z cS * 
 
 2 oh Reports on the Counties of 
 
 eneca, Wyandot and Marion. . 
 
 ‘ 
 
 <A “A 
 
 ‘THE FIRST VOLUME’ OF THE FINAL REPORT, — 
 
= 
 : be te 
 
 ae i ee ee ee Me Se en i tie Meeeaald AER i ie RSE Re rial hey | aE La ghz Rte aE Et bd tle RY care tat ba yuan ape bie hath ae gle = 
 
 ‘aR P ae reine, = 
 “6 * weld ’ | ' | 
 
 | ae P Seaoahe 
  ., oa en ee 
 7 " i ele? , . 
 : : - a : . = 
 
 ao be ph get a AO oe Bo 
 
YTV HINT OD HB IOVGIOYLS 
 
 "la ae RINQOOD VOUNAS 
 
 ere Guicseae Meme Ma eee, 
 
 dno1g 
 DDD DIN 
 
 ‘O°? 
 NOW DH 
 
 fas 
 
 of : ; f O 
 
 aL Pets ae 
 a Smaqsusew — [# 
 2 
 
 PULLT L3J0M f 
 
 SCs ey | 
 L auopspung | 
 : AUDY SL. 
 
 eS SS | TT 
 
 auopsautry | 
 "$1070 
 JO 101) Dud ExT 
 
 ALNOQO) ATH 
 
 ee ee ee 
 ' - 4 
 
 | 
 
 ae ome 
 
 AANA 
 
 ‘TIS HONIM'H'N 
 Ad 
 “ALINMODAMSNGNYS 4° dVW IV91907039 
 
 OLY ™ Jo daninNg pWIyFayoe@, 
 
Sage J , ( Art tdn 227 ¢ 
 
 f 
 ~ 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY. 
 
 SITUATION AND AREA. 
 
 Sandusky county has Ottawa on the north and Seneca on the south. 
 It is bounded west by Wood and east by Erie. It contains twelve towns, 
 or four hundred and thirty-two square miles. In its north-eastern corner 
 it touches Sandusky Bay. Its greatest dimension is east and west thirty 
 miles. Its form is that of a rectangular parallelogram. 
 
 NATURAL DRAINAGE. 
 
 The Sandusky river, which intersects it about midway in a direction 
 a little east of north, and enters Sandusky Bay in Riley township, is the 
 chief river of the county, and is navigable to Fremont by reason of slack 
 water from the bay. Below Fremont the immediate river channel is 
 crooked, and the stream widens out into bayous, covering considerable 
 low land. Above Fremont its course is more direct, and it lies almost 
 constantly on the rock, which offers abundant exposure, to the south line 
 of the county. The Portage river also crosses the north-west corner of 
 the county, passing through Woodville township and village. Besides 
 these, which may be relied on for a constant flow of water, even in the 
 driest seasons, there are numerous creeks, whose direction is also north- 
 easterly. Some of these are also constant-flowing streams, but the most 
 of them cannot be depended on for water-power purposes. Such are 
 Sugar creek, Big Mudd creek, Muskalunge creek, Green creek, and Rac- 
 coon creek. Wolf creek, also, which enters the Sandusky from the 
 south-west in Ballville township, drains a considerable tract of country, 
 and has a constant current. Of these, the Green creek, whose chief 
 supply is the sulphureted water from the mineral springs in Green- 
 creek township, is a constant stream, and at the present time affords 
 power for several mills. 
 
 1 
 
2 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 SURFACE FEATURES. 
 
 With the exception of the township of York, and small parts of Town- 
 send and Greencreek, in the eastern portion of the county, the surface 
 is generally a monotonous plain. Being included in that tract long and 
 well known as the Black Swamp, its features to many persons are best 
 expressed by giving it that title. As in Ottawa county, the limestone 
 ridges, sometimes capped with lacustrine sand, are the only observable 
 changes of level. They are more frequent, especially in the western part, 
 than in that county, and sometimes a number of fields are so stony, or the 
 rock is so near the surface, that the land is used only for pasturage. 
 Their height, with the addition of the sand deposit, sometimes amounts 
 to twenty-five or thirty feet; but the ascent is very gradual, and dis- 
 tributed often over half a mile. In Scott township, in the south-western 
 part of the county, there are patches of natural prairie. These are due 
 to imperfect natural drainage. The undulations in the surface of the 
 Niagara limestone, over which they occur, operated, by the aid of the 
 drift, to confine shallow pools of water upon the retirement of the lake. 
 Usually the low, continuous, rocky rim can be detected jutting a few 
 inches or feet above the surface, or sometimes rising in the form of con- 
 spicuous ridges. Such shallow pools would eventually become marshes, 
 where vegetable deposits would accumulate, and at last, when the sur- 
 rounding country had become forest-covered, they would appear as 
 prairies. It is a common coincidence in the Black Swamp that the most 
 stony tracts are also the wettest. Had the original drift been undis- 
 turbed by the waves of the lake, such confined pools would have been 
 likely to work out for themselves some escape through the more erosible 
 materials, and to have become clothed sooner with the indigenous forest. 
 
 The valleys of the streams are worn in the drift. That of the Sandusky 
 is fifty-three feet, to the water level, at Fremont—sixty-five to the bed of 
 the river. At Ballville the river is running on the rock, and its surface 
 is forty-seven feet five inches below the general level. Its banks, con- 
 sisting of the stiff hardpan, or sometimes superficially laminated, are 
 abrupt, and very often steep, although one or the other is frequently from 
 fifty to one hundred rods from the channel of the river. The height of | 
 the flood-plain varies in accordance with the obstructions to the current, 
 but at Fremont it is but four anda half feet above the level of slack- 
 water. This, however, cannot express the average height of the flood- 
 plain, but rather shows the rise of Lake Erie under the influence of spring 
 freshets. Below Fremont, the valley of the river is broader, and the 
 accumulated waters have freer escape. Above that point the flood-plain 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. S 
 
 sometimes rises ten and twelve feet above summer stage of the river. 
 Bordering and enclosing the flood-plain, the drift banks rise from thirty 
 to forty feet, and constitute by far the most noticeable changes of level 
 to be seen in the county. These banks are not confined to the larger 
 streams, but seem to be as deeply cut along some of the creeks as along 
 the Sandusky river. In traveling the “river road,” one cannot but be 
 struck with the frequency and depth of the tributary valleys. These 
 little valleys are often occupied by streams only in the spring and fall of 
 the year, but the moist and loose state of the drift at those seasons com- 
 bines with the activity of the current to wash out their valleys as deep 
 as that of the main stream. | 
 
 In the south-eastern portion of the county the surface contour is quite 
 rolling, and in the monotony of the general aspect elsewhere, might be 
 styled picturesque. For a full discussion of the causes and changes that 
 introduced this rolling, sandy tract, in Sandusky county, the reader may 
 consult a preceding chapter on the drift in north-western Ohio. 
 
 SOIL AND TIMBER. 
 
 The soil is clay, with a little gravel, being the old drift surface, and has 
 a depth corresponding to the thickness of that deposit. Local circum- 
 stances have added accidental qualities in various parts of the county. 
 In localities, poorly drained by the natural conformation of the surface, 
 considerable addition of partially decayed vegetable remains has given 
 it a peaty composition, and a black color. Places subject to erosion have 
 become gravelly or even stony, the fine constituents of the drift having 
 been washed out, while the action of the waves of Lake Erie, over much 
 of the county, has served to heap up isolated sandy knolls and to deposit a 
 heavy accumulation of sand in the south-eastern part of the county. 
 While the soil of the whole county is fertile and adapted to all farm pro- 
 ducts, the warmth and quickness of the sandy soils, in the townships of 
 Townsend, York and Greencreek, united with a pleasant, undulating 
 surface, and the ease of drainage, have given the lands of these townships 
 for the time being an enhanced market valuation. When, however, the 
 county becomes more perfectly subjected to artificial drainage, the clay 
 soils will remain the chief source of agricultural wealth, when perhaps 
 the lighter foils have become exhausted. The most of the county was 
 originally covered with low-land varieties of timber. Elm, hickory, 
 cottonwood, beech, ash, the various species of oak, maple, with some 
 black walnut and honey locust, may be seen in traveling over the county. 
 In a few places trees of pepperidge and of chestnut were also seen. Much 
 of the sandy tract in the south-eastern part of the county was known 
 among the early settlers as “oak openings.” 
 
4 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 
 
 The rocks underlying the county belong to the Upper Silurian and 
 Devonian ages, the highest being the Corniferous. They embrace— 
 
 Upper Corniferous limestone......... .cccssece seeeeeers 
 Lower Corniferous limestone..........cccsesee seecee ove } Devonian. 
 Oriskany SAMARLONG: sc Aanserveci-ceasece cassie iran tee 
 
 Wiator Limestone:ccin..casdates obeses aes eee eeatetees 
 Baling SOG ieccsssivvseccssduinsvorss. ls eseaea cee hee } Upper Silurian. 
 
 The Magara occupies two belts of anticlinal outcrop across the county 
 north and south. The boundaries of the eastern belt are not certainly 
 known, and the map of the county is to be regarded as conjectural 
 throughout the most of that area. The outcropping edges of the western 
 belt have, however, been carefully traced across the county, owing to the 
 frequent exposures of water-worn surfaces which there occur. The west- 
 ern boundary of the western belt enters the county from the north in 
 Sec. 8, Woodville, and runs nearly south, gradually approaching the 
 county line, which it crosses in Sec. 6 in the same township. The eastern 
 boundary of this belt. enters the county, N.E. } Sec. 27, Washington town- 
 ship, in a south-easterly direction, which it keeps for about four miles, 
 when it turns to the south and south-west, again south, leaving Wash- 
 ington township, §.E. } section 34. It keeps a southerly course, crossing 
 the Lake Erie and Louisville railroad a mile north of Winter Station, 
 nearly to the ocunty line, when it is suddenly diverted eastward, and 
 leaves the county, S.E. } Sec. 31, Ballville township. The only exposures 
 of the east belt of outcrop are at Fremont, where it can be seen below 
 the dam near the railroad bridge, and at Moore’s mill dam, near Ballville. 
 These are on the western border of the belt, which has a width of about 
 six miles. The western portions of the townships of Riley and Green- 
 creek, and the eastern portions of Rice, Sandusky and Ballville, are 
 probably underlain by the Niagara. 
 
 In the western part of the county, where the drift has been considera 
 bly eroded by the action of the waves of Lake Erie, the fck is very often 
 laid bare. The following list of outcrops, which is probably far from 
 complete, will give some idea of the denudation that has taken place. 
 There is, however, no evidence of a beach line where the shore of the lake 
 stood stationary. The shore line seems rather to have begun at once a 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. ay 
 
 slow recession. In the township of Woodville the following were noted, 
 not including those in the bed of the Portage: 
 
 N.W. 3 Sec. 22. This ridge runs several miles easterly, rising also on the south side 
 of the Portage. At Woodville it is capped with sand. 
 
 N.W. }Sec. 9. This ridge runs to Genoa, in Ottawa county, and is known as Trim- 
 mer’s Ridge. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 85. Considerable surface exposure of gray and crystalline Niagara. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 36. Thick-bedded, crystalline Niagara, affording a fine building stone. 
 
 S.W.4Sec. 5. Ridge of Niagara, running north and south, showing characteristic 
 Niagara fossils, on the land of Jacob Sanders, and others. 
 
 S.W. 4Sec. 6. Land of John Caler. This ridge has been excavated for a cellar, and 
 the stone is a very light drab, weathering buff. It is porous, and often carious, in 
 rough and irregular, also in even, beds; the even beds are sometimes a foot thick. 
 Under the weather it often crumbles much like chalk. The ridge holds a deposit of 
 sand. 
 
 IN MADISON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.E. } See. 27. Niagara ridge crosses the road. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 34. Niagara ridge. 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 34. Niagara ridge. 
 
 Sec. 35. On the town line. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 10. At the crossing of the creek. 
 
 S.W.4Sec. 7. Land of A. J. Nolan. Rock similar to that in Caler’s ridge, S.W. } 
 Sec. 6, in Woodville township. 
 
 IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.W. + Sec. 32. A low ridge of Niagara; is worked a little near Lindsay for foun- 
 dations to farmers’ houses, on land of Mr. Behring, and of Mr. Hagerman. 
 
 S.W. 4+ See. 3. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 10. In the bed of Big Mudd creek ; dip E. about 4°. 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 11. Near the railroad crossing of the highway; dip apparently east. 
 
 N.W. 4 8ec. 11. Under the railroad bridge. . 
 
 N.E. } See. 8. Crossing of Nine-mile creek. 
 
 S.E. 4+ Sec. 20. 
 
 S.W. 4 See. 17. 
 
 S.W. } Sec. 14. A ridge running east and west, rising about fifteen feet. 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 29. Niagara ridge. 
 
 Sec. 32. At Tee half a mile separate, in ditches by the roadside. 
 
 IN BALLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.E, } See. 31. J. Bruner quarries the Niagara; dip east. 
 S.W. } Sec. 31. Land of Amos Mull. In the bed of the creek. 
 
6 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 IN SCOTT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 4. Land of William Boor. Ridge runs nearly north and south. 
 
 S.E. ¢ Sec. 4. Ridge of Niagara on John Houtz’s land; Peter Rust also has land on 
 this ridge. 
 
 N.W. 4 See. 9. Land of Daniel Shively. 
 
 N.E, } Sec. 9. Much stony land. 
 
 Secs. 31 and 30. ‘Stony Barter.” 
 
 sae 7 and 16. In the midst of prairie. 
 
 Sec. 28. | 
 
 IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 4. Ridge of Niagara, half a mile east and west. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 3. Niagara in a field; dip E. 
 
 S.W. + Sec. 4. In a ditch by the roadside. 
 
 S.E. + Sec. 8. On the farm of Mr. Burkett. 
 
 S.E. ¢ Sec. 15. Prominent ridge. 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 27. Ridge crosses the road. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 34. As a ridge. 
 
 S.E. ¢ Sec. 35. In the creek, land of Riley Betts. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 35. In the west branch of Wolf creek, within thirty rods of the county 
 line road, the Niagara is seen dipping west at an angle of eight degrees, exposed about 
 two feet. It is overlain by Waterlime containing Leperditia alta, in thick, rough beds, 
 showing two feet and three inches, followed by about a foot of shattered, thin beds. 
 The Waterlime seems here to lie conformably over the Niagara, and dips with it 
 toward the west. 
 
 The section at Moore’s mill, near Ballville, exposes the superposition 
 of the Waterlime and Salina over the Niagara. . 
 
 Section including the Salina, at Moore’s Mill, 
 
 or 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. 1 
 
 EXPLANATION OF FIGURE. 
 
 No.1. Thick-bedded, drab, used for building...............ses0+ 6 ft. 6 in. 
 No. 2. Thinner-bedded, drab, more sectile, weathers lighter 1 ft. Waterlime, 
 No. 3. Beds about six inches, drab, used for building ......... 3it. 15 feet. 
 No. 4. Beds three to six inches, Arab......cccccssesseseee seseeeeee eve 4ft. 6 in. 
 No. 5. Green shale, passing horizontally into an impure, 
 
 PUTISUTAD BONG wiccssces cpsncsoce voavetcasaabiovtoadunsapinance 1 ft. 
 No. 6. Bluish-gray Niagara; beds thick, hard and crystal- 
 
 Line, CXPOSE ......ccececeee cesseeees eoneeeees veeeeeceneen seaeenae 3 ft. 
 
 The Waterlime immediately overlying the shale, contains the char- 
 acteristic fossil Leperditia alta. The Salina shale (No. 5) appears in 
 patches, gradually becoming a rather firm and blue stone. Sometimes 
 irregular beds of fragile, earthy limestone appear within the shale, 
 projecting conspicuously after the shale has crumbled out. On exposure 
 to the air, the shale turns blue and crumbles. Its deposition seems 
 sometimes to have been distributed through the first few feet of the 
 Waterlime above, instead of being concentrated in a single bed. In 
 such cases the Waterlime is blue-drab near the base, and if porous and 
 crystalline, it is with difficulty distinguished from the Niagara. No. 6 
 is in the bed of the river, and crosses it just below the dam, the water 
 falling upon it. It lies as an anticlinal with axis N. W. and S. E., rising 
 toward the N. W. and producing an upward swell in the overlying drab 
 beds. The section below the railroad bridge, at Frement, cannot be 
 made out with certainty, owing to the prevalence of the water. Five 
 feet and five inches can be seen of gray, crystalline Niagara, in beds of 
 eighteen to twenty-eight inches. Overlying this, but below the water of 
 the river, are about two feet of earthy, drab Waterlime in beds from two 
 to six inches. The Salina, if it exists here, cannot be seen. The whole 
 dips six to eight degrees south, ten degrees east. It formerly rose con- 
 siderably above the bank, along the road near the railroad bridge over 
 the highway, and was quarried there for walls and abutments, the stone 
 for the railroad bridges having been obtained there. 
 
 The Guelph phase of the Niagara, which appears at Genoa, in Ottawa 
 county, is met with only in the western part of Sandusky county, and 
 near the Wood county line. The Niagara is usually a hard, thick- 
 bedded, crystalline rock, which, although requiring considerable labor in 
 quarrying, furnishes, whenever systematically and persistently worked, 
 an excellent and valuable stone for building. It must be admitted, how- 
 ever, that the formation has not been sufficiently opened, within the 
 limits of the county, to prove the non-existence of the Guelph in other 
 portions. 
 
 The Salina Shale, which immediately overlies the Niagara, has been 
 
8 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 seen at but one point in the county. As already mentioned, it has a 
 thickness of one foot at Moore’s mill, but further north it was pene- 
 trated by drilling, according to Mr. G. G. Tindall, of Fremont, a thick- 
 ness of eleven feet before the drill struck the Niagara. It perhaps 
 underlies the eastern part of Riley and the northern portion of Town- 
 send townships, for it certainly has a greater thickness toward the north. 
 Sandusky bay is doubtless an excavation, to a large extent, in the 
 Salina shale. 
 
 The Water Limestone occupies that portion of the county west of the 
 western belt of Niagara, the strip included between the two Niagara 
 areas, which lies west of Fremont, and includes the most of the town- 
 ships of Ballville, Sandusky and Rice, and portions of Jackson and 
 Washington, together with an area not distinctly defined, crossing the 
 eastern part of the county through Greencreek and Townsend town- 
 ships. This formation appears very much as it does in Ottawa county, 
 and presents the three different lithological phases. The frequency of 
 its exposures in the western portion of the county is equal to that of the 
 Niagara. The “limestone ridges” which it causes are very often coy- 
 ered with sand which lies in hummocky contour. Its most important 
 exposures are at Fremont, where the ridge it there produces has been 
 extensively wrought for lime, and for general use in walls and rough 
 paving; and at Ballville, where the river has excavated a channel 
 through it, so as to expose upward of thirty feet of bedding. Aside 
 from these, which will be separately described, the Waterlime was seen 
 in outcrop in the following places: 
 
 IN WOODVILLE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.W. ¢ Sec. 31. Land of D. H. Rex; thick-bedded soft Waterlime, furnishing a 
 good building stone; dip S. W. 4 degrees. This ridge runs north, ten degrees east, 
 and is about two miles long. 
 
 Sec. 6. Near the county line, in the Portage; also half a mile east. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 82. Thick-bedded, drab; in the bank of the Portage, ten feet above 
 the water. 
 
 IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 25. Near the Ottawa county line, the Ruhl ridge, consisting of brecciated 
 Waterlime, rises about six feet. 
 
 N.W. } Sec. 23. Waterlime which contains the fossil Leperditia alta. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 14. Even-bedded Waterlime dipping N. E. within fifty rods of gray 
 Niagara limestone, which forms a ridge running E. and W., and rising about fifteen 
 feet. The Niagara lies west of the Waterlime, and between them are several clumps 
 of brecciated Waterlime showing Leperditia alta. 
 
 N.E, } Sec. 27. Waterlime ridge east and west, with a deposit of sand. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 36, In a ditch by the roadside; also in a field adjoining. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 13. 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. 9 
 
 IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 10. Fragile beds of soft Waterlime have been used for the “ Greens- 
 burg pike.” Beds horizontal so far as discernible, the quarry being in low ground and 
 filled with water. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 11. Sandy knolls, which probably lie on Waterlime. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 2. Intersection of the “Greensburg pike” and Muskalunge creek. 
 
 S.W. 4Sec. 35. In thick, rough beds, overlying the Niagara, and followed by a foot 
 of thin beds. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 35. In the N. Branch of Wolf creek. 
 
 IN BALLVILLE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 6. This ridge is remarkably overstrewn with northern bowlders. 
 
 S.E. $ Sec. 19. In the road, joining James Wickard’s land; also on John Halter’s 
 land in the bed of the creek. 
 
 S.W. 4+ Sec. 30. Near a steam sawmill, in the W. Branch of Wolf creek. 
 
 N.W. corner Sec. 81. Land of D. Mull, in the bed of the creek. 
 
 N.W. 4Sec. 29. From this place to Ballville the Sandusky river lies immediately 
 on the Waterlime. 
 
 IN SANDUSKY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.E. + Sec. 32. Burned for lime. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 82. Burned for lime. 
 
 S.E. $ Sec. 19. At the Four-mile house; furnishes some large, rough blocks for 
 walls and abutments. 
 
 About half a mile west of the depot, at Fremont, the Waterlime is 
 extensively burned into lime. Quarries have been opened by D. L. 
 June, Daniel Quilter, Philip Gottern, and by others. The stone disclosed 
 in these quarries is a light drab, usually thin-bedded stone, close textured 
 and even flinty in some parts. Mr. June has penetrated, in his quarry, 
 through the Salina, and entered the Niagara. The openings were at first 
 made in the summits of gentle anticlinals, the rock dipping, as it is 
 exposed on working deeper, in opposite directions. This is the case with 
 the three principal openings, viz.: those of June, Quilter and Gottern. 
 The following section, from Mr. June’s quarry, may be taken as a fair 
 illustration of all of them: 
 
 Downward Section of the Waterlime at Fremont, including the Salina, and the wpper part 
 of the Niagara. 
 
 No. 1. Beds two to four inches, separated by bituminous films, generally 
 close-grained, but sometimes vesicular and crystalline; disturbed 
 with nodules and thin beds of Chert........ccestsssonecosrerssesees covsceess 10 ft. 6 in. 
 
10 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 No. 2. Beds two to six inches, more even and with less chert, the mam- 
 
 milated surfaces separated by bituminous films; used for flagging... 9 ft. 
 No. 3, The same as the last, or changing horizontally to a thick-bedded or 
 
 massive, softer stone, exhibiting the lithological characters of 
 
 phase No. 2. The bedding here is sometimes disturbed by dome- 
 
 shaped or concretionary masses; useful for paving and general 
 
 buildings, ‘and asa vent Atone.ce:o.-210cc5s uence oe ae ee a 2 it. 6 in. 
 No. 4. Salina shale; in some places wanting ; or replaced by a thin film of 
 
 bituminous matter, with some harder and more rock-like beds..... 6 to 12 in. 
 No. 5. Gray, thick-bedded, non-fossiliferous, vesicular Niagara, with some 
 
 PalemA Exposed v4 siccsccievdeassechvcieacsts ove gy Steven tiniesteevae ates apa ee em 3 ft. 
 
 The dip in Mr. June’s quarry is S. W. and N. E., at angles of fifteen to 
 twenty degrees, in opposite directions. Mr. Quilter’s quarry is about 
 180 rods south-west from Mr. June’s, and the rock, which is apparently 
 on the same horizon, also dips 8S. W. and N. E. with about the same 
 angles. Mr. Gottern’s quarry, about sixty rods south of Mr. Quilter’s, 
 has an east and west anticlinal axis, the dip being about ten degrees in 
 either direction. A little to the south-west of Mr. June’s quarry, and 
 between it and Mr. Quilter’s, may be seen a number of clumps of rough, 
 cavernous, brecciated Waterlime, which must overlie all the rock of the 
 quarry, and doubtless corresponds to the upper part of the exposure in 
 the Sandusky river, at Ballville, which is as follows : 
 
 Downward Section of the Waterlime at Ballville, below the bridge. 
 
 No.1. Thick-bedded (2 to 3 feet), porous, rough and crystalline, or massive 
 
 and ‘brecciated, fia Arab eOlOr’....5:s5 tdsahs donsniseacemetnsdsee eee casaceitens 8 to 10 ft. 
 No. 2.. Thin-bedded, drab, with streaks of darker color and more compact 
 
 texture, occupying the bed of the river, and rising a few feet above 
 
 the water along the south bank. This member is filled with 
 
 curious concentric, ellipsoidal laminations; exposed... seceee 6 ft. 
 
 Between Ballville and Moore’s Mill, half a mile up the river, the form- 
 ation is nearly horizontal, or has a slight dip to the east, but shows such 
 local flexures, whenever visible, that no reliance can be placed on the 
 dip in correlating the outcrops. Judging, however, by the lithological 
 characters, the outcrop at Fremont may be united with those in the 
 Sandusky river, so as to produce the following general section of the 
 lower part of the Waterlime: 
 
 General Section of the lower part of the Waterlime in Sandusky County, in descending order. 
 
 No. 1. Massive, or thick-bedded, often brecciated, exposed between June’s 
 and Quilter’s quarries at Fremont, and in the left bank of the 
 Sandusky river just below Moore’s mill. (No. 1 of the section at 
 Ballville).-Phago "No, 1.,...s2:. coashessssutedant eieenbceteven nein ae 10 to 15 ft. 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. di 
 
 No. 2. Thin-bedded, drab, cherty, with bituminous films, (Nos. 1 and 2, at 
 June’s quarry). Phase No. 3. Generally close grained. The 
 lower portion of this sometimes, as at June’s, passes into thick 
 beds of a softer and coarser texture, when it has the features of 
 DO Mista csutapldasasnestacteeuasels+bisvive nascencpeasecsviontiseden seenboese sacees . 25 feet. 
 
 THE ORISKANY SANDSTONE. 
 
 This is represented in Sandusky county by thin arenaceous layers at 
 the base of the quarries of Messrs. Smith, Bachman and Chandler at 
 Bellevue, (see sections of these*quarries, p. 604). On fresh fracture it is 
 a handsome blue, or mottled with drab and blue. In other counties this 
 sandstone is ten or fifteen feet thick, but here it is not over two. Its only 
 use heretofore has been for macadamizing roads, for which it is admira- 
 bly adapted. Yet recently Mr. Smith has succeeded in making a water- 
 lime cement from this stone, the sand contained within the mass answer- 
 ing for that usually mixed with the cement by the masons. The indi- 
 vidual grains of sand are quite distinct, and often large enough to be 
 called gravel. The larger are from a half to three-fourths of an inch 
 across, and have much the aspect of fragments of earthy, close-grained, 
 drab limestone, others are cherty or silicious, and pass into quartzite. 
 These larger pieces are, however, very rare, the mass being a homogene- 
 ous sand in rounded grains. 
 
 This sandstone is overlain by six feet of the Waterlime formation, or 
 at least by that amount of thick-bedded, drab limestone, with wavy bitu- 
 minous films, and all the lithological characters of the Waterlime. Hence 
 it seems that the Oriskany, or at least the sandy phase which is here sup- 
 pot 2d to represent the Oriskany, is not always in the same stratigraphical 
 horizon. This fact is more fully confirmed by observations made in Wood 
 and Paulding counties. 
 
 CORNIFEROUS LIMESTONE. 
 
 The Corniferous limestone is next higher in the geological series. It 
 is separated into two parts, the Upper and the Lower, which are not only 
 stratigraphically, but also lithologically distinct. The Lower Cornifer- 
 ous comprises the greater part of the rock exposed in the quarries of 
 Messrs. Bachman and Chandler, at Bellevue, and the upper portion of 
 Mr. Smith’s at the same place. Mr. Emery Farnsworth also has opened 
 a quarry in the same, near that of Mr. Chandler. The Upper Corniferous 
 is seen in the quarry, now abandoned, within the corporate limits of 
 Bellevue, as well as in Mr. Samuel Huffman’s, N.E } Sec. 25, York town- 
 ship, and in Mr. John Stetler’s N.E. $ Sec. 84. The former is a buft- 
 
12 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 colored, rather coarse-grained, magnesian limestone, rough to the feel, 
 and often disturbed by ifregular nodules or almost continuous beds of 
 chert. The latter is a bluish gray, crystalline, hard stone, in even beds, 
 which are usually conspicuously fossiliferous. This formation underlies 
 the most of York township, and the south-eastern part of Townsend. It 
 produces a more elevated tract of country wherever it occurs in north- 
 western Ohio; and in Sandusky county, in connection with the St. Law- 
 rence glacier, and the subsequent action of the shore line of Lake Erie, 
 has given to the townships of York and Townsend the topographical and 
 agricultural features which are in so marked a contrast with the rest of 
 the county. Approaching from the south-west across the State, several 
 of the ridges converge toward Bellevue. West from Bellevue the surface 
 descends, and it is only at points considerably further south that the same 
 altitude is reached. Hence the ‘lacustrine region” rapidly widens 
 toward the west, just as the glacier was also more easily prolonged in tha’ 
 direction than in any other. The shattered condition of the rock in the 
 quarries at Bellevue, and in Thompson township, Seneca county, attests 
 the violence of that force which last acted on them, and indicates that 
 the Corniferous limestone was the pivot on which the glacier swung in 
 emerging from the rocky barriers that confined it further east along the 
 Lake Erie shore. 
 
 CHANDLER 
 & 
 
 WN GN 
 \ 
 ~vng SS 
 
 The above section, which includes the adjoining quarries of Lyman 
 Chandler, James F. Smith and Jacob Bachman, at Bellevue, while it 
 
 Corniferous, Oriskany, and Water Lime, Bellevue. 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. 13 
 
 shows the disturbed condition of the formation at that point, also is inter- 
 esting because it is the only place in the county where the relations of 
 the Waterlime, Oriskany and Corniferous can be seen. This whole sec- 
 tion is remarkably shattered, and the layers to the depth of thirty feet 
 are thrown down from their natural position eight or ten feet, sometimes 
 
 lying nearly on their edges. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF FIGURE. 
 
 ( a. Fine sand in a massive bank; without stratification, containing the 
 
 Drift. { me ee MAE ELT GE VV ALULED DOLL CHL hia’ sidan dda Seine cnnanadas svidaa dbsieaasaiave 12 it. 
 lb. Unassorted, gravelly EELS IE Ie ORE NI Tee en 4 ft. 
 
 No. 1. Beds two to four inches; buff; rough; magnesian; unfossiliferous: 
 WIR COMUINMOUS HCO OF, GHOTE ccccccars sccseccobectdseda sev cektes crane dbeticeosd 5. it. 
 
 No. 2, Magnesian and rough, with some sand, especially in the lower part; 
 Doll PEGs Sa OAD ICH ORY Avy. czecedee ne sdas Bedi cteshedec iva desceccnstehwes 10 ft. 
 
 No. 3. Dark drab; striped with wavy and bituminous films; soft when 
 weathered; harder and somewhat blue below; mainly in two 
 Re Natae teat ect deo cae aieis tipi Canon on sd edi re thor vudsarcdenasxei aster acetate aaah 3 it. 
 No. 4. Dark drab; dense so as not to weather or bleach white; its upper six 
 inches are much lighter, and earthy-magnesian; separated from 
 No. 3 by a thick, constant, bituminous film. Below it becomes 
 arenaceous, and is of a light blue on deep fracture, which, how- 
 ever, soon fades, turning a grayish buff with rusty films and 
 Ue Peer SIPS OMIES IO Gi ges 3s Sara. s caddhcmakvesd nodues ducdtbov as kenea ares eae oe Oetts 
 No. 5. Sandstone, of a handsome blue color, like the lower part of No. 4. 
 Beds of about two inches, separated by thick bituminous films; 
 BeBe eM aa narrsiatl viscteels exaace wiavevelaes iu est Pekctmttn, tsnvdteiChins 1 ft. 
 No. 6. In thick beds, or massive; often rough, porous and crystalline. On 
 fracture of a massive bed, the section shows a wavy and curly, 
 internal stratification, with alternating strips of lighter and darker 
 drab; contains large masses of coarse crystals of calcite, and 
 indistinct impressions of Leperditia alta. Exposed....csccecesccceeececees 4 ft. 
 
 It will be noticed that besides the arenaceous layer No. 5, there 
 is also considerable sand in No. 2. Although this holds the place 
 the Oriskany ought to have, viz: the base of the Corniferous, it is more 
 likely to be represented, as already stated, by No. 5 
 
 In Mr. Smith’s quarry, No. 3 is more bleached, area in that con- 
 dition more brittle, and fracturing somewhat like chalk, although much 
 harder. When thus broken the bituminous films appear as rusty, wavy 
 marks across the section. It is one of the most prized portions of the 
 quarry, both for the whiteness of the lime it makes, (hence is distin- 
 guished by the workmen as “The White Stone »’) and for the thick, 
 even blocks it aftords for walls and general building. 
 
 The Upper Oorniferous is a hard, gray, crystalline stone, which has a 
 thickness of something over forty feet, and contains interesting fossil 
 
14 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 remains. Its regular bedding easily separates into flagging, or is broken 
 into stone useful for all building. It is used for both purposes, and from 
 Sandusky, in Erie county, it is extensively exported to distant points. 
 
 THE DRIFT. 
 
 This deposit covers the whole county with a nearly uniform spreading. 
 No reliable actual measurements of its thickness have been made in the 
 county, but its average thickness would probably not exceed one hundred 
 feet. It seems to be somewhat thicker in the eastern half of the county 
 than the western, owing to denudation by the old lake shore over the 
 area of the Niagara limestone. It is usually a typical, unassorted and 
 unstratified glacial deposit or hard-pan. Occasional places of oblique 
 stratification may be referred to the action of water issuing from the 
 glacier, and do not affect the general glacial origin and non-stratified 
 condition of the great mass. The stratification of the drift exhibited in 
 the banks of the Sandusky river, at Fremont, is confined to the upper 
 twenty or thirty feet. The character of its junction with the unstrati- 
 fied hard-pan below, seems to indicate the presence of the glacier at the 
 time the stratification was forming, or at least at the time of its com- 
 mencement. It is probably due to running water, and may be assigned 
 to the action of the Sandusky river, which, being set back by the re- 
 treating foot of the glacier, would spread over a considerable lateral sur- 
 face. This would necessitate the flow of the Sandusky considerably 
 above its present level. It may be referred, perhaps, with more reason, 
 to the effect of water issuing from the glacier, and spreading uniformly 
 over the surface along its retreating foot, depositing a stratified material 
 free from gravel and stones, owing to the distribution of its current over 
 a wide, shallow valley. This would also account for the occurrence of 
 similar laminations at points, removed from the Sandusky river, and 
 where they cannot be ascribed to the effect of any stream at present 
 existing. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES. 
 
 Being mostly included in that area known as the Black Swamp, San- 
 dusky county has an inexhaustible store of wealth in the strong’ and 
 deep soil so characteristic of that tract. The industries of the people are 
 mainly agricultural. Nevertheless the development of the resources 
 embraced in the underlying formations has not been neglected. The 
 Niagara limestone has been opened in a number of places in the western 
 part of the county, and has been found to supply a stone equal, in every 
 respect, for purposes of building, to the famous Dayton stone, of southern 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. 15 
 
 Ohio. If an effort were made to introduce this stone into the markets of 
 Toledo and Detroit, owing to cheaper transportation, it would probably 
 exclude those distant quarries from the northern trade. At the present 
 time but little more is done than to meet the local demand. 
 
 The quicklime made from the quarries of Messrs. June, Quilter and 
 Gottern, in the Waterlime formation at Fremont, has a wide reputation 
 and sale, particularly in eastern cities. It is extensively shipped to 
 Pittsburg, Pa., for use in the manufacture of glass. It also goes as far as 
 Philadelphia and Boston. This lime furnishes more nearly the qualities 
 of the Waterlime, when used for this purpose, than the quarries in the 
 same stone at Genoa, in Ottawa county, and it will probably better 
 answer the description there given, and more exactly bear out the com- 
 parison to the Niagara, than that burned at Genoa. It is nota pure 
 white, but has a faint tint of yellow. It requires, however, to be seen 
 in bulk to render the yellow tint discernible. 
 
 The following list of lime-burners, with the annexed columns, will 
 show the comparative qualities of the Niagara, Waterlime and Cornifer- 
 ous, in their adaptation to the manufacture of quicklime. This list is 
 made out from the statements of the proprietors themselves, or their 
 foremen, and is as nearly correct as can be made without extensive trials 
 and comparisons : 
 
 3 (g 
 a 
 
 wn 
 
 mo) as] 
 
 Qo _ |e 
 
 ' 1ES18 
 
 Name of Firm. Location. Formation, ss |e 
 on Pi 
 
 5 1c 
 ne mo 
 res | SO 
 Se\2° 
 OF te 
 ; Ibs. 
 D. L. June and Son ../Fremont, Sandusky Co. |Waterlime...............000 seeceeees 1 75 
 Daniel Quilter ......... Fremont, Sandusky Co. |Waterlime...........ccecse ecssssees 23 75 
 Phillip Gottern ........ Fremont, Sandusky Co. |Waterlime...............00. cecsosees 23 75 
 Wyman and Gregg ...|Genoa, Ottawa Co........ WV DOT LEN nic ook aa us den caucon aay ene 2 70 
 Newman and Ford ...{Genoa, Ottawa Co........ IW GiOTIINO so cas. ec'cosicsate seabecuetiliakite 70 
 Pranks FLOM iecevase venue Genoa, Ottawa Co........ BLAS A MAU rete veures sancedetsesuenteas te) aie 
 Lyman Chandler .....|Bellevue, Sandusky Co.|L. Corniferous and Waterlime|14-2|} 75 
 James F. Smith ........ Bellevue, Sandusky Co.|L. Corniferous and Waterlime|1} 70 
 Delzaland Overmeyer|Lima, Allen Co........... DW QLOTIIG. «0. +.0ns > anidhiy aaereeene 21-7|...... 
 Thomas Cook......... Harper, Logan Co........ LD. Corniferoug.....icaescstaedmeleeetiicos. 
 Benj. M. Fisher ........ SOLIDE, DUCTCOL CU Osy ese use INIGQATR socecs sconce cashaeicnnp iene 1G ee 
 
 It will be seen that the amount of wood used by different firms varies 
 considerably, even with the same stone, quarried at the same place. 
 This is owing to the difference of construction of the kilns. Mr. June, 
 for instance, at Fremont, burns one of the most compact and difficult 
 kinds of stone, yet, by the use of a peculiar kiln, he consumes less than 
 
16 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 one-half the wood burned by Mr. Quilter or Mr. Gottern. Most of the 
 kilns used in north-western Ohio are of the old style, and once filled and 
 burned, have to be emptied and allowed to cool before more lime can be 
 made. Some have constructed an improved style of kiln, which runs 
 uninterruptedly, thus avoiding the loss of time and heat incident to the 
 old style; but so far as observed, Messrs. June and Son, of Fremont, pro- 
 duce a more evenly burned lime, and with less wood, ve using Page’s 
 patent draw-kiln. 
 
 The lime made from the Lower Corniferous by Mr. Lyman Chandler, 
 of Bellevue, is so mixed in the process with the Waterlime layers below, 
 that its character cannot be certainly stated. It is found, however, to be 
 a very strong lime, although not a pure white. Some of it is greenish- 
 gray; some of it yellowish or buff, like the stone before burning, and 
 much of it is a light ash-color. 
 
 In Sandusky county there is no difficulty in obtaining stone for all 
 common uses, in abutments, foundations and walls. Besides the abund- 
 ant outcropping in the western part of the county, the quarries at Belle- 
 vue and Fremont supply the demand in the eastern portion, and consid- 
 erable is also sent into adjoining towns. The stone and lime forwarded 
 per the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad, in 1870, from Fre- 
 mont, was 6,401,092 pounds; from Bellevue, 1,215,304 pounds. 
 
 For brick and tile, and for pottery, the surface clay, particularly where 
 it is finely laminated with sand, as at Fremont, is well adapted in all 
 parts of the county. An excellent quality of brick is made at Fremont, 
 by puddling these materials closely, the sand furnishing the sharpness 
 and the strength needed, as well as preventing the tendency to warp and 
 crack where clay alone is used. The following list embraces all, or nearly 
 all the establishments of this kind within the county: 
 
 AT FREMONT. 
 
 Qn De Bes ere Ceesnaeh cndan Ge bores Cu caie tas ee nc hs LUTEE heme Bate eT RSE nec eee ee Brick. 
 Willian Dh aiy fend cease, css iss oxvceottvn dan dau un'd dus ev yosmesteten beateevnetgedateeuskah oe oe ene ResaeRaa Brick. 
 Charles “GHegan x. corvstrccccvelesnauas oo ceessueestaSusa.cs Ser Tee ORR eemele ae tel ion cer ee ees Brick. 
 Tistlér & Mechitem wale eco cs ce cence va coe ee eee coe eee co eee Brick. 
 W illiama Parker tees ce cetestes ea seate Senso Gen eS co ca cere ee re ae aS Brick and tile. 
 AT CLYDE. 
 Dixkam & Dewey’ ..cs.ssarasanenas dea dusvaeasnaencapaseses Cotte hehe psa at cet bene Ara nceet sta ae Brick, 
 AT BELLEVUE. 
 RITE HGS. iss. see cececeica'chns creremtuh ese Aude, cate RIEL ee STM nernd eae to ee Brick. 
 AT LINDSAY 
 Dame BLOM w..siscessccccsnanndlend Se ceevnnehebaceheitedeasmabetes ean ne eben ac et niT nant saan anEamEanEE Brick 
 
 AT GREENSPRING. 
 orem Wiineaieainnesocseriansias so onc naseacieduces (nena pies] Oe nEmmIER ghetto Statin ane Brick. 
 
SANDUSKY COUNTY. ay 
 
 WELLS AND SPRINGS. 
 
 Wells for domestic use are generally obtained in the loose gravel within 
 the drift, or in that sheet of gravel and sand which very often is the 
 lowest part of the drift. As in Ottawa county, such wells are often 
 artesian, and show the source of their water in the mineral impurities 
 it contains. The water of the mineral spring at Greenspring, and of 
 the spring in Sec. 7, Adams, Seneca county, issues from the rock, which, 
 although exposed at no point within six miles, is probably the Niagara 
 limestone. Wells, also, which do not reach the bottom of the drift, are 
 sometimes supplied by slow seepage from the hard-pan, or by penetrating 
 some of the sand or gravel beds contained within the drift. Wells from 
 such higher beds of gravel are common outside the area of the Black 
 Swamp. Within that tract, such beds of gravel are more rarely met 
 with, above that lying on the rock. Some of the artesian wells in the 
 northern part of the county are said to have a distinct saline taste, and 
 must hence be derived from the Salina. The medicinal properties of 
 the sulphureted water at Greenspring, are so marked as to induce the 
 investment of considerable capital in the preparation of a water-cure 
 establishment. 
 
 The following chemical analysis of this water by Prof. O. N. Stoddard, 
 of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, is published by the PrOpherorss No 
 analysis has yet been made by the Survey: 
 
 Rat GE LNG AN OME. pall OR ss Gk iv sels doe sa dove oceebe nevendecacasees selaoveve 105.41 grains, | 
 Sulphate of magnesia EF Pe ected needa hots xii o uke cintars oe saad au bawaase ee Coe eves 36.14 “ 
 Sulphate of iron GMa ULE ease ala tee falc x Pye cane k dooenc esas eulcdvaneees 6.53). 
 Carbonate of iron aes PNR Nr Re oR Ace RB aE Be 19,70) 3 
 Ree aad MTEL CTE A Teele dea 550; kcsanateakiedaectaaccdavesenvecabanan pie ot Es 
 Bromide of potassa PM Bee e sea nnee aid cia nite sini ty seh venee sa oeeaeeekene eu 16-765) 2" 
 Chloride of potassa researc orcs credo nati cet (ocks duane ie aks 2.48 . “ 
 Silica Spe trees Mew ene day Lave tcc ae valesetanaaeitcosccaaat UG gaa 
 Alumina DAMMMN iter Pe cet stk scieesengten eikaacactesnarhte OB Pe 
 Be eS sos Ont ee er GR Se Sa to 216.48 *§ 
 MTREOR IP BOL IT) GIG) BALLOT s/..<0004 Séscusn se sedere soncnccceusenscooe ccouceeae codcce 96.48 cu. in 
 NR ef ca vs oa NRE Se ta Eos nile sc en owns voweonctetee 1.0258 
 Temperature (summer and winter the same) .......c. cssssssecesesserece seseeaece 50° Fah. 
 
 About four miles south-west from Fremont, Mr. John King sunk a drill 
 a few years ago to the depth of six hundred and forty-five feet, with the 
 primary object of petroleum, or at least an artesian overflow. Neither 
 was obtained. No reliable minutes of the boring could be gathered. 
 
 2 
 
18 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 Pieces of shale, said to have been brought up from a depth of about four 
 hundred feet, styled “ soapstone,” have the appearance of the Cincinnati 
 shale. There is, however, now, and has been since the drilling ceased, a 
 discharge of inflammable gas, said to be derived from near the bottom of 
 the well. Water which enters at about a hundred feet, and hence represses 
 it with the force of a column of at least five hundred feet, greatly obstructs 
 the escape of this gas. Were this pressure removed by tubing, the dis- 
 charge of gas might be abundant enough to admit of use for illuminating 
 purposes. 
 
O°NID HLI7 09 8 FIOINGOULS 
 
 dno.t, 4 
 
 piwbhy 1 
 Pee pe 
 
 JULES LOM | 
 UO) SpuDs 
 
 Nupysrig * 
 foe 
 mUopS IU] 
 
 ~ SNOIIJTU. 10) 
 
 dno19 
 uoy;RUv]T 
 
 MHDOLIQTY ae ee 
 
 Sid | 
 
 S100) JO 
 uoypynday 
 
 ‘99 NOWNA | 
 
 ee a a a a a 
 
 noe GH O AMV HO | "OD LOAUANVYV VAM 
 
 NOSAWOHL 
 SIASIMe'T 
 
 2 SINV A Vous 
 
 ou dsu90.19 ¥ 
 
 1a HONIM'H: N 
 Ad 
 
 “ALNNOD VWOANSS 2° AVW IVOIDO10R5 
 aty@ # {) GMA uaa ry BG) 
 
 ‘OD AMSOAGANVS 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF SENECA COUNTY. 
 
 SITUATION AND AREA. 
 
 This county is immediately south of Sandusky, and contains fifteen 
 townships, in the form of a rectangular parallelogram. It is bounded 
 east by Huron county, south by Crawford and Wyandot, and west by 
 Hancock and Wood. It is thirty miles long, east and west, and fifteen 
 wide. 
 
 ' NATURAL DRAINAGE. 
 
 The Sandusky river, which intersects the county about midway, is 
 the principal stream. Tributaries join it from the east and from the 
 west, and complete the drainage system of the county. Those which 
 enter the Sandusky from the west, have a general course north-east, till 
 they unite with that stream; but those from the west first flow south- 
 westerly, changing when within about five miles of the river, almost at 
 a right angle, from that direction, and flow north-west till they join 
 the Sandusky. This is a peculiarity not confined to this county, and 
 may be due to the halting retreat of the glacier, when throwing down 
 the unmodified drift with which that portion of the county is covered. 
 The divides between these creeks, along their upper waters, would in 
 that case, be the moraine accumulations, which, further west and at 
 lower levels, were not sufficient to divert the drainage from the general 
 course of the main valley. They may be compared to the extended 
 moraines which shut off the St. Mary’s and the Wabash rivers from 
 their most direct course to Lake Erie, along their upper waters. These 
 are less extended because the slope westward from the area of the Cor- 
 niferous limestone is more abrupt. 
 
20 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 SURFACE FEATURES. 
 
 This county presents more diversity of surface than Sandusky. The 
 north-western part, including the townships of Jackson, Liberty and 
 Pleasant, the northern half of Hopewell, and a small part of Loudon, 
 presents the peculiar features of the lacustrine region, as already defined. 
 The Niagara limestone rises in wide undulations above the surface of 
 the drift, and is as frequently supplied with sandy accumulations and 
 bowlders as in counties further north. The surface of these townships 
 otherwise is very flat. The remainder of the county west of the San- 
 dusky river, as well as the townships of Clinton and Eden on the east, 
 are entirely without such limestone exposures, and the surface, when 
 not broken by drainage valleys, is gently undulating. The eastern part 
 of the county is considerably more elevated than the middle and western, 
 and the surface is characterized at once by longer and more considerable 
 undulations, which have the form very often of ridges, evenly covered 
 by drift, running about north-east and south-west. This greater elevation 
 is due to the greater resistance of the Corniferous limestone to the forces 
 of the glacial epoch, not to upheaval, as many fancy ; while the original 
 inequalities in the drift surface have been increased by the erosion of 
 streams. There are still, even in the eastern portion of the county, flat 
 tracts where the drainage is so slow that the washings from the hillsides 
 have leveled up the lower grounds with alluvium and marshy accumu- 
 lations. In such cases, the elevated drift knolls are gravelly, and show 
 occasional bowlders; but in the level tract which has been filled, no 
 bowlders, or even stones of any kind, can be seen. 
 
 The streams are bounded by a flood-plain, and a single terrace. The 
 latter, however, in the case of the smaller streams, is not well defined, 
 especially where the general surface is not flat. The following heights 
 of this terrace, above the summer stage of the river, were ascertained 
 by Locke’s level: 
 
 Sugar Creek, N. W. } Sec. 27, Pleasant township......... secs cocsereeeceseeeenens 42 ft. 2 in. 
 Honey Creek, Sec. 20, Eden township.......sscccccs csesceees ceecensen cn eneneeees seeeenee 58 feet. 
 Sandusky river, Sec. 24, Seneca '$ — cissssecccsesssace sence ssceeeesceeaseeaes soseeeeeecs 63 ft. 3 in. 
 
 SOIL AND TIMBER. 
 
 The soil, consisting principally of the old drift surface, is what may 
 be termed a gravelly clay, with various local modifications. The prin- 
 cipal exceptions are the alluvial flats bordering the streams, where the 
 soil consists largely of a sandy marl, with varying proportions of vege- 
 table matter ; the depressions in the old drift surface, which have been 
 slowly filled by peaty soil, and the sandy and stony ridges, in the towns 
 
SENECA COUNTY. 21 
 
 1 
 
 of Jackson, Liberty and Hopewell. With the exception of the marsh 
 known as Big Spring Prairie, in the south-western part of Big Spring 
 township, the whole county is in a tillable condition. Hence it is set- 
 tled with a class of intelligent and prosperous farmers, who keep the 
 land generally under constant cultivation. 
 
 The original forest, which is now to a great extent removed, embraced 
 the usual varieties of oak, hickory, beech, maple, elm and ash. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 
 
 The rocks that underlie the county have a general dip toward the east. 
 Hence the Niagara limestone, in the western portion of the county, is 
 succeeded by the higher formations in regular order in traveling east. 
 They are the Water limestone, the Oriskany sandstone, the Lower Cor- 
 niferous, the Upper Corniferous, the Hamilton shale, and the Huron 
 shale (or the Black slate.) The eastern boundary of the Niagara enters 
 the county a little east of Greenspring, in a south-westerly direction, 
 and, crossing the Sandusky river at Tiffin, it turns westward nearly to 
 the center of Hopewell township, where it turns again south-west, and 
 leaves the county at Adrian. All west of this line is underlain by the 
 Niagara, which is not divided into two belts, as in Sandusky and Ottawa 
 counties. The strip of the Waterlime, which separates it in those coun- 
 ties, probably just indents the northern line of the county in Pleasant 
 township. The outcropping edge of the Upper Corniferous is the only 
 other geological boundary that can be definitely located. Those on either 
 side are so obscured by the drift that their located positions on the map 
 must be regarded as conjectural. In general, however, the Waterlime 
 underlies a strip along the eastern side of the Niagara area, about five 
 miles in width on the north, but widening to nine miles on the south. 
 The Lower Corniferous underlies the western part of Bloom and Scipio 
 townships, and the eastern part of Adams. The Upper Corniferous occu- 
 pies the most of Thompson and Reed townships, the western portion of 
 Venice, and the eastern portion of Bloom and Scipio. The Hamilton 
 and the Black shale have not been seen in outcrop in the county, but are 
 believed to underlie a small area in the south-eastern portion of the 
 county. The Black shale may be seen in the valley of Slate Run, Nor- 
 wich township, Huron county. 
 
 The Niagara shows the following exposures : 
 
 IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 8.W. } Sec. 36. In a little creek. No dip discoverable. 
 Sec. 22. A prominent ridge is crossed and slightly excavated by the railroad. The 
 ascent is so gentle the grade rises over it. 
 
22, GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 31. Of the Guelph aspect, showing numerous fossils; used for making 
 roads, and for lime. 
 
 IN LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 4. In the W. Branch of Wolf creek; dip six or eight degrees west. 
 
 S.E + See. 5. 
 
 Sec. 3. Half a mile west of Bettsville. Frequent exposure along the W. Branch of 
 Wolf creek. When observable, the dip is to the west. 
 
 Sec. 10. Along the east line of the section, in the form of ridges. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 28. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 2. Horizontal; in the W. Branch of Wolf creek, setting back the 
 water nearly a mile. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 24. Considerably quarried for foundations and abutments of bridges. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 30. By the roadside. 
 
 N.E. 4+ Sec. 36. In Wolf creek. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 34. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 31. In thick beds—used by Mr. George King in the construction of his 
 house; dip 5° N.E. 
 
 N.W. 3 Sec. 29. 
 
 IN PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 19. In the bed of Wolf creek. Dip N.E. Glacial scratches S. 56° W. 
 
 N.W. + Sec. 20. In the bed of the river at Fort Seneca, just below the dam, a fine- 
 grained, bluish limestone; has been a little quarried for use on roads. But owing to 
 its hardness and the unfavorable location, it was not regarded suitable. It probably 
 belongs to the Niagara, although the opportunities for examination were too meager 
 to determine certainly. 
 
 Center and S.E. } Sec. 28. In thick beds, in Spicer creek. 
 
 IN HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.E. $ Sec. 22. Has the aspect of the Guelph, on the land of Henry W. Creeger. 
 Surface exposure. 
 Sec. 16. Where the road crosses Wolf creek. 
 
 In these surface exposures very little opportunity is afforded for ascer- 
 taining the lithological characters, or the mineralogical and fossil con- 
 tents of the formation. The chief exposure of the Niagara within the 
 county is in the Sandusky river, between Tiffin and Fort Seneca. 
 
 From Tiffin, descending the Sandusky river, rock shows constantly, 
 to within half a mile of the line between Clinton and Pleasant town- 
 ships. Throughout the most of this distance the dip of the formation 
 (Niagara) is from five to ten degrees toward the south-west, but with 
 various flexures and undulations in all directions. The thickness of 
 bedding exposed is between fifty and sixty feet. The following minutes 
 on this exposure will show the undulations in the dip of the beds, and 
 
SENECA COUNTY. 23 
 
 the manner of occurrence of the fossiliferous beds which have by some 
 been regarded as a distinct member of the Upper Silurian, above the 
 Niagara. They make, here, a sudden appearance within the formation, 
 having horizontal continuity with the more usual, hard, gray and thick- 
 bedded Niagara, which contains fewer fossil remains : 
 
 Ascending the river along the left bank from the little island on 
 Sec. 29, in Pleasant township, the Niagara is first met within 
 a quarter of a mile, with a dip N.E. 10°, showing glacial fur- 
 
 POWs AAs Wie OO os sani cciacinn Andel edonnie oR sda dndisepsdevdixdaonessaces 3 ft. 
 A quarter of a mile further south, at a dam for a sawmill, with 
 CEL BEML, IN Pi WONt ORONO seine ngns soici’nartves sviceshasleasans sev nagsoned 4 ft. 
 About one-fourth mile above the dam, dip still N.E...............06 6 ft. 6 in. 
 The rock then begins to dip 8.W., and returns—about.........0000+ —3 ft. 
 PDC COU EIEIO fer WW oy ECCIGIIGE, concen ucolvaienasndisiecsdanledtte g nvloe sinh skighzsa —8 ft. 
 IEPs Mirae eeea aie odie vn Sacw dec eds <a.Macas neta tiene TaWiasic Skene adobe didiete Sen ans code 2 ib. 
 Rock visible, no dip discernible for sixty rods. 
 PR CUMS RIA VY. LOL CHILLY LOU s.0ccgdecacccccvssdevane aoetecivavocconseccase wna —2 th 
 Gentle undulations :— 
 Pa MOM Rem cision Ce cates See daciac va 80s eR DTG Se pats ania Tabu wa sanls sbieon Goa ea i alt 
 Rees Op anes oe can paNec aod wees osade Cevasle «clot dterecOferet cvdas} vaeu'vedues —3 it. 
 Pee Peete econ ctoiiturines saccasevtts~ ted tavey odev.acivedsert Wes dace seencees sense 2 ft. 6 in. 
 SDN Wet eat tee devs aig ITuGVEAWY Vaani aldo lalded Wiasesyscakes visanaegedptees —3 it. 
 INE szke con cues vite 3 ft. 
 Beds dip N.E. nearly a on Anbu with tee Reet of ‘Elie Shs 
 nearly to the next dam. Exposed, perhaps............ccssecsecee eee 4 ft. 
 Then begins a rapid dip S.W.—seen..........:cscesse ese ceeceeeseseeceeeee 18 ft, 10 in. 
 Covered by the dam, not seen, at least...............s00cceseeseeessccesee —LO ff, 
 Then rises with gentle dip N.W... Paeevcohewedss Seu vieNee inp Serriweans 5 ft. 
 
 The beds then appear horizontal about half a ae “hig extends 
 to a point two miles from Tiffin, where the rock passes out of 
 sight. It next appears a few rods further up, opposite a brick 
 flouring-mill, in a perpendicular exposure of fourteen feet. 
 
 CEMA IES -AEMRDD GSU CRULD SOL Wthaclaplc ane sicp-trovs padols'tacuivdadie'edegeieadidecsns's od cupales —7 it. 
 The river then makes its way over fifteen feet of beds, extending 
 
 nearly to the first dam north of Tiffin; gentle dip S.W........... —165 ft. 
 S.W. still (to the bottom of the Guelph ?)........ a nettenecos sesaieretinge —S8 ft. 
 
 Here that phase appears which has been named the Guelph. 
 For a few rods the dip is rapid to the N.E., having much the 
 appearance of unconformability in the bedding. There is a 
 sudden upward flexure of the overlying beds, for this phase 
 here is wnder as much as ten feet of hard gray crystalline Niag- 
 ara, like that already passed over, containing almost no fossils. 
 This, however, in passing further south, becomes soft, light 
 buff and fossiliferous: below, much broken and confused, or 
 spongy and massive; yet lying horizontally and containing the 
 peculiar fossils of the Guelph. Several small openings in these 
 
24 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 beds for lime-burning reveal Megalemus Canadensis, Hall. 
 Pleurotomaria and Pentamerus, with species of Murchisonia and 
 Favosites. The dip then returns 8.W. as rapidly as it rose. 
 Add for these fossiliferous DedS.....s00s csevecect osessvocdecesosns saresers —15 ft. 
 
 Here comes in the Waterlime, showing the fossils ue. alta 
 and Atrypa Sulcata? It is separated from the Niagara, which, 
 just within the limits of the city, has become gray, crystalline 
 and thick-bedded again, without visible fossils, by a bed of two or 
 three inches, which, uniting the lithological characters of the 
 two formations, serves to determine not only the place but the 
 reduced limits of the Salina. Ten rods further south the 
 bluish gray and hard Niagara again bulges upward in a gentle 
 swell, disclosing, below, the light buff and porous layers, while 
 the Waterlime disappears. Continuing so about ten rods, the 
 beds return to the same level, nearly horizontal, but the Water- 
 lime is not shown again till within the city limits, where it has 
 been quarried between the highway and the railroad bridges, 
 and dips 8.W. 
 
 DObaT Bc Wii py wisiks on cwarsaens eeu car cnet ee mentea oP ae ne —87 ft. 10in. 
 LO ball SIN SEED 3 ooo saccuelvi geaenie by cagacau ee aoe a tne Ne eee oe ores eee So. it. 
 Actnals.W. dip of the formationscc:, canstaata ices ook ete eee 54 ft. 10 in. 
 
 From this it appears that the Niagara limestone, especially the upper- 
 most fifty-five feet, is, in general, a gray, crystalline, rather fine-grained, 
 compact or slightly visicular and unfossiliferous mass; and that the fos- 
 siliferous parts are rough and visicular, of a light buff color, apt to 
 crumble under the weather, and not horizontally continuous, 
 
 The green shale, which, in Sandusky county, represents the Salina, 
 has nowhere been seen in Seneca county. The only place within the 
 county where the “ junction” of the Niagara and Waterlime has been ob- 
 served, is in the quarries at Tiffin. Within the corporate limits, a few 
 rods above the swing bridge for the highway crossing, a quarry has been 
 opened in the left bank of the Sandusky, which may be designated 
 Quarry No. 1. The Niagara here shows in a broad surface exposure, 
 over which the river spreads, except in its lowest stage. The quarry 
 has not penetrated it, but the overlying Waterlime beds have been 
 stripped off, showing a section of twelve feet in their beds belonging to 
 phase No. 3. This lies conformably on the Niagara, so far as can be seen, 
 the separating surface presenting no unusual flexures or irregularities. 
 The only trace of the Salina is in the tendency of the color and texture 
 of the Niagara toward those of the Waterlime, visible through its last 
 three or four inches. It is bluish- -drab, porous, crystalline, with some 
 indistinct, greenish lines and spots. It contains much calcite and some 
 
 galena. From this character it passes immediately into a bluish-gray, 
 
SENECA COUNTY. 25 
 
 crystalline rock, in thick, firm beds, with spots of purple, heavy and 
 slightly porous, the cavities being nearly all filled with calcite. 
 The principal exposures of the Waterlime are in the quarries at Tiffin. 
 
 Section of Quarry No. 1, in descending order. 
 
 No. 1. Waterlime in thin, drab beds, like the Fremont quarries of June 
 
 ME NCCT EGE, reatectvan'e si siesss moreansss aoe tree eevGenvedves covsve ces 12 ft: 
 No. 2. Porous, bluish-drab, with greenish streaks, containing much calcite 
 
 GATE BONG. PAOIR asic scr avec, tomate sean wivvonesd wens ede ceweaeny oueencccs bes ses oes 3 in. 
 No. 3. Firm, gray Niagara, in thick heds. Hxposed...ociiccc.c..ksccceee veoees toe 1 ft. 
 
 Quarry No. 2 is located a quarter of a mile above the last, on the oppo- 
 site or right bank of the river, and is known as the City Quarry. The 
 dip is here S. W. six or eight degrees. Supposing the dip is uniform 
 between Quarries Nos. 1 and 2, there must be an unseen interval of 
 twenty-five or thirty feet of the formation separating them. 
 
 Descending Section of the Waterlime at Quarry No. 2, Tiffin. 
 
 No. 1. Very compact; fine-grained; in beds of six to thirtyinches. The 
 fracture is a brownish-drab, and weathers light drab ; sometimes 
 PHOTUIUIS OE DRCCCIALEEL Voom tevec'savesa con dake aditelonssveise nodblastsitaasthevelss ens 8 ft. 4in. 
 No. 2. Thin-bedded ; more earthy ; rough in patches, and feeling like a 
 fine-grained sandstone. The general facies is like Nos. 3 and 7.. 10 in. 
 
 No, 3. Very compact, fine-grained beds of one or two inches; broken ; 
 irregular; separated with bituminous films which weather first 
 blue, then chocolate. The fracture is a brownish-drab, and 
 weathers light drab.- It is sometimes porous or slightly brec- 
 ciated. When fine-grained and compact it shows acicular eavi- 
 
 eee sr ee ota eice eT asco tareee Us ed nat ote ed dace see CaOME Ae ae bac eneeensedies 2 ft. 2m. 
 No. 4. Same as the last, except the beds are EVEN ........sssseee ceeees cesses sees 1 ft. 
 No. 5. Very compact; fine-grained; gray; crystalline; with occasional 
 
 Soe Was, CAUIRGA. WIIY, ON ODE csi ovessnrs sigs ve.cuns bey enenesinoaesdineun ce 1 ft. 2 in. 
 
 No. 6. Very compact and fine-grained ; in even beds of one to two inches. 
 The separating bituminous films weather blue, turning to choc- 
 olate; the brownish-drab, fractured surface weathers light 
 drab; in some places with fine acicular Cavities .............06 sseee 2 ft. 3 in. 
 
 No. 7. Very compact and fine-grained; in beds of one to two inches; 
 in broken, irregular and lenticular; separated by bituminous 
 films, which weather blue and then chocolate; fracture brown- 
 ish-drab; weathering light drab; in some places with fine 
 acicular cavities. This being the lowest exposed, it has been 
 stripped of the overlying beds for the space of several rods. 
 The exposed upper surface of the bedding is very uneven, 
 being thrown into curious mound-like elevations of two to six 
 or eight inches, and a foot to three feet. across, which do not 
 show any system of arrangement. Considerable bituminous 
 
26 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 matter is disseminated through them, not included in the tex- 
 ture of the rock, which is very hard and crystalline, but in 
 thin films between the beds, or in irregular deposits within the 
 little mounds, or about their peripheries. The laminations 
 which form these mounds are thinner than the regular bed- 
 ding, and are sometimes not more than half an inch thick. 
 They never show concave surfaces upward (hence the mounds 
 are not concretions,) but variously modify and fit to each other 
 like a quantity of semi-fused and inverted plates or watch- 
 glasses, the bituminous matter acting asa cement. Exposed... 2 ft. 
 
 Dohal Gp psec be otic. oe occas aSienutetegti wc Reel Pe tera V7. <0 ins 
 
 The characteristic fossil, Leperditia alta, may be seen in nearly all parts 
 of this section, but it was especially noted in Nos. 3 and 7. This rock is 
 all hard and crystalline, but with a fine grain. No. 3, without careful 
 examination, might be mistaken for Niagara, if seen alone. When 
 broken into fragments for roads, the color of the pile, weathered a few 
 months, is a pleasant, bluish-gray. Yet on close examination the blue 
 tint vanishes, and the stone shows a drab, a dark or brownish drab, a 
 black, and a bluish-gray, (the last two only on the lines of the bedding, ) 
 depending on the fracture or surface examined. 
 
 The river just in the southern limits of the city is flowing east. The 
 rock can be followed along the same bank of the river eighteen or twenty 
 rods from the foregoing quarry, and has an irregular surface exposure 
 throughout that distance, with a continuous dip south-west. The rock 
 then follows the bluff, which strikes across a patch of river bottom, and 
 is not seen again until a mile further up the river. It is here quarried 
 and burned into lime. The dip is in the opposite direction, that is. 
 toward the north. This is quarry No. 3. 
 
 Descending Section of the Waterlime, Quarry No. 8, Tiffin, Seneca County, O. 
 
 No.1. . Soft; drake; abigwtly powbaienc cts cia taal ecia on nek cae eee ae 1 foot. 
 No. 2. Hard and close-grained; gray amd Arab ...... ccs ssccesees sesesesee coneeeees 1 ft. 2:10. 
 No. 38. Brecciated, (like Put-in-Bay Island,) with hard and soft; drab and 
 
 dark drab; sometimes cavernous, with considerable calcite, and 
 
 POPOUS i eiecsie vobal evs ssecee odscaveds cbieads uuntaneceus av euecperdgunisaneaguad sain gana 4 feet. 
 No. 4, Inone ) Hard; STAY; POTOrUs, With ColesNS...... copccocue sonecs nassscens 2 feet. 
 No. 5. bed. Very poroums sath; Grabs c.iincanessevspnc anaes shesenesernparea 1 foot. 
 No, 6. Hard: powoug’s Gapbeidvabys.s: 1c. cccanee eee eee aetna 1 foot: 
 No. 7. Soft; drab; veined tortuously with darker drab; in one bed........ 2 ft. 4 in. 
 No. 8. Porous; gray and drab (mixed); with coarse but firm texture....... 1 th8 tn. 
 No. 9.; Hard, drab beds, butt pomtarusiis.issasssusverussn tues benewaces are ene tt aus 2 feet. 
 No. 10. Coarse, drab beds; porous; rather soft under the hammer......... 12 feet. 
 
 DOtaL....1. 100 searocses aspensdenensn tate RmeE tN TRI ELAE SET ee 27 4t9' In. 
 
SENECA COUNTY. 27 
 
 This rock is quite different in most of its external aspects from that 
 described in the last two sections, and it probably overlies them. It is 
 much more loose-grained and porous, and is almost without bituminous 
 films. The beds are generally six to twelve inches, but sometimes three 
 feet in thickness. It has more constantly the typical drab color of the 
 Waterlime, and it shows, besides the Leperditia alta, another bivalve like 
 Atrypa sulcata, and a handsome species of Orthis, also a coarse Favositoid 
 coral, all of which are often seen in the Waterlime. 
 
 In the S.E. + Sec. 22, Hopewell township, Mr. Henry W. Creeger 
 quarries the Waterlime in the bed of Wolf creek; dip south six or eight 
 degrees. 
 
 The Waterlime appears in thin, drab beds, at the bridge over the San- 
 dusky, N.E. } Sec. 23, Seneca township, with undulating dip. 
 
 S.E. 4 Sec. 29, Clinton township, where the road crosses Rock creek, 
 the Waterlime is exposed, having the features of No. 8, of Quarry No. 3, 
 at Tiffin. 
 
 The Oriskany Sandstone is nowhere exposed in this county, but its line 
 of outcrop probably passes through Adams, Clinton and Eden townships. 
 
 The Lower Corniferous has been observed in the following places : 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 1, Eden township. Along the bed of a little creek tribu- 
 tary to Rock creek, a magnesian, buff, granular limestone is exposed. It 
 has no fossils, so far as can be seen in the meager outcrops. It is also 
 seen in the banks along the creek, on the farm of Mr. Ferguson. It was 
 formerly quarried to a limited extent, and used for rough walls. It is 
 rather soft at first, but is said to become harder when the water is dried 
 out. No dip is discoverable. 3 
 
 N.W. } Sec. 17, Bloom township. In the bed of Honey creek, near 
 Mr. Philip Heilman’s residence, the same rock may be seen; dip uncer- 
 tain, but it appears east and south-east. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 20, Bloom township. In the right bank of Silver creek 
 there is an exposure of higher beds of the Lower Corniferous, as follows, 
 from above: 
 
 No. 1. In beds of two to six inches; buff and dark buff; magnesian; very 
 slightly fossiliferous; some hard and crystalline, some soft and 
 spongy. These edges do not appear slaty. They have been long 
 weathered, and lie loose. This is near the junction of the Lower 
 SEO Oar COMMIOF OUR ieseoasre cheratasc cae «cscs cas endetretotuces meets 10 ft. 
 
 No. 2. Magnesian; rather hard; crystalline; non-fossiliferous; buff when 
 dry; fine-grained; banded with darker buff, or with brown when in 
 thicker beds. Beds}in. to2in. Their edges appear slaty 
 
28 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 Lying nearly horizontal five or six rods, at the east end of the bluff, the 
 beds dip east and disappear. A little west of this exposure the magne-. 
 sian, non-fossiliferous, thick-bedded characters of the Lower Corniferous 
 may be seen in the bed of the creek. Eighteen or twenty rods to the 
 east, the features and fossils of the Upper Corniferous appear in an old 
 quarry by the road-side, where the dip is E.N.E. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 3, Scipio township. Along the channel of Sugar creek, 
 on land of Enoch Frey, a stone is exposed which appears like Lower 
 Corniferous. It is soft and coarse-grained, without visible fossils. A pond 
 which has precipitous banks, and is said to sometimes become dry, located 
 near this place, is probably caused by subterranean disturbance and 
 erosion. 
 
 The quarry of Mr. David Wyatt, N.W. $ Sec. 1, Scipio township, is in 
 a thin-bedded, buff stone, which has no tendency to blue, without fossils, 
 and included within the Lower Corniferous. 
 
 The Lower Corniferous is also exposed §.E. } Sec. 34, Adams township, 
 along the public road. 
 
 N.E. } Sec. 26, Eden township. A fine-grained argillaceous, gray rock, 
 weathering buff, without visible fossils, appears in the road. It seems — 
 apt to break into angular pieces three or four inches across. It is rather 
 hard. It is probably included within the Lower Corniferous. 
 
 The opportunities for observing the lower portion of the Corniferous 
 within the county are not sufficient to warrant a general section and 
 description. 
 
 The Upper Corniferous, owing to its greater hardness and toughness, 
 was not so generally destroyed by the ice and water of the glacial epoch, 
 and now may be more frequently seen, thinly covered with coarse drift, 
 occupying the highest parts of the county, and forming the main water- 
 shed. The coarseness of the drift on these higher tracts is owing to the 
 washings by rains and freshets since the close of the glacial epoch. It is 
 an unassorted hardpan, and sometimes covers glacial striv in the rock 
 below. 
 
 This part of the Corniferous is exposed in the following places within 
 the county. It furnishes a very useful building stone, and is extensively 
 used for all walls, foundations, and some buildings: 
 
 IN THOMPSON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N.W. 4 See. 20. It closely underlies the most of the section. The drift being thin, 
 the soil sometimes shows fragments. A quarry is owned by Mr. John Paine. 
 S. W. 4 Sec. 16. Mr. George Good’s quarry; beds horizontal; in the midst of a 
 
 field in fine cultivation, with a surface gently undulating; drift at the quarry eight 
 inches, but rapidly thickening further away. 
 
SENECA COUNTY. 29 
 
 S. W. } Sec. 16. Samuel Rogers’s quarry exposes about eight feet perpendicular ; 
 beds about horizontal. 
 
 S. W. i Sec. 14. Reuben Hartman’s quarry exposes about eight feet of blue thin 
 beds, which seem to have been shattered, falling toward the west, the firm beds hay- 
 ing a slight dip toward the north-east. Large, handsome flagging is obtained at this 
 quarry. 
 
 N. E. } Sec. 2. Benjamin Bunn’s quarry. There are here about three feet 
 of drift over the rock. The beds are exposed about six feet perpendicular. Dip 
 not observed, although there is a falling away by fracture toward the west. 
 
 S. W.4Sec. 1. Charles Smith’s quarry faces west. Indeed the same is true of 
 Hartman’s and of Bunn’s. Mr. Rogers’s is an irregular opening, facing mostly north 
 and west. Mr. Good’s faces north and east. 
 
 S. E.4Sec. 1. In the edge of Huron county, Mr. George Sheffield has a quarry in 
 horizontal beds; gravelly soil eighteen inches. 
 
 S. E. 4 Sec. 1. Quarry of William Clemens. 
 
 N. E. } Sec. 21. Quarry of Joseph Shirk. This consists of a mass of shattered and 
 dislodged beds, from which, however, good stone is taken. In one place, a mass 
 showing a perpendicular thickness of five feet, is twisted away from its original posi- 
 tion, the planes of jointing indicating where it ought to lie. It is removed two feet 
 from its natural place. The projection beyond the face of the other beds tapers; in 
 the distance of about fifteen feet, to a few inches, and is hid by debris. 
 
 N. E. } Sec. 15. Quarry of John M. Krauss. 
 
 N. E. } Sec. 29. Quarry of Mrs. Joseph Hoover. 
 
 N. E.4Sec. 10. Quarry of Isaac Carn. 
 
 N. W. $ Sec. 11.. Quarry of Tunis Wygart. 
 
 N. W. 4Sec. 2. Quarry of heirs of Grimes. 
 
 Many others also have small openings in the rock in this township. 
 They are nearly all in the midst of cultivated fields, and there is a 
 remarkable absence of bowlders, although the rock is seen sometimes 
 projecting above the surface. There are a few bowlders, but they are 
 such as belong in the drift, and have been dug out by the erosion of 
 streams, or by man. They are not thick about rocky outcrops, as in the 
 lacustrine region. 
 
 IN BLOOM TOWNSHIP. 
 
 N. W. }Sec. 11. Lewis Fisher has an extensive quarry in the Upper Corniferous, 
 in the valley of a little tributary to Honey creek. About fifteen feet of bedding are 
 exposed, lying nearly horizontal. The lowest beds are about eighteen inches in thick: 
 ness, and softer, yet of a blue color like the rest. In working Mr. Fisher’s quarry’ 
 it has become necessary to remove about ten feet of hardpan drift. 
 
 N. E. 4 See. 10. Jacob Detweiller’s quarry is also an extensive opening, and exposes 
 beds a few feet lower than Mr. Fisher’s. The lowest seems to be lighter colored, and 
 must be near the bottom of the Upper Corniferous. A stream disappears in this 
 quarry in time of freshet. 
 
 S. W. } Sec. 3. Henry Determan’s quarry is located in the valley of Honey creek. 
 
 N, E. ¢ Sec. 20. Along the banks of Silver creek there is considerable exposure 0 
 
30 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 the Upper Corniferous, and it is extensively wrought by Abram Kagay. The beds 
 here have a continuous dip E. 8. E., affording opportunity for the following section : 
 
 Descending Section of the Upper Corniferous, at Abram Kagay’s, Sec. 20, Bloom township, 
 Seneca county. 
 
 No. 1. Fossiliferous beds with chert which weathers white; thin-bedded ; 
 
 ofa bluish gray con ais. sew eccct econ ncateenen ceereet reece oer ee eee 7 feet. 
 No. 2. Thin, flaggy, lenticular beds; fossiliferous; drab-buff color; hard, 
 brittle, and sometimes with vermicular impressions............sses00 008 4 feet. 
 [Norr.—No. 2 would probably be thicker bedded and bluish if freshly ex- 
 posed. ] 
 No. 3. The same as No. 2, but im More CVEN DEMS...... 02.00. scncecesscessccvcossenscnss 28 feet. 
 J ——___. 
 Upper Cornilerous €xpoed .2i5..22srcate'\scccdve'sbdcdaten Aemsaaapeciets 39 feet. 
 
 N. W. 4 Sec. 29. Noah Einsel has a handsome quarry, in beds which dip E. N. E. 
 N. W. 4 Sec. 20. Reed tewnship. The Upper Corniferous is quarried by Mr. 
 Armstrong. 
 
 THE DRIFT. 
 
 Throughout this county, this deposit lies as it was left by the glacier. 
 The mass of it is an unassorted hardpan, but it shows locally the glacial 
 stratification incident to streams of water arising from the dissolution of 
 the ice. Such cases of stratification are most common in the great val- 
 leys, where the waters necessarily accumulated. They are by no means 
 common, nor uniform in their location in the drift vertically. In some 
 cases, the stratification rises nearly or quite to the surface, or prevails 
 to the depth of thirty or forty feet. In others, it embraces one or more 
 beds of hardpan, which have irregular outlines. In Sec. 20, Eden town- 
 ship, the banks of Honey creek were particularly noted, and may be 
 described as follows: 
 
 No. 1. This is imperfectly exposed, but wherever seen is unassorted hard- 
 pan, with considerable gravel. It forms the soil of the county, and 
 is Of 2. DrOWNIsh. yell OgyGgeis cn cad dttdevckaccabecsynss cananccdeusaeceracceaunress 25 feet. 
 No. 2. Is blue, and composed of alternating beds of compacted hardpan, 
 containing waterworn and scratched pebbles of all kinds and sizes, 
 apparently unassorted and unstratified, and beds of coarse sand, 
 extremely fine sand, and coarse gravel. From the sand and gravel 
 layers issue springs of ferriferous water. The sand layers gradu- 
 ate sometimes into impervious clay-like beds, and can hardly be 
 called sand. The lowest seen in No. 2 is a layer of eighteen 
 
 inches, at. least, of. clean eand,«<,n.sanscisehal-cusdieiics eee 30 feet. 
 No. 3. Talus of rounded pebbles and stones, mostly limestone, and fre- 
 quently stained with iron; OxyG.ecs.ssusesseonsssapaveesanutentee feameaeene 3 feet. 
 
 The thickness of the drift cannot be stated with certainty. At Attica, 
 
SENECA COUNTY. sil 
 
 in the township of Venice, wells penetrate it to the depth of sixty feet 
 without striking the rock. This is the highest point within the county, 
 and the general surface is rolling. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES. 
 BUILDING STONE. 
 
 Next to the products of the soil, the most important resources of Seneca 
 county consist in the products of the quarries. Throughout most of the 
 county there is no difficulty in obtaining good building stone, although 
 the best quarries are situated a little unfavorably for the townships of 
 Loudon, Big Spring, Seneca, Eden, Pleasant, Venice and Reed. The 
 quarries at Tiffin furnish stone throughout a radius of many miles in all 
 directions, while those in Bloom township supply a great tract of country 
 south and east. The quarries in Thompson township, although located 
 in the Upper Corniferous, and affording one of the best qualities of stone 
 in north-western Ohio, and favorably exposed for working, are less devel- 
 oped than similar openings in Bloom township. This is doubtless due 
 to the superior advantages of quarries further north, and at Bellevue, 
 in Sandusky county, for reaching market and for shipment by railroad. 
 
 LIME. 
 
 For lume the Niagara and Waterlime formations are chiefly used. They 
 are more easily quarried and more cheaply burned than the Upper Cor- 
 niferous. Both are burned at Tiffin, but the kilns are rude, and the 
 expense of burning is greater than where the improved kiln is employed. 
 
 CLAY. 
 
 Clay for brick and red pottery is found of suitable quality in all parts of 
 the county. Many establishments for the manufacture of brick employ 
 the surface of the ordinary hardpan, including even the soil. Others 
 reject the immediate surface, which contains roots and turf, and burn the 
 hardpan from the depth of afoot or two. This material, although liable 
 to contain pebbles of limestone, which injure the manufactured article, 
 generally has it in sosmall quantity, and in so comminuted a state, as to 
 require no other flux for the silica; and the tile, brick and pottery made 
 in this way are suitable for all purposes where no great degree of heat is 
 required. Mr. J. H. Zahm, of Tiffin, after many careful experiments, 
 has succeeded in making a good quality of hydraulic cement, by mixing 
 the finest of the drift clay, in proper parts, with ordinary carbonate of 
 
32 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 lime or tufa. He has also produced from the drift clay near Tiffin, by 
 making proper selections, a very fine pottery, some of which cannot be 
 distinguished from the terra cotta ware used for ornaments and statues. 
 It has a very close, vitreous fracture, a smooth surface, and a dark-red or 
 amber color. From the drift clay near Tiffin, Mr. Henry W. Creeger also 
 obtains a fine material for pottery, and for glazing with salt. 
 
 BOG-IRON ORE. 
 
 Before the development of the Lake Superior and Missouri iron mines, 
 one of the principal sources of iron in the north-west was the bog ore 
 deposits which are scattered over much of the country. In north-western 
 Ohio the numerous furnaces which were employed on these deposits along 
 the south shore of Lake Erie, and in counties further south and west, 
 rendered bog ore an important item of mineral wealth. It produces an 
 iron known as cold short, owing to the presence of phosphorus, which 
 cannot be used for wire or for sheet iron, but is valuable for castings. On 
 the contrary, iron from the ores which contain sulphur as an impurity, 
 or silicon, is friable or brittle while hot, and is distinguished as red short. 
 When these two qualities occur in close proximity, or in circumstances 
 favorable for transportation, they may be mixed in the process of smelt- 
 ing, and the resulting iron is greatly improved. The Lake Superior ores, 
 which are the only ones smelted in the furnaces of north-western Ohio, 
 are nearly or quite free from sulphur, and hence at the present time the 
 bog ores possess but little commercial value. It will be only in connec- 
 tion with the sulphur ores of the Coal Measures, in the south-eastern 
 part of the State, that the bog ores can be made of any mineral value. 
 
 In Seneca county bog ore occurs in a number of places. It is usually 
 not in quantities sufficient to invite expenditure of capital, and, in the 
 absence of abundant fuel, it will probably never be of any economical 
 value. It was met with on the farm of William B. Stanley, about two 
 miles south-east of Tiffin, where it underlies a peat bog covering irregu- 
 larly perhaps fifteen or twenty acres. 
 
 It also occurs on the land of Mr. Foght, S.E. 4 Sec. 27, Seneca town- 
 ship. It has been taken out here in large blocks, roughly cut while wet, 
 and set up for back walls in rude fire-places. On being exposed to the 
 air, or especially to fire, it becomes cemented and very hard. There is 
 also a deposit in Sec. 11, Clinton township, exactly on the south line of 
 the Seneca Indian Reservation. 
 
<+ t Sialrr. 
 
 vet As 
 “a 
 j mn : 
 “ail ene : 
 
 rae 
 
ONID HLIT09 B@IIOINEGOHLS 
 
 ‘09 NOTUVK ‘00 NIGUVH 
 
 anN01g 
 
 1S y bat 
 FEO T OTA MOH 
 LI d 
 
 Cc 
 
 | 
 
 JUOPS PUNY 
 AUDMSIAOD 
 
 JUOISHUT J 
 srV0saprasg) 7 
 
 1 
 
 ‘Oo NIGUVH 
 
 81010) JO 
 UOVTDUDIAN GY 
 
 ‘TIS HONIM'H'N 
 AT 
 
 9 GAWOAMYV WO 
 | 
 
 *LINNOD LOGNVAM 
 JO 
 AVI TWODOTORD 
 
 “op y@ ye 
 AMINE [WIM apa) 7 
 
 ‘oO 
 
CHAPTER XAXVHL. 
 
 GEOLOGY OF WYANDOT COUNTY. 
 
 SITUATION AND AREA. 
 
 This county, which lies south of Seneca, is bounded east by Crawford, 
 south by Marion and Hardin, and west by Hardin and Hancock, contain- 
 ing eight square miles more than eleven townships. 
 
 NATURAL DRAINAGE. - 
 
 Being near the great water-shed of the state, just on its northern slope, 
 it contains no large streams. The Tymochtee creek, with its tributaries, 
 and the headwaters of the Sandusky river, comprising the Little San- 
 dusky and the Broken Sword creeks, and the small stream known as 
 Sycamore creek, Tyler’s run, Sugar run, Negro run and Rock run, are 
 the drainage system of the county. Their general course is due north, 
 except that the eastern tributaries of the Sandusky, and perhaps for the 
 Same reason as in Seneca county, have a direction westerly or south- 
 westerly, until they descend upon the area of the Waterlime, and are 
 well within the drainage valley of the Sandusky. The Tymochtee creek, 
 throughout the most of its course in Wyandot county, is a slow stream 
 and has a clay bottom. Its valley is as wide and its banks as high as 
 those of the Sandusky itself, although less water actually passes down 
 its channel. The Sandusky, on the contrary, more frequently runs on a 
 rock bottem, and its current is more rapid. It affords occasional water- 
 power privileges. The same is true of the small creeks entering it from 
 the east. 
 
 SURFACE FEATURES. 
 
 The topography of this county is quite simple. The western half is 
 gently undulating or flat. The excavated valley of the Tymochtee creek, 
 which is usually about a hundred rods wide, and rarely exceeds two 
 
 3 
 
386 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 tain the thickness of this black muck, but no result was obtained other 
 than the fact that while it exceeds eight feet in some places, it is usually 
 but four or five. It is thin about the margin of the marsh, and seems to 
 be generally underlain by a tough, blue clay, often so calcareous as to 
 constitute a marl. This blue clay is sometimes itself overlain by a bed 
 of quicksand. Within the muck the horns of elk are said to have been 
 found, and logs several feet in diameter. Along the south margin of the 
 prairie, within the bow, there is considerable sand, as if the deposit of 
 a lake shore. Within the bow of the prairie there is also considerable 
 flat land not marshy, the surface rising very gently toward the south for 
 the distance of nearly a mile, when the west ridge rises suddenly to the 
 height of nearly fifty feet. The prairie is crossed by three public roads. 
 These are constructed by throwing together the dirt from two parallel 
 ditches, on which is placed first corduroy, and afterward, when repairs 
 are needed, stone is hauled from the ridges, giving the road a rough 
 macadamizing. Many months in the year the prairie is covered with 
 water, and it is only in the driest months that cattle venture on it for 
 grazing. Within it are sometimes little undulations or hillocks, on 
 which grow bunches of shrubs and large herbs. The annexed figure 
 shows the position of the prairie and the shape of the ridges. 
 
 \ 
 
 Y 
 cla LAN 
 ae "4 e lll 
 ae wa WNE FRING Ss DI vies QUARRY 
 “OUTLET ROmuiase Bla e Nie a . ¥ Aw fe = KIBBLER'S QUARBY | 
 Y Pr Ze) = ° cave ie 
 AL Ww MA Mt “yu ee an Nii) ; oO 
 AN NW Ss <, NM = ES My, 2k 
 a Ty Wi; VAN, any Wh ‘7 Syne <i\\ 
 i S Can} —= = 
 3 SP ity AL <= HAUFMAN’S QUARRY 
 ay May So ocave Rigi, at S* Ses 
 eats QUARRY ~ swepncnose My, ow \\) ~ = 
 ww CHI UARRY Mi nie i\\ \\ 
 sai ane § “Mlij i uiaitiiy “eS Ml age 
 VERBENA Ve =e SHAUPTS=IN= a veins LIME é 
 sie piack SOIL Zo oy & = ; é 
 Ly S 
 LOW LAND Wp ii ty 
 VANLUE 
 
 MAP OF BIG SPRING PRAIRIM. 
 
 The rock here exposed has been found to contain characteristic Niagara 
 fossils only in the North Ridge. There are no perpendicular sections of 
 the bedding, except in small quarries on the slopes of the ridges near 
 their bases. In these openings the stone appears very different from 
 that seen in bare places higher up the ridges and on their summits, and 
 
 the dip is uniformly toward the low ground, whatever the position of the 
 quarry. 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. FY 
 
 The quarry of Mr. Samuel Shaupt, situated on the western slope of the 
 west ridge, about three miles from Carey, shows the rock dipping about 
 fifteen or eighteen degrees toward the south-west, that is, toward the 
 nearest low ground. It is in thin, fragile beds, of a light drab or buff 
 color, porous, and soft under the hammer, showing no distinguishable 
 fossils. 
 
 In the quarry of Mr. Thomas Shepherd, N.E. } Sec. 11, Ridge town- 
 ship, about a mile north-west of Mr. Shaupt’s, the following section is 
 exposed from above; dip six or eight degrees 8.W. 
 
 No. 1. Beds thin, and so carious they can hardly be lifted; in even sheets 
 
 of a buff color, sometimes reduced to sand by the weather....... 10 in. 
 No. 2. Beds three to eight inches; vesicular; of a buff color; easily 
 NNEC coke er eerdacver snc cocrncacctaeestareneater puede sh esaa ys cice isees aNesibeuees 4 ft. 
 No. 3. Irregularly bedded; lenticular or massive; buff color; carious; 
 UREN UE CGER OL MUISELG: CAR hte s ila CREaaa & cas iene vk dnb a va rcpiaanvec eouead achonyeapa dem 2 ft. 
 EEIMR ro eerren teas eet is shuaban ote acches Lava ante Sed COUNT vac RAceiR eee Maye 6 ft. 10 in 
 
 Mr. F. J. Werlow’s quarry, N.E. $+ Sec. 16, Crawford, is in the same 
 kind of stone, but it is so far removed from the ridge that the beds have 
 not been tilted by it. They lie horizontal, or with a very slight incli- 
 nation §.W. The rock is here very near the surface. The same is true 
 at Carey, where it is sometimes reached in digging post-holes for fences. 
 
 The quarry of Mr. Jonas Huffman is in the west slope of the north 
 ridge, situated N.W 4 Sec. 4, Crawford township, and shows the follow- 
 ing descending section. Dip toward the west 10°. The rock here is 
 overlain by about two feet of drift and loose fragments. 
 
 No. 1. Thin beds; light drab; weathering buff; porous like a very fine 
 sponge. Beds two to four inches without fossils ...........:00: eeseeseeees 2 ft, 
 No. 2. Confused and lenticular in the bedding, with larger pores or cavities, 
 sometimes filled with calcite; fossiliferous, showing two species of 
 bivalves, Cyathophylloids and Favositoids.........csc01 cesses sssssssee ceneee 2 it. 
 No. 3. Hard; close-grained; light drab; beds four to eight inches. The 
 close-grained texture sometimes occurs irregularly through the 
 Mel omeeetiel tina. aD IN ba ued ct a ee he kcal cts sx aeis's viou.oi o svtied dapatenese Dalits 
 
 Mr. William Divle’s quarry, at Springville, in Seneca county, is near 
 the northern extremity of the north ridge, and on the western slope. 
 The stone is the same as Mr. Shaupt’s and Mr. Shepherd’s on the west 
 ridge. It contains no fossils. Opened about four feet. Dip W. 
 
 Mr. Peter Kibbler’s quarry, also at Springville, affords a slight expo- 
 sure of the same kind of stone, with a gentle dip W., ¢. e. toward the 
 prairie. The stone here seems a little more firm, but is generally porous, 
 
38 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 with fine cavities ; fossils wanting or so absorbed as to be undistinguish- 
 able. The color is a light drab, varying to buff, and also to gray, espe- 
 cially when thrown out in piles. The stone is not handsome, the beds 
 being uneven and containing some white chert. 
 
 At Mr. David Smith’s quarry, N. E.$Sec. 3, Amanda, Hancock county, 
 the stone is buff, porous, and in thin beds about two inches in thickness. 
 No visible fossils except vernicular markings. This quarry is situated 
 on the west flank of the west ridge, and the beds dip S.W. Exposed, 
 4 ft. 10 in. 
 
 Exposures on the north ridge, in the eastern part of Sec. 4, Crawford 
 township, show a dip easterly, with the slope of the ground. 
 
 Stone thrown out from these quarries becomes a light buff, sometimes 
 almost white, under the weather, and although not of a durable quality, 
 it has been considerably used in ordinary walls and foundations. 
 
 In passing over the ridges, which are occupied by good farms, stones 
 are often seen gathered from the fields and deposited in piles or in the 
 corners of the fences, or laid up in walls. They consist of fragments 
 from the underlying rock, and of northern bowlders, the former greatly 
 predominating. Along the road the rock is frequently seen bare, and as 
 already remarked, it is different, lithologically, from that seen in the 
 foregoing quarries. It is most frequently a dark drab or brown, hard, 
 crystalline rock, apparently in a rough, massive condition, containing 
 cavities sometimes two or three inches in diameter. It nowhere appears 
 in even beds. It is rarely vesicular like the stone seen in the quarries 
 described, but contains large cavities, irregularly scattered through it. 
 The color is sometimes a bluish drab, and it not unfrequently shows 
 obscure traces of fossil remains. Surface fragments scattered over the 
 eastern projection of the north. ridge afford such fossils as Pentamerus 
 (galeatus?) Megalamus Canadensis, Hall, Platyostoma Niagarense, Favosites 
 Niagarensis, and a species of Cyathophylloid coral, with characters suffi- 
 ciently definite for identification. [The following were identified with 
 various degrees of certainty: Plewrotomaria Elora, Bill? Murchisonia 
 (bellicincta, Hall? only an impression,) Atrypa nodostriata? (impression) 
 Trimarella, sp? (common as casts), Pentamerus oblongus (cast). Impres- 
 sion of a handsome crinoid calyx. Cyclonema sp ? Favosites, (with fine 
 cells), an Orthoceratite and Atrypa sulcata? The last is very common, 
 and occurs almost entirely as casts. Another bivalve, which appears 
 like Atrypa reticularis, is very common as impressions. These occur 
 sometimes in rock otherwise compact and solid, or they may be so 
 
 numerous as to make the rock porous and loose, the interior of the shell 
 being entirely wanting. ] 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. 39 
 
 The surface fragments furnishing these fossils are, however, more vesi- 
 cular and lighter colored than the stone usually seen scattered over the 
 surface of the ridges. They have the lithological characters of that 
 phase of the Niagara seen in the Sandusky river at Tiffin, Seneca 
 county, and at Genoa, in Ottawa county. In the N. E. } Sec. 32, Craw- 
 ford township, a ridge may be seen of the same kind of stone as those 
 north of Carey, running north and south, visible about one-half mile, 
 slightly exposed on land of Joseph Paul. 
 
 It would seem as if the conditions of the ocean’s bed, in which the 
 Niagara was formed, were notuniform. While regularstrata were being 
 deposited in a wide area, including portions of Seneca and Hancock 
 counties, without disturbance or contortions, a concretionary and crys- 
 tallizing force sprang into operation in the N. W. corner of Wyandot 
 county, which, working from below, caused the even beds of deposition 
 to swell upward or over the growing mass or masses. In some cases, it 
 aided in the preservation of fossil remains; in others, it hastened their 
 absorption into the mass of the rock. This is a peculiarity of rock for- 
 mation not confined to the Niagara, but is displayed conspicuously in the 
 Waterlimestone above, and it has been seen in the Lower Corniferous. 
 When the lapse of time brings such hardened masses into contact with 
 the erosions of ice and water, they cause the prominent features of the 
 landscape, by the removal of the more destructible parts about them. 
 Such may be the explanation ot the remarkable ridges about Carey, the 
 even, friable beds seen in the quarries about their flanks having once 
 been continuous over their summits, but, unable to resist the forces of 
 the glacial epoch, were denuded down to the more enduring rock. 
 
 Within these ridges are several caves, the entrances to which are 
 small and have been accidentally discovered, sometimes by men plowing 
 in the field. One particularly, on Mr. Charles Zook’s farm, N. W. } Sec. 
 2, Ridge township, is described as having a perpendicular descent of 
 sixty-five feet, to a stream of water which isalso very deep, and separates 
 one apartment by a narrow passage from another. The entrance is 
 about five feet across, and the sides are of rock. 
 
 The Niagara in the south-west corner of the county, rises rapidly in 
 the same way from below the Waterlime which lies to the north, the dip 
 being N. E., and to the amount of twenty-five degrees, along sections 18 
 and 13, near the county line. It here appears as a thick-bedded, gray, 
 and crystalline limestone. It also shows in the Tymochtee creek, at the 
 village of Marseilles, in a characteristic surface exposure. About five 
 feet of thick, hard beds may be seen along the creek, lying nearly hori- 
 zontal, or with a very slight dip S.S. W. It is slightly porous and fos- 
 
40 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 siliferous. It is sometimes blotched with blue and drab. These are the 
 beds that rise so rapidly about a mile further south, forming a little ridge 
 or brow of prominent land facing north. On this brow is situated the 
 residence of Mr. Socrates Hartle. The rock is shown in the excavation 
 for his cellar about the center of Sec. 13, (west of the village,) in Mar- 
 seilles township ; also, in a ditch by the roadside, in Sec. 18, about sixty 
 rods east of Mr. Hartle’s house, where the rapidity of the current of 
 water has cleaned off the smoothed and striated rock in a handsome 
 exposure. A little stream, locally known as Little Tymochtee creek, 
 makes eastward along the north side of this brow of land, and on See. 13, 
 less than a quarter of a mile north of Mr. Hartle’s house, and perhaps 
 thirty feet below the Niagara outcrop near it, the blue, slaty beds of the 
 Waterlime may be seen in this creek. 
 
 In the §. E. 4 Sec. 18, (S. W. of the village,) Marseilles township, Mr. 
 M. V. Toner has a quarry in the Niagara. The beds here are three to 
 six inches in thickness. The stone is rather firm, though somewhat 
 porous. It is used for quicklime and for general building purposes. 
 
 On the N. W. 4 of the same section, land of Miss Addie Terry, the 
 Niagara has been a little worked for quicklime ; dip N. 
 
 S. E. % Sec. 11, (W. of the village,) Marseilles township, D. Heck- 
 athorn burns lime from the Niagara; dip north; beds about four inches. 
 Within forty rods north of Mr. Heckathorn’s quarry, the Waterlime 
 appears in the Little Tymochtee creek. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 11, (W. of the village,) Marseilles township, H. H. Carey 
 burns lime and supplies building stone from the Niagara; beds three to 
 five inches; dip E.; exposed eighteen inches. 
 
 N.E. $ Sec. 9, (W. of village,) Marseilles township, Mr. Charles Norris 
 burns lime from the Niagara. The creek here furnishes considerable 
 exposure. ; 
 
 S.E. } Sec. 11, (W. of the village,) Marseilles township, Michael Keck- 
 ler has a small opening in the Niagara. 
 
 The Salina was nowhere observed in Wyandot county. 
 
 The Waterlime formation, which in counties further north presents three 
 distinct, general lithological characters, in Wyandot county is mainly 
 reduced to one. That aspect of the Waterlime designated ‘ phase No. 3” 
 on a former page, passes, with the addition of much bituminous matter, 
 into a thin-bedded, even slaty, condition, which, first black, weathers 
 blue on the sides of the bedding, or lastly a chocolate color, while the 
 fractured edge is a very dark drab. Throughout the county it is known 
 in this condition as “blue slate.” When the bituminous matter is more 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. _ 41 
 
 evenly distributed through the rock, instead of being confined to the 
 thin partings, the beds are thicker, and of a blue color. 
 
 The principal outcrop of the Waterlime within the county is along the 
 left bank of the Tymochtee creek, in sections 27 and 34, in Crawford 
 township. The banks of the creek expose perpendicular sections of four 
 to eight feet of these thin beds. The dip being continuously toward the 
 south-west, a connected section of 84 feet 10 inches may be made out as 
 follows, in descending order : 
 
 Section of the Waterlime in the banks of the Tymochtee Creek, Secs. 27 and 34, 
 Crawford, Wyandot County. 
 
 Novi thin {Pb inch) dark-drab, brittle beds 2.02.50. .0lvcetkcss bavotease opessccne 1 ft. 
 No. 2. Beds two to three inches; lenticular; light-drab; weathering 
 
 BELG WTC: LOCALE CUM ice cca seje cn wad ovcimuaped Grane aqusiae Vadtite adsneans 2 ft. 6 in. 
 No.3  Light-drab beds, weathering ashen ; two to six inches............06. 2 ft. 
 
 No. 4. Drab, slaty beds, with frequent bituminous films; deep fracture 
 sometimes blue-drab; beds half inch thick; blue color rarely 
 
 seen; the equivalent of the stone of Carey’s quarry............... 24 ft. 
 No. 5. Beds two to four inches; drab; compact and fine-grained; show- 
 ing no blue; like the stone in June’s quarry, Fremont........... 15 ft. 
 
 No. 6. Beds thin (1 to4 inches); drab; regular; fine-grained; compact; 
 showing no blue or chocolate ; on a deep fracture bluish drab, 
 
 CLIN EY ccc dslat or gut St ag savwacta fur aseasanen «sda ites suses vane ondonn att ardieaeecteXake 12 ft. 
 No. 7. Drab, slaty beds; separated by brown bituminous films; above 
 the beds are thicker but more lenticular........... ssscssesserses seeees 10 ft. 
 
 No.8. Drab; fine-grained ; slaty with bituminous films that weather blue. 
 
 Some beds are four inches, but without long horizontal contin- 
 
 MTLCO Ny deni scettts deena ash vas ts Cu ceevivestacsvesvssoksels neyescvustvapvacss anemesicasoye 4 ft. 
 No. 9. Earthy, slaty beds, weathering blue and chocolate on the sides, 
 
 which are coated with bituminous films. The broken edges of 
 
 the bedding are dark-drab, sometimes with irregular spots of 
 
 UMN PAROS cv eccette Sis hata n'gsocicdsss osspnceus tabsdasdniees onc kus as andoger'simoteacaves 10 ft. 
 No. 10. Vesicular and carious; coarse, ungainly; of a dark-drab color; 
 
 with traces of fossils ; mostly hid from observation, but appar- 
 
 ently without horizontal continuance .............ce000 seseseeee vececees L Ths cette 
 PVCn Bhs PAC OU ss LURLOr RAIA |? CITY, S conunosnontite cf ccedees teereonse deddenten bore 4 in, 
 No. 12. Beds one-fourth inch; slaty ; drab; with blue films...............066 Eft 
 No. 18. Drab, lenticular beds of two inches ; sometimes bulging and then 
 harder, or in regular courses of two to four inches......... ssss0e6 oi Dita. 6 in: 
 OLAN GEOR: seaesn tak vakeaherd Peaeus cvéstoood pre san'susdeache tanh eatieatonee 84 ft. 10 in. 
 
 Nos. 7,8 and 9 have very much the same general lithological facies, and 
 may be appropriately included in the general designation of Tymochtee 
 Slate. The beds are homogeneous, tough, thin, sometimes having so 
 much bituminous matter as to appear like the great Black Slate. The 
 
42 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 thinnest beds are, however, streaked with alternations of dark drab, and 
 a bituminous brown. When wet the brown is almost black, but when 
 dry and weathered it assumes a blue color, and if long weathered it 
 becomes chocolate. There are among these occasional patches of thicker, 
 even, drab beds, which finally become so persistent, upward, as to require 
 a special designation. 
 
 Mr. Donald M. Carey has a quarry in these thin, blue beds (Nos. 2, 3 
 and 4) on Sec. 27, which has acquired considerable notoriety for the large, 
 smooth slabs or flagging it affords. Some of the thicker beds furnish also 
 a handsome and useful stone for building. The dip is toward the 8.8.W., 
 exposure about twelve feet perpendicular. The stone here shows the 
 characteristic Leperditia alta. The quarry is in the old river bank, or 
 hardpan terrace, about forty rods from the stream. 
 
 This aspect of the Waterlime is seen in the following places in Wyan- 
 dot county : 
 
 S.W. + Sec. 16, Crane township. At the “Indian Mill” these blue 
 flags have been taken out of the bed of the Sandusky and used for 
 foundations for the mill. But in the construction of the bridge at the 
 same place, the stone used is said to have come from Leesville, Crawford 
 county. 
 
 Sec. 21, Crane township. At Carter’s dam, in the Sandusky river, 
 Mr. Samuel Strasser has opened the Waterlime. The stone is in irregu- 
 lar thick and thin beds. When freshly quarried it is blue-drab, and of 
 a fine grain. Exposed a short time to the weather the whole pile 
 becomes a bright blue. The fracture of the beds, however, becomes a 
 much more ashen or drab-blue than the sides of the bedding. The dip 
 is W. 
 
 Downward Section at Strasser’s Quarry. 
 
 No. 1. Very irregular and distorted ; beds six to twenty-four inches; firm..... 3 ft. 
 No. 2. Beds one to three inches; fine-grained ; lenticular ....... ...sseeeeeeeeee Nes 3 ft. 
 No. 3. Beds six to twelve inches; hard and fine-grained ...... cscs seeeee eenseeees 3 ft. 
 
 Total QxprOs@dh isais sess 0s:0<cnccaen ane ceecseancateenstenenenehanseeateites enna tusteanswea see 9 ft. 
 
 About thirty rods east of Strasser’s quarry, in the bed of the Sandusky, 
 blue flagging is taken out like that of Mr. Carey’s quarry on the 
 Tymochtee creek, except that here the blue color pervades the whole 
 mass. Fragments of this, when very bituminous and jointed, come out 
 in long tapering pieces. These flags show a fossil which appears like a 
 species of Modiolopsis. 
 
 S.W 4 Sec. 22, Crane township. In the bed of Rock run, a fine-grained 
 blue stone is quarried and used for foundations. It weathers a drab 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. 43 
 
 color to the depth of a half inch, or an inch, all over the outside. One 
 bed only of six inches is exposed. 
 
 N.W. 4 Sec. 27, Crane township. Along the bed of Rock run the 
 Waterlime is abundantly exposed, with a general dip S.E., changing to 
 W. at the west end of the outcrop. Mr. Peter Wynandy here burns lime 
 and sells stone. 
 
 Section at Wynandy’s Quarry, in descending order. 
 y y ) g 
 
 No. 1. Irregular drab beds, without showing blue color; two to four inches.. 3 ft. 
 [Separated from No. 2 by an interval of only occasional exposure of 
 rock, apparently the same as No. 1, with dip in the same direc- 
 RFE eaten ae ret ete erred ese OI ie ck wand 2s ccslart cua Gi det ciauss basse ies 15 ft. ? 
 No. 2. Drab beds; more regular; of two to four inches; used for quicklime ; 
 separated by brown bituminous films, which, when freshly taken 
 out are more blue. The stone itself, especially in some of the thin 
 bituminous layers (or films), is ‘occasionally tinged with blue........... 4 ft. 
 [Separated from No. 3 by an estimated interval of thirty feet, in 
 which there are occasional exposures, showing the same dip 
 pic onaractenm ot. Tock aa NOs 2) o..c0c00 csasas shindicievda é «ccdadvnws Keepers 30 ft. ? 
 This only differs from Nos. 1 and 2 by the blue color of the freshly 
 quarried stone. It lies also, perhaps, in evener beds, and furnishes 
 large, handsome, blue blocks, the thickest of which is not over six 
 inches. These thick beds have every conceivable alternation with 
 thinner, more bituminous beds, which are also sometimes so thick 
 as to constitute a bituminous shale, but are usually only a tough 
 (OOO So lad RN Spay SS AG eet i POR Ea a ee 5 ft. 
 
 No. 
 
 i) 
 
 The change of color from blue to drab is very noticeable in the stone 
 quarried from No. 3. Beds which certainly cannot have been fractured 
 more than a few months, were seen to have already acquired a coating 
 of drab one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch thick over the fractured sur- 
 face. The layers themselves, before quarrying, are sometimes one-half 
 to two-thirds drab, with a blue streak through the center. It would 
 seem as if the drab were entirely an acquired color, and that, perhaps, 
 the whole Waterlime was at first a blue rock. The access of air or 
 aerated water seems to cause the change. The fact that the lower, regu- 
 lar beds (as at this quarry), shut off the percolations of water through 
 the rock, may account for the longer preservation of the blue. Whenever 
 the beds are lenticular or irregular, or are so situated that the atmos- 
 phere finds free access to them, they are drab. They are seen to be blue 
 only when deep-seated or lying very true. 
 
 Hast side of Sec. 28, Tymochtee township. The Tymochtee slate is 
 
44 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 seen in the bed of the Sandusky at Haman’s mill. Handsome flags 
 about two inches thick are taken out. 
 
 Sec. 22, Pitt township. Mr. James Anderson’s quarry shows the fol- 
 lowing descending section in the bank of the Sandusky : 
 
 No. 1. Bituminous; dark drab or brown; earthy and carious; in one vesicu- 
 
 lar bed. (The equivalent of No. 10 in the foregoing “section of 
 
 the Pymochtee slate-2) ssc ennveneceeiaoes ais ace taouer ae Pee Pastore 10 in. 
 No. 2. Very hard; almost flinty, irregular beds of one-fourth inch to two 
 
 inches; brown and blue on fracture; sometimes cemented so as 
 
 to appear massive; with ‘cavities containing loose, disintegrated 
 
 TUS UET HAL LURO WNC OL WN Gall cad o: dances <iastevcnndeausenaietis deataranses enieees 5 ft. 
 
 LOCAL POSE 06 i55 cach shh ss lntz Dew bddR ECA ten ad toe eae ee ae 5 ft. 10 in. 
 
 When No. 1 is constantly wet it is dark brown, but in the weather it 
 becomes light brown. There are sometimes bituminous films visible on 
 a fractured edge; no fossils. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 10, Pitt township, Mrs. Rebecca Smith owns a quarry in 
 the Sandusky, from which a fine-grained, even bedded, blue stone, is 
 taken, which weathers an ashen color. Here ure some handsome beds, 
 six to eight inches thick, affording a fine building material. Dip S.E. 
 
 At various other points in Pitt township, the same features of the 
 Waterlime may be seen. No reliable estimate can be made of the thick- 
 ness exposed, or of their relative places in the formation, the outcrops 
 are so isolated, and show so nearly the same characters. The same stone 
 is quarried in the river at Upper Sandusky, by Mr. William Frederick. 
 
 In Sec. 17, Crawford township, Mr. George Mulholland, and on See. 24, 
 Messrs. Mitten & O’Brien, have quarries in the Waterlime. The stone 
 from these openings is in thick beds, much like the gray, hard beds of 
 the ‘quarry No. 3,” at Tiffin. 
 
 The Lower Corniferous may be seen in interrupted outcrop along the 
 Sycamore creek, from Benton, in Crawford county, to Sec. 18, in Syca- 
 more township, Wyandot county. Through the whole of this distance 
 it is so hid by drift that no reliable section can be obtained. It is of the 
 coarse-grained, thick-bedded, harsh and magnesian type, until, just 
 within Sec. 17, Sycamore, the character of the rock changes. It assumes 
 very much the aspect of the drab, thin-bedded Waterlime. A little 
 farther down the creek, the soft, thick beds of the Lower Corniferous 
 return. Further still, there is another similar change to a fine-grained, 
 compact, light-blue stone without fossils. This character continues 
 through the most of Sec. 27, and some in Sec. 21, evinced, not often by 
 the rock in situ, but by the angular, bluish, fine-grained pieces in the 
 stream. This member of the Lower Corniferous was also seen near Mel- 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. 45 
 
 more, in Seneca county. No opportunity has been afforded to ascertain 
 its thickness, but judging from the superficial exposure, it may have a 
 thickness of thirty or even fifty feet. In the N.W. 4 Sec. 21, Sycamore, 
 about eighteen inches of similar compact blue Limestone may be seen 
 in the creek, underlain by a blue shale which crumbles conchoidally, and 
 shows spots of darker blue or purple. It is sometimes quite rock-like, 
 yet when long weathered it crumbles. Its thickness cannot be stated, 
 though there cannot be less than ten feet, judging from the distance it 
 occupies the bed of the creek. On Sec. 18, of the same township, a 
 thick-bedded, even-grained rock, harsh like a sandstone, is slightly — 
 exposed. It is gray, without visible fossils, and weathers buff. It is 
 impossible to give its dip, thickness, or relation to the shale just men- 
 tioned. It probably lies below that. Near the same place, land of 
 Andrew Bretz, there are also large fragments of a fragile, bituminous, 
 crinoidal limestone, seen in the bed of the creek. 
 
 In Pitt township, 8. W.4 Sec. 25, on the land of Jacob Brewer, the 
 Lower Corniferous is slightly exposed in the upper bank of the Sandusky 
 river. The rock consists almost entirely of the coral Cenostroma monti- 
 culifera, Win. Only a thickness of about a foot can be seen in situ, but a 
 mass of two feet thickness is tilted up so as to present the edges of the 
 beds in a perpendicular position. 
 
 THE DRIFT. 
 
 Wherever sections were observed throughout the county, the drift 
 shows, as in counties further north, the two usual colors. The first is 
 light brown or ashen, and extends downward about twelve feet. It may 
 be stratified or entirely unstratified, and forms the soil where it has not 
 been covered with alluvial or marshy accumulations. Its color alone 
 distinguishes it from the underlying blue, or Erie clay. They both con- 
 tain bowlders that show glacial action. On Sec. 24, Crawford township, 
 the lower member was seen exposed 27 ft. 4 in. in the bank of Tymochtee 
 creek, embracing beds of gravel and sand. The upper, overlying, was 
 twelve feet, and entirely unassorted; yet on Sec. 18, Tymochtee town- 
 ship, both are more or less stratified, as in the following diagram. No. 
 two sections of this bank would be the same. The greatest uniformity 
 in the drder of alternation is in the upper part. The blue hardpan some- 
 times extends upward quite to the brown clays and sands, and in one 
 case, the whole bank consists of hardpan, the upper portion having the 
 brown color. - 
 
 The following perpendicular section was taken. It will convey an 
 
46 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 idea of the general character of the bank, and of the drift in Wyandot 
 county. 
 
 No.1. . Pixie, cramping, brown Clay, assorted wae carte ore cste anastasia 4 ft. 
 NO=2.° Fonte: compact yellow Sand... eeersasuaseepeeeson eeree ee ace Saves soca ee 8 in. 
 N66. 3. \ Brown Say CHG. ii 2.05: basiiats oes POeMEmeN cesta seat on cohadec eeren das sda tuae Vit 
 No.4, ine scrambling 7 brown cclayic.cte.te shui vathdtes arese cevvareatordth ous senesaeens 6 in. 
 No. 5. Brown, sandy clay, and fine, yellow sand, in irregular beds........... A ee 
 No, 6.-; Fines yellowrenand ssgiieas Ss sa taeet newest tb sbapeds cae cn Regia ialeen at ape 1 ft. ean 
 No. 7. Clean, fine sand, with many limestone pebbles, and fragments of 
 SLROMEI AUC cise tna sons bnnacencubeen aren snedues pechinutnn taatoneraedete aan aaeeae 2 ft. 
 NOs D.STGIBEY SAING cs cadsios case detel caus we Urns decoas nos deates @atwatsan spexeoaeieaeuste Peanrmeaeene 8 in. 
 No-9.. “Clean, blue sanid s“water-Dearing... i ns3d.<cevccsss0oaebecda us ecsninesess sadeascas 3 in. 
 Noz10)'> Compact, fine, brownvclay ; assorted s.-Jaidsc.sccavecsseecs get txooke dekentt 6 in. 
 [To this point the brown color prevails. ] 
 ( a. UASROTEed, Hilo, DIC SELAY 0.0. cores vevdvansasnandehke wldsucenxsnteernes sae 7 
 b. Sand in oblique stratification ; changing to gravel............ 
 Go “BIMGIAY + BSBOPLOR 0.13 sacee ese seuidaidecdecstieangeetopietaaneerentns 
 ds.) Bidar d Olay, > 0 Css: dna se5 Sener cunacens akaeee ek nee nn ie 
 Nort e. <A bed of Seok three feet of sand, the strata standing near- iden get 
 ly perpendicular; with alternate streaks of blue and | 
 AW HVLGSATIC..f.02 veastseodinnnbinn ganeccccnendenaad erg opcacmseneemeenaaranmas 
 f: Fine, blue, assorted clay iss. daatsn wiessnkancennstenw gion sOaevenatease J 
 
 No. 12. Blue hardpan, containing gravel-stones, pebbles and scratched 
 bowlders. Near the bottom is a bed of very fine blue clay, of at 
 least eight inches, perfectly assorted and free from pebbles. Be- 
 low it, however, are several feet of hardpan; about..............0++ 25 ft. 
 
 Diagram of the front view of the bank of the Tymochtee creek, showing the general superposi- 
 tion of the principal parts of the foregoing section. In the bed of the creek the Waterlime 
 is in outcrop. (Figure reduced for wood-cut.) 
 
 EXPLANATION OF FIGURE. 
 
 3rown clay and sand; stratified. 
 Brown hardpan. 
 Stratified brown clay. 
 Stratified blue clay and sand. 
 Fine blue clay and blue hardpan. 
 : Brown clay. 
 Blue clay. 
 Debris ; bowlders and slides. 
 
 rh ho ao rf 
 
WYANDOT COUNTY. 47 
 
 On the opposite side of the creek this bank is entirely wanting. There 
 is ‘a bank of a trifle over twelve feet, composed of agglutinated, rusty 
 sand, without gravel or bowlders, at the base of which, near the water, 
 is a bed of vegetable remains containing some pretty large limbs and 
 numerous branches of wood. Such deposits are common in the alluvial 
 bottoms bordering the streams. There is a gradual ascent from the level 
 of this bank to the height of the bank on the opposite side of the river, 
 attaining that elevation in a distance of forty rods. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES. 
 
 As already remarked of other counties in north-western Ohio, the chief 
 source of material wealth in Wyandot county lies in its rich and exhaust- 
 less soil. The streams are generally too small or too sluggish to be 
 reliable for water-powers. The rocks themselves are not known to pos- 
 sess any deposits of valuable minerals. They will serve for common use 
 in building, and will make an excellent quicklime. There is reason to 
 believe, also, that the Waterlime, when having the characters seen in 
 the quarry of Mrs. Smith, Sec. 10, Pitt township, will afford a cement of 
 hydraulic properties. 
 
 Good brick of a red color are made in different places in the county 
 from the surface of the drift. Such establishments are owned at Upper 
 Sandusky by Jacob Gottfried and brother, and by Ulrich and McAfee ; 
 also on the S.E. } Sec. 11, Salem, on the Infirmary Farm, by Jacob Ulrich. 
 Sand for mortar is easily obtained from the numerous natural sections of 
 the drift along the drainage valleys. A sand bank at Upper Sandusky 
 was observed to underlie a deposit of eight feet of brown hardpan, and 
 
 was excavated to the depth of ten feet. The layers of sand lay nearly 
 horizontal. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX, 
 
 GEOLOGY OF MARION COUNTY. 
 
 SITUATION AND AREA. 
 
 Marion county lies on the broad water-shed between the Ohio river and 
 Lake Erie, about fifty miles south of the west end of that lake. It com- 
 prises about eleven towns. It is immediately south of Wyandot and 
 Crawford counties. It has Morrow on the east, Delaware and Union on 
 the south, and Hardin on the west. 
 
 NATURAL DRAINAGE. 
 
 It contains no large rivers. The Scioto, which enters it from the west, 
 is the largest, and leaves it at Middletown in a southerly course. The 
 Little Scioto traverses the county about midway, joining the Scioto at 
 Berwick. The Whetstone also crosses it in the eastern tier of townships 
 in a southerly direction. The waters of the Tymochtee and Little San- 
 dusky take their rise in the north-western portion of the county, and 
 find their way to Lake Erie. 
 
 SURFACE FEATURES AND SOIL. 
 
 Much of the county is flat, and has a black prairie soil, especially in 
 the townships of Bowling Green, Big Island, Salt Rock, Grand Prairie, 
 Scott, Claridon and the western part of Marion. The streams that cross 
 these prairie-like tracts, are but four to six feet below the level of the 
 land, and in time of freshet probably inundate considerable areas. There 
 are, however, sudden changes in the character of the surface, even in the 
 midst of the prairies. Mounds of the unmodified hardpan still project 
 above the general surface. These have a rolling contour, and an ashen 
 clayey soil. They are generally covered with forest, while the prairies 
 
CMINHLILOIMIITIVIOULS 
 
 “AINAO9 SUVAV TH 
 AT 
 
 ‘ALNNMOD NOV 
 . £0 
 AVK TWODOTOHD a ‘is 
 "GLY @ ya: : : A ‘S1N009 NOIND 
 
 a WINE [AIL ApMAG 
 cy) N 
 [ dno | 
 
 puvb pin ee 
 
 G 
 
 ‘ 
 eS ets eee = eee sina 
 
 HARDIN COUNTY. 
 
 | QULYT-LA] DM sees 
 
 PUOJSPUYS: 
 
 er | a ge Od 
 
 | A 
 i. | & oa Wi 
 dno1g : f 
 
 uosnupy ee I ? 
 | ! 4 F 
 
 abhm.og9 rosouag ae 4 At HId VV Wd 
 | AVYUS uoLne ¢ / : / 
 
 dnowg pias 
 
 chic Tt 
 
 $40709 Jo 
 ee AUT 
 
 AUDYSILY 
 
 | 
 + 
 
 BUOISIUWTT 
 STLOLAJTULO) > 
 
 te 
 
 MORROW COUNTY. 
 
 “ALIND09 ~ TOGNVAM 
 
ret miei mamicem, # 
 
 4 
 
 + 
 4 
 = | 
 a 
 <: 
 : 
 + 
 
 i}, 
 
 RM ieee ey ae 
 
 CP ints jc egal 
 
 pene Vo ee 
 
MARION COUNTY. 49 
 
 are treeless. The remaining portions of the county, namely, the town- 
 ships of Grand, the northern portion of Montgomery, Greencamp, Pleas- 
 ant, Richland, Tully, and the eastern part of Marion, are on the old drift 
 surface, and have, with an undulating or rolling outline, a soil of brown 
 or ashen clay, containing pebbles and bowlders. 
 
 : GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 
 
 The geological range of Marion county is from the Niagara to the 
 Waverly, being greater than that of any other county in the State. It 
 thus contains, approximately :* 
 
 Waverly Sandstone......... ....cccoesesssesee sssvevcncscacenvcsoe ssenssancoaessese soccecess vonsoeees 140 ft. ? 
 PUPP AeA ISIC BIBLO)civccutas cocsud ccuacsucsvuasacess aceoenst duacastssnccnsieslase ecesbas sane 250 ft. 
 AT eater Latte PEA AOTOTUG? cs wave cs oe coedieeisadans lan 'szaverdss'esncracosveecen ongcacisensvapheaabapbicarensand 20 ft. 
 MOTE IE SEINE oar e wage gests o duvatssaaCessouase decousi«deats voeten ss faavees eVeranncatarwariesestaas 50 ft. 
 Raa PCH ETRE (IIE Ge ve decacoe ads ion fe¥i da Aaschsass weraacastentuders Gen «nocuakal cou vesaarsinedenss 150 ft. 
 OP AO AD Va PANIRUOLOregenc cs cass os atenivas os teraes <sesenswasean asteaneuneed uae stongoudesnotesa ocueaoncs 20 ft. 
 AMER ET ERIC MEITER poten arte c coceica, pic's text sueone vat ddees seen sh enevgasa to ndalsaceedvaategsr ses cucesnies 100 ft. 
 DAI CE TRG IGednaeiicsatsateiscaveoceslss carade bonsevdanaeseceans wo doue Cov adaaueehtachven cediae ies 40 ft. 
 SE agen magne acy cc cen Vek cyicie apateacdsesav ders hesiedssdaslsrsignsessquces aeyepneceron canes 780 ft. 
 
 The Niagara limestone, the lowest in the scale, is found in the north- 
 western part of the county, and is followed toward the east by the higher 
 members in the order above given, the general dip of the whole being in 
 that direction. The Waterlime occupies the most of the townships of 
 Salt Rock, Big Island, Greencamp, Montgomery and Prospect, and all of 
 Bowling Green. The Lower Corniferous strikes across the western side 
 of Grand Prairie and Marion townships, -touching Pleasant and Prospect 
 townships east of the Scioto river. The Upper Corniferous underlies the 
 remainder of Grand Prairie, Marion, Pleasant and Prospect townships, 
 and the western portions of Scott, Claridon, Richland and Waldo. The 
 Hamilton occupies a narrow belt just on the east of the Upper Corniferous. 
 The Black slate underlies the eastern portions of Waldo, Richland, Clari- 
 don, and most of Tully townships. The Waverly is found only in the 
 eastern part of Tully. Of these, the Oriskany and the Lower Corniferous 
 have not been seen in outcrop in the county, owing to the unbroken 
 mask of the drift deposits, and the other formations offer very meager 
 opportunities for learning their characters. It is only by tracing their 
 
 * Since this was written, Prof. Orton’s Report on the Geology of Highland County 
 has been published. He reports that county as ranging from the Lower Silurian to 
 the Carboniferous, which exceeds Marion in range of time, but with the absence of 
 three members of the scale—the Oriskany, Corniferous and Hamilton. 
 
 4 
 
50 ; GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 lines of outcrop from other counties where they afford better facilities for 
 observation, that their presence and their contents in Marion county can 
 be asserted by the geologist. 
 
 The Niagara was examined in the following places in Grand township: 
 
 S.E. Sec. 419, where Jeremiah Winslow has burned a little quicklime. 
 Dip 8.E. , 
 
 N.E. $ Sec. 19. A small creek which flows north-easterly across this 
 section into the Little Tymochtee creek, lies immediately on the hard, 
 gray Niagara, for the distance of over half a mile, on land belonging 
 mostly to Mr. 8. Hartle. Formerly a great deal of lime was burned from 
 the rock along this creek. The dip is to the N.EH., but toward the most 
 westerly point of exposure, the surface of the rock presents sudden 
 changes of dip, disappearing with a dip W. » 
 
 The Waterlime is only seen in the bed of the Scioto at Middletown, 
 near the southern border of the county. At that place, and about two 
 miles further south, in Delaware county, also in the bed of the Scioto, 
 it appears as an even bedded drab rock, bluish on the laminations, and 
 blotched throughout with blue and drab. The beds are two to four 
 inches thick, but sometimes not more than an inch; and some blocks 
 are ten inches thick. The blue and drab colors vary and interchange 
 in all shapes and directions, without reference to the bedding, except 
 that it is not uncommon to see a drab surface to the depth of one-half 
 inch to an inch and a half, with a blue strip through the middle. The 
 surfaces of the beds are diversified with mud cracks, and separated by 
 bituminous films. The stone is slightly vesicular, with small cavities, 
 yet for the most part firm and apparently compact. It is a handsome 
 and useful building material, comparing favorably with the Upper Cor- 
 niferous for all uses. 
 
 The Upper Corniferous, in the township of Grand Prairie, is worked 
 quite extensively on N.W. } Sec. 26, by Mr. James Dawson. Here the 
 beds dip slightly toward the east; perpendicular exposure about twelve 
 feet, facing the west. 
 
 In this immediate neighborhood are the following quarries, also in the 
 Upper Corniferous : 
 
 S.W. } Sec. 23. By Adam Coonrod. 
 
 S.W. 4 Sec. 23. By Philip Rhetter. 
 
 N.W. } See. 26. By heirs of Landy Shoots. 
 
 N.E. 4 Sec. 27. By Eli Powell. 
 
 At Marion, the Upper Corniferous is extensively wrought by Seas & 
 Haberman, and by Franklin Swaigler, who have, in adjoining quarries, 
 an exposure of about twelve feet of perpendicular bedding. Dip E. Sim~- 
 
MARION COUNTY. 51 
 
 ilar beds are also wrought by John Ballentine, by Joshua Finch, and by 
 Nathan Powers. 
 S.W. 1 Sec. 10, Marion township, Mr. Elijah Hardy burns lime from 
 the Upper Corniferous. ; 
 S.E. + Sec. 9, Marion township, Mr. Leonard Reiver has taken out 
 some stone from the Upper Corniferous. 
 
 Four and a half miles south of Marion, in Pleasant township, Mr. 
 John Owen burns and ships at Marion considerable quantities of quick- 
 lime. Sells building stone on the ground at fifty cents per ton. Dip E. 
 
 In Richland township, the Upper Corniferous appears in the Whet- 
 stone on Secs. 30 and 19, and is quarried on the land of Daniel Oborn ; 
 also on the land of Mr. George King, N.E. 4 Sec. 20. 
 
 The Hamilton. In the bed of the Whetstone, about a mile below the 
 village of Waldo, may be seen a very hard, blue, pyritiferous limestone, 
 in beds of eight to twelve inches, which is believed to belong to the 
 Hamilton, although there is not sufficient exposure within the county 
 to determine its horizon. This would furnish a fine building stone, were 
 it not for the abundance of pyrites crystals contained in the rock. After 
 a few months’ exposure to the weather, these will inevitably change to 
 the yellow peroxyd of iron, the rusty drippings of which present an 
 offense to the eye, and soil the beauty of any wall. 
 
 The Huron Shale is popularly known as “the black slate.” At various 
 piaces in the bed and banks of the Whetstone river, in the townships of 
 Richland, Claridon and Tully, it finds characteristic exposure. It may 
 be seen N.E. + Sec. 16, Richland township, where it is in thin, brittle 
 sheets, and rises several feet along the bank of the stream. It holds 
 large, concretionary masses of a coarse black limestone. These are very 
 hard, and appear arenaceous at the center, with a band of more calcareous 
 and crystalline material round the outside. They sometimes exceed four 
 feet in diameter. Globular masses of crystalline pyrites are also com- 
 mon, often several inches indiameter. The black slate may also be seen 
 in Secs. 3 and 26 of the same township, and Sec. 34 of Tully township, 
 land of James Brown Lee. In the absence of other stone, this slate has 
 been somewhat used for walling wells in the eastern part of the county. 
 
 The Waverly Sandstone is quarried to a limited extent on land of 
 Mr. James Brown Lee, Sec. 34, Tully township. It here has a position 
 to the west of observed exposures of the underlying Black Slate, and 
 must be an outlier from the more extensive beds of the same stone 
 which lie further east. Other openings are met with on Sec. 36 of the 
 same township, and at Iberia, in Morrow county. 
 
52 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 
 
 The Drift shows no apparent diminution in Marion county. Since its 
 general character differs in no respect from that already described, but 
 few points of observation will be noted. At Middletown the contents of 
 a gravel bank were noticed to contain a great many large fragments 
 from the Water-limestone, so arranged as to indicate not only the agency 
 of water in rapid currents, but the direction of its flow. Some of these 
 pieces of limestone were as much as two feet across, but usually not over 
 two inches in thickness, and but slightly water-worn. They lay in the 
 midst of gravel which had a stratification dipping rapidly toward the 
 south. The limestone fragments also lay with their sides almost inva- 
 riably upward, but sloping with less inclination in the same direction, 
 similar to the arrangement of flat stones or other obstructions often 
 seen in the bottoms of streams. It would seem as if the water, precip- 
 itated in cascades down the southern slope of the glacier, bringing such 
 dislodged portions of the drift as fell into the current, sought to arrange 
 the obstructions to its flow so as to offer the least resistance. 
 
 On the 8.W 4Sec. 36, Salt Rock township, a well seventy feet in depth 
 through drift deposits, furnished no water—dug on the premises of R. W. 
 Messenger. 
 
 About Berwick, and a mile or two west, there are unusual numbers of 
 bowlders, some as large as six feet in diameter. The country about is roll- 
 ing, and they seem to have been embraced within the drift. In the south- 
 ern part of Pleasant and Greencamp townships, especially in the vicinity 
 of Middletown, the upper portions of the drift are very apt to contain 
 deposits of gravel and sand, with frequent bowlders. 
 
 At Waldo, the drift is seen to consist, along the river bank, of twenty- 
 five feet hardpan. Brown color prevails downward about fifteen feet ; 
 blue below that depth, soon becoming sandy, furnishing water. In other 
 places, within a half-mile, the top of the drift is gravel and sand, with 
 only a thin covering of hardpan. 
 
 MATERIAL RESOURCES. 
 
 Gravel is found in the southern part of the county, and is extensively 
 employed in road-making. Clay, for red pottery and brick, is abundant 
 throughout the county. Stone taken from the various quarries in the 
 Upper Corniferous formation, serves for all purposes of building. It may 
 be employed in the most massive as well as in all ordinary structures, 
 having resistance sufficient to withstand any pressure needed. It is of 
 a light blue or gray color, and when arranged properly in a building, 
 with stone of a lighter shade, it produces a fine architectural effect. In 
 the city of Marion it is employed in the county jail and numerous stores. 
 
MARION COUNTY. 53 
 
 Its dark shade produces in a building the ssthetic effect of strength, 
 age and solidity, making it specially adapted to Gothic structures. 
 
 The Black Slate has heretofore been esteemed of little or no econom- 
 ical value. It is due, however, to the enterprise of a citizen of Defiance, 
 in Defiance county, Mr. E. H. Gleason, that we have the practical dem- 
 onstration of the eminent hydraulic qualities of the Black Slate in Ohio. 
 Mr. Gleason uses the lowest seventeen feet of the formation, which 
 attains an aggregate thickness of nearly three hundred feet, with very 
 uniform characters. We have no reason to doubt that the hydraulic 
 property pervades the whole. Owing to the inflammable bituminous 
 matter it contains, the slate is easily and cheaply burned, to a certain ex- 
 tent supplying its own fuel. Six to eight hours of red heat expel all 
 volatile matter, leaving a lime which is easily reduced to a powder. The 
 stone is not selected altogether promiscuously from the quarry. It is 
 thought that the most compact and calcareous courses, which, when 
 burned, are of a grayish or ashy purple, afford the best hydraulic cement. 
 The more slaty and highly bituminous beds, after burning, are of a light 
 cream color, or white with yellowish streaks and spots. Yet more than 
 a half of the stone burned by Mr. Gleason is of the latter quality. The 
 cement has been put to practical test in a.number of ways at Defiance, 
 and is now being employed in the abutments of an iron bridge at that 
 place, over the Wabash and Erie canal, in connection with the Oriskany 
 sandstone, quarried at Whitehouse, in Lucas county. Mr. Gleason em- 
 ploys two constant draw-kilns, and grinds the lime by steam power.* 
 It is only necessary to add that in Marion county the base of the Black 
 Slate strikes across the townships of Scott, Claridon, and Richland, and 
 that its exposures along the Whetstone afford ample facilities for a simi- 
 lar enterprise. 
 
 *TIt is due, perhaps, to the Geological Survey, to add that Mr. Gleason attributes 
 the success of his enterprise to the suggestions and advice of members of the present 
 Geological Corps. Other cases could be named in which the visits of the geologist 
 have resulted in the immediate development of home products. 
 
a To 
 
 fren ¥ a 
 he. 
 
HE A 
 3 2435 07698046 5