltry which perceptibly thinned out the fur-bearing animals.
Fox and gray squirrels keep up their proportion with the dimin- ishing forest. The gray species is the most numerous, among which a black specimen is occasionally met with. Flying squirrels are still here, but as they are entirely nocturnal in their habits they are seldom seen. There are also ground squirrels in abundance.
Moles, rabbits and bats are of course still common.
No others have been seen for many years, though they were fre- quent in early days. There are still a good many muskrats.
Occasionally there is a gray fox met with, but no red foxes have been seen for a long time.
Wolves, of the large gray or " timber" species, were plentiful in early times, and more annoying and mischievous than all other animals put together; but they are now, of course, extinct.
Ground hogs, or " woodchucks," were never plentiful, and are so scarce now that seldom can one be found.
265
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY .
" Wild hogs," or domestic hogs escaped and running wild, were abundant in pioneer times. In a few generations these animals became as furious and dangerous as wolves.
BIRDS.
Of the 250 species of birds found in Steuben County, either con- stantly or occasionally in emigration, the group of singers exceeds in number all others, though the really excellent musicians among them number but fifteen or twenty. The most numeronsly repre- sented division, the wood warblers (Tanagridc) are not fine singers. The best songsters of the forest belong to the thrush and mocking- bird family.
Thrush Family .- The superior singing bird of Steuben County is the superior singer of all the world, namely, the wood-thrush. It is really more entertaining than the famous nightingale of Europe. Its melodious, flute-like tones are altogether "too sweet" for de- scription. They are grouped into short tunes of eight, ten or twelve notes each, and there are six or eight tunes sung by this bird, with intervals of five to six or seven seconds between them.
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