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190 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. CHAPTER II. NATURAL HISTORY. GEOLOGY teaches that the continents of the world were separated from the wastes of water, then submerged, and, by the workings of nature, gradually elevated, until the great physical divisions of our globe were formed. At the close of the Corniferous Period a great upheaval of sea bottom formed a tract of land extending from the southern old land belt of Ohio to the central line of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The great geological age, the Mesozoic, dates from this time. It was marked by activity in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, mild climates and myriads of reptiles, which rolled over the lands or swarmed in the rivers. The Tertiary period- succeeded the Mesozoic—it was an age of beautiful climates and high development of mammals. The scene was changed—the Glacial period came on, robing Nature in its whiteness, and robbing the land of life. Then came the Drift to fit the HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 191 earth for habitation and bequeath to man the wealth of Nations—a fertile soil. NIAGARA SYSTEM. This conformation has been only partially explored in Allen County. In the southeastern part of the county it rises rapidly from its position below the water-lime, dipping northwardly. It is, in fact, a thick- bedded, bluish-gray crystalline limestone from two to four inches thick, blotched with blue and gray, slightly porous and fossiliferous, yet firm, and good for building purposes as well as for the manufacture of quicklime. Prof. N. H. Winchell in his geological report on Allen County, states that "The Niagara is quarried by Alex E. Kerr, Section 30, Auglaize Township. It presents the features of the Guelph phase, in vesicular beds of two or three inches, and lips horizontal or dips gently toward the north. It is of a bluish-gray color, and some portions of it are firm and crystalline. About eighty rods northwest from Kerr's quarry is that of Alexander Craps, where the stone is slightly different from Mr. Kerr's. There was not sufficient exposure to indicate whether it be Niagara or water-lime, although the evidence was, so far as seen, in favor of the latter. The Niagara is again seen in the bed of a small tributary to the Auglaize, on Hay's land, northeast quarter of Section 22, and in a similar situation on Harrison Clawson's land, northeast quarter of Section 21, both of the same township. Mr. Hay has not opened his for use, but Clawson has taken a few stones from his for ordinary foundations. So far as seen, this stone is the same as that in the quarry of Kerr in Section 30." WATER-LIME CONFORMATION. This flag-rock is found in every division of the county varying in thickness of slate from one to nine inches. The rock is laminated, bituminous, pyritiferous and blue or dark blue in color. The beds or layers expose themselves along the banks of the creeks, with a continuous dip toward the southwest. "They are," says Geologist Winchell, "homogeneous, tough, thin, sometimes having so much bituminous matter as to appear like ,the great black slate. The thinnest beds are, however, streaked with alternations of dark drab and bituminous brown. When wet the brown is almost black; when dry and weathered it sometimes assumes a blue color, and if long weathered, it becomes chocolate. 192 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. There are occasional patches of thicker, even drab flag-rock, which finally become so persistent upward as to require a special designation.', When the bituminous matter is not evenly divided. the stone is called blue slate, and gives in many instances a large, smooth flag for sidewalk uses. When the bitumen is divided equally, instead of merely showing in partings or crevices, the beds are thicker, affording a good building_ stone. In any of the villages or towns of the county the flagging and building water-lime may be seen in use. In Amanda Township the chief exposures of the water-lime are in the Auglaize near the county line. It occurs in blue layers on the land of Samuel Stewart, northeast quarter of Section 9. On the northeast quarter of Section 15 it lies in thin blue layers on the land of William Bice; and on the southeast quarter of the same section, between James Sunderland's and Samuel Anderson's farms, the following section may be taken from the bed of the river: No. 1. Soft, porous, gray and chalky in spots; in every respect similar to No. 1 of section taken from Anderson's quarry on Section 22, Pitt, Wyandot County; eight inches. No. 2. Hard, massive or thin bedded; dark drab, flinty; laminations irregular, sometimes coalescent. This is the equivalent of No. 2 of Anderson's in Pitt, Wyandot County. Irregular surface exposure, showing a perpendicular section of perhaps six inches. In Auglaize Township the water-lime appears, and has been somewhat used for general purposes and for lime, on the land of David Crall, Section 17, taken from the bed of the stream. Beds here are about two inches in thickness. In Bath Township the quarry of Alexander Miller, southwest quarter of Section 29, supplies an even-bed flat stone of a blue color, about three inches in thickness, which is largely used at Lima and other places for flagging. The beds, however, occasionally become six inches thick, when they are valuable for walls, and command a high price for all uses. They are easily cut and broken by the usual means into such sizes and shapes as may be needed, the fracture being straight and running like the fracture of glass under a diamond. The best stone is delivered at Lima for $1.50 per perch. The amount of exposure here is about three feet perpendicular, the beds lying horizontal. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 193 On the southwest quarter of Section 28 Dague & Brothers have a quarry in the water-lime. Another occurs on the land of G. Fetter, northwest quarter of Section 20. That of J. Custer is on the southwest quarter of Section 24. It furnishes a rough, dark drab-stone in beds of three to six inches, with more or less interstratification of thinner and more bituminous layers. One mile below Custer's is Samuel McCluer's quarry. Daniel Miller's quarry is on Section 8 in the bed of Sugar Creek, the stone supplied being a fair representation of the Tymochtee slate. It lies in thin, blue layers, with black, bituminous films separating the beds. The edges of the bedding are sometimes horizontally streaked with bluish-drab. The best stone here is three inches thick. It brings $1 per perch for walls at the quarry. Second grade stone for walling is sold at the quarry for 62 1/2 cents per perch; the third grade for walls ( inch to one inch), 37 cents per perch. In German Township, along the course of the Ottawa, water-lime flags outcrop. Formerly stone was quarried from the banks and bed of this stream on Section 29, near Allentown. In the township of Marion, the water-lime shows in the bed of the river, northeast quarter of Section 28, and on David Robinson's land, southeast quarter of Section 21. Some has been taken out at the latter place in blocks six inches thick. The abutments of the highway bridge over the Auglaize at this place are of water-lime blocks, twelve to sixteen inches thick, like the stone obtained from Boehmer's quarry at Fort Jennings, in Putnam County. They are capped with sawn blocks of Lower Corniferous from Charloe, in Paulding County, and angled with blue Niagara from Piqua, in Miami County. The water-lime has been slightly worked in the bed of the Auglaize at various points near Cramersville (Section 3). At Lima, in Ottawa Township, the quarries of Dalzell and Overmyer, and of Williams and Bowers, are situated in the Ottawa, and are principally occupied in lime burning. At the former about four and a half feet are seen in beds of one to two inches. Some of it is rough and vesicular but in beds not over six inches. Stone has also been taken from the bed of the Ottawa, at Lima, on the T. K. Jacobs estate. In Richland Township the following persons work the water-lime exposed in the bed of Reilly Creek, near Bluffton, viz.: Reese and Sid- 194 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. dall, for common stone and for lime burning; Barney Hullinger, and J. H. Eaton. Mr. Eaton also burns lime. John Shoemaker has a working in the same stone three miles northwest from Bluffton, in the bed of the creek. In Spencer Township the water-lime appears in the bed of Jennings' Creek, in Section 14, where it is quarried for quick-lime. The beds are two to four inches in thickness. Near Gomer, in Sugar Creek Township, the bed of the Ottawa is rocky. It may be seen on the land of Isaac H. Clevenger, Section 20, where it lies in thin, horizontal beds; also on the land of David Roberts, near the county line, where the beds are three to four inches, and dip south. THE DRIFT FORMATION. This conformation consists of brown clay and sand stratified, brown clay stratified, brown hard pan, blue clay and sand stratified, blue hard pan and fine blue clay, simple brown and blue clays, decomposed matter or debris, boulders, agglutinated sand, forest remains. The surface of the drift is ashen color, stratified or unstratified, forming the soil. Prof. Winchell, in his reference to this formation in Allen County, says: " There is a more frequent occurrence of stratification and assortment of the drift in the eastern half of the county, where the streams all flow toward the west or southwest, than in the western half. It seems also to be arranged in a series of broad northeast and southwest ridges or swells, the intervening valleys being occupied by the streams, which necessarily conform to the direction of the main valleys., The average thickness of the drift in the county cannot be stated, but it is probably not over seventy-five feet. It seems thicker in the eastern than in the western half of the county. At Lima gravel beds are seen in the drift, and in some instances near there the gravel, rises to within three or four feet of the surface. It shows the seam of tortuous glacial stratification, and is embraced within the St. Mary's ridge. It is utilized by Alexander-Miller and Dr. E. Ashton for road-making, the finer parts being used for mortar. In the construction of pikes in Allen County it is largely used for surface dressing, and makes the roads more solid and less rough for travel." HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 195 ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. Nature has given the county a wealth of fertile soil which never can be overestimated. Apart from what the drift has accomplished in this connection, Dame Nature has not been overlavish in her bestowal of geological wealth, although liberal enough in giving what a people might actually require for small local buildings, such as Niagara and water-lime rocks, brick-clay, sand and gravel. The State Geologist fully realizes this fact, and in his report on this county, states: "The Niagara, in the southeastern part of Auglaize Township, is of the Guelph or upper portion of that great member of the Silurian age, and is an inferior stone for building. For quicklime it is well adapted. It affords a strong white lime, which acts quickly and is easily burned. The quarries which have been opened in it have not been systematically prosecuted, a fact which has served not only to reduce the derivable income, but also to discourage others from similar industry. Where the overlying water-lime occurs in thick beds it would be profitably worked, but there are no considerable openings in such beds within the county. The formation is chiefly wrought in its thinner blue layers, owing to the evenness of the stone, and the ease with which it can be obtained. Much of this kind of stone is used for flagging at Lima, Bluffton and Delphos. Some of the best quarries are located at Lima, and afford also a handsome stone for wells and foundations. The quicklime made from water-lime at Lima not only supplies the local demand, but is used in the surrounding country. The product of a single firm, Dalzell & Overmyer, amounts to about 20,000 bushels per year. Other kilns would increase the annual product of quicklime to at least 35,000 bushels. In the summer of 1871 the retail price per bushel was 25 cents. In wholesale amounts the price of lime delivered on the oars was 22 cents per bushel. "In the eastern part of the county, gravel for roads and sand for mortar are, not uncommon in the knolls and short ridges of the rolling tracts. Clay also, suitable for red brick and pottery, is abundant in all parts of the county. There are, probably, but few square miles. if any, within the county from which good brick could not be manufactured—a statement which is equally applicable to most of the Fourth District of the State. Brick-yards are met with at many points, the clay being taken from the surface of drift." 196 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY. MINERAL SPRINGS. The springs of the county, some of which produce magnetic waters are found in Bath, Richland and Marion Townships respectively. The water flows directly from the water-lime rock, which is charged with its current from the Niagara formation, On Sections 7 and 8, Bath Township, white sulphur springs are the rule rather than the exception; while the artesian well at Bluffton (129 feet in depth), affords a good supply of water, strongly impregnated with valuable chemical properties. In almost any portion of the county water for domestic purposes may be found at a depth of from ten to thirty feet. In Spencer, South Marion, Amanda, part of German and Sugar Creek Townships, a good supply of good water is found on penetrating the bed-rock; while in North Marion, on the Van Wert Ridge, water is found in the gravel above the modified drift. GAS FOUNTAINS. Throughout the county evidences of gas wells are manifest. Their development is a subject for the enterprise of the future. BOTANY. All the trees and shrubs indigenous to Northwestern Ohio are found in Allen County in the highest state of botanical development. Among the leading trees those named in the following list attain the limit of growth here: Beach, sugar maple, white oak, sycamore, shag-bark hickory, white ash, flowering dog-wood, American elm, prickly ash, red oak, blue ash, June berry, thorn, swamp white oak, honey locust, water beech, black walnut, ironwood, black willow, mulberry, basswood, cottonwood, buckeye, burr oak, large toothed aspen, plum, swamp maple, black ash, Kentucky coffee bean, black cherry, trembling aspen, sumach, black thorn, balm of Gilead, pin oak, paw-paw, and a species of butternut. In the history of Marion Township, reference is made to the lumber manufacturing industries which the hardwood forests of the county supply. In earlier years an important market for barks, roots and leaves was established at Delphos—a village that must be considered the beginning of this market in the entire northwest. The flora of the county comprises no less than 381 genera, embracing about 860 species. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 197 ZOOLOGY. This county, like all others of northern Ohio, was fully stocked with all the animals and reptiles of the Western wilderness. In 1831 the larger animals were numerous, as is evidenced by the fact that during that year a deer made his appearance in the street of Lima settlement. The elk was not an inhabitant at this time, though little doubt can exist of his stay here up to the close of the first quarter of this century. The bear and panther were old residents of the district, and regular visitants for many years after settlement. The wolf continued to make the county his home up to a few years ago ; so also was the red deer an old and friendly neighbor of the pioneers. The wild-hog, just as wild and coarse as the name suggests, roamed through the county as late as 1833. A. hundred species of fur-bearing animals could be found in the primeval wilderness, a thousand species of beautiful birds in the forests while the marsh and creek and river and forest and opening were inhabited by venomous reptiles. With the departure of the Indians all the large animals as well as- the most dangerous of the reptile species disappeared. ARCHEOLOGY. It has been truly said that no portion of Ohio is without its souvenirs of that mysterious race called the Mound-Builders. In this county stone hammers, axes and chisels have been found. Flint spear-heads and stone figures have been unearthed. In the excavations made in waterlime and Niagara conformations, prints of leaves, and tracks of animals unknown to our present botanists and geologists have been discovered. Fossils are found in both hard clay and rock. Remains of the megalosaurus and lesser lizards, the megalonyx or great sloth, mastodon, dinotherium and other huge animals known to us only by their gigantic fossil remains, are discovered at long intervals. The burial mounds of the Indians of our own times were leveled in 1832-33 by the savages, before their migration westward, |