PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 750 



REMAINS ON BLENNERHASSETT'S ISLAND, OHIO RIVER. 

 By J. P. MacLean, of Eamilton, 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 clusters one of tbe 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, m 

 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 tbe year 17.0. 

 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 1.91 it 

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

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



of whom resides there. . ^ ^ i- ^ ■ 



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

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

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

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

 <Uameter 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 ot 

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

 over 3 miles long, although its area embraces only 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 

 ridk-e 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 washighand. had broken into the 



"T^:i;7;~;;^^;;;:rdl^;r;ip^"^17^^ F. P Ames, of Belpre 



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

 ?sW It^vas he who called attention to its antiquities, and who took every oppor- 

 tunity to naake the visit both profitable and pleasant. Mr. Bryant E. Johnson al o 

 deseves grateful mention. Besides furnishing relics and granting permission to aig 

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

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

 XZTytrZ C. Overpeck, of Hamilton, Ohio, who kindly volunteered to do the 

 work without any charge. 



