Most remarkable of all mounds in Ohio
The most remarkable of all mounds in the State was one in Hardin County, in which were found about three hundred skeletons. A doubt has, however, been expressed that these were all Mound Builders skeletons.
Second in a series of articles pertaining to indigenous people of Allen, Hancock, Hardin and Putnam counties. Click here to read Fred Steiner's first column in this series.
Introduction
The plight of native Americans, in many ways ethnic cleansing, expelled from our part of the state in the 1830s, is one of our most tragic stories.
The only first-hand accounts from the Bluffton News of Europeans and native Americans tell mostly tell of settlers encountering graves. The stories raise questions including:
• What did the early European settlers do with the remains discovered in their fields?
First of a series of articles pertaining to indigenous people of the Allen, Hancock, Hardin and Putnam counties.
From a 1928 Bluffton News, history of the community–While Michael Neuenschwander, the first Swiss settler to this community, constructed a temporary hut as his family dwelling a party of Indians came through and stopped.
Harry Fenton fell off his bicycle Sunday, and dislocated his thumb and little finger and seriously injured the middle finger of his left hand. – 1896 Bluffton News
This story may not make news today, but 126 years ago, it was a worthy news item in the Bluffton News.
Why? Because, in the mid-1890s Bluffton, like much of the nation, caught itself up in a two-word phrase: bicycle mania.
When Bluffton Fall Festival visitors stop by the Schumacher Homestead at 8350 Bixel Rd., they'll find a big project underway. Some eight tons of flagstone and huge retaining blocks are being used to recreate an east-facing bank, which was original to the barn.
The project began with creating a new opening and building the two large doors on the east gable end of the barn.
Recently the foundation and flagstone walls of the southeast corner were rebuilt by head mason Ron Keller using flagstone donated by Mike Gerken of the Bluffton Stone Company. The concrete floor inside the barn was broken up and replaced with stone. The debris is filling the new bank.
