The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1892-01-01

This section, comprising parts Of
northern yenango and southern Craw-
ford counties, IS about forty miles south
Of CORY, sixteen miles north Of Oil City,
tsn miles west OF Titusyille and eight
cen miles east Of Meadyille. There Is nc
doubt IN the minds Of plenty Of entirely
rational people that somewhere within.
or contiguously without. the region OF
country which THESE towns bound. there
is a locality where al exception e. good
quality OF lead ore may be obtained, or.
at least. the locality where ore Ct such
quality was obtained formerly by the
Indians, both for their X use and &c
sell OF trade to the white settlers. AZ
the source Of this supply was carefully
kept a secret by the fundamentally Of
Chief Cornplanter tnbe-and has never
been discovered, 1t is regarded as rea-
sonable 70 infer that it may yet be a
source Of profit as TO believe that il was
exhausted.
A PIONEERS EXPERIENCE
AT what Is ROW B~radleytown, a vii
Iage three miles southwest Of here, on
one OF the branches Of Sugar Creek, 9
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 Sunyille. some
interesting "reminiscences were obtained
as related by their father. who was q
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 II q point TO reach MS
home in the evening, there being usually
several in the party. They would be
allowed 70 stay and would sleep around
the freplaces in the house and shop. All
daybreak they would strike northward
up the creek and would return a few
hours later with a stock Of the lead
product to be melted. No amount Of
persuasion, Of barter or Of purchase
price would cause them 70 disclose the
whereabouts Of the lead deposits.
Fifty years ago. according 10 a mem
Der Of the family. Mrs. Robert Gillespie
and a daughter, then a little girl, were
lost in the woods, and during their wan
derings found along a rayine an out
cropping Of lead-flled rock, a piece Of
which they took with them. After find
ing their way home they were unable te
find their way back with older member:
of the family TO the point where they
Ill E---7 H. III Tr-1-,- 81 49,,
tinuous searches have been made since
along the rayines in that section, one
enthusiast deYoting a considerable por-
ton Of a year 10 the search; but aside
from 4 fragment weighing about four
pounds, and found in a field in Randolph
township, Crawford county, where il
had apparently been dropped, no lead
ore has been discovered.
MATERIAL FOR PROSPECTUS.
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 a whole field Of
yet well defined mounds and excava.
tons. \ 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-
bic 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 q
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 in that field, his plow handles will
srnite him hip and thigh aud put him &c
rout. The caJlse thereof will be that the
plow point will strike the edge Of a circu.
lar bed Of burned and pounded stone II
IS about ten feet in diameter, projects tc
the top Of the ground where efforts have
not been made to get down to the bot
tom of 1t, and Is known to have been
there fully $50 years-how much longer
no man knows, as it waH then, accord
ing to pioneer tradition, as much a 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 a sort Of Indian
crucible or furnace which served in part
as a smelter for lead previous to the in-
troduction Of firearms on this continent,
and for purposes unknown.-Plum (Pa.)
Cor. Philadelphia Press.
We Are Not a Military People.
We Americans are not a military peo-