Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1873-08-28
STRANGE, IF TRUE.
The Revelations Of am Ovcrturn-
cd Onk,

GU VUhs
In hurricane passing over the Ohio
River and down the Miami Valley on The
night of the 4sh of July, splendid grove
Of oaks on the "old Anderson farm" Of 9
Mr.. Rogers, in the latter locality
was almost wholly prostrated. In con-
nection Herewith the following story il
communicated to the Miami County Dem
ocrat by Mr.. J. F. Clark:
Upon the morning subsequent to- the
storm Saturday Mr.. Rogers went, in
company with hired man, to inquire in.
to the extent of the damage inflicted up
on his premises, and the 6rst objectiv,
point was the ruined grove The cente
tree of tho plat was noble oak, the kint
over his fellows, and tree which hat
stood the rayages of time seemingly un
scathed for several centuries. This tree
had been snapped and fellcd by the storm
Upon examing the fallen giant for The
purpose Of ascertaining its worth as rail
timber, Mr.. Rogers made startling dis
covery. This was nothing less than The
fact that the tree, in falling. had dis
gorged q skeleton! The bones were
disconnected, yellow as gold with age, and
scattered promiscuously over several
square feet Of pasturage. The kull wat
almost intact; all the teeth, save two
molars, were still in their places, and
there was scar on the left parietal bone
which looked like a memento Of some
fierce cavalry charge. The humerus Of
the right arm was scattered, but save
the three defects just mentioned, the
skeleton, when put together, was without
blenish,
The tree in falling, should have
mentioned, was rent asundcr--a task NOT
difficult of accomplishment when !
refer to the fact that an examination
found that at some remote date the very
heart Of the oak had been cleft by light
ming. From spot twenty feet from
tho ground upwards to the FIRST great
fork-a distance of feet--a hollow cx-
tended, and from this cavity the skeleton
had been hurled. "If we but knew who
he was" thought my informant. Mr.. Ro.
gers, and strange to say, few minutes
later the twain discovered that the tree
had also disgorged thrilling history.
An old>fashioned leathern pocket or
memorandum book lay in remarkable
state Of preservation, which no doubt
had been dropped into the rent made BY
tho lightning, and thus been preserved
while its master decayed. A fcw brass
buttons of old aud unique pattern ware
found near the memorandum, but it is
with the latter that we have to deal.
This old leather purse, entirely money
less contained sundry papers covered
with rude pencil,ngs quito difficulty to
trace, as they we're written on the backs
of army passes, military consiguments
which dated as far back as l776.
Mr.. Rogers conveyed the bones to his
house, and set about to read the men,
oraDdum Of the captive Of the tree
But owing to his failing eyeSight he could
dccipher but little, and this little but a
conglomerato mass Of disconnections. But
still he read enough to learn that the
mans was Roger Vanderberg. native of
Lancaster. pa, and a Captain in the Rev.
olutionary Army. lie was an Aid to
Washington during the retreat across the
Jerseys, and served timO in Arnold s
headquarters at West Point. In 1901
he march with St Clair against the North.
western Indians. and in the famous OUT
break of that General on the Wabash,
November 8, Of tho year just written, he
was wounded aud captured. But while
being conveyed to the Indian town at
Upper Piqus, he effected bis escape, but
found himself hard pressed by his savage
foes. He saw the hollow in the oak.
aud despite the mangled arm, and with
the aid Of a beech that grew beside the
giant then, he gained the haven, and
dropped therein. Then came dreadful
discovery. He had miscalculated the
depth of the hollow, and there was no
escape. o, the story told by the diary
Of the oaks despairing prisoner! How
rather than surrender to the torture of
Of the stake he chose death BY starvation !;
how he wrote his diary in the uncertain
light and SHOWS! Here is one entry in
tho diary:
November 1o.-Five days without
foodl Wheh l sleep l dream Of luscious
fruits and foacing streams. The stars
laugh at my misery! II is showing now.
| freeze while I starve. God pitv me 20