Los Angeles herald., 1891-10-27
THE LEAD MINES OF 10.
TRADITIONS CONCERNING THEM IN
Pennsylvania.

A Blacksmith of Former Days Who Ran
Into Bullets Ore Supplied by Indians.
Pointers That Do Not Develop-Red
Mems Pipes and Weapons.
Where, if anywhere, are the lead
mines of northwestern Pennsylvania? In
connection with attempts to answer this
question the writer hereof, in boyhood,
harvested many stone bruises by day
and treasure dreams by night, together
with numerous traditions of the days of
practically unbroken forests, bears
grease and primeval economy.
This section, comprising parts Of
northern Venango and southern Craw-
! ford counties, is about forty miles south
! of Cory, sixteen miles north of Oil City,
! ten miles west of Titusville and eight
cen miles east of Meadville. There is no
doubt in the minds of plenty of entirely
rational people that somewhere within,
or continuously without, the region of
country which these towns bound, there
is locality where an exceptionally good
quality of lead ore may be obtained, or,
at least, the locality where ore of such
quality was obtained formerly by the
Indians, both for their own use and to
sell or trade to the white settlers. AS
the source of this supply was carefully
kept a secret by the Indians-mainly of
Chief Cornplanter's tribe-and has never
been discovered, it is regarded as rea-
sonable to infer that it may yet be a
source of profit as to believe that it was
exhausted.
PIONEERS EXPERIENCE.
At what is now Bradleytown, a vii
lage three miles southwest Of here, on
one of the branches of Sugar Creek, a
pioneer named Jacob Jennings lived 100
years ago and had near his pioneer
house a small blacksmith shop. From
Mrs. Samuel Matson, of Chapmanville,
and John Jennings, of Sunville, some
interesting "reminiscences were obtained
as related by their father, who was a
son of Jacob Jennings. The latter, at
his blacksmith shop, frequently smelted
and run into bullets rich lead ore sup
piled by the Indians. They made peri
odical trips to this place for that pur-
pose. Coming up from the Allegheny
river they made it q point to reach his
home in the evening, there being usually
several in the party. They would be
allowed to stay and would sleep around
| the fireplaces in the house and shop. At
daybreak they would strike northward
up the creek and would return a few
hours later with stock of the lead
product to Ne melted. No amount of
persuasion, of barter or of purchase
], ~. Al,
whereabouts of the lead deposits
Fifty years ago, according to a mem
Der of the family, Mrs. Robert Gillespie
and daughter, then a little girl, were
lost in the woods, and during their wan
derings found along ravine an out
cropping of lead-flled rock, piece of
which they took with them. After find
ing their way home they were unable to
find their way back with older members
of the family to the point where they
had found the lead. Various and con-
tinuous searches have been made since
along the ravines in that section, one
enthusiast devoting a considerable por-
ton of year to the search; but aside
from a fragment weighing about four
pounds, and found in field in Randolph
township, Crawford county, where it
had apparently been dropped, no lead
ore has been discovered.
MATERIAL FOR PROsPECToRs.
The prospector able to develop point
ers from Indian relics may find consid-
cradle material in that line in this Sec
ton. AT Wallaceville, three miles south
east of here, he may find whole field of
! H.
tions. A mile north of here, just across
the line in Crawford county, he may
find remnants of several large stone
piles constructed of stones having nota-
BILE uniformity in size and piled up by
the Indians for some unknown purpose
before the time of the earliest settlers.
If he will follow the plow for a season
in the southwestern part of this town
ship-Plum township, Venango county
or the northerly adjoining township of
Troy, in Crawford county, his labors
will probably be rewarded with a fresh
stock of pipes, weapons and other relics
of the noble and ignoble Lo.
If he will further follow the plow in
field along the Sugar Creek flats, about
two miles north of the Jacob Jennings
homestead, and will fail to lift the point
of his plow when he reaches a certain
point ir1that field, his pillow handles will
smite him hip and thigh and put him to
rout. The cause thereof will be that the
plow point will strike the edge of a circu-
lar bed of burned and pounded stone 1t
is about ten feet in diameter, projects to
the top of the ground where efforts have
not been made to get down to the bot
tom of it, and is known to have been
there fully $50 years-how much longer
no man knows, as it was then, accord
ing to pioneer tradition, as much mat
ter Of mystery and antiquity as at pres
ent.
If the lead prospector chooses to con
slider it of no value to him, he may re-
gard it as one of the places where the
Norsemen, poking out this way from
Newport and the vicinity Of Boston,
paused to bake beans. If he is inclined
to be less skeptical he may do as tradi
ton says the early settlers did-regard
it as the foundation of sort of Indian
crucible or furnace which served in part
as smelter for lead previous to the in
PRODUCTION of firearms on this continent,
and for purposes unknown. Plum (Pa)
! Cor. Philadelphia Press.