THE BELLVILLE GOLD
REGION.
A. J. BAUGHMAN.
Some Mansfield men who have had mining
experiences in
the West and in the Klondike, recently
visited the gold region
north of Bellville, Ohio, and although
the visits were made more
out of curiosity than from business
motives, curiosity has been
aroused as to whether prospecting will
be resumed, and some
who are not familiar with the history of
the locality, ask "Has
gold ever been found in that
region?" Yes, it has been found
there whenever sought for the past fifty
years. It was first
discovered in 1853, by Dr. James C. Lee,
then a returned Cali-
fornian. Dr. Lee was an upright citizen
who made Bellville
his home the greater part of his life.
The doctor owned a tract
of land up Deadman's run, in the Dew
Drop locality, and in that
native ravine, he found gold, as others
have, there and else-
where, from time to time, or rather
whenever the precious metal
was sought for.
The discovery of gold in that region
caused considerable
excitement at first, and returned miners
visited the place and
prospected for "color," which
they found in nearly every pan of
dirt. Leases were taken on all the land
and mining in a small
way has at different times been carried
on, but never with paying
results. However, the mining experiments
made there were
never of a thorough or systematic
character, and the question,
"Will it pay?" is still an
open one, upon which people can theo-
rize, pro and con.
The Bellville gold is of a fine quality-
four karats finer
than that of the Klondike. It is usually
found in small particles,
but a few instances have been reported
where nuggets valued at
from one to five dollars have been taken
out. Several attempts
at mining have been made, one of which was
by a Mr. Tims, of
West Virginia, who undertook to sink a
shaft at Long's ra-
vine, but struck a strong vein of water,
and as pumping had to
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