Posey County, Indiana - Chapter 6, 1886 (part 6 of 6)

The next year the Legislature adopted this school as a State institution, appointing a Board of Trustees for its management, consisting of the Governor and Secretary of State, ex-officio,and Revs. Henry Ward Beecher, Phineas D. Gurley, L. H. Jameson, Dr. Dunlap, Hon. James Morrison and Eev. Matthew Simpson. They rented the large building on the southeast corner of Illinois and Maryland streets, and opened the first State asylum there in 1844; but in 1846, a site for a permanent building just east of Indianapolis was selected, consisting first of 30 acres, to which 100 more have been added. On this site the two first structures were commenced in 1849, and completed in the fall of 1850, at a cost of $30,000. The school was immediately transferred to the new building, where it is still flourishing, with enlarged buildings and ample facilities for instruction in agriculture. In 1869-'70, another building was erected, and the three together now constitute one of the most beneficent and beautiful institutions to be found on this continent, at an aggregate cost of $220,000. The main building has a fagade of 260 feet. Here are the offices, study rooms, the quarters of officers and teachers, the pupils' dormitories and the library. The center of this building has a frontage of eighty feet, and is five stories high, with wings on either side 60 feet in frontage. In this Central structure are the store rooms, dining-hall, servants' rooms, hospital, laundry, kitchen, bakery and several school-rooms. Another structure known as the " rear building " contains the chapel and another set of school-rooms. It is two stories high, the center being 50 feet square and the wings 40 by 20 feet. In addition to these there are many detached buildings, containing the shops of the industrial department, the engine-house and wash-house.

The grounds comprise 105 acres, which in the immediate vicinity of the buildings partake of the character of ornamental or pleasure gardens, comprising a space devoted to fruits, flowers and vegetables, while, the greater part is devoted to pasture and agriculture.

The flrst instructor in the institution was Wm. Willard, a deaf mute, who had up to 1844 conducted a small school for the instruction of the deaf at Indianapolis, and now is employed by the State, at a salary of $800 per annum, to follow a similar vocation in its service. In 1853 he was succeeded by J. S. Brown, and subsequently by Thomas Mclutire, who continues principal of the institution.

H08Pita1. Foe The Insane

The Legislature of 1832-'3 adopted measures providing for a State hospital for the insane. This good work would have been done much earlier had it not been for the hard times of 1887, intensified by the results of the gigantic scheme of internal improvement. In order to survey the situation and awaken public sympathy, the county assessors were ordered to make a return of the insane in their respective counties. During the year 1842 the Governor, acting under the direction of the Legislature, procured considerable Information in regard to hospitals for the insane in other States; and Dr. John Evans lectured before the Legislature on the subject of insanity and its treatment. As a result of these efforts the authorities determined to take active steps for the establishment of such a hospital. Plans and suggestions from the superintendents and hospitals of other States were submitted to the Legislature in 1844, which body ordered the levy of a tax of one cent on the $100 for the purpose of establishing the hospital. In 1846 a commission was appointed to obtain a site not exceeding 200 acres. Mount Jackson, then the residence of Nathaniel Bolton, was selected, and the Legislature in 1846 ordered the commissioners to proceed with the erection of the building. Accordingly, in 1847, the central building was completed, at a cost of $75,000. It has since been enlarged by the addition of wings, some of which are larger than the old central building, until it has become an immense structure, having cost over half a million dollars.

This hospital was opened for the reception of patients in 1848. The principal structure comprises what is known as the central building and the right and left wings, and like the institute for the deaf and dumb, erected at various times and probably under various adverse circumstances , it certainly does not hold the appearance of any one design, but seems to be a combination of many. Notwithstanding these little defects in arrangement, it presents a very imposing appearance, and shows what may be termed a frontage of 624 feet. The central building is five stories in height and contains the store-rooms, offices, reception parlors, medical dispensing rooms, mess-rooms and the apartments of the superintendent and other officers, with those of the female employes. Immediately in the rear of the central building, and connected with it by a corridor, is the chapel, a building 60 by 60 feet. This chapel occupies the third floor, while the under stories hold the kitchen, bakery, employes' dining-room, steward's office, employes' apartments and sewing rooms. In rear of this again is the enginehouse, 60 by 50 feet, containing all the paraphernalia for such an establishment, such as boilers, pumping works, fire plugs, hose, and above, on the second fioor, the laundry and apartments of male employes.

The State Peison South

The fii'st pensd institution of importance is known as the " State Prison South," located at Jeffersonvilje, and was the only prison until 1859. It was established in 1821. Before that time it was customary to resort to the old-time punishment of the whippingpost. Later the manual labor system was inaugurated, and the convicts were hired out to employers, among whom were Oapt. Westover, afterward killed at Alamo, Texas, with Crockett, James Keigwin, who in an affray was fired at and severely wounded by a convict named Williams, Messrs. Patterson Hensley, and Jos. R. Pratt. During the rule of the latter of these lessees, the attention of the authorities was turned to a more practical method of utilizing convict labor; and instead of the prisoners being permitted to serve private entries, their work was turned in the direction of their own prison, where for the next few years they were employed in erecting the new buildings now known as the " State Prison South." This structure, the result of prison labor, stands on 16 acres of ground, and comprises the cell houses and workshops, together with the prisoners' garden, or pleasure-ground.

It seems that in the erection of these buildings the aim of the overseers was to create so many petty dungeons and unventilated laboratories,, into which disease in every form would be apt to creep. This fact was evident from the high mortality characterizing life within the prison; and in the efforts made by the Government to remedy a state of things which had been permitted to exist far too long, the advance in prison reform has become a reality. From 1857 to 1871 the labor of the prisoners was devoted to the manufacture of wagons and farm implements; and again the old policy of hiring the convicts was resorted to; for in the latter year, 1871, the Southwestern Car Company was organized, and every prisoner capable of taking a part in the work of car-building was leased out. This did very well until the panic of 1873, when the company suffered irretrievable losses; and previous to its final down-fall in 1876 the warden withdrew conviet labor a second time, leaving the prisoners to enjoy a luxurious idleness around the prison which themselves helped to raise.

In later years the State Prison South has gained some notoriety from the desperate character of some of its inmates. During the civil war a convict named Harding mutilated in a most horrible manner and ultimately killed one of the jailors named Tesley, In 1874, two prisoners named Kennedy and Applegate, possessing themselves of some arms, and joined by two other convicts named Port and Stanley, made a break for freedom, swept past the guard, Chamberlain, and gained the fields. Chamberlain went in pursuit but had not gone very far when Kennedy turned on his pursuer, fired and killed him instantly. Subsequently three of the prisoners were captured alive and one of them paid the penalty of death, while Kennedy, the murderer of Chamberlain, failing committal for murder, was sent back to his old cell to spend the remainder of his life. Bill Kodifer, better known as " The Hoosier Jack Sheppard," effected his escape in 1875, in the very presence of a large guard, but was recaptured and has since been kept in irons.

This establishment, owing to former mismanagement, has fallen very much behind, financially, and has asked for and received an appropriation of $20,000 to meet its expenses, while the contrary is the case at the Michigan City prison.

The State Prison Noeth

In 1859 the first steps toward the erection of a prison in the northern part of the State were taken, and by an act of the Legislature approved March 5, this year, authority was given to construct prison buildings at some point north of the National road. For this purpose $50,000 were appropriated, and a large number of convicts from the Jeffersonviile prison were transported northward to Michigan City, which was just selected as the location for the new penitentiary. The work was soon entered upon, and continued to meet with additions and improvements down to a very recent period. So late as 1875 the Legislature appropriated $20,000 toward the construction of new cells, and in other directions also the work of improvement has been going on. The system of government and discipline is similar to that enforced at the Jefferson ville prison; and, strange to say, by its economical working has not only met the expenses of the administration, but very recently had amassed over $11,000 in excess of current expenses, from its annual savings. This is due almost entirely to the continual employment of the convicts in the manufacture of cigars and chairs, and in their great prison industry, cooperage. It differs widely from the Southern, insomuch as its sanitary condition has been above the average of similar institutions. The strictness of its silent system is better enforced. The petty revolutions of its inmates have been very few and insignificant, and the number of punishments inflicted comparatively small. From whatever point this northern prison may be looked at, it will bear a very favorable comparison with the largest and best administered of like establishments throughout the world, and caimot fail to bring high credit to its Board of Directors and its able warden.

Female Peison And Eefoematokt

The prison reform agitation which in this State attained telling proportions in 1869, caused a Legislative measure to be brought forward, which would have a tendency to ameliorate the condition of female convicts. Gov. Baker recommended it to the General Assembly, and the members of that body showed their appreciation of the Governor's philanthropic desire by conferring upon the' bill the authority of a statute; and further, appropriated $50,000 to aid in carrying out the objects of the act. The main provisions contained in the bill may be set forth in the following extracts from the proclamation of the Governor:

"Whenever said institution shall have been proclaimed to be open for the reception of girls in the reformatory department thereof, it shall be lawful for said Board of lilanagers to receive them into their care and management, and the said reformatory department, girls under the age of 15 years who may be committed to their custody, in either of the following modes, to- wit:

" 1. When committed by any judge of a Circuit or Common Pleas Court, either in term time or in vacation, on complaint and due proof by the parent or guardian that by reason of her incorrigible or vicious conduct she has rendered her control beyond the power of such parent or guardian, and made it manifestly requisite

" 2. "When such infant has been committed by such judge, as aforesaid, upon complaint by any citizen, and due proof of such complaiQt that such infant is a proper subject of the guardianship of such institution in consequence of her vagrancy or incorrigible or vicious conduct, and that from the moral depravity or otherwise of her parent or guardian in whose custody she may be, such parent or guardian is incapable or unwilling to exercise the proper care or discipline over such incorrigible or vicious infant.

" 3. When such infant has been committed by such judge as aforesaid, on complaint and due proof thereof by the township trustee of the township where such infant resides, that such infant is destitute of a suitable home and of adequate means of obtaining an honest living, or that she is in danger of being brought up to lead an idle and immoral life."

In addition to these articles of the bill, a formal section of instruction to the wardens of State prisons was embodied in the act, causing such wardens to report the number of all the female convicts under their charge and prepare to have them transferred to the female reformatory immediately after it was declared to be ready for their reception. After the passage of the act the Governor appointed a Board of Managers, and these gentlemen, securing the services of Isaac Hodgson, caused him to draft a plan of the proposed institution, and farther, on his recommendation, .asked the people for an appropriation of another $50,000, which the Legislature granted in February, 1873. The work of construction was then entered upon and carried out so steadily, that on the 6th of September, 1873, the building was declared ready for the reception of its future inmates. Gov. Baker lost no time in proclaiming this fact, and October 4 he caused the wardens of the State pwBons to be instructed to transfer all the female convicts in their custody to the new institution which may be said to rest on the advanced intelligence of the age. It is now called the " Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls."

This building is located immediately north of the deaf and dumb asylum, near the arsenal, at Indianapolis. It is a threestory brick structure in the French style, and shows a frontage of 174 feet, comprising a main building, with lateral and transverse wings. In front of the central portion is the residence of the superintendent and his associate reformatory officers, while in the rear is the engine house, with all the ways and means for heating the buildings. Enlargements, additions and improvements are still in progress. There is also a school and library in the main building, which are sources of vast good.

October 31,1879, there were 66 convicts in the " penal" department and HI in the " girls' reformatory " department. The " tioket-of-leave " system has been adopted, with entire satisfaction, and the conduct of the institution appears to be up with the times.

Indiana Housb Of Eefuge

In 1867 the Legislature appropriated $50,000 to aid in the formation of an institution to be entitled a house for the correction and reformation of juvenile defenders, and vested with full powers in a Board of Control, the members of which were to be appointed by the Governor, and with the advice and consent of the Senate. This Board assembled at the Governor's house at Indianapolis, April 3, 1867, and elected Charles F. Coifin, as president, and visited Chicago, so that a visit to the reform school there might lead to a fuller knowledge and guide their future proceedings. The House of Kefuge at Cincinnati, and the Ohio State Reform school were also visited with this design ; and after full consideration of the varied governments of these institutions, the Board resolved to adopt the method known as the " family " system, which divides the inmates into fraternal bodies, or small classes, each class having a separate house, house father and family offices, - all under the control of a general superintendent. - The system being adopted, the question of a suitable location next presented itself, and proximity to a large city being considered rather detrimental to the welfare of such an institution. Gov. Baker selected the site three-fourths of a mile south of Plainfield, and about fourteen miles from Indianapolis, which, in view of its eligibility and convenience, was fully concurred in by the Board of Control. Therefore, a farm of 225 acres, claiming a fertile soil and a most picturesque situation, and possessing streams of running water, was purchased, and on a plateau in its center a site for the proposed house of refuge was fixed.

The next movement was to decide upon a plan, which ultimately met the approval of the Governor. It favored the erection of one principal building, one house for a reading-room and hospital, two large mechanical shops and eight family houses. January 1, 1868, three family houses and work- shop were completed; in 1869 the main building, and one additional family house were added; but previous to this, in August, 1867, a Mr. Frank P. Ainsworth and his wife were appointed by the Board, superintendent and matron respectively, and temporary quarters placed at their disposal. In 1869 they of course removed to the new building. This is 64 by 128 feet, and three stories high. In its basement are kitchen, laundry and vegetable cellar. The first floor is devoted to offices, visitors' room, house father and family dining-room and storerooms. The general superintendent's private apartments, private offices and five dormitories for officers occupy the second floor; while the third floor is given up to the assistant superintendent's apartment, library, chapel and hospital.

The family houses are similar in style, forming rectangular buildings 36 by 68 feet. The basement of each contains a furnace room, a store-room and a large wash-room, which is converted into a play-room during inclement weather. On the flrst floor of each of these buildings are two rooms for the house father and his family, and a school-room, which is also convertible into a sittingroom for the boys. On the third floor is a family dormitory, a clothes-room and a room for the " elder brother," who ranks next to the house father. And since the reception of the first boy, from Hendricks county, January 23, 1868, the house plan has proved equally convenient, even as the management has proved efficient.

State Officees

Governors of Indiana Territory. - William Henry Harrison, from July 5, 1800, to 1812 ; John Gibson, acting governor from 1812 to 1813; Thomas Posey, from March 3, 1813, to November 7, 1816.

Territorial Delegates. - William H. Harrison, delegate from the territory northwest of the Ohio Eiver, resigned in 1800; succeeded by William McMillan, who took his seat November 24, 1800.

Indiana Territory. - Benjamin Parke, December 12, 1805, resigned iu 1808; succeeded by Jesse B. Thomas, who took his seat December 1, 1808 ; Jonathan Jennings, November 27, 1809.

Compiled By Prof. Z. T. Emerson

Oeologt - Boundary - Section of the County Strata - Local Details - The Coals - Catalog of Fossils - Sandstone and Limestone - New Harmony as a Geological Center - Eminent Scientists-Archeology - Alluvium, Water, Laoustral Loam and THE Drift.

POSEY COUNTY is bounded north by Gibson, east by Gibson and Vanderburg, south by the Ohio River and the State of Kentucky, and west by the Wabash and the State of Illinois, and contains 420 square miles, or 268,000 acres. The leading streams are the Ohio, Wabash and Black Rivers, and Big and other small creeks which ramify the county, giving ample drainage. The following general section is combined from the shafts, bores and explorations made from out-crops in eastern and northern parts or adjoining regions, and doubtless gives the unexplored strata of the county:

The Coal Strata, Etc

It may be said in general that the entire county lies within the area of the upper coal measures. The above tabular statement of the strata requires no further description than appears in the local details given in the succeeding pages. The following section was observed at New Harmony cut off :

The lower sandstones of this locality present fossil casts of strong growing plants of the Permo-Carboniferous age, Calamites, Sigillaria and numerous beautiful ferns. A Sigillaria preserved by^ Mr. Sampson, was of wondrous size. A part of the fossils seen in his collection were: Lophophyllum proliferum, Bryozoans, Productus longispinus, P. punctatus, P. costatus, Orthis Pecosi, 8. lineatus, Athyris subtilita, Myalina Missouriensis, Eviolium aviculatum, Bellerophon carbonarius, B. percarinatus, B. Montfortianus, Peurotomaria carbonaria, P. tabulata, P. spherulata, P. Qrayvillensts, Orthoceras Rushensis, etc., etc. This section does not reach down to the bottom of the upper coal measures, and indicates that the horizon of the workable Coals M, L and K are from 200 to 500 feet below. A section was taken near the county line, at M. Gluck's, southwest quarter of Section 32, Township 6, Eange 11, where the upper limestones were well developed:

Calcareous argilllte, plates of chert of 8 inches to 8 inches, and containing Spirifer lineatus, Orthit Pecoii, Bellerophon, Athyris, Produeius, and crinoid stems and

An outcrop of this flinty (hornstone) limerock was seen iurther on in the West Franklin road, which has been a noted curiosity with geologists who have made this region famous by their labors.

Bash Coals

In the southeastern part of the county the rash coals are well -exhibited, although to no workable extent. Northward from this the Merom sandstone is several times exposed, dipping slightly to the west-southwest. There is much false bedding. Calamites and worn trunks of coal plants are found in the lower strata. A thin coal was formerly worked for blacksmith's use on Section 1, Township 6, Range 12. Two and a half miles southwest of St. Wendel the Merom sandstone has not been eroded and crowns an almost knob-like elevation. The lower strata are soft, while the middle is more compact, forming occasional "rock houses." These were formerly used for shelter by the Indians and wild animals. Coal has been found at St. Wendel, but is thin, impure, and will not justify expensive work. Six miles north of New Harmony, near Mr. Calvin's, the following section appears:

Two thin seams of coal are seen eight miles northeast of New Harmony. On Big Creek, near the New Harmony & Mount Vernon Eoad, a ten-inch bed of coal is exposed and in the roof, shales ore, plant and fish remains and fossil moUusoa. At the mouth of Eush Creek is a thin bed of coal ten to eighteen inches thick, overlaid with sandstone, four to six feet thick, and on the borders of the Wabash a bed of soft shales is exposed containing many plants and fossils. The following is the section at Blairsville:

In the sandstone of this section remarkable fossil remains of trees have been discovered. One of the largest specimens preserved in the cabinet of Dr. D. D. Owen was two feet three inches high, perfectly cylindrical and thirteen inches in diameter at the top, where it was broken off. It was sent to the State University, and was' destroyed there by fire. A very valuable specimen was found near Blairsville. The following section was taken at New Harmony:

Merom sandstone; sometimes thick-bedded, yellowish red color and spotted with iron stains; often friable, and seldom suitable for building purposes. ... 10 to 60

Sandstones, Shales, Etc

Underneath the Merom sandstone is a massive bed of siliceous and argillaceous shales with intercolated beds of fossiliferous, calcareous shales and earthy limestones. Opposite Diamond Island, the limestone is of great thickness and is very valuable. On Big Creek, near the road from New Harmony to Mount Vernon, this limestone is not so thick, and is of a black color, very close-grained, breaks with irregular fracture, and has a strong foetid odor. It contains a few fossils, perfectly preserved and very white. The stone admits of a high polish, and can be and is used for table tops, mantel pieces and other decorative purposes. In Bethel Township, the limestone is of an earthy accretionary character, and is destitute of fossils. At the cut-ofif at New Harmony, the lower part of the Merom sandstone and the upper portion of the underlying shales are well shown. About ten feet of the sandstone are friable and coarse-grained and reddish-brown in color, and have underneath five or six feet of argillaceous shale containing a seam of poor coal, eight inches thick, underlaid with fireclay ; and beneath this is an earthy, accretionary limestone wholly destitute of fossils. Under this is a massive bed of bluish-gray, jointed argillaceous shale, and below the shale is a bed of sandstone thirty feet thick in layers of two to twelve inches. This stone is extensively used for building purposes. Under this stone is another mass of shales, containing flat iron-stones rich with remarkable fossilized ferns. Many of these are described by Prof. Leo Lesquereux in his report of 1875. These shales and schistose rocks are found throughout the county, and may be seen in low water at the bed of streams. On Macadoo Creek they are quite siliceous and contain casts of many fossil shells, conspicuous among them being Monopteria longispina.

"At Blair sville, on Big Creek, they contain upright trunks of trees, Sigillaria Oweni, Lesq, From this famous locality Dr. David Dale Owen obtained many specimens, from six inches to a foot and more in diameter and three feet high fi'om the branching roots to the top of the broken body. Sir Charles Lyell, when on his second visit to this country, accompanied by Dr. Owen, made a careful examination of this locality. Not only has it been examined by the above mentioned parties, but during the years before it had received the attention of William McClure, Thomas

Say, C. A. Leseuer and Dr. Troost ; subsequently by Norwood, Shumard, Pratten, Worthen, Lesquereux, Cox, and many others. Below the roots of these standing trees is a bed of argillaceous shales, containing some fossil ferns, and other coal plants, and a thin seam of coal.

"The calcareous beds which underlie this member of the general section are best exposed on the bank of the Wabash, just above the mouth of Rush Creek; but they have been so extensively worked for fossils by the many geologists who congregated at New Harmony, that the subsequent freshets of the Wabash have filled up the excavation to such a depth that it would be a vast and expensive undertaking to excavate it so as to again expose the fossil bed. At the cut-off the fossil bed is not so thick ; but it is crowded with fossils, many of which have gone to enrich the cabinets of the country.

"It should be stated that the two massive blocks of limestone, above alluded to, in the cut-ofP and the Bush Creek locality, furnished the fossils for the excellent monograph on carboniferous fossils published by Norwood and Pratten, also a subsequent publication by J. H. McChesney. Anyone wishing to study the fossils of these famous localities must visit the extensive collection made and owned by Mr. James Sampson, of New Harmony. Every available part of his residence contains cabinets that are filled with fossils and other objects of natural history.

Eminent Scientists

"Mr. Sampson is not the only collector and naturalist at New Harmony, for this is also the home of Prof. Richard Owen, the former State geologist of Indiana, and for many years professor of geology and natural history in the State University at Bloomington. Mr. John Chappelsmith lived for many years in New Harmony, and drew all of the fossils that were described by Prof. E. T. Cox, and figured in the Third Kentucky Report. He was a skilled artist and engraver.

"The calcareous shales of the cut-off and Rush Creek are also seen in the bank of the Wabash River, at Grayville, 111., twelve miles above New Harmony. At the latter locality, it is highly fossiliferous, and there is a band of ironstone just above it, which has furnished a large number of remarkable Cephalo'po- da, Lamellibranchiaia, Brachiopoda, Gasteropoda, Pteropoda, Bryozoa, and corals. Like Rush Creek and the cut-off, this also has been a place of great resort for the New Harmony naturalists^ and has furnished specimens that were new to science.

" William McClure was, himself, one of the earliest workers in geology, and, indeed, might properly be classed as one of the founders of the science. He crossed the Alleghany Mountains many times on foot, to study their rocky structure, and lived long^ enough to see his conclusions, which were published in book form, verified by the research of modern students. Associated with him at New Harmony was Thomas Say, styled the great American naturalist; C. A. Leseuer, the great artist and ichthyologist of the expedition of " La Peruse," fitted out under the auspices of Napoleon I, to explore Australia ; D. Troost, the eminent geologist and mineralogist, who afterward moved to Nashville, where he died, leaving a cabinet of great scientific value. These eminent men were followed by the late David Dale Owen, M. D., and his brother, Prof. Kichard Owen, who came to New Harmony in 1832, fresh from the schools of Europe. Dr. D. D. Owen commenced at once to arrange a chemical laboratory and museum of natural history on a scale that, in those days, had no superior in this country. William MaOlure turned over to him his vast collection of rocks and minerals that had been made in Italy, Spain, Portugal, West Indies, Mexico and France, at a great cost. So vast was this valuable collection that many boxes remained unopened up to the time of their removal to the State University at Bloomington. In 1837 D. D. Owen was appointed United States Geologist, with headquarters at New Harmony. He was instructed to make a reconnoisance of what was then the great Northwest, now Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the northern part of Illinois, in order to point out, for preservation by the government, the salt springs, lead and other mineral -bearing rocks, previous to offering the lands for sale. This herculean task was accomplished in two months, and. the report laid before Con-, gress at the opening of the next session. Several hundred men were employed in making the survey. They were divided into companies, having an intelligent head to look after the work, and each company was alloted a district, in which every section was to be visited and samples of the rocks collected. At stated pointa

Dr. Owen would meet each camp, and study the work accomplished. The country was almost without settlements, and each camp had to be supplied with hunters, whose duty it was to furnish game for subsistence.

" In looking over Dr. Owen's report, one cannot fail to appreciate the skill and fidelity with which this great geologist pei'- formed this survey under immense difficulties and in such a shoi-t time. He carried with him on the trip up the Mississippi, a suite of rocks and minerals, which were exposed on a table in the cabin of the steam-boat, and he would daily give his men instruction in geology and point out the characteristic rocks of the leading formations and the minerals that it was likely would be found in them. In this way, by the time they reached the place to disembark, they had been made acquainted with the first principles of geology. In after years this great region was more systematically surveyed by Dr. Owen.

" The headquarters of the United States Geological Survey continued at New Harmony up to 1856. Among the geologists connected with these surveys, who spent more or less time at New Harmony, were Dr. J. G. Norwood, B. F. Shumard, Dr. Litton, Col. Charles Whittlesey (the veteran geologist), Dr. Locke, P. B. Meek (the eminent paleontologist), and others.

" After the completion of the Smithsonian Institution building at Washington, the headquarters of the Government surveys were established in that city.

" Dr. Owen was placed in charge of the Kentucky survey and the Arkansas survey, with Dr. J. G. Norwood in charge of the Illinois survey, and Prof. Richard Owen in charge of the Indiana survey, all of whom had headquarters at New Harmony, where the advantages of comparison could be found in the ext6nsive cabinets of the Owen collection. New Harmony then became the resort of a great many geologists, some of whom made it their home. Among those connected with the Kentucky survey were Maj. Sidney Lyon, Prof. E. T. Cox, Leo Lesquereux, Mr. Nicholson, civil engineer and topographist. In the Arkansas survey, E. T. Cox, Leo Lesquereux, Dr. Elderhorst (author of ' Elderhorst on the Blowpipe'), and Joseph Lesley; on the Hlinois survey, J. G. Norwood, chief; Henry Pratten, J. H. Wolfers, Dr. Varner, A. H. Worthen and J. H. McChesney. In the Indiana survey, Eichard Owen and Leo Lesquereux. ^ From^ this, it will be understood why New Harmony became a kind of Mecca for geologists and naturalists. Subsequently A. H. Worthen became State geologist of Illinois, and the headquarters were moved to Springfield. Prof. E. T. Cox was appointed State geologist of Indiana, in 1869, and the headquarters of the sm-vey were established at Indianapolis.

"Posey County was the center of mechanical skill in the time of the Mound-Builders. Copper was beaten into thin plates, for buttons, gorgets and tiny bells ; obdurate flint was polished as are Danish flints ; shells from the ocean were pierced and polished for ornaments ; beautiftil vases and vessels were made in perfect symmetry; and the native pearls of the Wabash were prepared and pierced to serve as beads. Several good=sized mounds may be seen on the bluff, 170 feet above the Ohio, at West Franklin, giving a wide outlook over the beautiful river and its rich valley lands. A clump of mounds on the bluff overlooking New Harmony attracted the attention of our early scientists. One was opened and described by Leseuer. At the same town the old German burial ground is dotted with mounds, showing the taste of ovLv predecessors for beauty in aspect and situation.

"An analysis of water leached through the lacustral loam or silico-calcareous earth is found to contain an excess of magnesia, and observaibion shows that it has a deleterious effect on the health of those who habitually employ it for domestic and drinking purposes. During the presence of cholera, Owen observes that those who habitually used this kind of water were apt to be more frequently and seriously attacked. In such localities, at times of drought, erysipelas and typhoid fevers are liable to prevail. Magnesia and its metallic combinations, rendered deliquescent by exposure to atmosphere, are not acute poisons, perhaps, in the small quantity which exists, but long continued use produces a chronic irritation which may tend to incite disease. Hence the use of pure, filtered rain water is earnestly urged.

Alluvium

"The 'river bottoms,' or alluvial 'meadow lands,' bordering the rivers and streams are due to causes now in action. Solid roots, laminated or crystalline, compose the rock-ribbed crust of the earth. These, on exposure to frost, air and water, decompose or disintegrate, or, broken from their beds, are rounded, rolled, and, by the mills of nature, ground into clays, sands and pebblesby rushing water and waves. The finer particles, as clay and sand, combined with rich organic matter, form here the productive alluvial bottoms of a delta outrivaling the famous delta of Africa. This deposit is always found above or against the sides or excavated edges of older beds.

"In deep shafts at Evansville, and at Henderson, Ky., a bed of fluviatile shells was found, at a depth of forty to seventy feet from the surface, so deposited as to indicate an era when the Ohio flowed at a bed that much below its present level ; but, more wondrous, it showed an early period in the river's existence, reaching back to tell the story of life, and climate, and time. These mollusks, then abundant here, were such as now are common in streams bordering the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico ; and as they could only exist in a sub-tropic climate, they prove that such climate prevailed here. They may be intimately connected with the following epoch.

Lacustkal Epoch

" The loess or lacustral loams succeed in age. It was the epoch of great lakes or slow-flowing lagoons, with a warm climate succeeding the glacial time. These loams are an ash gray or brownish buff color, exhibiting, principally, an impalpable sand, with a small amount of clay. Sir Charles Lyell, on his visit to this county, identified this deposit as the equivalent to the loess of the Ehine, and he was enabled to know of the thermal conditions by the shells found abundantly at New Harmony as equivalent to that of Cuba or Mexico. These shells are as follows : Macrocyclas concava, Say; Zonites arboreus, Say, Hyalina indentata, Say ; Patulaperspectiva, Say ; Helicodiscus lineatus, Say ; Pupa armifera, Say; P. fallax, Say; Strobila labyrinthica, Say; Stenotrema hirsuta, Say; S. monodon, Back. ; S. monodon var.fraierna, Say; Vallonia pulchella, Muell. ; Succinea avara, Say; Valvaia iri- carinata, Say; Pomatiopsis lapidaria, Say; Helicina occulta, Say. Of these shells, H. occulta is of tropic life and belongs to the latitude of Cuba and Mexico. Prof. Swallow remarks: 'These lacus-' trine fluviatile and land species of mollusca indicate a deposit formed in a fresh-water lake, surrounded by land and fed by rivers; and refer back to a time when a large portion of this val-. ley was covered by a vast lake, into which flowed various rivers and streams.' The climate was tropic or sub-tropic.

"The low, rounded hill tops, constantly recurring, appear like tumuli, and are occasionally shaped by the Mound-Builders for funeral purposes. The red, marshy clay, fat with shells of that epoch, forms a fertile soil along the shore line of the lagoon-like lake, characterized by a heavy growth of poplar, walnut, sugar tree, ash and post oaks of giant size ; the lower and more sandy member of the loess, impervious to air and moisture, bears a growth of oak, hickory, gum, beach, dogwood, symbolic of the cold, close soil.

"Next in order of time succeeds the great ice age; a stratum of sand and gravel resting below the loess, but upon or against the sides of older formations. It represents the sorting and sifting power of water in motion, each deposit being placed where the velocity of the current could no farther carry it; thus a ripple deposited gravel and bowlders, a slower current left banks of coarse sand, and, finally, slow eddy-currents made banks of clay and fine sand. At the base of the hills at New Harmony are beds of glacial material, indicating the sorting powers of the Wabash in its youthful vigor."