History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 12

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The gray crystalline limestone of this section contains immense numbers of corals, character- istic of the Niagara limestone of the New York geologists; among which the beautiful chain coral, Halysites catenulatus, is quite conspicuous. It presents, wherever exposed on the river, a good face for quarrying. There is usually but little stripping required. The stone is easy of access, is convenient to the river for transportation, and is extensively used for building purposes. Some numbers of it are sufficiently firm and dur- able to answer the purpose of heavy masonry. The lime burned from this bed and sold under the name of Utica lime, has acquired by long use a high reputation, and wherever known is used in preference to all other brands.

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

The upper bed in this section is shaly and un- stable for building purposes, yet when burned produces a good article of lime, which is highly esteemed for the purpose of purifying coal gas. The crinoidal bed of the Niagara is worked with the other members of the Utica quarry, and in it are found many beautiful fossils of interest to the geologist. The remains of crinoids are abun- dant, yet perfect specimens are rare. Perhaps the most notable species is Caryorcrinus ornatus, as this crinoid is here frequently found in a state of perfect preservation.

A section of the Niagara at Charlestown landing exhibits a greater elevation of the strata on the river than at Sharp's quarry, below the landing, and the elevation gradually increases to the Mound Builder's fort, one mile above, to the mouth of Camp creek, and to Marble hill, in the edge of Jefferson county. There is an outcrop of the gray crystalline limestone on the southwest side of Fourteen Mile creek, near the summit of the hill, and on the road from Charles- town to the Mound Builder's fort, in Tract No. 76, Illinois grant. The fossils characteristic of this rock can here be collected without difficulty, as they are weathered out and lie scattered over the surface. Another exposure may be seen northwest of Charlestown, at Nine-penny branch, opposite Tunnel mill, on the road to New Wash- ington.

CORNIFEROUS LIMESTONE.

This, immediately overlying the beds of the Niagara formation, constitutes in the southwest- ern part of Clarke county, the falls of the Ohio. The beds have here a thickness of twenty-two feet, and extend across the river in a southerly direction, forming a series of rapids, on a direct line of one mile and a half. The river flows over the outcropping edges of the strata and along the dip, which is almost west. These strata belong to the Corniferous and Niagara series. A section at the whirlpool exhibits :

1. Soil and clay.

2. Spirifer gregaria bed 3 feet )

3 .. Crinoidal bed, nucleocrinus ... 3 feel Corniferous 22 feet.

4. Gray limestone, full of corals. 4 feet

5. Black coral bed(?). . . 12 feet

6. Gray crystalline limestone with Halysites catenulatus .. 3 feet

Niagara.

Total. 25 feet.

The general color of this limestone here, as in New York, is a dark gray; but disseminated be- tween the layers more or less bitumen is found,

which gives to the surface in such places a darker appearance. It is hence called "black rock" by the quarrymen.

The locality of the falls has long been known as the collector's paradise. The rocks are the coral reefs of the Paleozoic ocean, and they contain myriads of fossil forms which exhibit the exquisite workmanship of the Creator. The corals are in the greatest profusion, many being of an immense size and delicate texture. The species are very numerous. Crinoids are comparatively rare.

The dip of the corniferous limestone being about twenty-one feet to the mile, it disappears beneath the hydraulic limestone at Beach's mill below the falls. At Fourteen Mile creek, twelve to fifteen miles above the falls, it attains an ele- vation of two hundred and fifty feet, and caps the bluffs almost the entire length of the creek, affording a fine field for the amateur collector of fossils, and a good stone for the manufacture of lime and the building of fences. In the neigh- borhood of Charlestown it is well exposed on the headwaters of Pleasant run, but disappears one mile below, in the bed of the streamn, where it is replaced by the Niagara. At Skaw's mill and the Black Diamond cement mill at Silver creek it is seen beneath the hydraulic limestone. On the Sinking fork of that stream it outcrops in various places. This formation has been re- peatedly found to contain small caves, some of . them one-half to one mile and a half in length, with an abundance of stalactites and some evi- dence of cave life. There is no doubt, if the floors of these caves were dug into, that the re- mains of extinct animals might be obtained, with perhaps relics of the Mound Builders.

HYDRAULIC LIMESTONE.

This is the most important rock, in an eco- nomical point of view, in the district composed . of Clarke and Floyd counties.

The lithological, stratigraphical, and palæon- tological characteristics of this stone should be well understood by the citizens of these coun- ties, where its outcrop may be seen in the banks of almost every stream. Its horizon is immedi- ately above the corniferous limestone and below a forty-two to forty-eight inch bed of crinoidal limestone, which is overlaid by the New Albany black slate. It frequently occurs as the surface

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

rock. The color is usually a light drab, but sometimes it is of a much darker shade. The top layers of the hydraulic' stone are marked at various points by a dentritic crystalization of magnesia or lime. The upper beds contain cherty or hornstone concretions, with spicula of sponges and desmids. The characteristic fossils of the hydraulic or cement limestone are Atrypha reticularis, Spirifer, Owenii, S. euritines, S. vari- cosa, hadro phylleim d'Orbignyi. The stone is without cleavage, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The average thickness of the strata is about twelve feet, and the bed is divided accord- ing to its hydraulic properties, into quick, medium, and slow setting. The quick setting variety is well marked at J. Speed's quarry, on Silver creek, by a seven foot stratum, which diminishes in the time required to set, towards the bottom. The medium stone is from two to three feet thick, and imperfectly parted from the slow setting stone, forming the lower part of the quarry. The lines of demarcation between the separate beds, although well marked in some cases, are rather assumed lines of division.

On the lines where the corniferous or Niagara are the surface rocks, the cement is wanting, that is, it has been worn away by erosion. The beds follow the line of Silver creek from the falls to the junction of the West fork, bearing east on the line of Pleasant run, thence west of Charlestown with a more easterly belt following the Vernon branch of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, as at Watson, and terminating northeast of Charlestown on Allen Barnett's land, but ap- pearing again at a few points north of Fourteen Mile creek on the same line, as at J. McMillan's. The most western belt follows the line of Sinking fork, cropping out on that stream, and to the west of it, as at J. Davie's tract No. 169. West of this it disappears below the New Albany black slate. The most workable beds are on tracts Nos. 169 and 150, lands of Dr. Taggart ; No. 132, lands ,of Collins McCoy, deceased; and Cement mill tract No. 130, Illinois Grant ; and on Pleasant run and a narrow belt east of Charles- town, thence to the falls. The cement rock ap- pears on the headwaters of Fourteen Mile creek, and disappears beneath the New Albany black slate two miles north of G. W. Matthews' tract No. 152, also at A. M. Tucker's tract No. 153, of the Grant. The cement reaches far in the

direction of William Kirkpatrick's, formerly the residence of Ex-Governor Jennings. The out- crop of this formation has been traced on fifty tracts of the Grant, each containing five hundred acres, making twenty-five thousand acres of ex- posed workable beds. This estimate does not include twenty thousand acres more, which may be reduced by means of shafts and tunnels. There is but a small portion of the county in which the hydraulic limestone may not be found. Indeed, it is in quantity practically inexhaustible, and, on account of its value for the manufacture of cement, will always be a source of profitable industry.

There are at present (1873) in the county six firms engaged in the manufacture of hydraulic cement. The stone was first used for this pur- pose at Verey's (now Beach's mill) at Clarksville, on the Falls of the Ohio.

The strata containing it outcrops in the river- bank beneath the mill, and the hydraulic stone is here fourteen feet six inches thick, as will be seen by the following section :

I. New Albany black slate 5 in.

2. Crinoidal limestone

4 ft. 2 in.

3. Dark, impure limestone, con- taining concretions of horn- stone, with spicula of

sponges ... II in.

4. Upper cement

Hydraulic lime-

bed. 4 ft. I in. stone ...... 14 ft. 6 in.

5. Middle cement bed ..

6 ft.

6. Lower bed

cement

Corniferous limestone . .. 3 ft. 6 in.

6 ft.

Total thickness 25 ft. I in.

The dividing line between the corniferous and the hydraulic is not distinctly marked. The beds in the quarry are separated by lines of fracture, making occasional floors. The stone increases in hydraulic properties from below upwards, and is designated by the manufacturers as slow, medium, and quick setting. It has no distinct lines of cleavage, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The extreme upper beds contain con- cretions of hornstone, with spicula of sponges. The overlying crinoidal bed is persistent, and contains a good many fossils, which are difficult to obtain in good condition. It cleaves well, but is hard to work. It is used in constructing the outer wall of the kilns in which the cement stone is burnt.

The hydraulic limestone originally extended in one unbroken stratum across the river, but has

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

been eroded, and now only a small portion of the original mass remains on Rock island, near the center of the stream. Here there is a good exposure, and the rock is extensively quarried at Rock island, which is below Goose island. The cement rock may be traced, at a low stage of water, to the Kentucky shore. . That used at the cement mills on that side is obtained from the bank of the river close by.

HYDRAULIC CEMENT.

The manufacture of hydraulic cement consti- tutes one of the most important industries of Clarke county. The cement is shipped to all parts of the Western and Southern States, and sold under the name of Louisville cement.

The many uses to which cement has been put in Europe greatly impressed Professor E. T. Cox, the Indiana Commissioner to the Vienna Expo- sition, with its importance. There it is exten- sively used for laying pavements, in ornamenting buildings, making statuary, and so on. He is of the opinion that the Indiana cement, commonly called Louisville cement, may be profitably used for similar purposes in this country. Occasion- ally in calcining the cement the rock is over burned, making what is called a cinder; and it is here suggested that this cinder, ground in con- nection with the other stone, will improve the quality of the cement. The manufacture of cement opens an interesting and wide field for investigation. Various grades of cement are already manufactured, and there can be no doubt but new combinations of stone may be found in Clarke county that will equal the Portland or Roman cement of Europe.

CRINOIDAL LIMESTONE.

This stone immediately overlies the hydraulic, and is seen at almost every locality where the latter outcrops or is quarried for cement. It is a bard, gray, crystalline limestone, containing a great many fossils, principally crinoids, and also pentremites of the carboniferous type, intermediate between P. florealis (Godenii) and P. pyriformis (Say). The fossils of this limestone have been carefully studied and described the late Major Sidney S. Lyon. Collectors in the neighborhood of the falls have also enriched their cabinets with the fossils of this rock. The collection of James Knapp, M. D., of Louisville, is undoubtedly the most complete in these fossils, and his collec-

tion of corals made at the falls is the most ex- tensive in the country .* A very nice collection of falls fossils is also in the possession of Sam- uel L. S. Smith, M. D., of New Albany.

The crinoidal limestone seldom attains a greater thickness than five feet. It is a poor stone for the manufacture of lime, but serves a useful purpose in the erection of kilns for cal- cining cement, and is a reliable guide for denot- ing the position of the hydraulic.

NEW ALBANY BLACK SLATE.

The black slate is largely exposed at New Al- bany, and takes its name accordingly. It is usually of a jet-black color, and occurs in thick beds; but after being exposed to the weather it exhibits a thin, laminated cleavage, and assumes a pink, drab, or mottled color. It contains sul- phuret of iron in concretionary forms, and also in needle-shaped crystals and cubes, familiarly known as "fools' gold," or "sulphur balls." It is very persistent over a large extent of territory. It lies at the base of the range of hills known as the "Knobs," and has been traced from the out- crop in Clarke and Floyd counties through Ken- tucky in a semicircle to Portsmouth, Ohio. At one time it rested uniformly over Clarke and Floyd counties. The Vernon branch of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad passes over the black slate south of Charlestown, and cuts it at several points below and above Lexington, in Scott county. On the west of Charlestown there is an outlier of the formation seventy to seventy- five feet in thickness. The Jeffersonville, Mad- ison & Indianapolis railroad passes over the black slate until it reaches White river in Jack- son county, Indiana. At Memphis and Henry- ville, on the line of this road, the black slate is largely exposed, and may be seen in the bed of the streams and extending some distance up the surrounding side-hills. Numerous so-called cop- peras banks are met with in this formation. One

* Possibly so, when this was written; but not so now. The active collectors at present are Major William J. Davis, Henry Nettleroth, W. J. McComathy, J. T. Gaines, and O. B. Thiess. The collections of the first two are unrivaled. They are the Paleontologists of the Kentucky State Survey, and are engaged in the preparation of profusely illustrated reports on the Fossil Corals and Shells of Kentucky, which will soon be in print. The Report of Major Davis on Corals will contain a full description of two hundred and sixty species found bedded in the rocks at the fatls, of which one hundred and four are new, first found and described by this investigator.

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

of these localities on Silver creek, three miles from the mouth, is mentioned in the Navigators' Guide, an old work published at Pittsburgh, in 1813, as furnishing "copperas as good as any brought to this country." A noted copperas bank is found on Miller's fork of Silver creek, below Henryville.

At the foot of the Knobs near New Albany Dr. Clapp bored through the bed of bituminous slate, and found it to be one hundred and ten feet thick. In many places it has been cut through and entirely removed by weathering and glacial action, so as to leave exposed the under- lying encrinital limestone. The valleys of denu- dation have a general direction of northwest and southeast. It is being constantly mistaken for the bituminous shale which is often found asso- ciated with stone coal; and it is a difficult matter, in some instances, to convince the people living within the vicinity of its outcrop that it will not turn to coal if followed to a distance in the hills. It contains from ten to twenty per cent. of volatile matter, and there are found in the deposit in places thin bands of coal from a half- inch to one inch thick.

Dr. Newberry thinks that these shales derived their bitumen from sea-weeds, and calls attention to the fact of finding in them vast quantities of fucoidal impressions. So far inquirers have only succeeded in finding in the New Albany black slate a few small Lingula and Decina.

In Clarke county there is resting immediately on the top of the black slate about four inches of hard, greenish, mottled limestone; and this is succeeded by the gray argillaceous shales, with bands of iron-stone. There are also found resting on the black slate large trunks of limbs of coniferous trees, the vegetable matter having been replaced by silica in the form of black flint. A portion of one of these petrified trees, fifteen feet long and two and a half feet wide, has been placed in the Indiana Exposition build- ing.

Wells have been sunk at various points in this formation for mineral oil or petroleum; but without reaching it in any quantity. It con- tains a small percentage of bitumen, and burns quite readily when thrown into a hot fire, so long as the inflammable matter lasts. The bitu- minous character of the slate has misled a great many persons, and caused them to expend large

sums of money in searching in it for coal. It has no economical value whatever at present. A few years ago it was thought it would make a good roofing material, ground and mixed with coal-tar and spread on felt. A mill was erected at New Albany by Dr. Samuel Reid & Co., for the purpose of its manufacture, and large quan- tities of slate were ground and shipped to all parts of the country. It answered the purpose for which it was intended for a time; but ulti- mately it cracked by exposure to the weather. It was at last discarded as worthless.

In examinations of the black slate is invari- ably found a ferruginous limestone capping it, varying from ten to thirty inches in thickness. This limestone is very persistent, and marks the top of the black slate over a large portion of In- diana and Kentucky. It has a fetid odor when struck, and breaks with an uneven fracture. It is compact and durable, and has been used in several sections for masonry, as at Memphis and Henryville, where it outcrops to a large extent. At Blue Lick post-office, on the land of Thomas McDeitz, Jr., in the bed of a branch of Silver creek, is one of the best exposures of this stone. Characteristic fossils are rarely detected in this stone, beyond a few crinoidal stems. But, no doubt, the age of the black slate will be ulti- mately determined by the discovery of fossils in . this formation, which, from its position, is the equivalent of the ganoitite limestone of Rock- ford, Indiana.

IRON-STONE.

From six to ten bands of manganiferous iron- stone have been traced over a very large area in the counties of Clarke and Floyd, occupying a geological position in the gray and greenish shales immediately over the "New Albany black slate .* These ore-bands are found also in Scott and Jennings counties.

They are enclosed in twenty to twenty-five feet of soft shale, and are from two to three feet apart, and are from two and one-half to ten inches thick. The readiness with which these

* A black bituminous shale, similar to that underlying this ore, is found in Ohio occupying a similar position with refer- ence to the under and overlying rocks, and Dr. Newberry, State Geologist of Ohio, has referred it to the Genesee epoch; but, not feeling quite sure as to the accuracy of the conclu- sion to which this able geologist and paleontologist has ar- rived, I have thought best to speak of it, in this State, as the New Albany black slate .- Dr. Cox.

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

shales decompose, under the influence of drain- age water and atmospheric agencies, has given rise to numerous cone-shaped hills, commonly called "knobs," and from this circumstance also geologists have given to the rock-strata of which they are composed, the names of knob shales, knob sandstone, limestone, etc., so that we may, with like propriety, designate the ore as knob iron ore.

Owing to the extensive washes which have cut through the shales, the iron-stone is exposed in a great many places throughout the knob region, and it may be mined or collected from the ravines already weathered out, at a small cost. Samples from nine distinct bands have been tested for iron, and complete analysis made from the bottom and middle bands with the result of finding 28.48 per cent. of metallic iron in the former (sample from near Henryville), and 29. 12 in the latter (from Stewart's farm, near Henry- ville). Other tests yielded the following results, beginning with the topmost layer or band: No. I, 26.41 per cent .; No. 2, 26.66; No. 3, 30.51 ; No. 4, 28.20; No. 5, 29.12 ; No. 6, 29.74; No.7, 29.23; No. 8, 27.17; No. 10, 28.48. From these it will be seen that the raw ore contains from 26.41 to 30.51 per cent. of iron, and the analyses of the bottom and middle bands also show from 5.124 to 6.928 per cent. of the metal manganese. The average per cent. of combined iron and man- ganese in calcined ore is 52.72 per cent., conse- quently two tons of such ore will make a ton of pig iron. The great value which attaches to these ores is mainly due to the large per centage of manganese which they contain, and, if properly treated in the smelting furnace they will yield a highly manganiferous pig iron, if not a true spiegeleisen, which metal is found to be indis- pensable in the manufacture of Bessemer or pneumatic steel. Its value is dependent upon the quantity of manganese which it contains. From 7.5 to 10 per cent. is of very fair quality ; and this percentage is fully within the capabilities of the knob ore.

THE KNOB MEASURES OF KENTUCKY.

These are the Silicious group of the Tennes- see Geological reports. They extend over the western part of the district composed of Clarke and Floyd counties, and constitute the broken range called the "Silver Hills" by the first settlers.

These hills or knobs extend from a point on the Ohio below New Albany to the northern line of Clarke county. At the latter locality the range is called the Guinea Hills. The knobs, as their names imply, rise abruptly from the black slate to a height of four or five hundred feet above the general level of the country. The margin of the outcrop of the knob formation is very irreg- ular, especially on that portion west of Henry- ville, outliers being seen some distance from the main body. One of these, called the Round Top knob, is near the fruit farm of Colonel John F. Willey, another at Piney point, south of Obe- diah Nowland's, Buzzard Roost point to the east, and also Crow's Nest point to the west of Nowland's. . The horseshoe range of knobs, en- tirely disconnected from the main body, are about one mile in extent, and on land owned by John Richardson. The prolongation of the knobs northeast of Henryville comprise several benches of table-land. Where the base of the knobs cover a considerable area the top is usual- ly flat, especially if the harder numbers of the formation represent their summits.

The New Providence shale ties at the base of the knobs and immediately above the ferrugin- ous limestone just mentioned; and has a thickness of eighty to one hundred and twenty feet. As the line of the knobs is followed to the northwest it becomes thinner, until at the Guinea hills it is only fifty to sixty feet. It is a fine, greenish-colored, marly slate, that pulver- izes when dry without difficulty. It contains a great variety of fossils identical with those ob- tained at Button Mould knob, seven miles south of Louisville. The corals are well represented by a number of Bryozoans. The shale is fissured in places, and the cracks are usually filled with transparent sulphate of lime, or gypsum.

As many as six to ten bands of carbonate of iron have been found in this formation, in a ver- tical space of about twenty feet. The lower band is usually on a level with the drainage of the country. These bands will average from four to six inches in thickness, and are separated from each other by from two to four feet of soft shale. They have a great persistency, and may be seen cropping out along the side of all the ravines. The following partial analysis of a por- tion of what appears to be the average of these ore bands, found on the farm of John Stewart,

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

Esq., north of Henryville, as taken from a paper published by the State Geologist, will serve to show their commercial value: The mass of the ore is of a bluish gray color, enclosed in a coat- ing of red oxide of iron one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch thick. This coating is very rich in iron, but was entirely excluded from the portion analyzed, so that the yield of the entire mass will be a little better than here reported. The net results are given in parts of 100; carbonate of iron, 49.720; peroxide of iron, 2.171. This will serve to show its richness. By roasting, this ore will lose thirty per cent. of volatile matter, which will increase the iron to thirty-five per cent., and the manganese to 3.571. A portion of the sulphuric acid would be eliminated, but the phosphorus will be increased to about .485, which is rather large. However, it is not ım- probable that a portion of the latter highly inju- rious ingredient may be taken out along with the silica in the slag; and, owing to the large per- centum of manganese, if not a spiegeleisen, at least a valuable Bessemer pig may be made from these ores. Owing to their leanness, these ores should be roasted before being shipped to the furnaces.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 12

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 680

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680