The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 24

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

USA > Ohio > Tuscarawas County > The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio > Part 24

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The black-band ore usually ranges from three to six feet in thickness. At the mines of A. Wilhelmi, in Auburn Township, and in the Patterson ore bank,

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY. .

near Port Washington, it is ten or twelve feet thick, and in a few places else- where has been reported at twenty feet.

The limestone ore shows equal irregularities of thickness. It is met with at intervals over parts of Stark, Carroll and much of Tuscarawas, and has when present a thickness of four to five feet. Even where not forming an iron ore, it contains so much iron as to assume in weathering a decided buff color, and is frequently referred to as the buff limestone. A great development of this stratum occurs in the hill above New Cumberland, on the east side of the Conotten Valley, where it is apparently nearly twenty feet thick, and is, 88 usual, nodular in structure, and contains so much iron that some of the nodules are good mountain ore.

The iron found at this horizon, in the form of black-band or mountain ore. where present in full force, constitutes by far the richest ore deposit of the State. Tracts of many acres might be specified, underlaid by a continuous sheet of black-band, eight feet in thickness, and, since this contains 25 per cent of metallic iron, it is equivalent to a sheet of cast iron over two feet in thickness of equal extent. The inhabitants of Tuscarawas County may indeed congratulate themselves that they are the possessors of nearly all this valuable deposit found in the State, and that so large an aggregate area of the county is underlain by it. It has already largely contributed to the wealth of the county, and is destined to be an important source of revenue for many years to come. It is greatly to be regretted that only a small fraction of the original deposit now remains. This evidently was once continuous throughout the greater part of the county, but, lying as it did high in the series, and near the surface of the plateau, which once occupied all this portion of the State, it has suffered terribly by the erosion that has carved the present varied topog- raphy out of that plateau, and left only a meager remnant in the hilltops bordering the broad valleys. The black-band stratum is found in the high- lands of central Stark, northeastern Coshocton and western Carroll, while local representatives of the deposit are found in nearly all the townships of Tuscarawas. It is evident, therefore, that the basin in which it accumulated once stretched over all the interval between these limits. It may have reached much farther to the north and west, as in these directions all the old landmarks are cut away by the erosion of the surface ; but, on the south and east, its former boundaries may be traced, since, with abundant exposures of the hori- zon where the black-band lies, no indications of its existence are found much beyond the line of Tuscarawas County.

The black-band ore of this region was first discovered and utilized by the Zoar Community more than forty five years ago. Their lands, in the northern part of Fairfield Township, include hills that run up into the barren coal measures, and were found to contain valuable beds of black-band and mountain ore, the former from three to eight feet in thickness, the latter from two and one-half to five. To work these, a charcoal furnace was erected near by, where iron continued to be manufactured for twenty years.

From the Fairfield furnace, the black-band deposits ran through the high-

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lands toward Dover, and south between the Conotten and Tuscarawas. The most important deposits of black-band ore in the county are in Auburn, Bucks, Salem and Oxford Townships. Here the land in some places rises to the height of 125 feet above the black-band horizon, and quite a number of more or less extensive basins or patches of ore are known to exist, some of which have been worked for eighteen or twenty years. The average thickness of the ore in Auburn Township is perhaps five and a half to six feet, though eleven feet have been met with. Like all black-band ore, it is calcined with great facility, scarcely requiring any other fuel than that contained in itself. When so calcined, on an average two tons of ore will make a ton of iron, which closely resembles Scotch pig, is used for the same purposes, and is equally esteemed.

Until of late years, it was supposed the Tuscarawas formed the southern boundary of important deposits of black-band ore ; but Mr. A. Wilhelmi has discovered in Oxford Township basins of ore which rival in extent and value any before known. Here he also found, by boring, an important body of ore, unknown elsewhere, lying from forty to fifty feet below the black-band stratum. It is a light gray silicious ore, shown by analysis to contain thirty-nine per cent of metallic iron, and consisting of closely approximating layers or plates, having an aggregate thickness of from three to nine feet.

Though in the preceding notes much has been said of the geological struct- ure of different localities, for the purpose of a clearer idea of the geology of the county, the structure of the different valleys is here summarized:

The Tuscarawas Valley .- At the point where the Tuscarawas enters the county, it has cut through Coal Nos. 3 and 4, and these, with their overlying limestone, the Zoar and Putnam Hill, are visible in the hills on either side. No. 3 is rarely accessible, and is not of workable thickness. No. 4 has been somewhat wor ked, as previously mentioned. Coal No. 5 is here good; is from three to four feet thick, and has been mined at variou ; places on the south side of the Sandy Valley. The hills between Sandyville and Mineral Point are capped by the Mahoning sandstone and the overlying shales, which are above Coal No. 6, this coal showing frequent outcrops, but everywhere thin and of rather inferior quality.

At and below Zoar, the Zoar limestone lies very near the water level, in some places forming the bed of the stream. The Putnam Hill limestone lies some fifty feet higher, just at the break of the low hills on the east side. Be- tween Zoar and Mineral Point, the hills rise above the level of Coal No. 5, and the band of kidney ore which lies just over it, and which runs all through this portion of the county, has supplied a large amount of ore. On the west side of the river, opposite Zoar, the hills contain Coal Nos. 5 and 6, both of about the same thickness-three and a half to four feet -- and both have been some- what worked.

Between Zoar Station and Dover, there is no marked change in the geology. The hills are capped with the shales of the barren measures, containing some valuable deposits of black-band ore. Coal No. 6, partially cut away and

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

replaced by sandstone, comes in on the south side, near the Goshen salt well, and thence extends continuously southward. Coal Nos. 5 and 4 are too thin to be of much value, and between the two is a seam of cannel a foot or more in thickness. Along the railroad grade, Coal No. 3 a is shown at many places, here assuming greater dimensions than anywhere else in this region, but hav- ing little value.

At Canal Dover, the nearest outcrop of coal is on the west side of Sugar Creek. Coal No. 5 is there three to three and a half feet thick, and of good quality. The shales above it are thickly set with nodules of iron ore, as usual, and the deposit here has been extensively worked by stripping.

Between Dover and Trenton, Coal No. 6 is mined at frequent intervals on both sides of the valley, and is the chief source of supply of fuel to the inhabitants.

Between Trenton and the line of Coshocton County, the strata lie nearly horizontal. Coal No. 4 lies generally a little above or below the bottom lands; Coal No. 5, fifty feet higher up, and generally too thin to be of much value. Coal No. 6 is worked almost continuously, is of fairly good quality and thick- ness, in some places of unusual dimensions, but on the whole inferior to what it is at Coshocton or Uhrichsville.

The Valley of the Stillwater .- The dip of the rocks being here, for the most part, southeasterly, and the stream running north westerly, it crosses in its course a large number of strata, and affords an unusually complete section, reaching from the Upper Coal Measures above the Pittsburgh seam, in Bel- mont County, to the horizon of Coal No. 4, near Eastport. Where it enters Tuscarawas County, Coal No. 7 is the highest important member of the series, here of unusual excellence. With this coal extending from Stillwater to New- port, and No. 6 so well developed abont Uhrichsville, the valley is well sup- plied with coal.

The Conotten Valley. - The Conotten, in its descent from Leesburg to Zoar Station, passes down from Coal No. 7 to Coal No. 3, and in a large part of its course it opens what promises to be excellent developments of C al No. 6. In places, Coal No. 5 is also found of good thickness, while the hills on both sides contain more or less important deposits of black-band and mountain ore.

The Sugar Creek Valley .- The resources of this valley have thus far been imperfectly developed. The hills rise high enough to include the black.band ore, and it is believed beds exist which will prove of great value. Coal No. 6 is freely opened in the lower part of the valley, and in many places is specially good. At Deardorff's Mill, the stream cuts down nearly or quite to coal measures, and exposes a bed of coal which is supposed to be No. 1. The hills south of this mill rise above Coal No. 7 within two miles, and afford the most comprehensive, though not the most complete section to be found in the county.

Fire-clay and Fire-brick .- The clay under Coal No. 5 varies from three to six feet in thickness. In places, it is nearly all plastic; in others, mostly non- plastic; but more generally the bed is somewhat irregularly composed of the

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two varieties. The non-plastic, or "hard" clay is the more valuable, and especially adapted to the manufacture of fire-brick. It is similar in character to that of Mount Savage, Md., and other points, and fully equal in quality; and articles made from it are equally resistant to the action of fire. The points where this clay is chiefly dug are near Bolivar, at Mineral Point, and at one or two places between the latter town and Canal Dover.

Fire-stone .- Many of the sandstones found in Tuscarawas County would doubtless prove, upon trial, very resistant to fire. One, nearly white, quarried below Zoar Station, in the Tuscarawas Valley, has been used as a fire-stone, and has proved so refractory as to merit special notice and commendation.

Building Stone .- Nearly all the sandstones which occur in the lower coal measures in Tuscarawas County furnish good building stone, and it may be said that no part of the State is better supplied with building materials of all kinds. The white sandstone previously alluded to would make, perhaps, the handsomest of any yet known in the county. There is no considerable area within the county limits where a buff or brown sandstone cannot be easily and cheaply obtained.

Salt .- This article is now produced in considerable quantity from brine raised at several wells in the vicinity of Dover. These wells begin at nearly the same horizon, about 200 feet above the base of the coal measures, and are sunk to nearly the same depth, about 900 feet. The salt water is derived apparently from the same strata in the Waverly group. In the Sugar Creek well, which has a depth of 894 feet, the salt rock, a porous sandstone, was reached at 886 feet, while in the Goshen well, which is 914 feet deep, the salt water was obtained at a depth of 865 feet. The strength of the brine is 10' Beaume, 40' of the salometer, and it is estimated that seven barrels of water produces one barrel of salt, 280 pounds.

Bromine .- In the process of manufacturing salt, a considerable quantity of bromine is produced. After the crystallization of the salt, the bitter water is drawn off and evaporated to 45° Beaume; it is then distilled in a special apparatus. The product from 180 gallons of the bitter water (the capacity of the still) is said to be fourteen or fifteen pounds of bromine, and the daily product of one still is seventy pounds. The bitter waters of these wells are said to be much richer in bromine than any of the southern part of the State.

The following two sections will exhibit the difference of the geological formation of the northern and southern parts of the county:

SECTION AT ZOAR STATION.

Feet.

Shale and sandstone of barren measures.

Mountain ore.

.0 to 5

Black-band iron ore.

.3 to 8

Coal No. 7.

Fire Clay

Shale . .

Sandstone.

Shale

120

Coal No, 6 a, thin and local

Sandstone and conglomerate

Shale

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

Coal No. 6. 4

Fire Clay.

Shale.

Impure cannel.

Fire Clay.

Dark Shale with iron ore at base. 25

Coal No. 5 ..

Fire Clay. .

Shale with iron ore.

1 to 6

Coal No. 3 a.

Fire Clay

Shale. ..

Zoar Limestone.

Coal No. 3.

Fire Clay and Shale.

SECTION AT AND ABOVE UHRICHSVILLE.

TUSCARAWAS RIVER.

Shale and sandstone.

Coal No. 7 a ..

Fire Clay

Red Shale.

Sandstone, locally conglomerate.

Shale.

Coal No. 7.

Fire Clay ..

Shale and sandstone.

Brecciated limestone.

Coal No. 6 a

Fire clay.

Shale. .

Sandstone, locally conglomerate.

Shale

Coal No. 6.

Fire Clay.

Shale and sandstone.

Coal No. 5.

Fire Clay.

LEVEL OF STILLWATER.

Sandstone

26+

Dark shale.

521 1

Coal No. 4, slaty

Fire Clay.

Shale ..

18 3 2

Shale .. .

Sandstone

Zoar Limestone

1+ 11

Fire Clay.

Shale ..

20 1

Shale and sandstone.

661 11

Coal No. 2. .

Sandstone (Massillon) containing thin coal

Coal and shale. .

Shale and sandstone (Waverly)

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Putnam Hill Limestone.

Coal No. 3 a ..

Fire Clay

Coal No. 3.

White Flint.

Shelly sandrock. 35

Feet.

HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

239

CHAPTER III.

THE ABORIGINES.

THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THEIR FORTS, MOUNDS, IMPLEMENTS-INDIANS-CONQUEST OF OHIO BY THE FIVE NATIONS-THE DELAWARES-TRADITIONAL HIS- TORY-SUBJUGATION-OCCUPATION OF THE TUSCARAWAS- CHIEFS AND VILLAGES-HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

"And did the dust Of these fair solitudes once stir with life

And burn with passion? Let the mighty mounds

That overlooked the rivers, or that rise In the dim forests, crowded with old oaks,

Answer. A race that long has passed away

Built them; a disciplined and populous race

Heaped with long toil the earth, while yet the Greek

Was hewing the Pentelicus to forms

Of symmetry, and rearing on its rock The glittering Parthenon."-Bryant.

WHAT a race of people, superior in many respects to the red man, inhabited the valley of the Muskingum and Tuscarawas, as well as other portions of the State, centuries before the Indians were known to have dwelt here, is evidenced by the numerous remains found in various parts of the valley. At Marietta, extensive earthworks were discovered when the first New England emigrants landed there, and of these and other remains the Indians could give no account. They had evidently been constructed before the occupation of this territory by the Indians. When the "old fort" at Newark was discovered early in this century, a tree stood upon its banks, twenty feet above the level of the ground, which when cut down soon after, showed concentric circles numbering five hun- dred and fifty, thus proving the date of the construction of that wonderful arch- æological remain, to have been several centuries before Columbus first reached this continent. Who this strange race was, whether the progenitors or the predecessors of the Indian nations, must ever remain an unsettled question. They have left no written language, nothing but the embankments and a few implements to tell the story of their inhabitancy. The monuments of these Mound-Builders, as they are usually known, consisted of effigies, inclosures and mounds. Effigies or animal mounds are " raised figures or basso relievos of men, beasts, birds or reptiles, and in some instances of inanimate objects." They are usually from one to six feet above the natural surface of the ground, and it is believed by archaeologists that they were erected as objects of wor- ship, or for some purpose connected with religious worship. No effigies are known in Tuscarawas County. Two, the " Alligator Mound " and the " Eagle Mound," were found in Licking County, and others elsewhere in the State.

Inclosures are of various kinds. Some are ramparts, constructed for mili-

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

tary or defensive works; others were used as sacred inclosures, and still others, perhaps, as arenas for national games and amusements. Most of them are earthworks, though a few are of stone. Defensive inclosures are of irregular form, always on high ground, in strong, natural positions, frequently on hill summits and steep bluffs. The gateways are few, narrow and well guarded by other embankments. These works are somewhat numerous, and indicate that though the mound builders may have been disposed to peace and agriculture, they were not unharassed by enemies. Sacred inclosures are mainly distin- guished from those of a military character by regularity of form. Where moats or ditches occur, they are invariably found on the inside, whereas in defensive works the ditches are on the outside of the embankments.

Quite a number of inclosures have been discovered in the county, though the remains have now mostly disappeared through the demolishing effects of agriculture. When Zeisberger stopped at the "beautiful spring" or Schon- brunn, in 1771, he found on the plain above it the clearest evidences of an amphitheater, or circular earthwork, rimmed at the edge with the thrown up earth, and close by on the bank he found three mounds or tumuli, of the ordi- nary height of Scriptural mounds, satisfying him that the race who constructed them was more warlike and better acquainted with making defensive positions than the Indians of his day. Zeisberger writes of these remains : "Long ago, perhaps more than a century, Indians must have lived here who fortified themselves against the attacks of their enemies. The ramparts are still plainly to be seen. We found three forts in a distance of a couple of miles. The whole town must have been fortified, but the site is now covered with a thick wood. No one knows to what nation these Indians belonged. It is plain, however, that they were a warlike race." The antiquity of the race must have been much greater than Zeisberger supposed.

Mr. Mitchener, in his "Ohio Annals," thus describes some of the remains found in this county: " Across the river, on the west bank, and nearly oppo- site the eastern part of the present New Philadelphia, and not a mile from its court house, are the remains-now obliterated from view, but twenty years ago plainly discernible-of an earthwork or moat, extending in a semi-circular form around the river front of an old corn-field, as the Indians called it, and which had been used prior to the advent of the Christian Indians (in 1772). They were unable to give any account of it, other than that of an old Indian, who came to the mission, and who claimed to be descended from a nation who inhabited this territory many hundreds of years, and were driven away to the southwest by a more ferocious race of men from the North. He had a tradi- tion that his ancestors knew some of the arts, as known to the missionaries- that they were a peaceful people, and devoted much of their time to the wor- ship of deities-that wherever a sufficient number sojourned for a time they constructed works of defense, and for worship and sacrifice. A short distance from this ditch or moat was a mound on higher ground, on the summit of which large trees were growing when the first white settlers reached the valley. Partial excavations made many years ago exhumed arrow heads, dust as of

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

earthernware that bad been burnt, and the calcined dust of bones supposed to be human, from which the mound was judged to be the sepulcher of a noted person of the by-gone times, and has never been opened since. Near the town of Newcomerstown, and on the bank of the Ohio Canal, below Port Washing- ton, were found, when the canal was being constructed, the remains of earth- works and earth forts, similar to those discovered higher up the river. What is the more remarkable in this connection, is the fact that although stone was abundant near all the earthworks of those early colonists who constructed them, yet none appears to have been used, whether from religious prohibition, or inability to utilize the rocks of the river hills."

In Lawrence Township, in the valley of Sugar Creek, were also found simi- lar remains of this people. About three-fourths of a mile below Strasburg, and fifty rods west of the creek, was an earthwork, inclosing perhaps a half acre of ground. Is was circular in form, and on the east side was an open gateway. Another embankment existed a short distance above Sugar Creek Falls.

Mounds are the most numerous relics of this by-gone people, and are, found usually in the valleys of the larger streams. None of unusual size exist in this county, though of small ones there were formerly quite a number. The plow has in many instances effaced all marks of these, so that nothing remains to indicate their former existence. The usual subdivision of mounds is into sepulchral, sacrificial, temple, observation, and memorial or monumental.

Sepulchral mounds are generally conical in form, and are more numerous than other kinds. They range in altitude from three or four to seventy feet, and always contain one or more skeletons. Implements and ornaments are often found mingled with the dust of the departed braves, as well as mica, specimens of pottery, bone and copper beads, and animal bones. Charcoal and ashes indicate that the element of fire was probably employed in some manner in the burial ceremonies.

Sacrificial mounds are usually stratified, the strata being convex layers of clay and loam, alternating with a layer of fine sand. They contain ashes, charcoal, igneous stones, calcined animal bones, beads, stone implements, pottery and specimens of rude sculpture. These mounds are usually found within inclosures, with an altar of stone or burnt clay in the center of the mound. Some of these mounds seem also to have been used for purposes of sepulture, for skeletons have been found in them.

Temple mounds are less numerous than the preceding classes. They are generally of large base, but of comparatively limited altitude, and in form often circular or oval. Embankments often surround them, and many have spiral pathways or inclined planes leading to their summits. It is a suppo- sition that the summits of these mounds were crowned with structures of wood that served the purposes of temples, all traces of which have disappeared in the lapse of centuries since their erection. They were also used sometimes for burial purposes.

Mounds of observation are generally situated upon eminences, and are

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HISTORY OF TUSCARAWAS COUNTY.

supposed to have been used as signal stations and points of observation. They are said to occur in chains or regular systems, and many still bear traces of the beacon fires that were once burning there.

Memorial or monumental mounds belong to the class of tumuli which were erected to perpetuate the memory of some important event, or in honor of some distinguished character. They are mostly built of earth, but some of the stone mounds found in portions of the State probably belong to this not numerous class.

None of the mounds found in this county were peculiarly striking in form or size, nor are these relics so numerous as in some other counties in Southeastern Ohio. The mounds of Tuscarawas were found chiefly in the river valley, though a few existed near the streams of lesser size.

The implements of the Mound-Builders that have been found are prin- cipally of stone. A few copper instruments have been found in Southeastern Ohio, and it is probable that they were used in great abundance by the ancient dwellers, nearly all of them having since disappeared by oxidation, to which copper is nearly as susceptible as iron. The copper was probably obtained from Lake Superior, where there are clear evidences of ancient mining. The stone relics consist of axes, mauls, hammers, chisels, fleshers, pestles, etc., usually made of hard and tough granitic, or other stone, and a great variety of perforated plates, thread sizers, shuttles, badges, etc., which are generally composed of striped slate. The badges are of many forms, the kind known as double-crescents being the finest. Many of these relics were found in the valleys in pioneer times, but most of them have been lost, or carried away by curiosity seekers.

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The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 24

Author: Warner, Beers & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017