USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 12
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
these mounds. This one on the Scioto river embraced a quantity of pottery and implements of stone and copper, all of which had been subjected to a powerful heat. The pottery may have formed a dozen vessels of moderate size. The copper articles consisted of numerous thin strips and chisels. From fifty to one hundred stone arrow-heads and a few carved pipes completed the catalogue of this interesting tumulus."
Temple Mounds. - These have been designated by Messrs. Squier and Davis, and are described by them as "pyramidal struc- tures, truncated, and generally having graded avenues to their tops. In some instances they are terraced, or have successive stages. But whatever their form, whether round, oval, octangu- lar, square, or oblong, they have invariably flat or level tops, of greater or less area." These mounds are said to resemble the Teocallis of Mexico, and had probably a similar origin. They are rare in the north, though examples occur even as far as Lake Su- perior, but become more and more numerous as we pass down the Mississippi, and especially on approaching the Gulf, where they constitute the most numerous and important portion of the ancient remains. Some of the largest, be it remembered, are located in the north. One of the most remarkable of these is at Cahokia, Illinois, and is stated to be 700 feet long, 500 feet wide at the base, and 90 feet in hight, with solid contents roughly estimated at 12,000,000 of cubic feet.
Animal Mounds .- Among our American antiquities these pos- sess no small share of interest. They are found principally in Wis- consin, though not exclusively there. In this region, it is said, "thousands of examples occur of gigantic basso-relievos of men, beasts, birds and reptiles, all wrought with persevering labor on the surface of the soil," while enclosures and works of defense are entirely wanting, the "ancient city of Aztalan " being, as is supposed, the only example of the former class.
The animal mounds were first observed by I. A. Lapham, in 1836, and have been surveyed and described by him in the work entitled "The Antiquities of Wisconsin." They seem to be most
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numerous in the southern counties of that State, and extend from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan, following generally the courses of the river, and being especially numerous along the great Indian trail, or war path, from Lake Michigan, near Milwaukee, to the Mississippi, above Prairie du Chien.
The mounds themselves not only represent animals, such as men, buffaloes, elks, bears, otters, wolves, raccoons, birds, ser- pents, lizards, turtles and frogs, but also some inanimate objects, if, at least, the American archaeologists are right in regarding some of them as crosses, tobacco pipes, etc. Many of the representa- tions are spirited and correct, but others, probably through the action of time, are less definite. Their hight varies from one to four feet, sometimes, however, rising to six feet.
One remarkable group, in Dale county, consists of a man with extended arms, seven more or less elongated mounds, one tumulus, and six quadrupeds. The length of the human figure is 125 feet, and it is 140 feet from the extremity of one arm to that of the other. The quadrupeds vary from 90 to 126 feet in length.
At Waukesha are a variety of mounds, tumuli and animals, including several lizards, a very fine bird, and a magnificent turtle. "This, when first observed, was a very fine specimen of the art of mound-building, with its graceful curves, the feet projecting back and forward, and the tail, with its gradual slope, so accurately pointed that it was impossible to ascertain precisely where it ter- minated." This group of mounds is now, alas, covered with buildings, and it is said a dwelling-house stands upon the body of the turtle, and a Catholic church is built upon the tail.
The rare and few animal mounds which have been discov- ered out of Wisconsin differ from the ordinary type in many re- spects. On a high spur of land near Granville, Ohio, is an earth- work known in the neighborhood as the "Alligator." It has a head and body, four sprawling legs and a curled tail. The total length is 250 feet, the breadth of the body 40 feet, and the length of the legs 36 feet. The average hight is four feet; at the shoul- ders, six. But even more remarkable is the great serpent in
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Adams county, Ohio. It is situated on a tall spur of land, which rises 150 feet above Brush creek. "Conforming to the curve of the hill, and occupying its very summit, is the serpent, its head resting near the point, and its body winding back for 700 feet in graceful undulations, terminating in a triple coil at the tail. The entire length, if extended, would be not less than 1,000 feet. * * The neck of the serpent is stretched out, and slightly curved, and its mouth is opened wide, as if in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure which rests partially within the distended jaws. This oval is formed of an embankment of earth, without any perceptible opening, four feet in hight, and is perfectly regular in outline, its transverse and conjugate diameters being 160 and 80 feet, respectively."
By whom, or why, or when, these mysterious works were erected we know not, and may not wholly know. The explored recesses of these mounds send us back no explanation ; and the Indians themselves, though they contemplate them with stupid reverence, are unable to furnish any aid in their solution. Time and science may, in the long, coming future, lift the mystery en- veloping these hoary monuments of the Pre-historic Man.
TUMULI OF WAYNE COUNTY.
We have thus with persistent effort introduced the more promi- nent classifications of these mysterious works of the Mississippi valley, which can not fail to be interesting to the general reader ; but intended to be particularly so, as presenting an interpretation of the passing consideration we shall bestow upon the little known, but not less remarkable, pre-historic tumuli of our own county.
The order of tumuli observable in Wayne county, Ohio, is of the character of defensive enclosures and sepulchral mounds, and comes under the classification of earthworks. The exact number that may have been within its limits at the first settlement we are not able to define, as the traces of many of them have been entirely blotted out. Civilization, it would appear, sometimes uncivilizes man; for in his highest estate of it he will mutilate pyramids,
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destroy palaces and level monuments. These monuments of our pre-historic age should be preserved by the owners of the soil. The voice within them, that the centuries have throttled, may yet speak.
Of those that still exist there is an indefinite number. Con- cerning others the places that mark them are now known only by the oldest people. Others are found in a partially obliterated con- dition, while a few may be observed with shape and contour of first construction, abraded and worn by the friction of centuries, and but faintly exhibit their original outlines. The one in Canaan township, a merely circular embankment, near the Killbuck, and in the earlier days quite sharply defined, has been sacrilegiously obliterated.
In the eastern portion of the county, those in Sugarcreek township, present some quite prominent features and possess keen interest. The one south-west of Dalton has a diameter of about three hundred feet east and west, and north and south a diam- eter of about two hundred and twenty-five feet. It is bisected or cut in two by a road, and that part of the circle south of the road is included in a field of John Swartz, which is cultivated, and where there no longer remains a vestige of embankment or ditch. The other segment is on the farm of Joseph McElhenie, and as yet remains in forest. There is also in this township on the lands of - - Graber, in a dense and elevated wood, what we have chosen to style a sepulchral mound, four or five feet in hight, and with the other average dimensions of this class of tumuli. Many of those of East Union, Clinton, Wooster, Plain, etc., with their faded outlines, have their history, but we see them best in the glamour of tradition.
Concerning some of those in Wooster township, Mr. Jeffries in his late work says:
"Two mounds of this class are upon the author's premises within the limits of the city of Wooster, Ohio. They are situated upon an eminence, and constructed of fine gravel and sand, and not of the same material of the surrounding country. The gravel
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
and sand composing these tumuli were brought from some other locality. On opening one of the mounds fifteen years ago, and reaching a point on a level with the surrounding plain, the work- men came upon a deposit of black loam, in which were found two stone axes, one of which was granite, the other flint. The gran- ite had a deep groove, or crevice, extending around the main body of the axe, near the pole, evidently designed to sustain the handle. The pole was flat, with edges rounded ; the other end shaped like a common axe, and sharp, as much so as stone could be made. The other instrument had a pointed pole and sharp ax-bit, the whole surface being smooth. It was originally, when discovered, about six inches long, the axe end being about two and a half inches wide. Both of these instruments were of symmetrical pro- portions. Several arrow-heads of flint were also found in the mound. The aborigines occupying this valley when the whites first settled here, had no knowledge, by tradition or otherwise, as regards the builders of these mounds. Their constructors had passed away long before the Shawanese, Delawares, and other Indian tribes had entered the country.
" On the highlands overlooking the city of Wooster, at the south, is an ancient fortification enclosing several acres of land. Only part of it now remains unobliterated, the main portion being in cultivated fields. That part uncultivated, lying in the woodland, is still visible, though the embankment is greatly worn down and the trench nearly filled up. Thirty years ago the whole enclosure was easily traced, even through the plowed fields and across the public road, which was cut through the banks of the enclosure. The fort was not fully circular, that portion of it overlooking the Killbuck river to the west being an obtuse angle."
Fort Hill, Wayne Township .- In Wayne township, on the farm of Hugh Culbertson, Esq., 3 miles north-west of Wooster, is situ- ated a most remarkable work. It consists of an enclosure and two mounds on a beautifully elevated bluff or ridge, the Chester town- ship line taking off a very small portion of the western slope of the bluff. In the neighborhood, and with persons acquainted with
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it, it is familiarly known as "Fort Hill." From the point on its western slope traversed by the Chester township line north and south, it is six hundred feet in length to its eastern termini; its greatest width being about one hundred and fifty feet. The bluff is oblong with a slight curvature on its north side, its western point bearing faintly north of west, and its eastern extremity inclining north of east. A small ravine on its north side separates it from the bolder inclines of the Killbuck valley banks, the ravine defin- ing its western slope and extending eastward its whole length to the Cedar Valley road. The road, penetrating the valley of Little Killbuck to the eastward on its northern side, approaches the ravine on the north at a mixed angle, forming, with the ravine, its south-west and north-west boundaries, and then, bearing in a more southerly direction, constitutes its southern boundary. On the ex- treme east passes the Cedar Valley road. The bluff faces to the south on the Little Killbuck Valley road, and has a perpendicular hight of about 35 feet above the road and the valley below. The circle is west of the center of the bluff, and is about 112 feet east and west by 82 feet north and south, it being apparently broken now on the south by the falling away of the bank. About 65 feet from the enclosure, and a little north of west, and about 100 feet from the same, north of east, are two mounds 30 feet in circum- ference, with elliptical elevations of 3 feet above the surrounding surface. Out of these mounds human teeth and bones have been taken, and on the south side of the bluff, midway to its summit, a party of hunters, several years ago in digging after a ground hog, came in contact with and excavated human bones. These mounds on Fort Hill bear indisputable resemblance to those sepulchral ones already described. The bluff is a semi-isolated elevation, and its su- perficies are studded with stately trees and others of lesser growth.
Other Earthworks in the County .- Opposite to this point, across the Killbuck valley, due east one mile, on the farm of Rose Ann Eicher, in Wayne township, is another of these lines of circumval- lation, consisting of an inner moat or trench and parapet. This work is emphatically a defensive enclosure, and as a simple fortifi-
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cation possesses great natural strength, and in its selection and arrangement indicates war-cunning and masterly ideas of defense. From trench to trench, east and west, its greatest length is 300 feet, and similarly measured, its greatest width, from north to south, is 195 feet. It is situated in the woods, and covered with a stout and ancient growth of timber. On its north side, in the trench, is growing a gum tree, over two feet in diameter, and on the south-east side, in the trench, stands a sturdy soft maple, 27 inches in diameter at the time it was measured. Other and larger trees occupy this enclosure. This extensive and formidable work is situated on the western declivity of the hills, east of the Killbuck valley, and is most acutely defined. The trench is sev- eral feet wide, and from its bottom to the top of the embankment or parapet, the distance is probably over four feet. Its extreme western boundary extends to the banks of the Killbuck stream, which affords water protection in front. On its north and south sides are ravines breaking the surface beyond the farther east line of the work, flanking each side of the enclosure, very close to the same, and to the stream. These ravines are abrupt and deep, and, before the waste and deposition of the ages, were difficult of passage.
Fort Tyler, Plain Township .- On the western border of the county, and on the "mile strip," about two miles south-west of Blachleysville, is situated the most complete, interesting and per- fectly outlined tumulus of the county. Since the memory of the oldest man runneth it has been known as "Fort Tyler." In point of grandeur of location, determinate configuration and perfection of physical outline, we may well doubt if any in the range of the State surpass it. The site of the mound, with its regularly ex- pressed elliptical circle, is on an imposing eminence, variously esti- mated from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding levels and bottoms at its base. This vast elevation is coniform in character, with steep, but gradually descending sides, and on its vertex, in primitive woodland seclusion, and under the friendly shelter of a nascent forest, is to be seen this mute but elo-
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quent monument of the faded, Conjectural Man. The view from the summit, were it not obstructed by the young growth of trees, dotted all over the great cone, would be picturesque and charm- ing. To the north-east, north and west, and forming a portion of its base, lie the rich alluvial levels of the Muddy Fork and Mohi- can valleys, while on the east and south-east repose the deep bot- toms of the Big Prairie, stretching far to the south-a beautiful scroll of nature, pinned, on either side, to the skirts of the upland and hill.
This tumulus is 1, 200 feet in circumference in the trench, 300 feet across east, and west, and 500 feet north and south. The trench, at this time, is two feet deep, and sufficiently wide to drive two horses abreast in it. What its depth and width was at the period of its construction is left to hypothesis. The embank- ment retains very marked proportions. Within this enclosure is a mound, five feet high, with a base circumference of over one hundred feet, and a summit, or top diameter, of twenty feet, and is situated west and north of the center of the circle. The timber- growth covering this elevation is of the character of that which we find growing in what is recognized as the "Plains " of the county, the largest being a wild cherry, fourteen inches in diameter, though the different oaks, of approximate size, flourish abundantly. When John Collier, Major Tyler, John Tryon, etc., settled in that neighborhood over sixty years ago, this growth of saplings, as they may now be denominated, were but sprouts and shoots, through and over which the fleet deer could be seen springing, and which furnished browse for cattle in the winter,
Skeleton Exhumed .- Thomas Bushnell, Esq., of Hayesville, Ashland county, Ohio, an archaeologist of local repute, having for half a century had knowledge of this tumulus, and believing that the interests of archaeological science might be promoted by ex- ploring it, resolved to penetrate it, and see if within its depths there was not an answer to its own dark mystery. On the 17th of June, 1877, calling to his aid George C. Blanford and John An- drews, he introduced the work of excavation. They commenced
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digging about the center of the mound, and, after descending to the depth of about six feet, discovered a human skeleton, some of the bones of which were entirely gone, others much wasted, and others, again, in a fair state of preservation.
So far as inference is valuable, the judgment of the excavators was, that from the time of interment the body had been undis- turbed. Its position was face upward, indicating a civilized burial, head lying to the south, and represented a human being six feet in length. Drs. Kindig and Armstrong, of Hayesville, examined it, and pronounced it the skeleton of a male, the "structural inten- tion" and contour being rather massive and heavy. The thigh bones, femur heads and sockets were large. The skull was in pieces; with the exception of the upper part and frontal section, and directly underneath where it lay, was a deposit resembling fine sifted dirt. The forehead was low, but the general cranial devel- opment was full. Ten sections of the vertebra were found in a fair state of preservation. The nasal bone was readily identified, though the teeth and jaw-bones were missing. The shoulder blades and ribs were present. The arm, hand and finger bones were in an exceptionally well-conditioned state, and seemed to be near the center of the chest region of the skeleton-a proof that the arms were folded in death. The bones lower than the ankle joints were entirely gone.
Mr. Bushnell says, that, notwithstanding he exercised the most watchful scrutiny, he was wholly unable to detect the slightest vestiges of a coffin, either in the discoloration of the earth or other manifestations. In the clay he observed two flint scales, and near the body, about a half-bushel of ashes in a sunken hole and some charcoal. A bowlder, weighing two hundred pounds or more, was encountered, lying in the abdominal or pelvic region of the skeleton.
Alexander Finley settled on the farm on which Tylertown is located, in Wayne county then, but in Mohican township, Ash- land county now, as early as April, 1809, and Thomas Eagle, in the month of May, of the same year, and they, during their lives,
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had no knowledge of any burial in that mound; and Mr. Bush- nell says he has repeatedly visited it during the last fifty years, and there has been no interment there.
Sarah Collier, wife of John Collier, the first white settler in Plain township, is buried directly north of this mound a short dis- tance. A weather-blurred head-stone, sadly leaning over the re- mains of the buried mother, dimly reads :
" Sarah Collier died, 1830, Aged, 38." * .
Some pitying, church-yard-haunting Old Mortality, straying hither, might employ his chisel and renew the fading words of death upon this mossy stone.
THE MOUND- BUILDERS.
Various opinions are entertained by our most profound archæ- ologists as to the character, origin and pursuits of this pre-historic race. The various tumuli, so frequently found, considered in the light of their contents and other surroundings, induce some writers to denominate them as a people whose occupation was chiefly that of war. Others again claim they were devoted to the arts of peace. While there is evidence that they possessed weapons and had a knowledge of the use of them, understood modes and methods of defense, and were likely endued with the instinct of blood, there is reason, on the other hand, to presume that they were inclined to the pursuits of peace. The fact of their remains and traces being found along streams and in the rich and fertile valleys of the great rivers of the continent, where cultivation of the lands was attended with less labor and more profit, would seem to justify the rational conclusion that they were an agri- cultural people and inclined to pastoral living and habits.
No positive proof of a knowledge of letters, no trace of a burnt brick, have yet been discovered, and, so far as we may judge from
* The age may be 88 instead of 38, as the stone is much defaced. It is also said two or three of the children of Samuel Miller are buried there, and a lady, probably Sarah Tyler.
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their arms, ornaments and pottery, the mound-builders resembled at least some of the more recent Indian tribes ; and the earthworks have similarity of form, if they differ in magnitude from those still, or until lately, in use. Yet this very magnitude is sufficient to show, that, at some early period, the great river valleys of the United States must have been very much more densely populated than they were when first discovered by Europeans.
The immense number of small earthworks, and the mounds, which may be counted by thousands and tens of thousands, might, indeed, be supposed to indicate either a long time or a great popu- lation ; but in other cases we have no such alternative. The Newark constructions ; the mound near Florence, Alabama, which is 45 feet in hight by 440 feet in circumference at the base, with a level area at the summit of 150 feet in circumference; the still greater mound on Etowah river, also in Alabama, which has a hight of more than 75 feet, with a circumference of 1, 200 feet at the base and 140 at the summit; the embankments at the mouth of the Scioto river, which are estimated to be 20 miles in length ; the great mound at Selsertown, Mississippi, which covers six acres of ground; and the truncated pyramid at Cahokia, to which we have already referred-these works, and others which might have been quoted, indicate a population large and stationary, for which hunting can not have supplied food enough, and which must, therefore, have relied in a great measure upon agriculture for its support.
"There is not," say Messrs. Squier and Davis, " and there was not in the sixteenth century, a single tribe of Indians (north of the semi-civilized nations) between the Atlantic and the Pacific which had means of subsistence sufficient to enable them to apply for such purposes the unproductive labor necessary for the work; nor was there any in such a social state as to compel the labor of the people to be thus applied." We have some assurances that many of the Indian tribes cultivated the soil to a limited extent ; we feel inclined, however, with our knowledge of the matter, to credit the cycles of their industrial activity to the more remote periods.
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Ingenious arguments have been introduced by Lapham and others sustaining the opinion that the forests of Wisconsin were, at no very distant day, very much less general than now. In the first place, the largest trees are probably not more than 500 years old ; and large tracts are at present covered with "young trees where there are no traces of antecedent growth."
Again, every year many trees are blown down, and frequent storms pass through the forest, sweeping almost everything in their course. Mr. Lapham furnishes some facts relative to one of these wind-falls in a single district. They are very conspicuous, says he, first, because the trees, having a certain amount of earth entangled among their roots, continue to vegetate for several years; and, secondly, because, even when the trees themselves have died and rotted away, the earth so torn up forms little mounds, which are often mistaken, by the inexperienced, for Indian graves. "From the paucity of these little tree mounds," it is inferred that "no great antiquity can be assigned to the dense forests of Wisconsin, for during a long period of time with no material change of climate we would expect to find great numbers of these little monuments of ancient storms scattered every where over the ground."
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