Burial Mound Being Excavated Here Brings to Light Man's Ancient Past

The Marietta Daily Times, September 18, 1956

By Shirley Guinta

In 1936 Reed Hallock and friend dug haphazardly into a mound. They finished their job, "dragging a skeleton behind."

Reed Hallock and friends are still digging into mounds but in a much more scientific manner.

Today Hallock and other excavation enthusiasts are organized into the year-old Marietta Archaeological Society. Since July 1 the major project of four of the society's eight members has been the excavation of a mount on the Chester A. Ralston Farm in Oak Grove.

With whisk brooms and small trowels in hand, the diggers have already uncovered six cremation burials (evidenced by skull, jaw or teeth fragments), flint points, stone axes and scraps of pottery in the small four feet high, 45 feet in diameter mound.

For Information Only

However, Hallock stresses, the mound is being excavated strictly for the sake of archaeological information and not for art effects [artifacts].

All members of the digging crew have learned the proper methods of digging so that no vital information which might be uncovered will be destroyed. The area has been staked off into five-feet squares, the standard staking procedure for working on such a site.

Notes are being kept on all findings of the group. Notations are made on the depth at which any material was found. The society will publish a book on its work after the excavation is completed.

"Of course," Hallock added, "we wouldn't be digging into any of these historic mounds if they weren't going to be destroyed anyhow."

"This particular mound on the Ralston farm was going to be plowed under by Mr. Ralston to make way for more farming area. He gave us permission to excavate before he leveled off the land."

Mound's Discoverer

Richard Patterson, 15-year-old Marietta High School junior, is responsible for having discovered that the Ralston mound was going to be destroyed. An archaeological enthusiast, he notified Hallock of the situation and opened the road for the interesting and informative excavation.

"Dick has been our foreman in the field, we might say," laughed Hallock, president of the society. "He spent his entire summer working on the mound. He even worked in the rain to further the job along."

All workers on the mound are volunteers. Hallock and Edward Williams, the third crew member, donate their time after daytime work hours and on weekends. Paul Byrd, Marietta College senior, spent several of his free afternoons working at the site during the summer.

A few other workers, one of whom was David Ray, have helped out at the site at various times during the past three and a half months. These volunteers, Hallock hopes, will eventually become members of the Marietta Archaeological Society.

Rigors of Excavation

Circumstances under which the men have worked are discouraging enough to daunt the initiative of any but the most enthusiastic group. The mound was completely covered with poison ivy in July and, in clearing the foliage from the site, all the workers were stricken to some degree with the uncomfortable rash.

A huge hickory tree standing in the center of the mound added to the group's worries. The 115-year-old tree had been struck by lightening several years ago but continued to stand as a towering protection over the mound.

After cutting the tree off level with the ground, the men dug into the ground around the trunk, little by little cutting out the roots of the aged tree.

The remains which the crew has found tell an interesting story. Hallock explained that the people who buried their dead in the mound were of the Adena culture (1000 B.C. to 100 B.C.), ancestors of our historic Indians. Hallock explained that Indians did not build the mounds as present-day beliefs would lead us to understand.

The fact that the ancient people buried their dead indicates their belief in preservation of the body for a Hereafter. Because of the presence of items found in the mound which had to come from areas other than this locale, the archeologists believe that the Adena people had developed a trading system with people in other areas.

Agriculturists

Known as existing in the "Early Woodland" period, the Adena people hunted (as proven by the flint points and stone axes found in the mound) and had agriculture.

Pieces of pottery vessels which were found indicate that the Adena people were the first to make pottery vessels rather than stone vessels. All of their pottery was very crude and was not grit tempered. No indication of decoration is shown but the Adenas did develop lug or knob-type handles on the vessels.

Charcoal found in the mound will be sent to a university to undergo tests to determine the age at which the mound was built.

"Actually," Hallock said, "man probably came into this area 8000 years before the Adena culture began."

Studies have shown that Washington County was part of a huge lake around 9000 B.C. when a glacier covered the land north of here (the glacier probably started in this area near Pittsburgh, circled around northern Ohio and then met what is now the Ohio River near Cincinnati). After this Ice Age had passed, man undoubtedly came into this area, as Hallock explained.

"Marietta is resting on archaeological remains and our society is trying to educate the people as to the wealth that they have here."

Uselessly Destroyed

"The last survey taken of mounds in Washington County was completed in 1914 but most of the 102 mounds indicated in that survey are no longer in existence, proving that the people are uselessly destroying these mounds that can tell so much about our past," Hallock said.

At present, the group is about half done in its excavation venture. Barring setbacks, such as more poison ivy maladies, they hope to complete the task before freezing weather sets in. This time a wiser Hallock and friends will finish their job with a set of informative notes to accompany the "skeleton" they'll drag behind.

Red Ware Pottery

 Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald, May 21, 1810

The subscriber has the pleasure to inform his friends and the public, that, after great trouble and expence, he is enable to announce the commencement of his business in Marietta, contiguous to the Court House; and that he intends to carry it on in a manner both extensive and elegant. From many years experience, and a desire to be "at the top of his profession," he does not deem it an "inadmissible insinuation" to assure the public that he will be found to possess claims upon their patronage, to which few of the craft in this country have any just pretention.

Having, as before observed, made extensive preparations, and supplied himself with every article necessary to the execution of his work in a superior style, he will sell by wholesale and retail, on terms congenial to the wishes of his customers; and will, moreover, warrant his ware to prove more durable, cheaper, handsomer and in every respect preferable to any manufactured in this state. Orders from the country complied with on the shortest notice, and most reasonable terms.

Country produce will be taken in payment for ware, but must be paid at the time of purchasing.

He will give the highest price for good white clay, or will liberally reward any person who will inform him where it can be obtained in this vicinity.

Isaac Davis.

Marietta, March 6, 1810.

  

The College Boat House and Gymnasium

The Marietta Register, January 15, 1880

An organization has been formed for the erection of a Boat House and Gymnasium for the students of Marietta College with the following officers: Chairman, Gen. Benjamin Dana Fearing; Secretary, A. D. Follett; Treasurer, S. J. Hathaway; Building Committee, M. P. Wells.

The location will be at the upper end of the City Park and the Boat House is expected to be completed by the next College Commencement. Several plans have been received and one of them will be decided upon soon. Subscription papers have been opened which our liberal minded citizens will have the pleasure of reading in due time. The Boat House to be put up will be an ornament to the Park and one of the finest in the country.

Gen. Fearing has had some correspondence with Secretary Sherman and has received from him the following interesting letter:

Treasury Department, Washington, January 5th, 1880.

        

My Dear Sir: Your letter of the 2d inst., enclosing the circular of Marietta College proposing a plan for the development of physical culture in connection with the College, is received.

I regard this as an important movement in the right direction. The great need of College life is, while developing the intellect and storing the mind with knowledge, to also secure to the student a strong body with sound limbs, so that in the struggle of life he may combine physical with mental training.

I have always regarded my experience as a junior rodman on the Muskingum Improvement, during which time I spend several very happy months in Marietta, as the most valuable period of my education. The exposure in the open air, the severe physical exercise, the necessity of taking responsibility and of obeying orders trained me for the most important duties of my after life.

The life of a boy between twelve and twenty will fix the habits and thoughts of the man in the subsequent years of his life. Therefore it is that I think any plan to develop the physical strength and vigor of the boy is as important a part of his education as the study of languages or mathematics, and I would regard the combination of the two as requisite to every school that undertakes to prepare men for active life.

Anything I can do to promote your plan will be cheerfully done, and I am glad that you are devoting a portion of your time to this subject.

Very truly Yours,

John Sherman

Conditions Misrepresented - Editorial

The Marietta Daily Times, December 23, 1930

Everyone realizes that general conditions in Marietta are below normal, with more than the usual number of people needing some help in securing ordinary comforts, although observers find the situation much better here than in most cities. But it is doing harm, rather than good, for some of us to be circulating wild stories of suffering and hardship for which there is no foundation. This city has always taken care of its own people and we are confident that it will continue to do so as long as there is actual need.

For instance, there is the story of one family in such dire need of food that to dodge starvation it cooked and ate a dog. No one should be so credulous as to believe that, much less repeat it as fact. Then there is the more serious one, although there is no more truth in it, that fuel gas has been turned off at hundreds of homes because bills were not paid.

During November, the last month for which figures are available, gas was turned off at only six residences for non-payment of bills. Four of these were chronic delinquents, who do not pay until threatened in this way. Another was a case in which a relative guaranteeing the bill asked that the gas be turned off in an effort to force the head of the family to make an effort to take care of its needs, and the sixth was a case in which the family left town. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army have guaranteed gas bills for a few families.

Every effort is being made to help every individual in the city who needs and deserves help. Persons who know of families who are suffering should report them to the Associated Charities or the Salvation Army. That will do much more good than repeating senseless stories that have no foundation in fact.

Shooting the Town Bull at Parkersburg in 1845

The Marietta Register, January 2, 1868

The Parkersburg Gazette has been publishing some historical sketches of that place - written, we judge, by J. E. Wharton, Esq. The following is his account of an affair which caused much laughter at the time. It was, if we are not in error, in 1845, when Garner, Lorraine and Thomas of Decatur Township, this county, lay in Parkersburg jail, having been seized by Virginians, at the Ohio shore, just below Blennerhassett, for aiding in the escape of slaves. He says:

"The town bull story is one of the institutions of our place. In 1840 or about that time, there were numerous slaves run across the Ohio, as was supposed by the Ohio abolitionists. A company was raised to defend the 'peculiar institution' from the Bohemians - Capt. Daggs commanded. The boys were kept on qui vive every night with the guns, pistols and sabres in good condition, and they had fun at wholesale, on night there was an extra alarm. All were called to duty. 

"The Captain came up street with sword drawn and pistols cocked and called his men to order, and they were drawn up in line on Ann Street about Court. Some had just come from visiting the girls, some from the whisky shops and some from a sound nap. They listened. There was a stir in the bushes that embellished the borders of Pond run. The soldiers listened with all their ears and watched with all their eyes. 

"The word went out that the abolitionists had landed and were forcing their way up to the very muzzles of their guns. The bushes cracked, the Captain trembled in his boots, some ran for safer points, and something dark parted the bushes, and Captain thundered out, fi-fi-fire. About twenty guns rang out upon the midnight air. 

"The sound was followed by another, more dreadful still. It was 'boo-bo-baugh,' a cross between the sound of a steam whistle, thunder and an ungreased car wheel - the bushes cracked again. There was a heavy thud and all was still. A part of the soldiers looked and kited for their homes.

"The next morning there was a crowd of boys examining the corpse of the town bull in those bushes. His skin was so full of holes that it was unfit to tan, and they buried him in the run from which his ghost sometimes arose, in low water, and glared with solemn anger across the river toward the abolitionists who had been the primary cause of his untimely death.

"The escape of slaves through some means, either by the aid of abolitionists in Ohio, or of their own motion, was so great that it is not surprising that deep and general feeling pervaded our people, and mistakes or follies were committed in the defence of what was then regarded everywhere as a property peculiarly valuable and sacred, as it was not only the money value of slaves that was lost, but valuable house servants that could not be replaced, were lost."

In place here we print the lines below, written at the time by A. Winchester, the clever old gentleman who now resides in Harmar. We have had the manuscript in our hands for a long time:

The Mighty Battle

Listen, ye brave of every land and clime,

While I relate strange prodigies in rhyme,

Such deeds of valor never done before,

Were acted near the great Ohio shore.

Let bards no more attempt to tune the lyre

To sing the praises of the ancient Tyre;

No ancient city, though of great renown,

Could e'er compare with our great modern town.

Let old Athens boast not of laurels won,

Nor Spartan warriors of the deeds they've done;

Let learned men no more their pens employ

To celebrate the deeds of ancient Troy.

And mighty Rome with all her pomp and pride,

Compared with us, I'm sure would step aside;

Her fair fained laurels at our feet would yield

And own us mighty in the battle field.

Behold! our men are not afraid to die,

They cross the river and in ambush lie,

With dirks and pistols there, in dreadful fight,

Three Buckeyes captured in the dead of night.

Our valiant soldiers of the best renown,

Were now enrolled throughout our famous town,

To guard the prison and secure the place,

Against the onsets from the Buckeye race.

But lo! one dark and solitary night,

An abolition host appear'd in sight;

Our brave and warlike men reserved their fire,

Until the foe advanced a little higher.

Fired with the thoughts of victory and fame,

They raise their muskets, take deliberate aim,

The word was fire, and oh! what showers of lead!

The day was gained; THE OLD TOWN BULL WAS DEAD!

                                                            Satireacilus