Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1, Part 4

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020

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"No objects in the State of Ohio seem to have more forcibly arrested the attention of travelers, nor employed a greater number of pens, than its antiquities. It is to be regretted, however, that so hastily and superficially have they been ex- amined by strangers, and so generally neglected by ourselves, that the materials for a full de- scription have not yet been collected. 'The former have too often contented themselves by copying from each other; and the latter have commonly substituted wonder for examination.

In the. United States, there is indeed no redund- ance of time or money ; but even in this young and parsimonious State; it is not uncommon to see appropriations of both, to objects of greater expense and lesser interest, than a 'survey of these curious relics. In the reflection, that I shall add one more to these crude and partial accounts, there is not much either to exalt pride or gratify ambition ; but as a description of any part of the State of Ohio that did not embrace these vestiges of former population, would by many be considered palpably defective in its plan, the present chapter cannot be omitted. Its imperfections, however, will not only fit it for being compared with the treatises that are al- ready extant on the same subject, but make it better correspond with the articles among which it will appear.

"Before proceeding to examine the remains which are termed ancient, it may be advan- tageous to distinguish them, if possible, from those which are evidently modern. In several places are to be found the sites of Indian vil- lages, which are indicated by hearthis of flat stones; by ashes, charcoal and calcined earth ; and by vast quanties of the broken bones of those animals on which the inhabitants sub- sisted. About the same spots, but not confined to them, are found various articles fabricated of clay, coal, grit, flint, granite and other hard stones; and which from their form are denon- inated hatchets, axes, chisels, arrow heads, pipes or ornaments. Fragments of earthern ware, also, are picked up, which exhibits in its composition, pounded mussel and other river shells; and on its surface, many ornamental lines, either straight and parallel, or curved; al-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

ways formed by indentation or incision. None of it appears to have been glazed; but most of the fragments have, it is obvious, been subjected to a strong heat. All which I have seen were parts of vessels, and are unquestionably a manu- facture of the same species with that carried on by some of the Southern tribes of Louisiana at the present time. The remaining works of a modern date are stone and sometimes earthen tumuli, which are distinguishable from the an- cient by their diminutive size, and from being disconnected with any extensive fortifications, or other remains. I have seen three of these Indian graves examined. They were situated on the top of a high ridge, in Kentucky, where none of the common vestiges of ancient popula- tion exist. Two of them were composed of stone, the other of earth. In the latter the dead bodies had been laid on the surface of the ground, and were surrounded by ashes, calcined loam and fragments of charred wood. They were covered with flat limestones, surrounded by others set edgewise. Over the whole had been erected a circular mound of little convexity, being nearly 36 feet in diameter, and not more than three in height. The others had nearly the same internal construction; but their framers chose to bring up stone from the creeks 200 feet below rather than erect a mound of earth ; and when we take into consideration the tools which they must have used for the latter pur- pose, their preference of the former cannot ex- cite much surprise.

"Having premised these remarks, we are bet- ter prepared to understand what relates to the works which are more ancient. Among these there is not a single edifice, nor any ruins which prove the existence, in former ages, of a build- ing composed of imperishable materials. No fragment of a column; no bricks; nor a single hewn stone large enough to have been incor- porated into a wall, has been discovered. The fabrics of wood must have long since mouldered away; and the only relics which remain to in- flame curiosity and excite speculation, are com- posed of earth, with which rude and undressed masses of stone have been sometimes combined. These vestiges consist of mounds, excavations, and embankments or walls, of various forms and dimensions. Cincinnati affords specimens of each. They are extensive and complicated, but not conspicuous, and have therefore attracted less attention than the relics at some other places. Their relative position may be seen by a refer- ence to the frontispiece. The principal wall or

embankment encloses an entire block of lots and some fractions. It is a very broad ellipsis; one diameter extending 800 feet east from Race street ; and the other about 660 feet south from Fifth street. But its figure is not mathemati- cally exact. On the east side it had an open- ing nearly 90 feet in width. It is composed of loam, and exhibits, upon being excavated, quite a homogencous appearance. Its height is scarce- ly three feet, upon a base of more than thirty. There is no ditch on either side. Within the wall the surface of the ground is somewhat un- even or waving; but nothing is found that in- dicates manual labor. On each side of the gate- way or opening, exterior and contiguous to the wall, there is a broad elevation or parapet, of an indeterminate figure. From one of these may be traced a bank, not more than twelve inches in height, on a foundation nine times as great. It extends southerly about 150 feet, till it reaches within one or two rods of the border of the upper plain or Hill, when it turns to the cast, and terminates in a mound at the junction of Main and Third streets, distant nearly 500 feet. From the parapet of the opposite side, no wall of this kind can be traced; but immediately north of it, and at a short distance, are two other shapeless and insulated elevations more than six feet in height, which, it seems probable, could not have been formed on an alluvial plain, but by the hands of man. Upwards of 400 yards east of this, between Broadway and Sycamore streets, there is another bank, of nearly the same dimensions with the one last described. It can be traced from Sixth to the vicinity of Third street ; and is evidently the segment of a very large circle, the centre of which would lie within or immediately south of that already described. From near the southern end of this segment, to the river, a low embankment, it is said, could formerly be traced; and was found to corre- spond in height, direction and extent, with all- other, more than half a mile distant, in the west- ern part of the town; but neither of these are now visible. In Fifth street, cast of all that have been described, there is a circular bank enclos- ing a space 60 feet in diameter. It was formed · by throwing up the earth from the inside. It is not more than a foot in height, but 12 or 15 in horizontal extent. In the northern part of the -town, between Vine and Elm streets, at the dis- tance of 400 yards from the ellipsis first de- scribed, there are a couple of convex banks, 760 fect long, and less than two feet high, connected at each end. They are exactly parallel and 46

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

feet asunder, measuring from their centres, for two thirds of their distance; after which they converge to 40. In the southern of these banks, about the point where their inclination to each other commences, there was an opening 30 feet wide. The direction of these elevations, as as- certained by the compass, does not vary two degrees from a true east and west line. The site of our town exhibits many other inequali- ties of surface, which are no doubt artificial ; but they are too much reduced, and their con+ figuration is too obscure to admit of their being described. It is worthy of notice that the plains on the opposite side of the river have not a single vestige of this kind.

"Of excavations, we have but one. It is situ- ated more than half a mile north of the figure first described, and is not perceptibly connected with any other works. Its depth is about 12 feet; its diameter, measuring from the top of the circular bank formed by throwing out the earth, is nearly 50. Popular speculation could not fail to make it a half filled well; but no examination has yet been undertaken.

"The mounds or pyramids found on this plain were four in number. The largest stands di- rectly west of the central enclosure so often re- ferred to, at the distance of 500 yards. Its present height is 27 feet, and about eight fect were cut off by General Wayne, in 1794, to pre- pare it for the reception of a centinel. It is a regular ellipsis, whose diameters are to each other nearly as two to onc. The longer runs 17 degrees east of north. Its circumference, at the base, is 440 feet. The earth for 30 or 40 yards around it, is perceptibly lower than the other parts of the plain, and the stratum of loam is thinner; from which it appears to have been formed by scooping up the surface; which opinion is confirmed by its internal structure. It has been penetrated nearly to the centre, and found to consist of loam gradually passing into soil, with rotten wood. The fruits of this ex- amination were only a few scattering and de- cayed human bones, a branch of dcer's horn, and a piece of earthern ware, containing mussel shell. At the distance of 500 fect from this pyramid, in the direction of north cight degrees cast there is another about ninc feet high, of a circular figure, and nearly flat on the top. This has been penetrated to the centre of its base, without affording anything but some fragments of human skeletons, and a handful of copper beads, which had been strung on a cord of lint. "Northeast of the last, at the distance of a

few hundred yards, is another of the same figure, but not more than three feet in height; which upon being partially opcned, has been found to contain a quantity of unfinished spear and arrow heads, of flint.

"The mound at the intersection of Third and Main streets has attracted most attention, and is the only one that had any connection with the lines which have been described. It was about eight feet high, one hundred and twenty long, and sixty broad; of an oval figure, with its diameters lying nearly in the direction of the cardinal points. It has been almost obliterated by the graduation of Main street; and its con- struction is, therefore, well known. Whatever it contained was deposited at a small distance beneath the stratum of loam which is common to the town. The first artificial layer was of gravel, considerably raised in the middle; the next, composed of large pebbles, was convex and of an uniform thickness; the last consisted of loam and soil. These strata were entire, and must have been formed after the deposits in the tumulus were completed. Of the articles takcn from thence, many have been lost; but the fol- lowing catalogue embraces the most curious :

"I. Pieces of jasper, rock crystal, granite and some other stones-cylindrical at the cx- tremities, and swelled in the middle; with an annular groove ncar one end.

"2. A circular picce of cannel coal, with a large opening in the centre, as if for an axis ; and a deep groove in the circumference, suitable for a band. It has a number of small perfora- tions, disposed in four equidistant lines, which run from the circumference towards the centre. "3. A smaller article of the same shape, with eight lines of perforations; but composed of argillaceous earth, well polished.

"4. A bone, ornamentcd with several carved lines, supposed to be hieroglyphical.

. "5. A sculptural representation of the head and beak of a rapacious bird, perhaps an eagle. "6. A mass of lcad orc (galena) lumps of which have been found in some other tumuli.

"7. A quantity of isinglass (mica mem- branacea) plates of which have been discovered in and about other mounds.

"8. A small ovate picce of sheet copper, with two perforations.

"9. A larger oblong piece of the same metal, with longitudinal grooves and ridges.

"These articles are described in the fourth and fifth volumes of the American Philosophical Transactions, by Governor Sargent and Judge'

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Turner; and were supposed, by Professor Bar- ton, to have been designed in part for ornament, and in part for superstitious ceremonies. In ad- dition to these, I have since discovered in the same mound :

"IO. A number of beads, or sections of small hollow cylinders, apparently of bone or shell.

"II. The teeth of a carnivorous animal, probably those of the bear.

"12. Several large marine shells, belonging perhaps to the genus buccinum; cut in such manner as to serve for domestic utensils, and nearly converted into the [so in original].

"14. Several copper articles, each consisting of two sets of circular concavo-convex plates ; the interior one of each set connected with the other by a hollow axis, around which had been wound a quantity of lint; the whole encom- passed with the bones of a man's hand. Several other articles, resembling this, have been dug up in other parts of the town. They all appear to consist of pure copper, covered with the green carbonate of that metal. After removing this incrustation of rust from two pieces, their spe- cific gravities were found to be 7.545 and 7.857. Their hardness is about that of the sheet copper of commerce. They are not engraved or em- bellished with characters of any kind.

"15. Human bones. . These were of different sizes; sometimes enclosed in rude coffins of stone, but oftener lying, blended with the earth -generally surrounded by a portion of ashes and charcoal. The quantity of these bones, altho' much greater than that taken from the other mounds of the town, was small in propor- tion to what was expected-the whole tumulus not having contained perhaps more than 20 or 30 skeletons. With a view of comparing these bones with those of the present Indian tribes, I endeavored to collect and preserve them; but they were generally in such a state of decay that nothing more could be inferred, than a sameness in the height of the two races. At length I was so fortunate as to procure the skull, nearly entire, of a middle aged man; and have compared it with that of a Wyandot In- dian-presented to me by John Johnston, Esq. The facial angle of the ancient, which may be termed the fossil skull, is 74°-that of the Wyandot 76°-and in their length and breadth there is but little difference. On placing and ex- amining them, however, in the manner directed by Blumenbach, it is seen that a section made through the forehead and the occiput would exhibit in the fossil skull almost a regular oval ;

in the Wyandot, the figure of an egg cut length- wise, after being flattened at its smaller end. The face of the Indian head, moreover, is shorter and broader than that of the fossil; the upper jaw projects less, and the cheek bones are more distant, broad and prominent. Those of the fossil skull, are, however, of greater height than the cheek bones of most European faces. But what little reliance is to be placed on a single comparison, appears from this-that the upper part of another skull found in this tumu- lus exhibits the same horizontal section with the Wyandot, except that the forehead is re- markably convex, instead of being flatted. The fossil teeth, which I have seen, were generally sound, and had nothing peculiar in their figure.

"No earthen vases were found in the Main street tumulus but a small one, composed in part of pulverized mussel shells, was lately dug up and broken to pieces, about 500 feet from that mound. Other vessels have been discov- ered in similar situations in the country. A comparison of these, as to form, composition and ornament, with the vases made in later times or by distant nations, might lead to interesting re- sults; but the bigotry of Spain in the 16th cen- tury seems not to have been inore destructive to the historical paintings of Mexico, than the indifference, negligence or idle curiosity of many of our citizens are to these interesting relics."

Dr. Drake also gives some account of the ancient works of Piqua, on the western side of the Great Miami and with those lower down on the same river near the mouth of Hole's creek. He speaks briefly of the fortifications near Hamilton and the old stone fort so called, above the confluence of the Great Miami and the Ohio. General Lytle furnished him with information concerning the fortifications near Milford and those further up the Little Miami, near Deerfield and Lebanon, are noted and some particular information is given about a mound near Chillicothe. His general observations are not without interest. He concluded that the lakes and the Gulf of Mexico are the northern and southern boundary of the region containing these works, and that they extend from the Al- leghanics to the Pacific. They are found in the greatest magnitude and grandeur in the south- ern provinces of Mexico. Another circumstance is that they are generally found in the valleys of the great streams but on the second and third banks counting from the rivers. The forests, he maintains, exhibit no appearance of more re- cent growth than the forests in the neighbor-

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

hood. He concludes that they were obviously built for . purposes of defense, although as to some of the valley remains he concludes there are grounds for a different opinion, citing the fact that General Wayne did not believe they were for that purpose. He finally seems to reach the conclusion that the upland works were for defense and those in the valleys for residence purposes. All the mounds were burying places. He speaks of the two theories relating to the builders. One is that they were a nation which had been expelled from this part of the contin- ent and had become extinet, and the other that they were the ancestors of the existing Indian tribes who had degenerated from their earlier higher grade of civilization. He seems to in- eline to the latter view.

Another description of interest is that given by Judge Burnet, one of the most prominent of our earlier citizens and in some respects our most valuable authority upon the early history of this neighborhood. Judge Burnet, in his "Letters to Delafieid," speaks as follows :

"When I first came here the town had ad- vanced but very little from a state of nature. The surface of the site, on which it stands, was undisturbed, except where some rough houses and humble cabins had been erected, to shelter its inhabitants. The works referred to were in a perfect state of preservation, though depressed in height, by the natural causes which had oper- ated on them for ages. Within the limits of the town, as originally laid out, there were two large circles, one near the eastern boundary, and the other in a western direction, near the centre of the plat. The former, though sufficiently dis- tinet to be traced, was not as elevated, or as perfect as the other. It was about the same diameter, and was uniform in its curvity. The circle near the centre passed through the block which. I owned, south of Fourth, and between Vine and Race streets. It was an exact circle, about six hundred feet in diameter. The earth which composed it had been gradually washed down, till its base had spread about twenty-five' feet, and its apex was reduced to about eight or ten feet above the plane of its base. On the north side, near Fifth street, there was an aper- ture, ten or twelve feet wide, and there might have been another, which has escaped my mem- ory. The arc within my enclosure, subtended by a chord of about three hundred feet, was pre- served with care, while it was in my possession. On that part of it, I am confident, there was 110 break, or opening. These works were entirely

on the upper level of the town-plat, and did not approach the break of the hill nearer than four hundred feet. About one hundred and fifty rods west of the cirele last spoken of stood a beauti- ful mound, thirty-five or forty feet high, con- structed with great exaetness, and standing on a base unusually small, compared with its height. When the army under the command of General Wayne was encamped at this place, in 1792-3, he had a sentry-box on its top, which com- manded an entire view of the plain. In the neighborhood of . this structure two or three smaller ones were standing, which were found to contain human bones, as is the faet with re- gard to most of them. Besides these, there was another of a medium size, compared with the others, standing on the brow of the hill, about midway between the circles and in advance of them, in the direction of the river, about three or four hundred feet. By digging down, and grading Main street, this structure was entirely removed many years ago. While that process was going on, many articles which it contained were found, some, if not all of which, were probably deposited there, after the country had been visited by Europeans. Among them were marine shells, pieces of hard earthen-ware, a small ivory image, finely wrought, of the Virgin Mary, holding an infant in her arms, which had been much mutilated; also a small metallic in- strument, complex in its construction, much cor- roded and decayed, and supposed by some to have been intended to ascertain the weight of small substances. The skeleton of a man was also found, under its apex, a few feet below the surface, contained in what might be called a coffin, composed of flat stones, so placed on all sides as to protect the body from the pressure of the earth. Other discoveries were made which my memory does not retain, with suf- ficient accuracy, to enable me to describe them. * (Trans. Ohio Hist. & Phil. Soc., Vol. I, Part 2, p. 35.)

In 1874 ancient graves were discovered by Dr. H. H. Hill, on Brighton Hill, at the west end of the city. This had been the site of a former mound which had been washed away by the rain. The bodies were discovered within a circular spot, about forty feet in diameter, but the bones were so decomposed as to fall to dust almost immediately; it is thought that Indians were buried here as well as mound builders. Many other articles were found at this place in- cluding teeth, tusks of animals and implements, the bone and mica together with stone hammers,

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pipes, arrowheads, spear heads and awls of copper and bone. Another so-called ancient re- main was what has been designated the "dug- hoie" which was about one-half mile north of the ellipse described. This is the well, referred to by Dr. Drake.

The ancient works were marked on a number of the earlier maps of the city. They are plainly shown on the "Plan of Cincinnati" which is prefixed to Drake's "Statistical View of 1815" as well as on the maps prefixed to the first and second directories of the city, published in 1819 and 1825. A large ellipsis is shown as surround- ing completely the block between Fourth, Fifth, Race and Vine and includes more than the west- ern half of the block to the east, which also takes in parts of the blocks to the north and south. The large mound west of the southwest corner of Fifth and Walnut on the site of the present Johnston Building was clearly shown. Another large mound is shown west of the southwest corner of Fourth and Walnut, which extended from the middle of Fourth street half way down to Third, occupying the western half of in-lots 162 and 163. It is connected by a single enbankment by another large mound at the northeast corner of Third and Main. It is easy with either of these maps to follow Drake's description.

The large mound near the corner of Fifth and Mound was removed in November, 1841, for the purpose of extending Mound street and grading an alley. Just below the surface near the center of the mound was found a part of a human skull and two bones of about seven inches in length. Under the skull was a bed of char- coal, aslies and earth and in it a remarkable stone with markings in curves and scrolls upon it: This since has been called the "Cincinnati tablet" and was the occasion of much discussion in the course of which it was denounced by no less an authority than Charles Whittlesey as a frand. Subsequently, however, Robert Clarke of this city published a pamphlet in vindi- cation of the stone, as a result of which the Cin- cinnati tablet has been accepted as a genuine relic of the mound builders' period. Mr. Whit- tlesey himself admitted that he had been convinced of the authenticity of the tablet by Mr. Clarke's pamphlet. It is described and commented upon in Squier and Davis' "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley :"

"The material is fine grained, compact sail- stone of a light brown color. It measures five inches in length, three in breadth at the ends,

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1, Part 4

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020