PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 759 



REMAINS ON BLENNERHASSETT'S ISLAND, OHIO EIVER. 

 By J. P. MacLean, of Hamilton, Ohio* 



The most famous of all the islands of the Ohio River is known as 

 Blennerhassett's Island. For more than two generations it has been 

 an historic spot. Around it dusters one of the saddest episodes in the 

 history of our country. The traveler anxiously seeks to have it pointed 

 out, and having once beheld it his imagination lingers at the spot. 

 The history of the past wells up before him, and with pity and kind- 

 ness he thinks of the unfortunate man who was once its possessor. 



The island received its name from Harman Blennerhassett, who, in 

 1798, purchased the upper portion, containing 170 acres. Previous to 

 this purchase it was known as Backus' Island. It is supposed that 

 the island was first located by General Washington, in the year 1770. 

 It was first surveyed in 1784, and in 1786 Patrick Henry, then governor 

 of Virginia, made out a patent for it to Alexander Nelson. In 1792 it 

 was purchased of James Heron by Elijah Backus. At the present time 

 it is divided into four farms, and owned by four different parties, none 

 of whom resides there. 



All that remains of Blennerhassett's costly mansion and tasteful im- 

 provements are the old well, whose wall is covered with moss and fern, 

 two sand stone steins, and a piece of a stone gate-post. Where once 

 was the cellar is now a depression, with a sycamore tree several feet in 

 diameter growing in the center. 



The island is situated 14 miles below Marietta, and 1^ miles west of 

 the mouth of the Little Kanawha. It extends east and west and is of 

 peculiar form, narrow at the middle and broad at both extremities. It is 

 overS miles long, although its area embraces onl^^ 297 acres. At the east- 

 ern extremity a ridge of land commences and runs through the center of 

 the island until half the distance is reached. On either side of this 

 ridge is a natural trough, resembling the bed of an ancient canal, with the 

 ridge banks higher than those bordering the river. The trough or ancient 

 channel bed on the north side of the western half of the island has been 

 cut away by the river, thus leaving the ridge to form the river's bank. 

 During high water the river breaks over its banks and flows through 

 these troughs, and in its course deposits rich sediment. During the 

 time of these explorations the river was high and had broken into the 



* The writer would here express his indebtedness to Mr. F. P. Ames, of Belpre, 

 Ohio, for the valuable assistance he rendered in the exploration of Blennerhassett's 

 Island. It was he who called attention to its antiquities, and who took every oppor- 

 tunity to make the visit both profitable and pleasant. Mr. Bryant E. Johnson also 

 <leserve8 grateful mention. Besides furnishing relics and granting permission to dig 

 in the ijrincipal shell heap, he generously abandoned his plow and assisted in making 

 the excavations. The illustrations were made from photographs and negatives fur- 

 nished by Mr. L. C. Overpeck, of Hamilton, Ohio, who kindly volunteered to do the 

 work without any charge. 



