Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-10-28
Ancient Civilization in NermO' lt.

l,r-h tree 1t WAS much corr Jded bv rust
mon The outside. and seemed to have lain
in ,la; position a very great .ength of time.
7. MS made of steel rings bout one fourth !
# m inch in diameter. 10 :ked together in
The way steel ring purs es are made, but
,n.l-h thicker; and inste al of being brazcd, |
... I.f open. were all nicely rivited The |
,,;r,. WAS about the ize of a coarse knit |
,;u.r needle The f Jrm of the article was |
I.h,. thlt of L shirt reaching down below
th, hips. with the collar made of several
,h;chnc~,cS of t.rass wire put together in
th,. same way, '.he ends of the sleeves and
rI., bottom BENG bordered also with the
Ir.,~~ rings. The collar was open before
sufficiently Tor passing the head through,
when il c' Md BE- fastened so as to securely
project tie chest and throat. 1t WAS evi-
IDENTIFY designed to protect the wearer
Il raiuSt spears and arrows, and perhaps the
sword also: but by whom and when it WAS
l..tt j, open to conjecture 1t is now in
,h,. %ationd Museum ut Washington. ID. c.
Some twenty years ago. while party
>v..rr ut work repairing the Central Yer
mont Railroad at Swanton, one of the
workmen discovered a peculiar white
looking stone. rs he supposed, in the bank.
lie struck it with his shovel and picked ii
I'D. lis hcft still further attracte his at
f-nti,n: and he threw it up to the over
seer for his examination. The overscer
found it to be a chunk of lie id. much cor
rodcd. and covered with spruce gum upon
tn. ends: this he removed with his knife
and found the lrtd hollow, in the interior
Of which he found Il paper. rough and old.
but written over on one side with words
which he could not fully make out, bat
which were afterwards read, and 4 fac
smile made of the writing, copy OF
which is now in the State Cabinet. where
the original was placed by DR.. Hall of
Swan,on, subject to his control, and WAS
bv him taken and the fac simile left in itS
place. in 1873. | understood from him
him that the owner is Il lady in Burlington
and it i, 20 be hoped that she will donate
the same to the State collection. The
written manuscript. being in ancient Eng
l9h, reads as follows:
Nov %. A. d.. 1864.
Thi, is the solemn day. must now die.
This i, the 90th day since we left the
ship: all have persisted, and on the bank:
of this river die So farewell. May fl
ture po>teritv know our end.
JOHN GRAVE.
Many suppose this the trick of som,
insane person or rogue. and that it ough
not t. receive credcnce: but the argument
in it, favor are. to many minds, conclu-iv,
4, To- il, antiquity. 1t Is deemed certain
that it was honestly found rs above stated
and also found several feet from the sur
ficr. Its exact history can probably neT
cr b, known.
In 1851. Mr.. NJ Mott. of Alburgh, CT
a hcmIock which stood in Il hemlcc
Grove :tbo:t three fourths OF 4 mile trol
the lake. The tree was about twenty
cieht inches in diameter. After the tire
WI, cut. Mr. Mott noticed a bulge nea
the butt which he thought might lnJur
the stick which he desired, and so cut o
>ix feet of it, which he drew to his hou-
f,r wood: when he came to split 1t /
found axe marks in the interior, shown
that it had when small, been hcwed O
four sides. making it nearly square f'
eighteen inches. over which marks II;
crown two and hundred forty Grains til
could he distinctly counted. 1t was pro
allie there. were several more. but a man
4, above stated distinct. 1t seems n
improbable that this tree was marked
Chamllain when he discovered the lal
in 1Gr9. or by him in some of his lat
visits t. the lake aS it seems he visited
several times before his death in l635.
Mr.. Mott preserved this specimen
several wears. but one day while fro
home hi, hired man burned it.
In january. 1872. Hosea Garfield Gu
hcmlocl tree about two and a half f'
in diameter, on hi, place a mile north
the village in Sheffield. 1t grew on t
highland. and WAS apparently sour
though somewhat shaky, as is usual
hcmIocks to be When the tree fell, abe
eighteen inches of the heart pulled {
and remained hanging on the stump,
veaIingaxe marks at the upper end III
led Mr. Garfield to investigate and he
ont the mark 1t seems that when
tree wa~ about four inches in diameter
WI, cut more than half down with a sh,
axe Til, came near destroying the
of thu tree and the growth is marked
hard knurlv growth rather than by re-
lar Grain, until this mark was nea
healed outside OF this growth there W
counted distinctly two hundred and fiji
sN grains. 1t seems probable that the M
wt> made two hundred and SEVENTH
wears ago at least. This is earlier thai
j, supposed that men with steel axes t.
"lel III Vermont, Yet Of course 50
ships crew mi ght have touched upon
r.a~' or been shipwrccked here. so IA:
g'T" 'h" possession of an axe to the
"an He it * it may, it is an interes t
Item In the ancient history of Vermc
hlH axe mark may be seen in the s.
Cabinet
should other relics of ancient date
found, we trust the friends of history
Pl1c" them here also, that they ma,
pre>crvcJ
CURATOR STATE CABINE