Coshocton County, Ohio - Chapter 17: Topography and Geology., 1881 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 17: Topography and Geology.

COSHOCTON county lies wholly in the great bituminous coal field, reaching close to its western margin. Its surface is, in appearance, rough and hilly ; yet, there are no ridges, and rarely any point of considerable elevation above the general summit level. This level; which is that of the great plateau of Eastern Ohio, and the neighboring country farther east, varies little from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above the sea. By the excavation of the valleys below it, the surface has been carved into hills, the slopes of which descend to the general depth of 350 to 400 feet. That the surface of the great plateau once stood considerably higher, is rendered probable by the occasional occurrence of a mound of hard strata, standing like a Inonument above the general level. A very conspicuous one of this .kind, rising about 80 ffeet higher than the summits of the highlands about it, and composed, apparently, of beds of conglomerate (loose pieces of which cover its top and steep sides), is seen near Coshocton county, in Tuscarawas, opposite Port Washington. Another, of similar appearance, is seen in the north-east part of Coshocton county, just north of the road between Chili and BakersviUe.

As the highlands of the county appear to have once been considerably higher than now, so the bottoms of the valleys were obviously once much deeper than at present; for below the surface of the valleys are frequently accumulations of sand, clays and gravels, reaching to the depth of more than 100 and sometimes to nearly 200 feet. The gravel beds of the rivers, made up of pebbles of sienitic, porphyritic basaltic and other more ancient rocks than are found in Ohio, and the same class of bowlders in the sand hills and terraces bordering the streams, point to the currents of the Drift period as the agents of this denudation; while the great width of the valleys, which is sometimes four to five miles, bear witness to the long time these currents must have been in action to have produced such astonishing results. Sometimes, indeed, it appears that a broad valley, once formed, has been blocked up and deserted, while another, as extensive, has been excavated in a new direction, and is followed by the river of the present day.

In Coshocton county such an ancient valley is seen to the south of West Lafayette, extending from the Tuscarawas valley, south south-east to the valley of Will's creek. When far enough from the Tuscarawas valley not to be confounded with this, itis seen, in places, to be full three miles wide, varying from this to one mile. It is a valley of diluvium, somewhat sandy, with hills of sand from thirty to forty feet high", the beds of which are sometimes seen exposed to this extent in the cuttings of present streams. Hills of the stratified rocks of the coal measures project into it from its sides, as irregular-shaped peninsulas, or stand in its midst as islands.- A remarkable single hill of this character is seen directly north from West Lafayette, on the edge of the Tuscarawas river, opposite the mouth of White Eyes creek. This ancient valley is known as White Eyes Plains. It is nearly all under cultivation ; and from the elevated points that overlook it, especially where it blends with the broad valley of the Tuscarawas, it affords views singularly beautiful and picturesque. Toward the south the White Eyes Plains are lost in the valley of Will's creek. By these two valleys and that of the Tuscarawas, the larger part of the townships of Tuscarawas, Lafayette, Franklin and Linton are encircled and isolated.

Opposite this valley, and north of the Tuscarawas, a similar valley, but of much smaller dimensions, extends north-westwardly through the south-west part of Keene township, and toward the Killbuok, in the center of Bethlehem township. Possibly it may be found on further examination, that this was an ancient valley of the Killbuok.

Geological Structure. - Besides the diluvium in the valleys of the streams, no other geological forrctation is found in Coshocton county, except the carboniferous ; and of this the range is limited to the lower half of the coal measure (comprising a thickness of some 350 feet), and the upper portion of the Waverly group - the lowest subdivision of the carboniferous. The lower carboniferous limestone, which belongs above the Waverly, appears to be wanting; and the conglomerate, which, in places, forms the floor of the coal measures in massive beds, often several hundred feet thick, was seen in place only in one locality, and there in a small layer not more than two or three feet thick. The almost total absence of any fragments of it, where one would look for them, near the base of the coal measures, indicates that this stratum is, also, generally wanting. The bottom of the coal measures is marked by its lowest great bed of sandstone, commonlj' about a hundred feet thick ; and in places directly under this, the lowest coal bed is seen, sometimes of workable thickness, and sometimes pinched and insignificant, and separated from the well marked Waverly shales by only a few feet of clayey strata.

These beds are all so nearly horizontal, that the dip is imperceptible at any locality. It is detected only by tracing them for several miles in the direction of the dip, which is toward the southeast, or in the opposite direction as they rise. Owing to this general inclination of the strata, the sub-carboniferous group is only seen in the northern and western townships of the county; and in these, only in the deep valleys, where the Waverly shales form the lowest portion of the marginal hills, and rise in them sometimes tq,the height of over two hundred feet; as on the east side of the Mohican rivfer, and on the upper part of the Walhonding. The top of the group comes down to the level of the canal, near the junction of the Killbuck and Walhonding, a little over twelve miles, in a straight line, from the Mohican river. The canal, in this distance, has descended, by nine locks, so that the total fall of the strata is over 270 feet, and may, perhaps, be 320 feet in the twelve miles; as, on the south side of the Walhonding, toward the town of Newcastle, the top of the Waverly is about 250 feet above the level of the canal.*

The brown and olive-colored shales, and lightcolored sandstones of the Waverly, are seen in most of the branches of the Walhonding river, and in all the runs in Tiverton township that discharge into the Mohican river. In the bottoms of these, the group is exposed within a mile, or a little more, to the town of Tiverton, toward the south. From Warsaw, it is traced up Beaver run into Monroe township ; but the valley rising faster than the strata, it is lost to view above Princeton. On the other side of the Walhonding, the group passes under the valley of Simmon's creek, within about a mile of its mouth; and the same is true of Mohawk creek, the next branch above. It stretches up the valley of the Killbuck into Holmes county ; and near ' the mill in the great bend of this stream, in Clark township, it forms cliflfe of shales and sandstones forty to fifty feet high, in which the peculiar fossils of the group are found in great profusion. It forms here, altogether, perhaps 100 feet of the lower portion of the hills. Doughty's Pork, a branch of the Killbuck, also runs in the Waverly shales, as they were found with their fossils in the bottom, two miles south-west from Bloomfield. Over the line, in Holmes county, near the north-east cor-

* Later observations show that Coshocton is near the hottorn of a synclinal trough, the dip, south-east from Tiverton to Coshocton, being about 500 feet ; while at Bridgeville, fifteen miles farther on the line south-east, the strata have risen 135 feet from the bottom of the basin.

This group of the carboniferous formation -contains little of economical importance. It -affords no coal nor iron ore; Some of its beds of .sandstone may prove of . value, especially for flagging stones. The coal measures are very deficient in these, and the want of such stones is already felt at Coshocton and the other principal towns situated in this formation. The brown olive colored shale produce, by their decomposition, soils of great fertility, as is seen everywhere through the bottoms where they occur. Probably no more productive corn fields, for their extent, are to be found' in the State, than those in the Waverly soils of the western township of Coshocton county.

Small quantities of galena are not unfrequently met with in the Waverly, and they have led to the conviction that this metal might be found in abundance in this and adjoining counties. There are, however, no facts yet known that justify this belief. The lead of the Waverly forms no connected veins or beds, but is found replacing fossil shell, or, in isolated crystals, scattered in small numbers through the rock. Hence, while the reports of the existence of lead in Coshocton county, are " founded on fact," there is not the slightest probability that it will be ever discovered in sufficient quantity to pay for working.

That portion of the coal measures found in -Coshocton county, comprises, altogether, the seven or eight coal beds in the lower half of the .series; but only a small number of these occur of workable dimensions in the same vicinity; and it is not often that more than one bed has been opened and mined in the same hill or neighborhood. The relative position of these -coal beds and of the accompanying strata may be seen from the subjoined general section of the rocks of Coshocton county, which exhibits the manner of their arrangement :

Every farm in the county, that lies above the Waverly strata, contains one or more of these coal beds beneath its surface ; and those localities that contain the uppermost beds, also contain all the lower ones. But while each coal bed can almost always be found and recognized in its proper place in the column, it does not follow that it should always maintain the same character, even approximately. On the contrary, it is not unusual for it to change in the course of a few miles - sometimes even in the same hill - from a workable bed of several feet, to a worthless seam of a few inches in thickness. Hence, there is no safety in figuring up an aggregate of so many feet of workable beds in any locality, until these beds have there been actually opened and proved. The indications afforded by borings, are generally of a very uncertain character, as respects the thickness of the coal beds and the quality of the coal. It is, without doubt, often the case that the beds of black shale passed through are called coal, and when one occurs as the roof of a coal bed, it serves to add so much to the thickness of the latter. By remarking, in the description of .the townships, how rare it is for two workable beds to be found in the same locality, and how seldom any bed at all is worked below the sixth bed of the series, it can hardly be safe to estimate the total average distribution of the workable coal in 'the county at much more than the thickness of this one bed; and this, taking into consideration the probability that some of the lower beds will yet be worked below the level of the valleys, where their range is unbroken. It is to be hoped, that the lowest bed of all, about which very little is now known, may be found as productive and valuable as it is in the counties to the north, in which event the estimate given above would prove too low. The sixth bed is a very remarkable one for the regu- larity it maintains, not only through this county, but over several others - even to the Pennsylvania line, and into that State. It here varies but little from four feet in thickness, and is everywhere depended upon as the most valuable bed of the lower coal measures. Throughout its great extent, even into Holmes county, and to the Ohio river, at Steubenville, it may be recognized by the peculiar purplish ash. The heaps of it seen by the farm houses show to the passer-by, almost always without fail, whether it is this coal or some other bed that supplies the neighborhood.

There are two bands of these, in particular, that are most useful in this respect. Both are fossiliferous, often abounding in crinoids and shells. The upper one, called the gray limestone, is found varying in thickness from one foot, or less, up to six feet ten inches. It lies immediately on the coal bed known as No. 4. The lower one, called the blue limestone, has about the same range of thickness as the gray, and is sometimes only twenty feet below this.

In some localities in the county, two other beds of limestone make their appearance: one, dark gray, or black, above the " gray limestone " and coal No. 6 ; the other a local bed, between the " blue " or " Zoar " and " gray " or " Putnam Hill " limestone. In one place - Alexander Han- Ion's farm. Mill Creek township - these lower limestone beds seem to run together, forming a nearly continuous mass, twenty feet in thickness. Usually, the persistent limestone strata - the ' "blue" and the "gray" - are fifty to eighty 'feet apart. A coal seam (No. 3) generally Ues immediately under this limesttoe, also, but is rarely of any value; and the same may be said of the bed above it (No. 3 a), and also of the next below it (No. 2), both of which seem to be wanting in this county. The limestones in the western and central parts of the county are frequently accompanied by large quantities of the hard, flinty rock, known as chert. There is often a great display of it, in loose pieces, in the roads above and below the outcrops of these calcareous strata; but natural exposure of it in place are very rare! i

In several instances, the limestone beds are seen intermixed with chert, and it is also noticed that chert sometimes takes the place entirely of the limestone.

A few other limestone beds have occasionally been noticed at a higher position than the gray limestone, and are also between that and the blue, but they are of rare occurrence, and have only a local interest, except in their relation to limestone beds in similar part of the series in other counties.

The sandstone beds are sometiines developed to the thickness of 70 to 100 feet of massive layers. They are very apt, however, to pass into thin bedded sheets, and again into shales. Barely do they become even slightly calcareous, and no instance was observed of their passing into limestone. The most persistent of the sandstone beds, so far as it could be traced before it disappears under the overlying strata, is the great bed at the base of the coal measures. The bed over coal No. 6 is also very uniform.

No iron ore, in any encouraging quantity, has been met with in the county. It is seen scattered in kidney-shaped pieces among the shales, but never concentrated sufficiently to justify drifting for it. There may be one exception to this on the farms of James Boyd and W. Hanlon, in Keene township, near Lewisville, where an exploration has developed, just below coal bed No. 6 (or it may be the one above it) ferruginous layers resembling the black-band ore, mixed with kidney ore, from three to six feet thick. Kidney ore of good quality is also found between Linton and Jacobsport, in the southeast part of Linton township.

The gravel beds of the rivers may be mentioned as among the useful mineral products. At Coshocton they furnish an excellent material for covering the streets of the town, or the clean pebbles might serve well for conc'rete work.

Local Qedogy. - In describing the localities visited, it will be convenient to take them up in the order of the townships, beginning at the northwest, and attention will be directed chiefly to the coal beds as of principal importance.

plateau in the neighborhood of the town of Tiverton, and that of the blue limestone about forty feet lower down. The " blossom " of a coal bed is occasionally seen in the road to the north of the town ; in one instance, about a mile north from Tiverton, five feet below a bed of " black marble," a black, compact limestone, which has been found in the sarne relative position at a few other localities in the county. This rock appears as if it would take a good polish, and be serviceable for ornamental purposes. There are coal beds in the northern part of the township, but they are small and uhimportant, and the coal is of little demand. It is probable none of the beds above No. 1 are worth working, or there would have been more development made. No. 1 might be looked for to advant^e at the base of the great sandstone bed, and between that and the Waverly shales, for about 200 feet above the Mohican river. This coal bed is opened, and appears well, so far as it could be examined at McFarland's, in Monroe township. It is very variable in thickness, often being cut out by the sandstone that always overlies it. -In Mahoning county it is known as the Brier Hill coal, and is regarded as the most valuable bed in the State for blast furnaces. It should be looked for in the deep runs below Tiverton Center, and on the slope of the steep hill down to the Mohican.

Monroe. - The coal seams of this township have been developed but little more than those of Tiverton. There is here the same range, of the coal measures, with the addition of one higher coal bed, the outcrop of which may be recognized close to the town of Spring Mountain, which is oh as high land as any in the township. The limestone is seen about sixty feet lower down, half a mile to the south. The only coal mines opened in the township, of which we have any knowledge, are Cooper's two mines, northwest from Spring Mountain, and McFarland's, on the south line of the township. Our examinations of these, as of most of the other coal beda of the county, were made under very unfavorable circumstances. As they are worked only in the winter season, the localities are commonly found with difficulty, and when found the drifts are flooded with water, so that they can not be entered, and no one is about to give any information.

Cooper's bed was found in this condition. The coal seam appears to be four feet thick. It is overlaid by a confused mixture of fire-clay, shale and limestone, the last close to the roof, and supposed to be the gray limestone. Over these strata, which are sometimes more than ten feet thick, are massive sandstone rocks, much tumbled, the bed of which is not less than twenty feet thick. McFarland's coal mine, as already mentioned, is in the lowest bed of the series No. 1. It appears to be three feet thick, and is overlaid by slaty sandstone, of which eight feet are visible. The coal seems to be partly cannel. In the run, about fifteen feet below the opening, are the Waverly shales, recognizable by their fossils.

Clark. - The principal coal mines of this township are in the southeast part, near the line of Bethlehem, on the farms of Thomas Elliott, John Moore, and J. Shannon, all in coal No. 6. Jas. C. Endsley's coal bank in Bethlehem belongs to the same group, and is the most important one, having been worked eighteen years, and supplying a large part of the two townships with coal. It is forty feet above the gray limestone, under which is said to be a coal bed two feet thick ; and it is about ninety feet below another coal seam eighteen inches thick, struck near Mr. Endsley's house, over which the hill still rises some seventy or eighty feet The bed worked is three feet nine inches thick, less a seam it contains of six inches of pyritous fire-clay. The roof is black shale, of which five feet are exposed. The coal is in good repute for domestic uses, but does not answer for blacksmiths.

Thomas Elliott's coal bed, just over the line in Clark township, is probably a continuation of Endsley's. It is two feet ten inches thick, under a black shale roof, the shales abounding in fossil shells, but too fragile for preservation. The coal appears to be too pyritous to be of much value. The other beds we did not succeed in finding. On the highlands northeast from the mill at the great bend of the Killbuck, a coal bed is worked which, from its elevation, we suppose to be No. 6. These northern townships seem to be the most hilly and uncultivated in the county. They lie along the heads of many of the branches of the Tuscarawas, and the general course of the streams is not far from the dip of the strata.

The greater elevation of the plateau in this region accounts for the occurrence of the higher coal beds in the summits. Though unusually hilly and rough, the surface exhibits few outcrops of the coals and limestones for long distances. From the bend of the Killbuck, northeast toward Bloomfield, the road ascends 350 feet to the first mile. The first coal outcrop observed is about two miles southwest from Bloomfield, just after crossing the small branch of the Killbuck, running on the Waverly shales. This must be the outcrop of coal No. 1. Descending toward Bloomfield, on the other side of the summit, the gray limestone is met with at 170 feet higher elevation by barometer, with large coal outcrop immediately under it. Forty feet below this is another outcrop of coal, and about seventy-five feet below this a third, and a sandstone bed beneath this, with no appearance of the Waverly to the bottom of the valley in which Bloomfield is situated. This group, however, must be very near the surface at this place. None of the outcrops noticed above appear to have been followed up to ascertain the character and thickness of the coals. This neighborhood is supplied with coal from beds in the adjacent township of Mill Creek.

Recent explorations disclose the fact that in Bethlehem and Clark townships, near the line separating them, coal No. 7 is in places four feet thick, and of good quality. At Mr. Durr's bank, it has this thick vein, is an open, burning, white ash coal, containing little visible sulphur, and giving better promise of being a good iron-making coal than any other examined in the county. A coal was disclosed in a well near Mr. Glover's residence, without cover, showing eighteen inches of ^ the bottom bench, which may be No. 7 or perhaps No. 7 a. On the east half of the southeast quarter of section 23, Clark township, an out crop of coal No. 6 is thirty-seven inches in thickness, with a heavy body of shale above it. Other outcrops in the neighborhood are reported to show three feet nine inches of coal. At the opening examined, the coal increased in thickness as the drift was carried into the hill. The coal is hard and black, with a brilliant, resinous luster, containing a large percentage of fixed carbon, and is evidently of excellent quality. At the

Imley bank, on section 25, Bethlehem township^ the coal at an outcrop measures forty-three inches, and is reported to reach a thickness of four and one-half feet in some of the roomsworked. It is, by the barometer, twenty-five feet below the coal on section 23, Clark township, and about one-half a mile distant. This coal in Bethlehem township I am inclined to regard as below No. 6 and, as that which is disclosed a little farther north, capped with the black limestone. The coal is of superior quality, and there is quite a large territory underlain by it.

At the place of these openings, all the rocks of the coal measures are in their positions, and thehorizons of seven coals and two limestones can be determined. About one mile north, on Mr> Glover's land in Clark township, the following section was obtained :

This section shows that after the deposit of the lower coals there was an upheaval of 280 feet, and a channel plowed by the water to the base of the coal measures. The thin conglomerate in this neighborhood is cherty, and from one of these fragments of cherts I have obtained a fair sized crystal of galena, the best specimen of lead ore I have ever seen obtained from Ohio rocks. '

Mill Creelc. - Low's coal bank, in the northwest corner of this township, one mile east from Bloomfield, lies directly under the gray limestone, a seam of fire-clay, seven inches thick, separating the limestone from the upper layer of coal. This upper layer is bright coal, five inches thick, under it cannel coal seven inches thickr and under this two feet five inches of good, bright coal. In the next hill west is Evan's coal bank, at thirty feet higher elevation. This has been opened, but not worked much, and was in no condition to enter. The bed is said to be three feet thick, the coal to be of good quality.

Through the western part of Mill Creek, by the " grade road," exposures of strata that can be recognized are very rare; and no openings of coal are met with. Near the south line of the township the blue limestone is seen at- several places along the road, sometimes with the " blossom " of coal beneath it. Chert in considerable quantity is often associated with it. At one place the blue limestone appears .to be seven or eight feet thick. Immediately over it is a large bed of chert, and about forty feet higher up the blossom of coal, but no appearance of the gray limestone.

In the southeast corner of Mill Creek, and in the adjoining lands in the three townships of Keene, White Eyes and Crawford, are several coal banks, all in coal No. 6, which is recognized both by its position (about 100 feet above the gray Umestone) and by its peculiar purplish ash. The outcrop of other coal beds is seen at several places on these lands, but the only bed worked is No. 6. The coal is mined only in the winter season, and chiefly on the farms of A. Overholts, in Mill Creek; of Thomas Davis, adjoining this, in Keene; of Scott, Punk, Boyd and Miller in White Eyes ; and of Boyd, Graham and Swigert in Crawford. The bed where it was accessible was found varying from two feet ten inches at Davis', and at Overholts' to four" feet three inches thick at Scott's; but the openings being all deserted, nothing could be determined as to the quality of the coal. Some pyrites is seen, one seam' of it an inch thick near the floor, but the quantity is small. As this group of mines supplies the demand of a large portion oE the four townships, the coal is without doubt, the best the county affords. It is, moreover, obtained exclusively from the bed well known to be the most important one in the county. The summit level in this vicinity is about 100 feet above the plane of. the coal bed ; and immediately over the coal is a heavy bed of slaty sandstone, apparently not under thirty-five feet thick. On Alexander Hanlon's farm, half a mile northwest from Overholts', and also on Oliver Crawford's, nearly a mile farther north, are seen a number of exposures of coal and limestone beds, which, taken together, give sections not readily explained in connection with the barometrical elevations obtained, and which were verified in part in going and returning. Coal No. 6 is opened on the south side of the hill, on Mr. Hanlon's farm about 120 feet below its summit. A bed of limestone, about one foot six inches thick, shows itself sixty-five feet above the coal bed. To the south about one-quarter of a mile and 200 feet below the coal bed, is the top of a great bed of gray limestone, which, followed by successive steps down the bed of a run, presents a thickness of about twenty-five feet, as leveled with the hand-level. This may be somewhat exaggerated, as there is a strong dip to the south, and the exposure is down the run in this direction for nearly 250 feet. Under the upper layers is seen some coal smut, and under the whole is a bed of coal, said to be two feet thick. The strata for twenty feet below are hidden, and then succeeds a bed of massive sandstone, from thirty to forty feet thick. On Crawford's land, nearly a mile to the north, two , coal outcrops are seen in two neighboring runs. One is of a coal bed about thirteen inches thick, directly under gray limestone, apparently only two inches thick, and 110 feet below the level of coal No. 6. In the other run at twenty feet lower level, is abed of coal three feet thick, of which the upper portion is cannel, and the lower partly cannel and partly bright coal. No limestone is exposed near the coal. It would appear that these two coal outcrops are continuations of the beds on the south side of the hill, though they are ninety feet higher, and nothing is seen of the great mass of limestones that there lies between them. The coals are probably the representatives of Nos. 3 and 4, and the limestones that overlie these have here run together. The unusual high elevation of coal No. 6, on the south side of the hill, may be a barometrical error. The dip, which is certainly very great here, would account for a part, at least, of the discrepancy in the height of the coal above the two outcrops of limestone on the opposite sides of the hill.

Crawford. - Beside the coal banks on the edge of Mill Creek Township, there - appear to be none worked in Crawford. The outcrop of coal was observed on the north line of the township, near New Bedford, but over all the rough coun- try from thence to Chili, through the center of the township, no one appears to have given any attention to obtaining coal elsewhere than from the locality in the southwest corner, already described. It is probable that No. 6 disappears to the north, rising faster than the surface of the country in this direction, and the lower beds have not been found worth working.

Newcastle. - The northern half of this township is in the Waverly, excepting only the upper part of the hills in the northeast quarter. The highest lands, near the town of Newcastle, on the south side of the Walhonding, are about 420 feet above the bottoms of this river, i. e., 780 above Lake Erie. The highest and only coal bed worked in the township is No. 4, under the gray limestone, and from seventy to eighty feet below the highest elevations. Coal No. 1 is seen on descending the steep hill from Newcastle to the "Walhonding, in a bed only eighteen inches thick, beneath the great sandstone bed at the base of the coal measures, which is here about thirty feet thick. Kidney ore, with a little shale from six inches to a foot thick, separates the coal from the sandstone. For fifty feet over the sandstone the strata are concealed, except that the smut of a very small coal seam is observed below the diggings for fire-clay, at the top of this interval. Over the fire-clay, which is three feet to four feet thick, is coal (seen here only in the outcrop), and over the coal a fossiliferous gray limestone, two feet thick, overlaid with blue chert. The fireclay is dug for the supply of a pottery at Newcastle. Though the gray limestone is met with most everywhere near the summit of the township, the openings of the coal beds it covers are not very numerous. One of these is James Smith's, half a mile northeast from Newcastle. The limestone is here several feet thick, and forms the roof of the coal. This is two and a half feet thick, and much mixed with small seams of shale and pyrites.

At Calvin Scott's, one and one-half miles southeast from Newcastle, the coal i§ found two and one-half fpet thick under six feet of the gray limestone. It is here of better quality, compact and bright, with not so m.uch. sulphur.

The following section, from summit of hills at Newcastle to the mouth of Owl creek, will show the general geological structure of this portion of the county :

The cherty limestone over the upper coal is traceable several miles along the banks of Owl creek into Knox county. It abounds in fossilsi which include nearly all the species found in the famous locality on Flint Ridge, near Newark. The lithological character of the rock is the same, a blue, earthy, sometimes cherty limestone weathering light brown. The horizon of the two loaclities is doubtless the same. The base of the section is 300 feet above Lake Erie.

Jefferson. - The north half of this township is' in strata probably too low for any 'of the workable coal beds except No. 1, which may be looked for with good prospect of success, as it is worked just over the line in Monroe, as already described. On the south side of the township, coal No. 3 a has been opened upon several farms, and being found of Jarge size and cannel character, rich in oil, large preparations were made to work it for the supply of oil distilleries, when the great developments of the petroleum wells put a stop to the business. On the farm of John Taylor (west side of Simmons' creek), the bed is opened about fifty feet below the top of the hill. It is about five feet thick, sound, cannel coal, with a little pyrites scattered through it. The coal abounds with impressions of coal plants, and in the shaly blocks from the roof are remarkably fine specimens of stigmanm, with lateral rootlets. On the other side of the same hill (to the west), is Lyman's opening in the same bed. The roof is here exposed, and consists, next the coal, of blue limestone six inches, over this chert eighteen inches, and limestone at top, making in all over three feet. The coal bed is full six feet thick. Sharpless' mine, across the valley, in Bedford township, belongs to this group. The graylimestone is found scattered near the top of the hill above Lyman's opening, but the coal bed under it is not opened. Its outcrop is observed in the road toward Newcastle, overlain by a thick bed of shale. Chert is very abundant, associated with both the limestone beds, and also at higher levels than the gray limestone. Descending the hill toward the Little Mohawk, the gray limestone is seen not far below the summit, about four feet thick; with coal smut below, and shale beds containing kidney ore, above it. The coal bed is opened on the farm of James Moore, Sr., close by this outi'rop, and was worked for oil, the coal yielding forty gallons to the ton. The bed is seven feet thick, the lower five feet cannel and the upper two feet bright coal, overlaid by gray limestone and chert. On the opposite side of the road the same bed was worked by Wm. Gibbons. The descent from this point to the bridge over the Little Mohawk, at Jericho, about a quarter of a mile to the west, is 180 feet by barometer. This should reach into the Waverly shales. There are no exposures of any strata to be seen. The hill to the west rises nearly or quite 300 feet above the Little Mohawk, beyond the township line, in Newcastle, and the next coal bed above the gray limestone is probably carried in, an outcrop being seen, supposed to belong to this bed.

noticed in the account of Clark township. It is probable that coal bed No. 4 may be found of good size and character in the extreme southwest corner, as it is worked in the northwest corner of Jackson.

Keene. - The eastern half of Keene township has several openings of coal No. 6, which appears to be the only bed now worked. That of Thos. Davis, in the northeast corner, has been referred to in the account of the coal beds of Mill Creek. In the southern part of the township, James Boyd has worked the same bed to considerable extent, by three openings on his farm, about one and a half miles north from Lewisville. The bed lies about 150 feet above the level of the canal at Lewisville, and 100 feet below the summit of the hill. The canal is about on the same level as the railroad at Coshocton. Fifty feet above this is an outcrop of the gray limestone near Lewisville. In one of the openings the coal is found three feet nine inches thick, with a parting seam of either fire-clay or pyrites, three inches thick, nine inches above the floor. In another, on the west side of the same hill, the bed is four feet thick, including four inches of fire-clay, eight inches above the bottom. The overlying strata are slaty sandstones, thirty feet thick. The coal appears to be of excellent quality, is of brilliant, jet-black color, and is mostly free from sulphur. It is not in demand by the blacksmiths, probably from not melting well to make a hollow fire, but is sold wholly for domestic uses.

On the adjoining farm of W. Hanlon another coal bed was opened sometime ago, sixty feet higher up, and is said to be three feet thick. Other coal openings are reported in the southeast corner and also about two miles east from Keene Center ; they are supposed to be in coal bed No. 6. Keene Center, though;_on very high ground, does not, apparently, quite reach up to the plane of coal No. 6; and no openings are made in the lower beds. To the north of the town the strata are well exposed, by the side of the road, from the top of the hill down into the -valley of Mill creek, presenting the following section: near the top, at the town, slaty sandstone ; shales, mostly olive-colored, ' forty feet, limestone (gray?), coal-smut, and fire-clay, underlaid by olive shales, sixty feet; several layers of kidney iron-ore, ten feet above the bottom of the shales ; coal outcrop under the shales ; five feet under this, to top of great bed of chert, associated with blue limestone, and coal outcrop beneath. A large bed of massive sandstone, supposed to be that at the base of the coal measures, lies not far below the blue limestone, its upper layers about twenty feet below the top of the chert and blue limestone. This group of about 150 feet affords httle promise of any workable bed of coal; and some portions of it occupy the greater part of the township.

WTiite Eyes. - The only coal openings visited in this township, are those in the northwest corner, noticed with the coal beds of Mill Creek. The developments there have had the effect of discouraging other enterprises of the kind, especially as the demand lor coal is so limited. In the northeast part of the township, along the road from Chili toward Bakersville, the lands lie near the plane of the two limestone beds, with no promise of workable coal.

Adams. - Throughout the north part of Adams, the coal bed most worked is No. 4, under the gray limestone. It is a bed of inferior character, both as regards the amount and quality of the coal. It is commonly known as the " double bed," from a seam of fire-clay, about a foot thick, in the middle of the bed. It has been worked half a mile west from Bakersville, where the whole bed was four feet thick, the upper part mixed with cannel coal. About twenty feet aboye the gray limestone, which covers the coal bed, is a bed of black limestone, of slaty structure, perhaps two feet thick. It contains fossil shells, but in poor condition. This bed corresponds, in position, with the " black marble " found in the western part of the county. Near the western part of the township, the double bed is worked on the farms of Powell, of Fillibaum and of others in the neighborhood ; and further east on Zinkon's. At this place, the next upper bed (No. 6) is also opened ninety to one hundred feet higher up, and too close to the top of the hill to be worked to advantage. It is a little over three feet thick, contains no slate seams and but little sulphur. On Vance's farm, lying next south from Zinkon's, the same bed is again opened near the top of the hill, and has, so far, been worked by stripping. It appears to be about three feet thick, of sound cubical coal, very black, the upper portion sulphurous. It is overlaid by black shale, two feet nine inches ; sandstone, one foot three inches ; and over this shaly sandstone, a thick bed, to the top of the hill. The lower part of the bed, and the strata below, are hidden. In a run near by, at about fifty feet lower elevation, is a bed of chert and " black marble," some of the latter of compact structure, and some of it shelly; and thirtyfive to forty feet below this, is the outcrop of the gray limestone, and coal No. 4 (not opened), the strata between being mostly slaty sandstones. There are numerous coal openings to the southeast of Vance's, all in No. 6 coal bed.

Perry. - The strata here, as in Newcastle, are of the lower part of the coal measures ; and, frequently, over the surface of the hills, the gray and blue limestone are recognized, accompanied with chert. They are seen in the neighborhood of East Union; but no openings of the coal beds usually associated with these, are met with ; and it is probable these beds are of little or no value in this township. A little to the southeast of the 'center of the township, near the foot of a long hill, and below a great bed of massive sandstone, is Crawford's coal bank in bed No. 1. The bed is from two and a half to three feet thick, with a black shale roof. The coal is of excellent quality, mostly in sound blocks, very free from sulphur and of " open burning " character. Some of it is of slaty cannel structure, with mineral charcoal intermixed. This is the only really good display of this lowest coal bed met with in the county; and it is an encouragement for hoping that a seam that has proved so valuable as this has in other counties, may be found at many other localities in this, of good character. Its low position gives it an extensive range ; but there is always uncertainty about its continuing far without being encroached upon and disturbed by the sandstone above it. Its occurrence here indicates that of the Waverly group in the bottoms of the runs in this township.

Bedford. - The occurrence of cannel coal in a large bed under the blue limestone on Sharpless' farm, on the north side of the township, has been noticed in describing the coal openings in Jefferson. In the northwest part of Bedford, at the coal openings of John Little and Jos. Preese, a greater number of coal beds are seen in one section than at any other locality in the county. At the base of the hill, in the road, and under a bed of massive sandstone not less than thirty feet thick, is the blossom of coal supposed to be No. 1. Fifty feet above this is John Little's coal bank under a bed of blue shale, the lower layers of which are calcareous, and no doubt represent the blue limestone. The coal bed (No. 3) is of workable size, but nothing more could be ascertained of its character, the opening being flooded with water. In the run close by, and seventy feet above the base is Jos. Freese's coal opening under massive sandstone, of which twelve feet are exposed. The following is a section near Freese's mine

At 100 feet elevation the gray limestone appears in the run overlying a coal seam twenty-eight inches thick, not opened, and at 130 feet is the outcrop of another coal bed of cannel character, the thickness not known. Over this coal is a heavy bed of massive sandstone, and above this to the top of the hill, about 100 feet more, no more exposures are seen. But in the forks of the road near by, and some twenty to thirty feet higher elevation than the uppermost coal bed in the section, is an outcrop of hard, compact limestone, abounding in fossil shells, the stratum probably not over two feet thick. It is remarkable, at this place, what a change the coals Nos. 8 and 4 have undergone from their much larger dimensions in Jeiierson, only about three miles distant. No. 3 a also here assumes a workable character, not observed anywhere else in the county.

No other coal openings are seen between thisplace and the village of West Bedford. The village stands some fifty feet above the gray limestone, which is seen a little to the north ; and therange of the strata is, from the summit down into the bottoms, about 240 feet. About forty feet lower than the gray limestone is a large outcrop of coal in the road, which is probably No. 3 a, the blue limestone being met thirty feet lower in a large exposure of massive blocks. At the lowest point in the road, about one-half mile east from West Bedford, where the road forks, is the lower great sandstone bed of the coal measures, about 190 feet below the gray lirnestone. Two miles east from West Bedford is Sproule's coal bank, three feet thick, the coal very sulphury, no cannel in it. Johnson's mine farther east, and Marshall's still farther, exhibit the same characters. The bed is evidently the same at the three places, and is supposed to be No. 4, though the gray limestone is not seen near it. Coal No. 6, found in the northeast corner of Washington township, could no doubt be found in the south part of Bedford, as near the school house, not a mile south from Sproule's mine, the following are observed from the blue limestone up. The gray limestone fifty feet higher, four feet thick; coal outcrop (No. 6), eighty feet up. Above the school house: coal outcrop 124 feet up ; top of the hill, 180 feet above the blue limestone, reddish brown sandstone :

Jackson. - In the northwest corner of this township coal No. 4 is worked on the farm of Abm. Haines, near the summit of the hills. The bed is four feet thick, and the coal appears to be of good quality; has no cannel seams. Its roof is shale, three inches thick, and over this is the gray limestone, six feet ten inches thick. From the bottom of this limestone it is twenty-four feet to the blue limestone, exposed in the- run below, mixed with chert, and overlying a cannel coal bed, thickness "unknown. As both these coal beds attain large dimensions on the other side of Simmons creek, in Jefferson and Bedford townships, they may be expected to occur in other places in the northwest part of Jacksoni also, of workable size; but the only locality in Jackson where either is opened is in the extreme corner of the township. Toward Roscoe, over the highlands to the south of the Walhonding river, the summits are far above the plane of these beds, and between four and one-half and five and one-half miles from Eoscoe, the outcrops of two coal beds are observed, one of which is supposed to be No. 6, and the other the next bed above.

In a run near the. road in this vicinity an imperfect section was obtained, showing the blue limestone at bottom three feet thick, and thirty feet above it the bottom of a bed of massive sandstone full fifty feet thick, with signs of coal six feet below it, with shale between the coal and sandstone. Near the summit, about seventy feet above the top of the sandstone, is the outcrop of the uppermost bed. On the next road to the south of this, a mile and a half west from Roscoe, the upper part of the great sandstone bed, below coal No. 6, forms the pavement of the road, and beneath is a cave formed by the overhanging rock and extending entirely across under the road. The bottom of the s«ndstone is fifty-five feet below the road, and down the run fifteen feet lower is a fine exposure of the gray limestone, two or three feet thick, with an inferior kind of cannel coal under it. A blue limestone crops out still further down the run, only about twenty feet under the gray limestoneshales and slaty sandstones occupying the intermediate space. The hills in this part of the township are quite high enough to catch No. 6 coal, and also the next bed in many localities. But No. 6 is the only bed known in the township as of much importance, and is opened at a number of places to the south of Roscoe. The bed is from three to four feet thick, and the coal is in good repute. The most important mines in the township are in the southeast part, near the line of Virginia, especially those worked on adjoining tracts, belonging respectively to the Coalport Coal Company and the Summit Coal Company., Th^ coal bed is three feet ten inches thick, with a seam of shale one to two inches thick, fifteen inches above the floor. The roof of the bed is blue shale, and in the shale beds above and below the beds kidney ore is found. The dip is southeast, sixteen and one-half feet in a mile.

Prosser's coal mine is three miles south from Coshocton, and half a mile west from the canal. The bed is close upon four feet thick ; contains no visible sulphur but what can be easily sorted out. The upper part is harder coal than the lower, and separated from it by a small seam of fire-clay eighteen inches above the floor. The following is the succession of strata observed in the run below the coal bed: Seventy-five feet below is the bottom of a large bed of massive sandstone, not less than thirty feet thick, some layers of it conglomeritic ; under it shale beds (bluish) about twenty feet thick, with balls and layers of iron ore ; at ninety-five feet below the coal is fire-clay, and, under this, bhie shale and kidney ore; at 105 feet black chert, five feet thick ; and fifteen feet below this, black shale and cannel coal, not distinctly divided - altogether about four feet thick. The lowest of these strata represent the blue limestone and coal No. 3; and the black chert is the representative of a limestone, which is locally found over the next coal above.

Tuscarawas. - 1\ie lowest strata in this township are those near the blue limestone. It lies near the level of the railroad, and of the canal near the aqueduct to the north of Coshocton. Where the highway crosses Mill creek, in the northeast part of the township, the following section of 165 feet may be observed : At top of the hill, massive sandstone, extending down about 100 feet; 125 feet below the top of this sandstone, gray limestone, four feet thick, with much chert inter- mixed and overlying a coal bed, the thickness of which is not known, only abiDut fifteen inches seen in the outcrop; thence down to the level of the bridge over Mill ereek (165 feet below the top of the sandstone), is a bed of shales, about thirtyfive feet thick. The blue limestone was not seen in place, but a loose piece of it was found below the level of the bridge and of the road. These strata produce no workable coal beds. The mines to the south and east of Coshocton are altogether in coal No. 6. Those of the Home Mining Company, a mile southeast from the town, are situated on the wesC side of a high hill, near together, and are worked by means of twelve separate entrances. The bed is about 150 feet above the level of the railroad ; its thickness three feet eight inches ; the coal is very free from sulphur, bright, hard and compact, and breaks with clear and brilliant, smooth faces; is better adapted for steam and domestic purposes than for blacksmith's use, not having the melting and coking qualities to the extent they require ; still, it is in demand for this purpose, and is, in fact, the best this part of the country affords. It is worked by large chambers, the roof being strong. A thin seam of shale divides the bed into two benches, and the upper bench supplies the best coal. It is overlaid by gray shales and sandstones ; and 115 feet above it is the outcrop of another coal bed (No. 7)i not opened, overlaid with limestone and some iron ore - the position in which to look for the black-band iron ore. The gray limestone is about sixty-five feet below coal No. 6.

In the hill northeast from the last described locality, toward the coal mines worked on that side; and discharged on the railroad, the following section is obtained from coal No. 6, down :

In the central part of the township, the summit level is, for the most part, high above the plane of No 6 coal; the tops of the hills full 200 feet higher. Indications of the black-band ore were looked for in these higher strata, but none were met with that can be considered encouraging. No. 7 coal must occur considerably below the general summit level, but the only bed worked appears to be No. 6.

Lafayette. - The greats- part of this township is alluvial bottom land. No coal openings were encountered in the township. The higher parts of it; however, must contain what appears to be the only important bed of this region, viz : No. 6. The ancient valley or river bed, extending through it from northwest to southeast, has already been noticed.

Oxford. - A considerable part of this township also is bottom land in the broad valley of the Tuscarawas. Coal beds, however, are worked inthe northwest corner of the township, which were not visited. They are probably on the same bed (No. 6) as the workings in Adams, not far to the north, and those on the same side of the river, and as near to 'it at Newcomerstown, in Tuscarawas county. The valley of Mill's creek, on the south edge of the township, is on the level of the blue limestone, and a small seam of cannel coal is seen directly under it in this vicinity; and under the gray limestone, twenty-five feet higher up in the same run, is a coal bed not well exposed, the upper part of which is cannel. Coal No. 6 must be in the hills in the southwest part of the township, but no openings of it were seen.

the dip has not continued in an easterlj' direction, but appears to be reversed. At Coshocton, coal No. 6 at the Home company's mine is about 148 feet above the raih-oad, which is there about 133 above Lake Erie; and at Newcomerstown, the bed is 130 feet above the raih-oad, which is there 163 feet above the lake, making the bed seven feet higher at Newcomerstown. The direction is about due east. The effect of this flattening of the dip is to keep the same series of strata near the surface, and give a monotonous character to the geology. There appears to be no southern dip, either, in the southeast part of the county, judging from the barometrical elevations in Tuscarawas and Mill's creek valleys.

Pike. - This township is altogether near the bottom of the coal measures. The gray limestone is seen very frequently in the high grounds, accompanied by its coal bed No. 4; and as we see no evidence of the coal being worked, it is probably of little importance. At West Carlisle, the sandstone just under the gray limestone contains numerous specimens of what are probably fu- -coidal stems, in a variety*of unusual forms, some bearing a curious resemblance to the fossil saurian foot-prints. On the west side of the village, is a large outcrop of slaty cannel coal, probably belonging to the gray limestone, but of no value. No particular change is observed in the strata from this point to the southwest part of the township, where the land soon descends down to the Waverly.

No considerable deposit of iron ore was found in place in Pike township, but a number of nodules of ore, of fine quality, were noticed in 1;he valleys of the streams, doubtless washed from the hills in the vicinity. The excellence and abundance of this ore render it highly probable that the important deposits of Jackson township, Muskingum county, extend northward into Coshoeton.

Washington. - The only coal mine of importance seen in this township is Parks, in the northeast corner. The bed is No. 6, three and a half to four feet thick, the coal of superior quality, very brilliant, of waxy luster, giving a brownish red powder, and purplish ash. It is a good coking coal, melting easily. The pyritous seams it contains are small and easily sorted out. The coal finds a ready sale over a considerable region around. The bed lies high up near the top of the hill, but probably may be found in many other places in the eastern part of the township The following is a section of the strata associated with Park's coal :

Virginia. - Coal No. 6 is pretty generally worked throughout the north and east parts of the township - in the northwest part, by Joshua Cornell, half a mile north from Moscow. The bed is here about three and a half feet thick, the coal in sound blocks, with very little waste of fine coal, and very little sulphur. When burned it shows the purple-colored ash peculiar to this bed. This, as well as Park's coal, is in good demand through the neighborhood. From Moscow, east to Franklin, there are numerous openings worked in this coal bed, and thence south nearly to the canal and the railroad. At Michael Zimmer's, two miles northwest from the canal, the bed is about ninety feet below the top of the hill, and overlying a bed of sandstone ninety feet thick, under which is the gray limestone. The roof of the coal is black shale. The coal bed is four feet thick, the coal very hard, black, compact, highly bituminous, melting easily and of excellent quality altogether. What sulphur is found is in heavy lumps and easily separated. A small seam of shale runs through the bed, a foot above the bottom. The elevation of this bed above the canal is about 170 feet.

Two miles south from this, and near the south line of the township, is the mine of James Scott, in coal bed No. 3, under the blue limestone. The locality is near the canal and not far above its level. The coal bed is four feet thick, divided into two benches by fire-clay parting, the upper bench from six to twelve inches thick. The mine was opened in 1833 and has produced a large amount of semi-cannel coal of good quality. The roof of the bed is a black, calcareous shale, two feet thick, abounding in fossil shells. The blue limestone resting upon this is from four to five feet thick. The gray limestone is seen about forty feet higher up the hill, and under it a bed of slaty cannel coal, fifteen inches thick.

FranUin. - The western half of this township is chiefly bottom land along the valley of the Muskingum. The eastern half rises, for the most part, above the plane of coal No. 6, which bed is worked near both the northern and southern line of the township and in the eastern part. On the north line, by the mouth of Rock run, three miles below Coshocton, the coal bed is four feet thick; the coal in cubical blocks, very black and brilliant, with frequent flakes of charcoal scattered through it. The coal bed is here 110 feet .above the railroad, and the railroad 125 feet above Lake Erie, which proves the coal to be fifty-one ieet lower than at the mines of the Coshocton Company, three miles east of Coshocton.

and ninety feet above its level. The bed is four and one-half to five feet thick, and yields very sound and black coal of apparently excellent quality. Near the bottom is a thin seam of sulphury shale, which can be easily separated. It has a thin roof of shale, and over this is sandstone. Below the coal is sandstone thirty feet thick, and under this a large bed of shale.

Linton. - E.^cept in the wide bottoms of Will's creek, the greater part of the surface of this township is above the plane of coal No. 6. The road from Coshocton comes down to it near the northwest corner of the township, where an old opening is seen by the run, to the right-hand side of the road. At the school house near by, and below the level of the coal, is a display of ironore in oxydized blocks, that might be supposed to indicate a considerable quantity; but these outcrops are little to be depended upon.

The road continues to descend toward the east, following the valley of the run, and in the bed of this, two miles before reaching Jacobsport, the blue limestone is seen, well exposed, over three feet thick. At Jacobsport, over the bridge across Will's creek, the same rock lies ten or fifteen feet above the creek, in a bed measuring four feet ten inches thick. Great blocks of it, of rectangular shape and weighing many tons, have fallen down and lie by the side of the creek. The rock abounds in fossil shells, which, however, are obtained with difficulty. A little' seam of slaty cannel coal, four inches thick, adheres closely to the underside of these blocks. The underlying strata down to the creek are shales, with nodules of kidney ore. A gray limestone is twenty-five feet above the blue, and under it is a coal outcrop. A mile south from the bridge, toward Linton, is an opening in No. 6 coal ; and others, also, are seen along the road. At Linton the same bed is found on the land of Mr. Heslip, where it presents its usual features. At this place another coal bed is found fifteen feet below No. 6, and has been worked to some extent, but it appears to be of little value. The shales in this neighborhood contain balls of ironore of good quality, sufficient in quantity to inspire hopes of their being of value, but li.ttle dependence, however, can be placed upon them. They are seen in the road a mile or more north-

This locahty is interesting from the discovery of bones of mastodons, found in the banks of the creek and in the alhivial bottoms. One ' of these bones was found a few years ago in excavating the bank for the mill dam at Linton. One large joint, supposed to be a cervical vertebra, with a cavity through it, as large as a man's arm, was taken out, and more bones were thought to be behind it. Search can be made for these whenever the water is drawn down at the dam, at Jacobsport. This backs the water up eight feet, which is all the rise for fourteen miles by the creek. Another discovery was made a mile below Linton, at the mouth of White Eyes creek, of a large and sound tooth, which now belongs to Mr. W. E. Johnson, of Coshocton.

A third discovery was made about fifty years ago, two and a half miles above Linton, near - Bridgeville, in'Guernsey county, on the farm now owned by George Gay Mitchell. His father, at that time, in digging a well on the terrace, fifty feet above the creek -bottom, found, at the depth of forty-two feet, some large bones in a bed of blue mud. Only two of these were taken out, one described by Mr. Mitchell to be a hip bone, and the other as a shin bone, weighing eight pounds. The well was then abandoned, and the rest of the skeleton is supposed to be still there.

Chaptee Xviil Arch.3L0L0Gy

Mound Builders and Indians - Antiquities - The Different Classes of Mounds, Effigies and Inclosures - Lessons taught hy These Works - Implements used hy the Mound Builders and Indians.

THE archseologist has found the territory embraced within the present limits of Coshocton county a most excellent one. It is probably one of the most interesting fields for the scientist and antiquarian in the State. When the wave of white emigration reached the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, the discovery was made of strange looking mounds of earth, here and there, and, after a time, learning that these and other similar works were of pre-historic origin - the work of an unknown race of people - they were called, in a general way, " Ancient Mounds," and in time the lost race that erected them came to be appropriately named the " Mound Builders." There is no authentic history regarding this people. The known records of the world are silent - as silent as these monuments that perpetuate their memory. There are many theories regarding them, but this is all that can be said - nothing of their origin or end is certainly known.

They probably antedate the various Indian tribes who anciently occupied and claimed title to the soil of Ohio. Probably many centuries elapsed between the first occupancy here by the Mound Builders and the advent of the earliest Indian tribes or nations, though this is only conjecture.

This county was once, and, peradventure, continued to be through many passing centuries, one of their most favored localities. The extent, variety, elaborate, and labyrinthian- intricacies of their works, still found in many sections of Ohio, clearly indicate the plausibility of this view. Here they dwelt for ages, erected their works and made a long chapter of history, albeit it is yet unwritten - a history whose leading features and general characteristics can be gathered only from those of their works that yet exist It must be collected scrap by scrap, and item by item, after a thorough examination and patient investigation of their works, and by careful, laborious, faithful study of their wonderful remains. The principal events and leading incidents in the strange career of this mysterious and apparently now extinct people, can be traced out and recorded only so far as they are clearly indicated by those of their works which yet remain, but which, it is to be regretted, are, to a large extent, in a state of mutilation and partial ruin, and rapidly tending to utter extinction under iconoclastic wantonness, and the operations of the plow; also from the devastating effects of the elements, and the destructive tendencies of the great destroyer - Time.

There is no reason to believe that the Mound Builders ever had a written language, and, if they had not, it must be manifest that very few authentic facts pertaining to their domestic and local history, can be verified by reliable testimony than that deduced from their works, which are the sole memorials left by them from which to work out the problems of their origin, their .history, habits, manners, cufetoms, general characteristics, mode of life, the extent of their knowledge of the arts of husbandry, their state of civilization, their religion and its rites, their ultimate fate, and the manner and circumstances of their final disappearance, whether by process of absorption from intermingling and intermarrying with other and more vigorous races, by some data as to the probable history they made during the unknown, perchanc,e barren, uneventful cycles of their indefinitely long career as a nation or race.

As the history the Mound Builders is yet unwritten, it is certainly a matter, of gratulation that so many way-marks, and traces of this "people yet remain within the boundaries of the State. Their works in the State, still existing in a tolerably perfect condition, a)?e approximately estimated at ten thousand, but they doubtless far exceeded that number at the time of the first

Wedge-Shaped Instruments

Although generation after generation of Mound Builders have lived and flourished, and, peradventure, reached the acme of their glory, then passed through age after age of decadence and decrepitude into "the receptacle of things lost upon earth," without leaving anything that may properly be called history; and though no records of their exploits have come down to this generation through the intervening centuries, yet their -enduring works furnish the laborious student some indications, even though they be slight, of the characteristics of their builders, and afford

Only such monuments, or remains of ancient works can be properly ascribed to the Mound Builders as were really regarded by the Indian tribes at the period of the first settlement at Marietta as antiquities, or as the ruins and relics of an extinct race, and " concerning the origin of which th^y were wholly ignorant, or only possessed a traditionary knowledge."

These consisted of mounds, effigies and inclosures, which are known and designated as the three general classes of ancient works that can be appropriately regarded as belonging to the

Mound Builders. Mounds are sub-divided into sepulchral, sacrificial, temple (or truncated); also of observation, and memorial or monumental. Effigies are sometimes called animal mounds.

Under the general title of inclosures, are alsowalls of circumvallation or ramparts constructed for military or defensive works, while otherswere doubtless walls surrounding the residence--

Stone And Clay Pipes

Inclosures are of several kinds, one class being known as military or defensive works ; another as parallel embankments or covered ways; and the third as sacred inclosures.

of the reigning monarch; perchance others were erected for the performance within them of their national games and amusements, and perhapsmany also served the purpose in the performance of their religious rites and ceremonies, and facilitated indulgence in some superstitious practices.-

Most of the above named works were constructed of earth, a few of stone, and perhaps fewer still of earth and stone combined. The title each bears indicates, in a measure, the uses they are supposed to have served.

Sepulchral mounds are generally oonical in form, and are more numerous than any other kinds. They are of all sizes, ranging from a very small altitude, to about seventy feet in height, and always contain one or more skeletons, or parts thereof, or present other plausible indications of having been built or used for purposes of sepulture, and were, unmistakably, memorials raised over the dead.

By some archaeologists it is maintained that the size of these mounds bears a certain relation to the importance, when living, of the person over whose remains they were erected.

The name given to this description of tumuli clearly indicates that they were >, erected chiefly for .burial purposes. They generally contain but a limited number of skeletons, indeed, often but a single one ; but Professor Marsh, of the Sheffield ' Scientific School, connected"with Yale College, a few years ago opened a mound in Licking county, which contained seventeen skeletons in whole or in part.

The most remarkable of all mounds in the State, was one in Hardin county, in which were found about three hundred skeletons. A doubt has, however, been expressed that these were al

Flint Scrapers

In this class of mounds are often found implements and ornaments, supposed to have been buried with the person or persons there interred, under the superstitious and delusive notion still entertained by some tribes of American Indians, who indulge in similar practices, that they might be useful to them in the happy hunting grounds of the future state. -The practice being one common to both the Indians and Mound Builders, apparently connects the former with the latter, and raises the presumption that the Indians may have descended from the Mound Builders.

That fire was used in the burial ceremonies of the Mound Builders is manifest from the fact that charcoal is often, if not always, found in close proximity to the skeleton. The presence of ashes, igneous stones, and other traces of the action of fire in these tombs, renders it quite probable this

Mound Builders' skeletons - some persons entertaining the belief that they were Indian remains, as it is well known that the Indians frequently buried their dead on or near the mounds.

Sacrificial mounds are usually stratified, the strata being convex layers of ^lay and loam, alternating with a layer of fine sand. They generally contain ashes, charcoal, igneous stones, calcined animal bones, beads, stone implements, pottery and specimens of rude sculpture. These mounds are frequently found within inclosures, which were supposed to have been in some way connected with the performance of the religious rites and ceremonies of the . Mound Builders. An altar of stone or burnt clay is usually found in this class of mounds.

These altars, which sometimes rest on the surface of the original earth, at the center of the mounds, are symmetrically shaped, and are among the chief distinguishing characteristics of sacrificial mounds. Upon these altars sacrifices of animals, and probably of human beings, were offered, the fire being used to some extent in that superstitious and cruel performance. Some of this class of mounds seem also to have been used for purposes of sepulture as well as sacrifice ; the presence of skeletons, in some of them at least, suggest their sepulchral as well as sacrificial character.

The supposition is that the summits of these mounds were crowned with structures of wood that served the purposes of temples, all traces of which, however, owing to the perishable nature of the materials used in their construction, have disappeared. They were also used to a limited extent for burial -purposes, as well as for uses connected with their religion.

Mounds of observation are generally situated upon eminences, and were doubtless "observa' tories," " alarm posts,'' " watch towers," " signal stations," or "look outs," serving the purposes the AUeghenies, shells from the Gulf of Mexico, obsidian, and in some instances porphyry from Mexico, as well as silver and copper articles, both for use and ornament.

Temple mounds are less numerous and generally larger than the preceding classes, and in form are oftenest circular or oval ; but, whether round, square, oblong, oval, octangular, or whatever form, are invariably truncated, having the appearance of being in an unfiiiished condition. They are frequently surrounded by embankments, and many of them have spiral pathways, steps or inclined planes leading to their summits. They are generally of large base and of comparatively limited altitude.

indicated by their title. They are said by some writers to occur in chains or regular systems, and that many of them still bear traces of the beacon fires that were once burning on them. They are sometimes found in connection with embankments and inclosures, forming a portion, though greatly enlarged, of the banks of earth or stones* that compose said, embankments and inclosures.

ate 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 some portions of the State probably belong to this not numerous class.

Effigies or Animal mounds are simply raised figures or gigantic basso rdievos of men, beasts, birds or reptiles,, and in some instances, of inanimate objects. They are on the surface of the earth, raised to a limited height, generally from one foot to six feet above the natural surface of the ground. Mr. Schoolcraft, an authority, calls this class of ancient works Emblematic mounds, and expresses the belief that they were " totems " or " heraldic symbols." Professor Daniel Wilson, the learned author of " Pre-historic Man," and high ground, and in naturally strong positions,, frequently on the summits of hills and steep bluffs, and are often strengthened by exterior ditches. The walls generally wind around the borders of the elevations they occupy, and where the nature of the ground renders some points more accessible than others, the height of the wall abd the depth of the ditch at those weak points are proportionally increased. The gateways, are narrow, few in number, and well guarded by embankments placed a few yards inside of the openings or gate-ways, parallel with them, and projecting somewhat beyond them at each end, thus fully covering the entrances, which, in some cases, are still further protected by projecting walls on either side of them.

Other writers of distinction, call them symbolical mounds, and hold the opinion that they were erected as objects of worship, or for altars upon which sacrifices were offered, or that they served some other purposes connected with the religious worship of their idolatrous and superstitious constructors.

Of the three most notable examples of Effigies in the State, two are situated in Licking county. >One is the Eagle mound, near the center of what is known as the "Old Fort," near Newark; and the other is called the " Alligator mound," and is situated on the summit of a hill nearly two hundred feet high, near Granville.

Inclosures defensive and sacre'd, have been briefly mentioned. Most of them are earthworks, though a few are of stone. Defensive inclosures are of irregular form, are always on

These works are somewhat numerous, and indicate a clear appreciation of the elements, at least, of fortification, and unmistakably point out the purpose for which they were constructed. A large number of these defensive works consist of a line of ditch and embankments, or several lines carried across the neck of peninsulas or bluff head-lands, formed within the bends of streams - an easy and obvious mode of fortificar tion, common to all rude fieoples:

Covered ways are parallel walls of earth of limited height, and are frequently found contiguous to inclosures, sometimes, indeed, connecting them by extending from one to another One of their purposes, at least, seems to have been the protection of those passing to and fro within them.

Irom those of a military character by the regularity of their form, their different construction and their more frequent occurrence. They are of all shapes and forms, and where moats or -ditches exist they are invariably found inside of the embankments. They are generally in the form- of geometrical figures of surprising accuracy, such as circles, squares, hexagons, octagons, -ellipses, parallelograms and of jarious others. They are sometimes found within military inclosures, and evidently had some connection with the religious ideas and ceremonies of their "builders. Frequently there is situated in the -center of this class of works a mound, or elevation, supposed to have served the purpose of an altar upon which sacrifices were offered, or which many such) within which no central elevation or altar occurs, which were erected for the purposes last named, and not exclusively (if at all) for purposes connected with religion, and are therefore erroneously called sacred inclosures.

Other ancient peoples, if indeed not all the nations of antiquity, had their national games, amusements, festivals and jubilees, and why not the Mound Builders ? Without doubt they had, and congregated within their inclosures to practice, celebrate and enjoy them.

It is natural to indulge in speculations regarding these ancient works. Probably none of them have been constructed since Christopher Columbus reached America in 1492. About sixty years ago a tree which stood upon the bank of the was, at least, in some way, used in conducting their religious services. Within these sacred inclosures were doubtless celebrated religious festivals, and upon those central mounds or altar, were undoubtedly performed, by priestly hands, the rites and ceremonies demanded by their sacrificial and idolatrous religion.

The very extensive works near Newark, known as the "Old Fort," and situated in the fair grounds, evidently belong to this class. Some archaeologists, however, maintain that many works called sacred inclosures were erected for and used as places of amusement, where these ancient people practiced their national games, and celebrated their great national events, where they held their national festivals and indulged in their national jubilees, as well as performed the ceremonies of their religion.

" Old Fort," at a point where the bank was twenty feet high, was cut down, and its concentric circles numbered five hi^ndred and fifty, thus proving conclusively that the said inclosure was constructed more than six hundred years ago.

Authorities differ regarding many matters connected with the Mound Builders, but a few facts seem to be fully established by their works. There can be no doubt that they were a numerous people. Works so elaborate, so gigantic, could not have been erected by a people insignficant in numbers. This is the more apparent when it is considered that they were probably without iron or any suitable metal instruments or tools with which to perform their herculean labors.

It could scarcely have been otherwise thp-n that they were also the subjects of a single strong government, because, under any other, the perform- ance of such an immense amount of, probably, enforced labor could not have been secured. Very likely some sort of vassalage" or servitude prevailed. There is abundant evidence that they were a war-like people, and probably, like some savage nations now existing, they made slaves of their prisoners. The number and magnitude of their works, and their extensive range and uniformity, prove that they were essentially homogeneous in customs, habits, religion and govern-

The construction of military works would indicate that they were, occasionally, at least, at war, either among themselves or with some other nation or tribe. If another nation, what other T Perhaps with the North American Indian to whom the country may have belonged before the Mound Builders entered it. There are various^ scraps of history relating to the antiquity of the Indian. For instance, in the annual report of th& council of the* American Antiquarian Society ment. The general features common to all their remains identify them as appertaining to a single grand system, owing its origin to men moving in the same direction, acting under common irnpulses, and influenced by similiar causes.

Building their defensive works in naturally strong positions, and constructing many of their other works in the form of various geometrical figures, show this.

" A human cranium, of the aboriginal type of the red Indian race, has been found in the delta of the Mississippi, beneath four buried forests, superimposed, one upon another, implying, as estimated by Dr. Dowler, an antiquity of 50,000' years."

It may be conjectured from many historical facts, that the Mound Builders were a foreign people who invaded the soil of America, as there is but little evidence that they spread themselves over the continent, but much, that they passed through it from northeast to southwest, covering a broad belt, on which they erected their mysterious mounds. The time occupied by them in crossing the continent can only be conjectured. They -probably came in great numbers, attempted to conquer the country, found the Indians too terest of their religion, shows a strong tendency toward a superstitious belief. They doubtless offered up animals in sacrifice, as a part of their religious ceremonies, and it may be that human sacrifices were not unknown among them. Prisoners, of war are thus disposed of sometimes by peoples and nations who have attained to as. high a grade of civilization as that probably reached by strong for them, but conquered a certain portion of the territory, clung together, moved gradually southwest, protecting themselves on the way by forts and other earthworks, finally disappearing in Mexico, either conquering that country or intermingling with and becoming absorbed by that people. -

The Mound Builders were doubtless a superstitious people, cherishing faith in some religious system.- The amount of labor bestowed upon those of their works that were erected in the inthe Mound Builders. The sacrificial character of their religion is clearly established.

The late Dr. Foster hesitated not to say that they were worshipers of the elements; that they also worshiped the sun, moon and stars; and that they offered up human victims as an acceptable sacrifice to the gods they worshiped. He deduced this fact from the charred or calcined bones that cover their altars. Other high authorities also unhesitatingly assert that there is convincing proof that they were fire-worshipers

It may be well in this connection to notice, briefly, the implements made and used by this people, especially so far as investigation has revealed their character in Coshocton county.

Very few copper implements have been found in this part of Ohio, owing partly to the fact of the unexplored condition of many of the mounds, and to the fact that little, if any, copper exists in this part of the United States. What does exist is in loose fragments that have been washed down from the upper lake region. When monnds are explored, great care is necessary lest these small utensils be lost, as they are commonly "scattered through the mass, and not always in close proximity to the skeletons^ The copper deposits about Lake Superior furnished the pre-htstoric man with this metal, and, judging from the amount of relics made of this metal now found, it must have been quite abundant. The population of the country, then, must have been quite extensive, as occasional copper implements, tempered to an exceeding hardness, are still found about the country. These implements are small, generally less than a half a pound in weight, and seldom exceeding three pounds. There were millions of these in use during the period of the ancient dwellers, which may have been thousands of years in duration. The copper implements left on the surface soon disappeared by decomposition, to which copper is nearly as liable as iron. Only a part of the dead Mound Builders were placed in burial mounds, and of these only a part were buried with their copper ornaments and implements on and about them. Of those that were, only a small part have been discovered, and, in many instances, the slight depth of earth over them has not prevented the decay and disappearance of the coper relics.

Articles of bronze or brass are not found with the builders of the mounds. It is evident they knew nothing of these metals in the Ohio va\ley, nor did they possess any of the copper that had been melted or cast in molds.

Stone relics are very numerous and well preserved. Stone axes, stone mauls, stone hammers, stone chisels, etc., are very plentiful yet, and were the common implements of the pre-historic man in this part of the west. None were made with holes or eyes for the insertion of- a helve or handle, but were grooved to receive a withe twisted into the form of a handle. Under 'the head of axes, archseologists include all wrought stones with a groove, a bit and a poll. They are found unpolished, partly polished and polished. The bit was made sharp by rubbing, and the material is hard and tough, generally of trachyte, greenstone, granite, quartz or basalt. Most of them are straight on one edge. In Ohio, it is very rare that stone axes are found in the mounds, indicating that they are modern, or were not so much prized by the Mound Builders as to be objects of burial. Occasionally, axes of softer material are found, such as slate, hematite and sandstone, but these are small in size and not common. They appear to have been manufactured from small, oblong bowlders, first brought into shape by a pick, or chipping instrument, the marks of which are visible on nearly all of them. They were made more perfect by rubbing and polishing, probably done from time to time after they were brought into use. A handle or helve, made of a wythe or split stick, was fas- ' tened in the groove by thongs of hide. The bit is narrower than the body of the ax, which is generally not well enough balanced to be of much value as a cutting instrument.

It is very seldom the material is hard enough to cut green and sound timber. The poll is usually round, but sometimes flat, and rarely pointed. It is much better adapted to breaking than cutting, while the smaller ones are better fitted for war-clubs than tools. As a maul to break dry Mmbs, they were very efficient, and this was probably the use made of them. .In weight they range from half a pound to sixteen pounds, but _ are generally less than three pounds. The very heavy ones must have been kept at the regular camps and villages, as they were too heavy for convenient transportation. Such axes are occasionally found in the Indian towns on the frontier, as they were found in Ohio among the aborigines. The Mound Builders apparently did not give them as much prominence among their implements as their savage successors. Double-headed hammers have the groove in the middle. They were made of the same material as the axes, so balanced as to give a blow with equal force at either end. Their mechanical symmetry is often perfect. As a weapon in war, they were, indeed, formidable, for which purpose they are yet used among the Indians on the Pacific coast. Implements known as "fieshers" and "skinthing without destroying the perfect edge most of them now exhibit. The grooved axes were much better adapted to this purpose.

ners," chisel-formed, commonly called "celts," were probably used as aids in peeling the skin' of animals from the mea,t and bones. For the purpose of cutting tools for wood, they were not sufficiently hard, and do not show such use, excepting in a few flint chisels. They may have been applied as coal scrapers where wood had been burned ; but this could not have been a general were made of wood, which is lighter and fnore easily transported. Most of the pestles are short, with a wide base, tapering toward the top. They were probably used with one hand, and moved about in the mortar in a circle. The long, round instrurnent, usually called a pestle, does not appear to be fitted for crushing seeds and grain by pounding or turning in the mortar. It was probably used as a rolling-pin, perhaps on a board or leveled log, not upon stone. It is seldom found smooth or polished, and varies from seven to thirteen inches in length. In outline they taper toward each end, which is generally smooth, and circular in form, as though it had been twirled in an upright position.

There is almost an endless variety of perforated plates, thread-sizers, shuttles, etc. They are usually made of striped slate, most of ' which have tapering holes through them flat-wise, the use of which has been much discussed. The accompanying plate exhibits several specimens of these ; but there are, doubtless, many other forms and styles. They are generally symmetrical, the material fine-grained, and their proportions graceful, as though their principal use was that of ornamentation. Many of them may well have been worn suspended as beads or ornaments. Some partake of the character of badges or ensigns of authority. Others, if strung together on thongs or belts, would serve as a coat of mail, protecting the breast or back against the arrows of an enemy. A number of them vTould serve to size and twist twine or coarse thread made of bark, rawhide or sinesw. The most common theory regarding their use is, however, lacking one important feature. None of ' them show signs of wear by use. The edges ©f the holes through them are sharp and perfect. This objection applies equally well to their use as suspended ornaments. Some of them are shuttle-form, through which coarse threads might have been passed, "for weaving rude cloth or bark of fibrous plants, such as milk-weed or thistles. There are also double-ended and pointed ones, with a cross section about the middle of which is a circle, and through which is a perforation.

A great variety of wands or badges of distinction are found. They are nearly all fabricated from striped and variegated slate, highly finished, very symmetrical and elegant in proportion, evidently designed to be ornamental. If they were stronger and heavier, some of them would serve the purpose of hatchets or battle-axes. The material is compact and fine-grained ; but the eyes, or holes, for handles or staves, are quite small, seldom half an inch in diameter. Their edges are not sharp, but rounded, and the body is thin.