TUMULI OF WAYNE COUNTY
Benjamin Douglass
excerpt from
The History of Wayne County
1897

The order of tumuli observable in Wayne county, Ohio, is of the character of defensive enclosures and sepulchral mounds, and comes under the classification of earthworks. The exact number that may have been within its limits at the first settlement we are not able to define, as the traces of many of them have been entirely blotted out. Civilization, it would appear, sometimes uncivilizes man; for in his highest estate of it he will mutilate pyramids, destroy palaces and level monuments. These monuments of our pre-historic age should be preserved by the owners of the soil. The voice within them, that the centuries have throttled, may yet speak.

Of those that still exist there is an indefinite number. Concerning others the places that mark them are now known only by the oldest people. Others are found in a partially obliterated condition, while a few may be observed with shape and contour of first construction, abraded and worn by the friction of centuries, and but faintly exhibit their original outlines. The one in Canaan township, a merely circular embankment, near the Killbuck, and in the earlier days quite sharply defined, has been sacrilegiously obliterated.

In the eastern portion of the county, those in Sugarcreek township, present some quite prominent features and possess keen interest. The one south-west of Dalton has a diameter of about three hundred feet east and west, and north and south a diameter of about two hundred and twenty-five feet. It is bisected or cut in two by a road, and that part of the circle south of the road is included in a field of John Swartz, which is cultivated, and where there no longer remains a vestige of embankment or ditch. The other segment is on the farm of Joseph McElhenie,

1873 map showinng the McElheny and Swartz properties

Satellite image (Google) of the McElheney and Swartz properties

Topographic map showing sharp elevation difference between the two properties

Ground level view of the two properties

and as yet remains in forest. There is also in this township on the lands of Mr. Graber, in a dense and elevated wood, what we have chosen to style a sepulchral mound, four or five feet in height, and with the other average dimensions of this class of tumuli. Many of those of East Union, Clinton, Wooster, Plain, etc., with their faded outlines, have their history, but we see them best in the glamour of tradition.

Concerning some of those in Wooster township, Mr. Jeffries in his late work says :

"Two mounds of this class are upon the author's premises within the limits of the city of Wooster, Ohio. They are situated upon an eminence, and constructed of fine gravel and sand, and not of the same material of the surrounding country. The gravel and sand composing these tumuli were brought from some other locality. On opening one of the mounds fifteen years ago, and reaching a point on a level with the surrounding plain, the workmen came upon a deposit of black loam, in which were found two stone axes, one of which was granite,

Sepulchral mounds, like this one in Athens, Ohio, were common in Wayne County

the other flint. The granite had a deep groove, or crevice, extending around the main body of the axe, near the pole, evidently designed to sustain the handle. The pole was flat, with edges rounded ; the other end shaped like a common axe, and sharp, as much so as stone could be made. The other instrument had a pointed pole and sharp ax-bit, the whole surface being smooth. It was originally, when discovered, about six inches long, the axe end being about two and a half inches wide. Both of these instruments were of symmetrical pro- portions. Several arrowheads of flint were also found in the mound. The aborigines occupying this valley when the whites first settled here, had no knowledge, by tradition or otherwise, as regards the builders of these mounds. Their constructors had passed away long before the Shawnees, Delawares, and other Indian tribes had entered the country."

"On the highlands overlooking the city of Wooster, at the south, is an ancient fortification enclosing several acres of land. Only part of it now remains unobliterated, the main portion being in cultivated fields. That part uncultivated, lying in the woodland, is still visible, though the embankment is greatly worn down and the trench nearly filled up. Thirty  years ago the whole enclosure was easily traced, even through the plowed fields and across the public road, which was cut through the banks of the enclosure. The fort was not fully circular, that portion of it overlooking the Killbuck river to the west being an obtuse angle."

Fort Hill - In Wayne township, on the farm of Hugh Culbertson, Esq., 3 miles north-west of Wooster, is situated a most remarkable work. It consists of an enclosure and two mounds on a beautifully elevated bluff or ridge, the Chester township line taking off a very small portion of the western slope of the bluff. In the neighborhood, and with persons acquainted with it, it is familiarly known as " Fort Hill."

1873 map showing location  of  Fort Hill

Topographic map showing distinct elevation difference

On Overton Road, a view of the bluff where Fort Hill  was

From the point on its western slope traversed by the Chester township line north and south, it is six hundred feet in length to its eastern termini; its greatest width being about one hundred and fifty feet. The bluff is oblong with a slight curvature on its north side, its western point bearing faintly north of west, and its eastern extremity inclining north of east. A small ravine on its north side separates it from the bolder inclines of the Killbuck valley banks, the ravine defining its western slope and extending eastward its whole length to the Cedar Valley road. The road, penetrating the valley of Little Killbuck to the eastward on its northern side, approaches the ravine on the north at a mixed angle, forming, with the ravine, its southwest and northwest boundaries, and then, bearing in a more southerly direction, constitutes its southern boundary. On the extreme east passes the Cedar Valley road. The bluff faces to the south on the Little Killbuck Valley road, and has a perpendicular height of about 35 feet above the road and the valley below. The circle is west of the center of the bluff, and is about 112 feet east and west by 82 feet north and south, it being apparently broken now on the south by the falling away of the bank. About 65 feet from the enclosure, and a little north of west, and about 100 feet from the same, north of east, are two mounds 30 feet in circumference, with elliptical elevations of 8 feet above the surrounding surface. Out of these mounds human teeth and bones have been taken, and on the south side of the bluff, midway to its summit, a party of hunters, several years ago in digging after a ground hog, came in contact with and excavated human bones. These mounds on Fort Hill bear indisputable resemblance to those sepulchral ones already described. The bluff is a semi-isolated elevation, and its superficies are studded with stately trees and others of lesser growth.

Other earthworks in the County - Opposite to this point, across the Killbuck valley, due east one mile, on the farm of Rose Ann Eicher, in Wayne township, is another of these lines of circumvallation, consisting of an inner moat or trench and parapet. This work is emphatically a defensive enclosure, and as a simple fortification possesses great natural strength, and in its selection and arrangement indicates war-cunning and masterly ideas of defense. From trench to trench, east and west, its greatest length is 300 feet, and similarly measured, its greatest width, from north to south, is 195 feet. It is situated in the woods, and covered with a stout and ancient growth of timber. On its north side, in the trench, is growing a gum tree, over two feet in diameter, and on the south-east side, in the trench, stands a sturdy soft maple, 27 inches in diameter at the time it was measured. Other and larger trees occupy this enclosure. This extensive and formidable work is situated on the western declivity of the hills, east of the Killbuck valley, and is most acutely defined. The trench is several feet wide, and from its bottom to the top of the embankment or parapet, the distance is probably over four feet. Its extreme western boundary extends to the banks of the Killbuck stream, which affords water protection in front. On its north and south sides are ravines breaking the surface beyond the farther east line of the work, flanking each side of the enclosure, very close to the same, and to the stream. These ravines are abrupt and deep, and, before the waste and deposition of the ages, were difficult of passage.

Fort Tyler - On the western border of the county, and on the "mile strip," about two miles southwest of Blachleyville, is situated the most complete, interesting and perfectly outlined tumulus of the county. Since the memory of the oldest man runneth it has been known as " Fort Tyler. " In point of grandeur of location, determinate configuration and perfection of physical outline, we may well doubt if any in the range of the State surpass it. The site of the mound, with its regularly expressed elliptical circle, is on an imposing eminence, variously estimated from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding levels and bottoms at its base. This vast elevation is coniform in character, with steep, but gradually descending sides, and on its vertex, in primitive woodland seclusion, and under the friendly shelter of a nascent forest, is to be seen this mute but eloquent monument of the faded, Conjectural Man. The view from the summit, were it not obstructed by the young growth of trees, dotted all over the great cone, would be picturesque and charming. To the north-east, north and west, and forming a portion of its base, lie the rich alluvial levels of the Muddy Fork and Mohican valleys, while on the east and southeast repose  the deep bottoms of the Big Prairie, stretching far to the south a beautiful scroll of nature, pinned, on either side, to the skirts of the upland and hill.

Topographic map of  Fort Tyler area

Fort Tyler as seen from Blachleyville Road

Satellite image of the Fort Tyler area. An interesting outline can be seen immediately Northeast of the bluff. It has a shape similar the Great Serpent Mound, in Southern Ohio.

This tumulus is 1,200 feet in circumference in the trench, 300 feet across east and west, and 500 feet north and south. The trench, at this time, is two feet deep, and sufficiently wide to drive two horses abreast in it. What its depth and width was at the period of its construction is left to hypothesis. The embankment retains very marked proportions. Within this enclosure is a mound,  five feet high, with a base circumference of over one hundred feet, and a summit, or top diameter, of twenty feet, and is situated west and north of the center of the circle. The timber- growth covering this elevation is of the character of that which we find growing in what is recognized as the " Plains " of the county, the largest being a wild cherry, fourteen inches in diameter, though the different oaks, of approximate size, flourish abundantly, When John Collier, Major Tyler, John Tryon, etc., settled in that neighborhood over sixty years ago, this growth of saplings, as they may now be denominated, were but sprouts and shoots, through and over which the fleet deer could be seen springing, and which furnished browse for cattle in the winter.

Skeleton Exhumed -Thomas Bushnell, Esq., of Hayesville, Ashland county, Ohio, an archaeologist of local repute, having for half a century had knowledge of this tumulus, and believing that the interests of archzological science might be promoted by exploring it, resolved to penetrate it, and see if within its depths there was not an answer to its own dark mystery. On the 17th of June, 1877, calling to his aid George C. Blanford and John Andrews, he introduced the work of excavation. They commenced digging about the center of the mound, and, after descending to the depth of about six feet, discovered a human skeleton, some of the bones of which were entirely gone, others much wasted, and others, again, in a fair state of preservation.

So far as inference is valuable, the judgment of the excavators was, that from the time of interment the body had been undisturbed. Its position was face upward, indicating a civilized burial, head lying to the south, and represented a human being six feet in length. Drs. Kindig and Armstrong, of Hayesville, examined it, and pronounced it the skeleton of a male, the "structural intention" and contour being rather massive and heavy. The thigh bones, femur heads and sockets were large. The skull was in pieces, with the exception of the upper part and frontal section, and directly underneath where it lay, was a deposit resembling fine sifted dirt. The forehead was low, but the general cranial development was full. Ten sections of the vertebrae were found in a fair state of preservation. The nasal bone was readily identified, though the teeth and jaw-bones were missing. The shoulder blades and ribs were present. The arm, hand and finger bones were in an exceptionally well-conditioned state, and seemed to be near the center of the chest region of the skeleton-a proof that the arms were folded in death. The bones lower than the ankle joints were entirely gone.

Mr. Bushnell says, that, notwithstanding he exercised the most watchful scrutiny, he was wholly unable to detect the slightest vestiges of a coffin, either in the discoloration of the earth or other manifestations. In the clay he observed two flint scales, and near the body, about a half-bushel of ashes in a sunken hole and some charcoal. A boulder, weighing two hundred pounds or more, was encountered, lying in the abdominal or pelvic region of the skeleton.

Alexander Finley settled on the farm on which Tylertown is located, in Wayne county then, but in Mohican township, Ashland county now, as early as April, 1809, and Thomas Eagle, in the month of May, of the same year, and they, during their lives, had no knowledge of any burial in that mound; and Mr. Bushnell says he has repeatedly visited it during the last fifty years, and there has been no interment there.

Sarah Collier, wife of John Collier, the first white settler in Plain township, is buried directly north of this mound a short distance. A weather-blurred headstone, sadly leaning over the remains of the buried mother, dimly reads:

"Sarah Collier died, 1830, Aged, 38"

Some pitying, church-yard-haunting Old Mortality, straying hither, might employ his chisel and renew the fading words of death upon this mossy stone.