Ohio History Journal

84       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

be done by hand, the work progressed but slowly, was quite ex-

pensive and was soon abandoned. Mr. Tims' theory was that

the gold found is from disintegrated quartz of that locality, and

not glacial deposits, and claimed that he took quartz from the

shaft at a depth of forty-seven feet. For lack of means to buy

machinery to carry on the work, he abandoned the same and left

the town.

The origin of this gold deposit has been perplexing even to

the state geologist. He attributes it to an ancient drift agency,

which brought in the pebbles of the Waverly conglomerate.

But, he says at Bellville the Waverly rock is comparatively free

from pebbles. This he does

not account for, but ex-

presses belief that the gold

was brought in by the same

agency that transported the

granite pebbles and bowl-

ders. If referred  to the

Waverly conglomerate it

should be found in greater

quantities at the base of this

deposit. But it is found

most abundantly about on

the level of its upper sur-

face, and in perceptible quantities on the slopes of the hills fifty

to one hundred feet above it. If it came from the Waverly

conglomerate it should be most abundant where the quartz peb-

bles of this conglomerate are most numerous, but at Bellville

this is not the case. The gold is found in minute flakes, asso-

ciated with black sand, small garnets and fragments of quartz.

It is most abundant at the bottom of gorges opening to the

south. On the hills above large quartz bowlders are occasionally

seen and angular fragments of quartz are obtained in washing

for gold. Pieces of copper are sometimes found and rarely mi-

nute quantities of native silver.

At the stone quarry, near the Moody mill, a partially de-

composed fragment of quartz was found some years ago, called

The Bellville Gold Region.             85

"wire gold," interlaced through it. It had evidently fallen from

the gravel towards the top of the quarry. A plausible theory of

the presence of gold and of the condition in which it is found

in Deadman's valley is that the transporting agencies which

brought in and deposited the surface drift on the southern slope

of the water-shed passed over veins of gold-bearing quartz which

were crushed and broken, and the quartz becoming thus disinte-

grated the gold found protecting covers from which "color" can

be obtained from almost every panful of dirt, and on account of

the specific gravity of the metal, may be found in greater quanti-

ties on bed-rock - forty to one hundred feet below the surface,

according to the dip.

While it is claimed that every pan of dirt taken from the

Bellville gold region shows color, no coloring has been given to

the foregoing sketch of that locality.

86       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

The view given of Bellville is from the south, looking north

over the village, with the gold region lying amid the foot hills

and ravines of the south slope of the divide, whose hills rise to an

elevation of 932 feet above Lake Erie. The other view shows

the Clearfork of the Mohican, just north of the town; the bridge

spanning Deadman's run near its mouth, in the midst of the

gold region.

The bridge shown in the picture is called the "Dutchman's

bridge," from the following incident: Two-thirds of a century

ago, Judge Jackson's hired man, when upon an errand, at-

tempted to cross a bridge at this point, at the time of a freshet.

The stream was so swollen that it washed the bridge away

while the man was in the act of crossing. His body was re-

covered some days later, and the stream has ever since been

called "Deadman's run," and the bridge is called "Dutch-

man's bridge." The man, however, was not a Dutchman but a

German.

In the old bar-room days, stories were told of apparitions

that could be nightly seen about Dutchman's bridge-ghostly

The Bellville Gold Region.             87

forms that made men tremble and horses careen. Such tales

were usually told in the presence of travelers who would have

to drive to Mansfield after the darkness of a starless night had

settled down upon Deadman's valley. And the jokers would

sometimes go and play ghost to frighten men who had seemed

incredulous to their yarns.