LIBRARY TALK – OCTOBER 7, 2023
From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director
We will be closed next Monday, October 9th. While traditionally called Columbus Day, there is a growing movement to change it to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This made us think of what we know about the Native Americans that lived in this part of the river valley long before the Europeans and their decedents came to the Brown County area. We think much more research should be done on the subject, but there is some available information.
Did you know that there are two mounds in Brown County that are on the National Register of Historic Places? One is near Aberdeen off Route 41, and the other is in Eagle Township.
In the 1912 book Archeological Atlas of Ohio by William C. Mills, Brown County had 79 known mounds, enclosures, village sites, burials, cemeteries and stone graves. It states ” This Ohio river county presents an interesting archeological study. A feature is the great number of burials of the stone grave type, which occur probably more frequently along the Ohio River in this county than in any other section of the state. The stone grave method of burial is not considered indicative of a different or distinct culture, but merely as a local custom, due, no doubt, to the fact that the conveniently flat stones were abundantly available.
Numerous earthworks occur in southeastern Brown County. Along White Oak Creek in the central southern portion : on West Fork of Brush Creek in Eagle township and in Perry Township. A group of eight small mounds is located on the Perry-Sterling township line.”
We will probably never know how many grave sites and mounds have settled or been destroyed over the years, but we know quite a few people have found arrowheads and other stone tools, either in plowed up farmland or along creek beds throughout the area.
A reminder that the Toddler Tuesdays has started, and we welcome 1–2-year-olds to the Ripley Library at 10:30 on Tuesday mornings for a fun 30 minutes of activities and socialization.
The picture is from Gerard Fowke’s Archaeological History of Ohio: The Mound Builders and Later Indians, 1902.
