(from the beginnings of North America)

“The History of Darke County,”

Text by Frazer Wilson, 1914. Illustrated and annotated by Kenneth Harper Finton, 2023

[The History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time was originally published in calendar form by The Hobart publishing Company; Wilson, Frazer Ells, 1871-1947 Publication date 1914 Topics Darke County (Ohio) — History, Darke County (Ohio) — Biography, genealogy Publisher Milford, O., The Hobart publishing company.

This rock underlies most of the upper Mississippi valley — the most fertile continuous section of the United States.

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“The earliest records of Darke County, Ohio, are not written upon parchment or perishable writing material, but in the face of the underlying Niagara limestone. The encased fossil crinoids and the sedimentary character of this rock plainly indicate that it once formed the bed of an ancient ocean. The extent of this formation and the slight westerly inclination of the rock toward the basin of the Mississippi river suggest that this ocean was an extension of the Gulf of Mexico, spreading from the Appalachian to the Rocky Mountains, and from the gulf to the rocky heights of Canada. This is the verdict of scientists, who have made careful and exhaustive researches in this field, and we humbly accept their verdict. It is useless to speculate on the eons of time that have elapsed since this rock finally emerged from this ancient sea to form the landed area of the Ohio Valley… Niagara limestone.

This rock underlies most of the upper Mississippi valley — the most fertile continuous section of the United States.

The rock strata which generally appear nearest the surface here, as well as in northern and western Ohio, and the states immediately adjoining on the north and west, are a part of one of the great limestone formations of our continent. This rock underlies most of the upper Mississippi valley — the most fertile continuous section of the United States. In this locality the rock is covered with glacial till, debris and loam to an average depth of probably one hundred feet. Although lying for the most part in an approximately horizontal position some faults have been discovered where the rock appears to be entirely missing. Such faults have been detected southeast of the intersection of the Pennsylvania and Dayton and Union railways within the corporate limits of Greenville, at the county infirmary and at the Pennsylvania water tank some two miles south of Greenville in the Mud Creek valley. They may be simply pre-glacial gorges.”

Darke county owes its name to Lieut. Col. William Darke, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1736. At the age of five years he removed to the neighborhood of Shepherdstown, Virginia. He served with the Virginia provincial troops at Braddock’s defeat. During the Revolution he served with distinction, being taken prisoner at Germantown and commanding as colonel two Virginia regiments at the siege of York, He was a member of the Virginia legislature for several successive terms. At St. Clair’s defeat in 1791, he led the final charge that cleared the way for a successful retreat of the remnant of the army. He died November 20, 1801, and his remains are buried in the old Presbyterian burying ground near Shenandoah Junction, Berkeley county. West Virginia. The remains of his only son. Captain Joseph Darke, who died from wounds received at St. Clair’s defeat, lie buried near by. Colonel Darke was a farmer by occupation, and is described as having a large, strong, well-knit frame, rough manners, and being frank and fearless in disposition

WHAT LIES BELOW DARKE COUNTY?

The geological formation of this section was well shown while prospecting for natural gas in this vicinity in 1886-1887. The first well bored on the site of the old fairground (Oakview) made the following exhibit :

[QUOTING 1887 DRILLING DATA]

“Rock was reached at a depth of 89 feet, thus showing the thickness of the drift formation. The Niagara limestone extended from this point to a depth of 260 feet when the Niagara shale was reached. At a depth of 140 feet this limestone was mixed with flint, and at a depth of 153 feet, dark shale, or drab limestone, predominated; but at a depth of 175 feet this limestone was quite white and pure and much resembled marble. The Niagara shale is of light gray color and might be mistaken for the Niagara clay, and as it came from the well was quite pliable, being easily made into balls, the material becoming hard when dry and containing a great deal of grit.

“From this point to 1134 feet, the drill passed through continuous shale of the Huron formation, but sometimes so dark that it might be classified with the Utica shale. This formation was not uniform in texture, but sometimes was quite compact and hard; at other times .soft and porous, enabling the drill to make rapid progress.

“At 1134 feet the formation changed to a lighter color, more compact, and contained much limestone. The first Trenton rock was reached at a depth of 1136 feet. The rock was darker than ordinary, quite compact, and with no flow of gas, though a little was found while passing through the shale. At 1148 feet the hardness seemed to increase, and at 1195 feet the limestone became whiter, but as hard and compact as before. At 1210 feet it much resembled in appearance the formation at 140 feet, though finer in texture and entirely destitute of the flinty formation. At 1570 feet it seemed, if possible, to be harder than before, with a bluish cast of color; while at a depth of 1610 feet coarse, dark shale in loose layers again prevailed, accompanied by a very small portion of the limestone. At 1700 feet the limestone changed to its original white color and compact form, accompanied with sulphur; and at a depth of 1737 feet bitter water and brine were found, the water being blue in color and unpleasant in taste and odor; but after being exposed to the air for some time it became clear, the unpleasant smell disappeared and the saline or salty taste alone remained.

[The rocks of the Trenton Group are called limestones, but are sediments are more complex than simple limestones. Within the succession of rocks along West Canada Creek from Trenton Falls to Prospect, New York, the Trenton Group is composed of mixed siliciclastic and carbonate rock types.]

“We notice that the Trenton was reached at 1136 feet. The surface at this point is about 1055 feet above sea level, so that the Trenton rock was here reached at a depth of 81 feet below salt water. This places it much higher than at other points in this part of the state where wells have been sunk and gas obtained; and this fact, with the compactness of the rock, will show that gas can not be obtained here. We know of no other point outside the county where wells have been sunk that the formations are the same as here.”

LOCAL EXPOSURES

“Limestone exposures occur to a limited extent in at least five places within the county, as follows : On the Stillwater at Webster, in the southwest quarter of section thirty-two in Wayne township, where the rock is hard but unfit for quarrying on account of its irregular and massive condition ; near Baer’s [Bear’s](Cromer’s) mill on Greenville creek, about four and one-half miles east of Greenville, in the southwest quarter of section twenty-seven (27), Adams township, where the rock forms the bed of the creek for some distance. Quarries were once operated by Bierley, Rosser and Hershey in the bottom of the valley where the rocks are covered with about two feet of red clay or loam, intermingled with decomposed lime rock, and strewn with heaps of granite drift boulders. The upper section is of a buff color and is soft and fragile, while below many fossil crinoids appear and the rock is darker and harder.

“Two exposures of rock occur in the Mud creek valley: one on the southwest side of the prairie, about a mile from Greenville, in the southeast quarter of section thirty-three (33), Greenville township ; the other near Weaver’s Station in the southeast quarter of section twenty-nine (29), Neave township. At the former place, known as Card’s quarries, the rocks are found folded with an inclination to the south and east. Here the rocks are similar to those at Baer’s mill and contain many fossils. Near Weaver’s Station the creek flows over a horizontal bed of limestone for about a hundred and fifty yards. This stone is not hard enough for building purposes and seems to contain no fossils. A section of rock is exposed in the southwest quarter of section twenty-four (24), Harrison township, about a mile south of New Madison, near the headwaters of the east fork of the Whitewater river, where a lime kiln was formerly operated by one C. B. Northrup.

“Careful calculations indicate that the rocks at Card’s kiln and near Baer’s mill have an elevation from seventy-five to ninety feet above the corresponding strata underlying the city of Greenville, which appears to be built on an immense glacial drift, deposited in a preglacial valley. In the pioneer days, lime rock was quarried at Baer’s, Card’s and Weaver’s Station, burned in kilns and used extensively for plastering, brick laying, whitewashing, etc. The quality of lime produce was of a very high grade, but on account of the limited areas of outcrop and the obstacles encountered in getting the rock out, these quarries have been abandoned for several years.

“Building rock is now secured at the more extensive and easily quarried outcrops in Miami, Montgomery and Preble Counties.”

SANDSTONE BECOMES ROCK WITH TIME AND PRESSURE

After the formation of the Niagara limestone, for some reason, probably the cooling and contracting of the earth’s crust, the bed of the ocean in which it had been deposited was partially elevated and added to the continental area. This occurred in the upper Mississippi valley and the region of northern and western Ohio as above noted. In the fluctuating shallows of the sedgy Sargasso Sea, which fringed this newly elevated limestone plateau on the east and south, a rank vegetation flourished on the carbon-freighted vapors of the succeeding era.During uncounted millenniums, forest succeeded forest, adding its rich deposit of carboniferous materials to be covered and compacted by the waters and sedimentary deposits of many recurring oceans into the strata of coal now found in southeastern Ohio and vicinity. Finally the moist air was purged of its superabundant carbon dioxide and mephitic vapors and a new age dawned, during which bulky and teeming monsters lunged through the luxuriant brakes and teeming jungles of a constantly enlarging land.

LATER FORMULATIONS OVER OHIO VALLEY

The vast ocean gradually retreated, foothills were added to the primeval mountain ranges, plateaus swelled into shape and a new continent was formed. Thus is explained the presence of the beds of coal and the immense stratified deposits of sandstone, limestone, slate and shale overlying the Niagara limestone in eastern Ohio, and thus geologists arrive at the conclusion that a period estimated at hundreds of centuries intervened between the appearance of “dry land” in western Ohio and eastern Ohio.

GLACIAL INVASION

While eastern Ohio was in process of formation the vast Niagara limestone plateau to the west was being deeply eroded by the active chemical agents and the frequent terrific storms of that far-off and changing age. The smoothing touch of a mighty force was needed to fill the yawning chasms and deep ravines and prepare the surface of this ancient continent to be the fit abode of imperial man and his subject creatures.

Such a force was soon to become operative. Evidence has been adduced by prominent geologists and special students of glacial action to show that part of the deep soil of northern and western Ohio and the contiguous territory has actually been transported from the region north of the Great Lakes by the action of glacial ice, and deposited in its present location upon the melting and retreat of the immense frozen mass. Ice, snow and glacial debris probably covered this part of Ohio to a depth of several hundred feet during this frigid era. Startling as this statement may at first seem it has been arrived at after a careful scientific observation and study of the active glaciers of Greenland, Alaska, Norway and Switzerland.

THE LAURENTIDE GLACIER

The center of accumulation and dispersion of this glacial ice was probably the Laurentian plateau or ledge of primitive igneous and granitic rock lying north of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence river. During the Tertiary period, just preceding the formation of this great glacier, a temperature similar to that of southern Virginia prevailed in the polar regions. In course of time the northern part of the North American Continent probably became somewhat elevated while the central part became correspondingly depressed. The snows of years and centuries accumulated on this elevated region, consolidated into glacial ice, pushed slowly southward along the line of least resistance, filled up the depressions occupied by the Great Lakes, and then moved on over the divide until arrested and counteracted by the increasing heat of lower latitudes. As in the case of modern glaciers, this vast sheet advanced and retreated in obedience to meteorologic agencies, carrying on its surface or within its mass broken fragments and debris from its native granite ledges, scraping and pushing forward immense quantities of the eroded surface of the limestone rock over which it moved, grinding, mixing, kneading, rubbing, polishing, sorting and finally depositing this material where it is now found.

[The debris left behind by glaciers is called Moraine fields.]

TERMINAL MORAINE

The southern boundary of this great ice sheet has been carefully traced from the New England states, across New York, Pennsylvania, the northern Ohio Valley states, and the states north of the Missouri river. Roughly speaking, this glacial boundary line, in its central and western portion, parallels the Ohio and Missouri Rivers. It enters eastern Ohio in Columbia County, continues in a westerly direction to Canton in Stark County, and thence a few miles beyond Millersburg in Holmes County; here it turns abruptly southward through Knox, Licking and Fairfield counties and into Ross County; thence it bears southwestward through Chillicothe to southeastern Highland County and northwestern Adams County, reaching the Ohio River near Ripley in Clermont County. Following the north bank of the river to Cincinnati, it here crosses over into Boone County, Kentucky, makes a short circular loop and recrosses the Ohio River into southeastern Indiana, near Rising Sun. It now follows approximately the north bank of the Ohio to the neighborhood of Louisville, Ky., where it turns northward to Martinsville, in Morgan County, in the south-central part of the state. Here it turns west and south and crosses the Wabash River near New Harmony. It continues this course to near the center of the extreme southern part of Illinois, then bends in a northwesterly direction and crosses the Mississippi just south of St. Louis, Missouri. The most productive soil lies north of this line and within the glaciated area.