198 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

CHAPTER II.

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PORTAGE COUNTY NINETY YEARS AGO -TIMBER AND FRUIT-BEARING TREEs AND VINES-ROOTS AND HERBAGE-WILD ANIMALS, BIRDS AND REPTILES-BIG HUNTS-GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY, STREAMS AND LAKES-GEOLOGY OF PORTAGE COUNTY-SURFACE FEATURES AND DEPOSITS-GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE-COAL MEASURES-COAL NO. 1-COALS NOS. 3 AND 4—FIRE CLAY-ALTITUDES 1N PORTAGE COUNTY ABOVE LAKE ERIE.

FRE the woodman's ax resounded, sombre and silent was the ancient forest, which, during untold centuries, had overshadowed the hills and valleys of this region. Beauty and variety marked the plants which grew and bloomed beneath the leafy canopy of the gigantic trees.

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen

And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

Hill, dale and streamlet, with all the families of plants from the lofty forest tree to the creeping ivy, gave to the landscape variety and picturesque beauty. An unchanged progression of periodical decay had from time immemorial been forming a rich vegetable soil, in preparation for the era when civilized man should take possession and become its cultivator. Oak of several varieties, chestnut, and hickory in all its species, were the principal growth on the dry gravelly lands; red and white beech, maple or sugar tree, linden or basswood, sumach, white ash, cucumber, poplar, white, red and slippery elm, walnut, ironwood, dogwood, sassafras and cherry, on the rich loamy soil; and on the wet lands hemlock, black ash, tamarack, sycamore, soft maple and birch; while there was a varying undergrowth of fruit-bearing trees and vines, such as the plum, crab-apple, white, red and black haw, alder, whortleberry, blackberry, raspberry, serviceberry, gooseberry, currant, cranberry and strawberry, also nuts of several varieties, and hops, ginseng, bloodroot, chocolate root, together with innumerable kinds of other roots and herbage of valuable properties, were the spontaneous growth of Portage County.

A thick undergrowth gave an excellent covert to the wild animals that once abounded in this section of the State, viz.: the elk, deer, panther, wolf, bear, wild cat, fox, marten, otter, polecat, beaver, groundhog or woodchuck, opossum, raccoon, hare, rabbit, black, grey, red or pine, flying and ground or striped squirrels, muskrat, mink, weasel, porcupine, field-mouse, deer-mouse, common rat and mouse. Of these the elk, panther, wolf, bear, wild cat and beaver are extinct in this county, or if any are ever seen it is a very rare occurrence.

Among the birds which are natives of this county or visit it annually, either to build or touching it in their migration to a more northerly region, are the bald and gray eagle, rarely if ever seen; the hen hawk, fish hawk, pigeon hawk, shrike or butcher bird, the white, the cat and screech owl, the swan, wild goose, black duck, mallard, wood duck, shell drake, teal, butter, bolt, loon, dipper, water hen or coot, plover, jacksnipe, sandsnipe, kingfisher: turkey, pheasant, partridge or quail, woodcock, rail, pigeon, dove, whip-poor-will, robin, thrush, catbird, cuckoo, lark, oriole, bluejay, fieldfare or red-breasted grossbeak, martin, the barn swallow, bank swallow, oven swallow, bluebird, wren, cow bird, bobolink or reed-bird, yellow bird, redbird, blackbird, redwing, starling, black or large woodpecker, red-headed wood

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pecker gray woodpecker, flicker, cedar bird or toppy, crookbil I, green bird, humming bird, and a variety of small birds with whose species the writer is ttg not familiar. Some of these members of the feathery kingdom have become very rare or altogether extinct, while others have come into the county. The white-breasted swallow is one of the later inhabitants, as is also the hardy, pugnacious English sparrow, which since his coming has driven many of the most beautiful songsters from the towns now inhabited by those little fellows in great numbers.

The snakes that were found in this locality are the black and yellow rattlesnakes, the former of which usually frequented the wet or swampy lands, and the latter the hilly or dry ground. Hundreds of those "yellow- skins," as they were commonly called, were killed, during the first few years of settlement, in nearly every township in the county. Regular hunting parties were sometimes organized in the spring-time, to invade their dens among the ledges, and by this means those dangerous pests were rapidly exterminated. The water snake was a large black snake, often growing from five to seven feet in length; the small black snake or white-ringed viper, the brown or house snake, the garter snake and the green snake were plentiful. All of those mentioned are

innocuous except the rattlesnake, and it is fortunately now nearly or altogether extinct.

The wild denizens of the forest roamed at will during the earlier years of the county's history, and many of the pioneers could tell of dangers and hair breadth escapes from an enraged bear, a pack of ravenous wolves, or a treacherous wild cat, which at one time were more plentiful in this region than cattle, sheep or hogs. To rid the country of these dangerous neighbors, big hunts were gotten up, when game of every sort went down in scores, before the unerring rifles of the frontier sportsmen. A whole township would be surrounded by a line of hunters, and at a pre-concerted signal all would begin the march toward the center, driving the game before them and shooting down any that tried to escape. Great quantities of valuable game were slaughtered in this way, and as there were premiums paid for the scalps of the more dangerous animals, these hunts usually proved a financial success. In a big hunt which took place in Freedom Township, in December, 1818, there were killed twenty-three bears, seven wolves and thirty-six deer, besides scores of turkeys and, other game. On the 25th of December, 1818, another hunt took place in Windham Township, whdn twenty-one bears, sixty-eight deer, one wolf, one wild cat, with turkeys and other small game innumerable, were bagged. The same year at the close of a hunt in Edinburg Township, seven bears, five wolves, one hundred deer and four hundred turkeys were counted as the result of the day's sport. Another hunt occurred in Edinburg and Atwater Townships December 24, 1819, the result of which was twenty-one bears, eighteen wolves, one hundred and three deer, and more than three hundred turkeys. In 1819 a similar raid was made upon the game of Streetsboro Township, and five bears, four wolves and sixty deer were slain. Such hunts took place at different times in nearly every township in the county, but those given will fully illustrate the great amount of wild game which once inhabited the valleys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga. Those organized hunting parties soon had a telling effect in lessening the game, and finally becoming unpopular, met with a determined opposition from a large class of citizens and were abandoned. Long after the surrounding country was well settled, the tamarack swamps of Brimfield Township afforded an excellent covert for wild game, and bears, wolves, deer etc., were quite numerous in that locality. Bears especially were so plentiful that the township was familiarly known as

200 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

"Bear Town." Streetsboro, Freedom, Paris and Edinburg Townships were, also noted hunting grounds for some years after the game in the adjoining territory had been pretty well thinned out. The last wolf killed in Streetsboro Township was shot by Merrill Stanton, March 6, 1838, about which time the larger and more troublesome wild animals had, much to the relief of those

settlers whose cattle, hogs and sheep often went to satisfy their voracious appetites, entirely disappeared from the forests of this county.

The general topography of Portage County is slightly rolling, the uplands usually of a sandy or gravelly nature, and the more level portions principally composed of a clay soil. Few counties in Ohio are better watered. The whole eastern half is drained by the Mahoning River, with its several local branches, Silver Creek being the most important, which rise along the central portions of the county, from north to south, and flow in an easterly direction, uniting before reaching Warren, Ohio; thence take a southeast course to the; Shenango, with whose waters the Mahoning unites about two miles south of; Newcastle, Penn., when the two streams become Beaver River. The word Mahoning is, according to Heckewelder, derived from either the Indian Malioni, signifying " a lick," or Mahonink, "at the lick ; " but Lucius V. Bierce, in his sketches of the Western Reserve, says that it comes from the Indian word Ma-um-ing, meaning " the way to the market."

The Cuyahoga River takes its rise in Geauga County, and flowing southwest, enters Portage near the northwest corner of Hiram Township; thence crossing said corner and keeping the same general course across the southeast corner of Mantua, and the northwest corner of Shalersville Township, turns southward through the southeastern tier of lots in Streetsboro Township; thence winding diagonally across Franklin Township, from its northeast to its southwest corner, passing through Kent on its route, enters Summit County. It there makes a big bend, and turning northward empties into Lake Erie at Cleveland. This river receives its name from the Indian word Cuy-o-ga, meaning "crooked," a term significant of the stream, which is very winding. Its largest tributaries in this county are the Little Cuyahoga and the Breakneck The former drains the southeast corner of the county, Fritch's Pond, in Suffield Township, being One of its sources, and Springfield Lake, across the line in Summit County, the other. The Breakneck heads in Stark County, and winding northward through Randolph and Rootstown Townships, turns across the southwest corner of Ravenna Township, and thence northwestward through Franklin Township, discharges its waters into the Cuyahoga, about a mile and a half northeast of Kent. One branch of the Chagrin River heads in Aurora, and Mantua Townships, and thence passing northward joins the main stream

in Cuyahoga County.

Portage is also well supplied with small natural lakes and ponds. 'In Franklin Township we find Brady's Lake Pippin Lake, Twin Lakes and Stewart's Pond; in Rootstown, Sandy Lake, Muddy Lake (which is partly located in Ravenna Township), Muzzy' s Pond and Ward's Pond; in Suffield, Congress Lake (partly) and Fritch's Pond, and Long Pond in Aurora Township. Brady's Lake received its name in honor of Capt. Samuel Brady, of " Brady's Leap fame, who fortunately escaped from Indian vengeance by hiding beneath its waters. Pippin Lake was called after the apple of that name; Twin Lakes, because of their close proximity to each other, and connection by a small branch; Stewart's Pond, after a pioneer of that name; Sandy and Muddy Lakes, from the character of the soil surrounding them; Muzzy's Pond, after Nathan Muzzy, a peculiar character who claimed to have discovered it; Ward's Pond, from a pioneer of that name; Congress Lake, from the lake bearing that name in

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New York; Fritch's Pond, after John Friteh, a German who built a mill at the outlet, and Long Pond, from its long, narrow shape.

Geology of Portage County.*—Portage County lies entirely on the water. shed which separates the streams that 'flow into Lake Erie from the tributaries of the Ohio. Its central portion rises to an altitude of 685 feet above the lake, while the valleys by which its surface is diversified descend about 300 feet lower. The highest point of the county is near the line of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, between Rootstown and Atwater, while the lowest is in the valley of the Mahoning, below Garrettsville.

When first entered by the whites, the county was covered with an unbroken growth of primeval forest, consisting, on the lower and more level portions, of beach and maple; of oak, chestnut, etc., on the higher and drier lands.

Though underlaid by rocks of diverse character, the surface is mainly formed by a sheet of clay,which has given a peculiar character to the agricultural pursuits of the inhabitants, and has made this a portion of the great dairy district of the Western Reserve.

In some localities on the northern and western slope of the water-shed, but near its summit, are heavy beds of gravel, forming swells of the surface, or even-rounded hills of considerable altitude. Typical examples of these may be seen in Randolph, Rootstown, Suffield, Franklin and Brimfield, and near Earlville, on the lines of the two railroads which pass through the county. In the basins inclosed by these gravel hills and ridges lie most of the lakes and peat bogs of the county. These gravel hills constitute an interesting feature in the surface deposits, and will be found described in the first chapter of Vol. II, under the head of Kamm I have ascribed them to the action of waves on the Drift deposit of the shore and shoals which formed the margin of the great inland sea that once filled all the basin of the lakes.

In the northern part of the county the Drift deposits are generally of so great thickness as to cover and conceal the underlying rocks. Wherever exposed to view, the rock surface is found to be planed and grooved by glacial action, and usually the overlying clay may be designated as a bowlder clay, since it contains masses of rock derived from neighboring sources, with smaller and usually scratched and worn fragments brought from distant localities. This clay is unquestionably the material ground up by the great glacier which once covered northern Ohio, pushed forward by its advance, and left in an irregular sheet upon the rocky foundation in its retreat. In some places the clay is finer, without gravel or bowlders, and is accurately stratified by the action of water.

Immediately beneath-the soil, or projecting above the surface, are found many transported bowlders, frequently of large size, composed of granite, lgreenstone, and other crystalline rocks, evidently of foreign origin, and apparently derived from the highlands north of the great lakes. These bowlders are rarely found deeply buried in the Drift, and, as I have elsewhere shown, must have been floated by icebergs from their place of origin, and dropped into their present position. Some of the superficial gravels which overlie the bowlder clay seem to have been transported by the same agency.

As a whole, the soil of Portage County is productive, and although, from its tenacious character, and the dense growth of forest by which it was covered, it has required much patience and labor for its subjugation, this task has been well and thoroughly performed by the intelligent and industrious population into whose possession it came, and it has repaid their efforts by a constant and generous support through the last half century.

* By J. S. Newberry.

202 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

In common with the other portions of the great divide on which Portage County is located, its rolling surface forms numerous local basins, many of which have been, and some still are, occupied by lakes. Of these lakes Stewart's Pond, Twin Lakes, Brady's Lake, and Pippin Lake, in Franklin, Muddy Lake, Sandy Lake and Muzzy's Lake in Rootstown, and Fritch's Pond in Suffield, may be cited as examples. These lakes are supplied by springs which flow through the Drift gravels, and their water is usually clear and pure; they contain great numbers of fine fish, and are also interesting and beautiful feat, urea in the scenery. Some of these basins formerly occupied by water have been gradually filled up by the growth of vegetation, and now exist as swamps underlaid by peat. One of the best known of these is near Ravenna, where considerable peat has been cut and manufactured. There is another and still more extensive peat marsh in Brimfield, and small ones occur in nearly every township. Usually these peat bogs are occupied with Sphagnum (the peat. producing moss), cranberry vines, huckleberry bushes, and larches, and they are often known as tamarack or huckleberry swamps. The peat in these swamps is not unfrequently underlaid by shell marl, and both these are capable of being used with profit by the farmers as fertilizers. It is also probable that the cranberry may be successfully cultivated on the swamp surfaces. In the Eastern States he cultivation of cranberries has proved to be highly remunerative to those engaged in it, and there seems no good reason why the same success should not be attained by the inhabitants of those portions of Ohio where the cranberry grows spontaneously, and where there are marshes which are well adapted to its cultivation.

Striking and typical examples of the glacial furrows which have been referred to above may be seen on the hill near the house of Mr. Theodore Clark, in the township of Edinburg. The direction of the striae is here N. 60̊ E. The rock is a sandstone, overlying the lower seam of coal. Near the center of Palmyra is a still better exhibition of glacial marks. On the hill, three-quarters of a mile west of the center, the bearing of the furrows is N. 30̊ E. In the town of Palmyra, on a surface of sandstone exposed in front of Mr. Wilson's store, the traces of glacial action are very conspicuous; the rock surface being planed down very smooth, and marked with scratches and furrows, of which the direction is N. 28̊ E. In many other parts of the county similar ice inscriptions may be observed, chiefly on the surfaces of the beds of sandstone, as they are better retained on this indestructible material than on the softer or more soluble rocks.

The bowlder clay which overlies the glaciated surface varies considerably in appearance in different localities, according to the exposure and drainage to which it has been subjected, and the local circumstances which controlled its formation. In the valleys it will be found to be of a bluish color through-out. On the higher lands the upper portion is frequently yellow, sometimes down to the depth of ten or twelve feet, while the lower portion is blue or gray. This difference I attribute to the oxidation of the iron contained in the clay, where it has been exposed to the air and to surface drainage. The number and character of the pebbles and bowlders contained in the clay also varies much in different localities. In some places, as near Campbellsport, the Drift deposits are largely made-up of angular or little-worn fragments of sandstone, torn from their beds in the immediate vicinity ; while in places remote from such outcrops of the harder rocks, the stones contained in the clay are small, much worn, and many of them are composed of granite, etc., brought from the region north of the lakes.

On the highlands the gravel beds referred to above rest sometimes on the

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bowlder clay, but perhaps oftener on the underlying rock, showing that the causes which produced the accumulation of gravel generally removed all the clay. Where the gravel beds overlap the bowlder clay, the materials which compose them seem to have been washed back from the higher grounds. It will be noticed that the pebbles in the gravel beds are well rounded and often irregularly stratified, while those found in the bowlder clay are sub-angular, scratched and worn, but rarely rounded. It is evident, therefore, that the gravels have been subjected to a triturating action quite different from that exerted by glaciers on the materials which they move. The facts show further that water, either in shore waves or in river currents, has been the agent by which the pebbles of the gravel have been rounded ; and as it is difficult to conceive of any currents which could leave beds and hills of gravel such as are found along the divide between the waters of the lake and the Ohio, I have been led to consider these deposits as the effect of shore waves, when the lake basin was filled to this height, on the bowlder clay and other Drift material which once covered the underlying rocks. It is possible, too, that the drainage from the glacier, when it filled the lake basin and was melting along its southern edge, contributed to the washing of the clay and the rounding of the pebbles. In this view the gravel hills and sheets which cover so much of the great divide which crosses the State may be compared to the terminal moraines of existing glaciers, but in no moraine of which I have any knowledge are the pebbles and bowlders nearly so well rounded as in the deposits under consideration ; and I am sure all who will carefully examine these will agree with me that free and swift moving water, in large quantity, has been the chief agent in producing the phenomena exhibited. Along certain lines leading from the summit of the watershed to the Ohio, both east and west of Portage County, there are belts of gravel and bowlders, which mark, as I concieve, broad and long-existing drainage channels, by which the surplus water of the lake basin flowed through certain waste-weirs cut in the watershed and escaped southward, but the gravel hills of Portage County can hardly be referred to such a cause.

Geological Structure. —The number and relative positions of the strata which come to the surface within the limits of Portage County will be seen at a glance by reference to the section given below:

All the rocks enumerated in the preceding section belong to the Carbon. iferous system, of which they represent two members, viz.: the Conglomerate and the Coal Measures. The area of the county is about equally divided between the two formations. All the northern half has the Conglomerate for its surface rock, though it is generally deeply buried by Drift clays. It is

206 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

fully exposed in the valleys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga. The trough of the latter stream is cut in the Conglomerate all the way from the point where it enters the county, in Hiram, to its place of exit, on the west side of Franklin. The Conglomerate is well seen in Mantua and Garrettsville, and stilt better in Franklin and Nelson. In all these localities it exhibits essentially the same characters, viz. : a coarse, drab-colored sandstone, in places thickly set with quartz pebbles from the size of a pea to that of an egg. In some, places, as in Windham, the stone it furnishes is finer, whiter, and more homo-. geneous, and would answer admirably for architectural purposes. As a gen-, oral rule, however, it is rather coarse for all fine work, but furnishes a strong and durable stone, well adapted to bridge-building, cellar walls, and, indeed, to all plain and massive masonry.

Near Rent certain layers of the Conglomerate have been found, which are white enough to serve for the manufacture of glass. The coloring matter of the rock is usually iron, and it here contains much less than usual.

The best sections of the. Conglomerate found in the county are in Nelson, where its entire thickness is shown-175 feet—and it forms bold escarpments, which constitute the western boundary of the valley of. Grand River. These escarpments are known as the Nelson Ledges. They afford the most picturesque scenery to be found in the county, and are noted places of resort for the inhabitants of the surrounding region. In the extreme. northeastern corner of the county an island of the Conglomerate has been cut off by erosion from the main plateau. Though less bold in its outline, it has the same topographical character and relation as Little Mountain, in Lake County.

At the base of the Nelson Ledges the Cuyahoga shale is imperfectly exposed. This is the upper member of the Waverly formation, and will be found fully described in the reports on Cuyahoga, Summit, and Trumbull Counties. A few years since quite an excitement was raised by the reported discovery of gold at the Nelson Ledges. As is usual in such cases, stock companies were formed, and many dreams of wealth were indalged in by those who obtained shares of the stock. It is hardly necessary to say that these dreams have passed like "the baseless fabric of a vision." The excitement was caused by the discovery of iron pyrites in certain beds of the Conglomerate— another of the innumerable examples of the mistake of "fool's gold" for true gold.

A little knowledge of geology would have prevented this error, and would have taught the sufferers that gold could never be found in paying quantities in Portage County. That minute particles may sometimes be detected in the superficial gravels is very probable, since these gravels are largely made up of quartz pebbles, which are only rolled masses of the quartz veins contained in the crystalline rocks of the Canadian highlands, and which frequently carry a little gold. It is also probable that with sufficient care in searching for it, an infinitesimal quantity of gold might be detected in the Conglomerate, as the quartz pebbles it contains were doubtless derived from the same source with those to which I have already referred ; but it may be confidently predicted that the precious metal will never be obtained from either of the sources mentioned in sufficient quantity to compensate the most idle and worthless member of the community for any time he may spend in its search.

Coal Measures.—Nearly three-fourths of the surface of Portage County is underlaid by coal-measure rocks, and they once covered its entire area. From the valleys of the Mahoning and Cuyahoga they have been removed by erosion, so that in the northern part of the county they are restricted to a small island

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west of the river, in Mantua, and a narrow arm which projects from Freedom orthward, through Hiram, into Geauga County.

In the northern part of Portage County the Drift deposits are so thick as to, hide the outcrops of the coal rocks, and it is here very difficult to trace the line along which the edge of the lowest coal seam should be found. It is robable that coal, in greater or less thickness, underlies the principal part of lram, the western half of Shalersville and Ravenna, and the southwestern corner of Windham. The northern and southern portions of Paris, and nearly all of Charlestown, lie above the horizon of the lower coal, as do most of Palmyra, Deerfield, Brimfield and Suffield.

Along a belt running through the central part of the county, the land is high enough to carry the second and third seams of coal from the bottom. With this breadth of coal area it would at first sight seem that Portage County should produce as large an amount of coal as Trumbull, and much more than Summit, but up to the present time the coal production* of the county has been exceedingly small. This arises from the fact that the margin of the lower coal (Coal No. 1) is so generally covered with Drift that it does not show itself at the surface in many localities, and also that this coal here, as in the Mahoning Valley, lies in detached basins of limited extent, and is entirely absent over large areas from the place where it belongs, or is so thin as to be of little value. We may expect, however, that important basins of the Briar Hill coal will be found within the limits that have been marked out. Were it not for the Drift it would be easy to follow the outcrops of the rocks, and knowing just where to explore by digging or boring, to determine the presence or absence of the coal. In the present circumstances, however, even where coal may be supposed to exist, it can only be detected by boring blindly through the Drift deposits. In many places these will doubtless be found so thick as to cut out the coal, though the surface may be considerably above the coal level. Even where the rocks which belong above the coal may be found in place, from the irregular distribution of this seam, the chances are more than equal that the result of boring will show it to be absent, or too thin to have any economic value. Since, however, the coal of this stratum is so excellent, it will be the part of wisdom for all those who own territory lying within the lines I have traced to make such explorations as may determine whether or not they are in possession of some portion of this great source of wealth. The level of Coal No. 1, in the northern half of Portage County, varies from 500 to 600 feet above the lake. The dip being toward the south, the coal sinks rapidly in that direction, and rises correspondingly toward the north. At Ravenna the place of the coal is probably not far from the level of the intersection of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh and Atlantic & Great Western Railroads, or about 500, feet above Lake Erie.

Coal No. 1 has been opened, and is now quite extensively mined in Palmyra. It here exhibits the same general features, both as regards thickness. and quality, as the coal of the neighboring counties of Mahoning and Trumbull. The coal mining of Palmyra is principally done by the Western Reserve Coal Company, to a member of which company, Mr. W. B. Wilson, of Palmyra, I am indebted for much valuable information concerning the operations of his own company, and in regard to other developments of coal made in this township. The coal mined by the Western Reserve Coal Company is reached by a shaft which is eighty-one feet deep to the coal, or ninety-five feet from the tip. It is reported that in sinking the shaft eighteen feet of earth, was first passed through, and then sixty-three feet of rock, mainly shale, in which were two strata of " kidney" ore. The coal varies from two to four

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feet in thickness, being thickest in a " swamp" which runs northwest and southeast in a tortuous course. On each side of this crooked basin the coal rises and thins, and is worked to the thickness of two feet. The company is taking out about 4,000 tons per annum, selling it at the mine at $3.00 per ton. The coal is of excellent quality, being very free from sulphur, and containing little ash. It is a block coal, finely laminated with charcoal seams, and is not surpassed in quality by any coal in the State outside of the Mahoning Valley. According to our barometric measurements by a single line of observations, the center of Palmyra is 120 feet above Ravenna Station, or 650 feet above Lake Erie. The tip of the coal company's shaft is 430 feet above Lake Erie, and the coal 335 feet above the lake. Owing to the variability ot the barometer, these figures can not be relied upon as absolutely correct. The Western Reserve Coal Company has 200 acres of coal land in the eastern part of Palmyra, on the center road. How large a part of those 200 acres is underlaid by coal of workable thickness has not yet been ascertained. Other companies have been making explorations in this neighborhood, and report about 200 acres of good coal land in addition to that before mentioned.

In the northwestern part of the township some 300 acres of coal property are said to have been tested, and the coal is reported to be from three to four feet in thickness. Coal has also been found in the northeastern and southwestern parts of the township. We thus have good reason for believing that a somewhat extensive basin, or series of basins, of the Briar Hill coal exists in and about Palmyra, but years of exploration will be required before-it will be known what the connection, limits and value of this coal field are.

From the shaft in Palmyra the coal extends west and south to an unknown distance, and possibly reaches under much of the central and southern parte of the county. Since the place of Coal No. 1 is from 200 to 250 feet below the surface over a considerable part of the higher land, it is apparent that most of the boring yet done has formed no test of its presence or absence.

In the valley of the Mahoning, in Deerfield, an outcrop of coal may be seen which was supposed by Mr. Read, who examined it, to be the Briar Hill coal. It is, howevere only about a foot in thickness, and it is probable that lower, it is the next seam above. A boring of limited depth would decide the question. In Brimfield and Suffield there is a large amount of territory which deserves more careful exploration than it has yet received. Here the land rises to 150 feet above the level of the coal, but the surface is generally occupied by Drift. Little is known of the nature of the underlying rocks, but from the relation which this district holds to the coal basins of Tallmadge and Springfield, in Summit County, there is a great probability that sooner or later good deposits of coal will be found here. It should be borne in mind, however, that from the circumstances which I have fully explained in the report on the geology of Summit, the lower coal is oftener absent than present in the place where it belongs, and it is, therefore, to be expected that a large part of the trials which may be made here will result in disappointment.

At Limaville, on the southern line of the county, Coal No. 1 has been struck in borings by Dr. J. A. Dales, at the depth of about 170 feet, or less than 350 feet above the lake. According to the reports by Dr. Dales, the coal has here a thickness of over four feet. Analyses prove that it has he purity and physical character of the Mahoning Valley coal. Should a considerable area in this vicinity be found to be underlaid by Coal No. 1, it would be difficult to exaggerate the importance it would assume among the wealth producing elements of the county, and it is sincerely to be hoped that the examinations begun here will be carried through the townships lying north, until this important question shall be definitely settled.

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Coals Nos. 3 and 4.—By reference to the general section of the rocks of e county, it will be seen that at a distance from the lower coal—generally m fifty to seventy-five feet—a thin seam occurs. This has no value in this t of the State, and requires here no further notice.

l

From 150 to 200 feet above Coal No. 1, two other seams come in, which sometimes of workable thickness. These we have designated as Coals No. and No. 4. They are separated by a distance of thirty to fifty feet, and are ually both overlaid by limestone. Sometimes, however, one or both of the rmestones are replaced by shale. These coal seams, here as elsewhere, have roved to be quite irregular in their thickness, although in a general way ntinuous from Portage through Summit, Stark, Wayne, Holmes, Coshocton ounties, etc., to and beyond the National Road. Both these coals may be en in the northeastern corner of Atwater, where the north and south road sea a small stream, and not far from the locality where so much fire-clay is Here the limestone of No 3 shows in the bed of the brook at a level of seventy feet above the railroad at Atwater, or 580 feet above Lake Erie. It is four feet in thickness, and, as usual, has iron ore over it The coal beneath is only a few inches thick. Some twenty feet above the limestone foal No. 4 is seen in the road, here apparently four feet thick, but with scarcely by covering. No limestone is visible over it.

In Limestone Ridge, in Freedom, both these strata are shown. The upper ne is thin, but is overlaid by limestone, which is here burned for quicklime. Coal No. 3 is seen in the road at the south end of Limestone Ridge; as usual, it is underlaid by a thick bed of fire-clay.

On the farm of Wilson Davidson; about half a mile distant from the last- named locality, this coal has been mined, though not largely, for a number of years. It is here about twenty-two inches thick. From the fact that this seam was represented as Coal No. 1 by the geologist who, when connected with the ftrst geological survey of the State, made an examination of this region (Annual Report of 1838, p. 59), no thorough exploration has ever been made of the strata below it. Possibly such explorations would have been fruitless, as the lower seam is so frequently absent from its place; but as the tree position of Coal No. 1 is at least 150 feet below Mr. Davidson's coal, it is evident that a large area in the vicinity deserves examination by deep boring. Considerable money has been spent in boring in Freedom, but, so far as I can learn, none of the wells have been carried deep enough to determine the presence or absence of the lower coal. One well bored on Limestone Ridge is reported to have furnished the following section:

                                   Feet - Inches

Earth........................ ... 14 ...... 0

Limestone.. ..... ....... ..... 8 .......0

Shale ........................... 54 .......0

Coal.................................1 ....10

Fire-clay..........................?

Sandrock.......................30 ......0

Shale ..... ........ ............ 10 ......0

In this boring the upper limestone coal was absent or so thin as not to attract notice. The lower limestone was absent, as seems to be the case generally in this vicinity. The place of the lower coal was not reached by from seventy-five to one hundred feet. Another hole was bored by William Crannage, for Mr. George Worthington, of Cleveland, without finding the coal sought for, but was almost certainly not carried to a sufficient depth.

A well sunk near the quarries on Limestone Ridge is said to have passed through-