I was browsing my copy of Ben Douglass' History of Wayne County and came across an article about James Adams. Mr. Adams was a coal dealer near Doylestown in the early 1800's. Here is what Ben Douglass wrote about him:
James Adams was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, in the year 1800. At the age of 18 he learned blacksmithing, and in 1820 he removed to Chippewa township. He owns a valuable coal farm near Doylestown, and is comfortably and independently situated. He is familiar with the annals of his township. He informs us that "Rogues Hollow " was a resort in the early days for some fellows who made pewter money there and "shoved the queer." Old George Zealy frequented the "hollow". He was a preacher, and was sent to the penitentiary from Wooster,but was soon released. Mr. Adams is a hale, hearty and lively man, a wide-awake, get-up-and-get citizen, stout, athletic, with a "right" and a "left" ever at his service. He is a genial gentleman and a social, clever man.
I had never seen the phrase "shove the queer" before, so I did a little bit of internet research. I found that the word "queer" is slang for counterfeit money. "Shoving the queer", then, is slang for passing counterfeit money.
So, what is this about counterfeiters in Rogues Hollow? I am aware of the ghost stories that have been floating around since I was a kid, but this is the first I've heard of counterfeiting. So, back to the internet I went to learn more.
My Google search led to an interesting site:
http://www.forgottenoh.com/rogueshollow.html
This link will take you to Forgotten Ohio's Rogues Hollow page. There you will find a real bonus. This site makes available all of the pages from Russell Frey's book, "Rogue's Hollow - History and Legends".
Well, not being one to "look a gift horse in the mouth" (you guessed it, another internet search: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/117000.html ), I decided to read some of the information dropped in my lap (pages 34 thru 36). Turns out, Russel Frey discovered some interesting information from old copies of the Tri-County News (probably microfilm at the library). The article Frey quotes is written by a Dr. Stepfield from Rittman, Ohio. Dr Stepfield explains that there are counterfeit coins being circulated in the area (Rittman, Doylestown), and readers should be aware of coins that feel a bit light in weight, don't appear to be perfectly round, and feel a bit oily to the touch. The oily feel, it turns out, was due to the mercury used in the manufacture of them. From Frey's book:
"Look out for dangerous counterfeit dollars. They do not stand the nitric acid test. They cause a greasy sensation on the fingers due to the mercury employed on the surface .... Also have imperfect edges. Look out for them"
From Frey's book, it appears that the counterfeits were being minted in a flooded and abandonded mine in Rogue's Hollow. The flooded mine was leased from the coal company, and steam engines were used to operate pumps that drained the mine ... but also provided power to operate the presses that produced the bogus coins.
Evidently, these coins were then distributed in surrouding communities, never too close to Rogue's Hollow, to prevent discovery of the illicit operation in the mine. Occasionally, the coins would find their way into local miner's pockets, however. But they would be traded back-and-forth between the miner's and the pubs they frequented, never to the local banks and financial institutuions. It seems that the federal reserve laws of the day required banks to comfiscate any counterfeit currency, and possibly restrain the person trying to "shove the queer".
How ironic, isn't it, that if that happened today, given the mercury content of the "queer", it would be the EPA first on the scene, and not the federal reserve!
Here is a site if you want to see what counterfeit silver dollars of the era looked like:
http://www.silver-coins.org/1885_morgan_dollar.html
Here is a YouTube video about some of Rogue's Hollow legends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkfrowdWRaI
