Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1889-12-24
INDIAN GRAVES A-eLeNTy.
Places in Connecticut Where DiSEers Find
NO End Of Bones and Relics.

Places IN Connections W mere D1SBefs Inc
/ NO End Of Bones and Relics.
The whole of this section of Con.
lnecticut seems to have once been a
vast burying ground, either of Indians
or some extinct savage race Many
skeletons have been dug up in this
city and vicinity during the past few
years, and new specimens of wonder
fully well preserved bones and bodies
are constantly being disclosed. On
| Prospect street the skulls of several
Indian women have been unearthed by
laborers while digging for sewers and
house foundations, and at Seaside
| park a dozen or more Indian graves
| have been opened. In these graves
are found pipes, beads, arrow heads,
drills, knives and various trinkets
such as savage men and women use
| to adorn their belts On Golden hill
many skeletons have been exhumed
within a year or two, and it Is almost
impossible to dig post hole or trench
without coming In contact with hui
man bones.
The town of Stratford comes in for
a large share of renown on account of
the many strange graves which have
been opened. Curious pieces of pot
terry, bearing rude ornamentation, are
frequently taken from Stratford
graves, and gorgeous trinkets, which
are different from those found in other
places, show that the tribes in the sew
eral districts were quite unlike in their
habits and modes of ornamentation.
Bordering on the sound, in Lower
Stratforl, and near the '.Spiritualists'
Hole, SO called because a company Of
Spiritualists forty years ago dug for
many days and nights in search of
Capt. Kidd's buried gold, there re-
mains the distinct evidence of an In
dian village, and numerous graves of
dead savages have been thrown open
by men who have more care for the
study of extinct people than for the sar
cred preservation of their last resting
places. The village of the braves was
situated on the edge of a great marsh
near the present lordship farm. In
some places the clam and oyster shells
are nearly two feet deep. These beds
indicate long occupancy of the re-
gion.
Charles Gray is one of the most en-
thusiastlc relic hunters in the village
of Southport. Near the Westport
town line he found several skulls,
which IN some instances are quite per
feet, with full sets of teeth in sound
condition. In one Indian grave he Sc
cured a number of valuable and curl
Ously wrought tobacco pipes, made of
they appear to have been colored in
the same manner that meerschaum
pipes are made brown by long use. In
another grave, beneath a huge oak
tree, Mr.. Gray has unearthed the skele-
ton of an Indian which had been bur
led In a sitting posture. The bones
are evidently those of an adult squaw,
and with them were found genuine
Indian dinner pot and a samp mill,
which consists of a rough mortar and
pestle of stone. These were at one
lime subjected to great heat The
is that these implements
we're from time to time thr0wn into
he lire as offerings Of worship, and>
5urled with quantities of hickory -uuts !
- yZlrne1d, Near the residence OF
Arthur Bennett, and not far from the
Line of the Consolidated railroad, some
very curious Indian tools and orna-
ments have been found In the graves
Of the people who hunted and hsheo
in the prolific streams and forests OF
this part of New England. In all OF
these graves. WHICH arc hiAeeA "AeN
sand and gravel, there are vast guam
titles of clam and oyster shells. There
seems to be something about the sou
which preserves the bones intact ana
without decay. Even the hair of most
of them remains long, black ana
glossy. .,,
In Sandy Hook, a few miles north
of Bridgeport, there are three Indian
mounds, which are said to be COM
pleteIy filled with the relics of the
race of savages which once made west
ern Connecticut its hunting and fish
ing ground. These mounds are from
six to ten feet in height, and vary from
five to twenty rods in length They
are on private property. Members OF
the Bridgeport Scientific society nave
endeavored to obtain permission to
open these mounds, but on account OF
superstition or some other cause land
owners will not allow the resting
place of the extinct race to be disturb
ed Bridgeport Comm Cor, New
York Sun.