The Spring Hill Dig -
The Site of our First Official Settlers - The Keplers
Back in 2002, John Berry, a teacher at Green High School, decided that the students in his science classes might enjoy conducting archaeological digs at a historic site in Green. He couldn’t get any professional archaeologists interested in excavating this site in Green because the site is only of interest to our local history. So, he learned about how to conduct an archaeological dig himself and he taught his students too. Mr. Berry and his students excavated and sifted dirt at the Spring Hill dig site for over five years. He then donated all of the artifacts that the students found to the Green Historical Society. The artifacts are on display in the upstairs of Lichtenwalter Schoolhouse. The information below is used to teach students in our Day in 1885 program about archeology and artifacts.
The Site of Mr. Berry’s Big Dig – The Kepler Farm – Our First Settlers
Mr. Berry knew his history very well. He knew John Kepler was the first permanent settler in Green Township. His brother Andrew brought John and his family here in a covered wagon pulled by four horses in 1809. John and Andrew bought 320 acres of land from the government. All the land in Green was once owned by the government and were part of the Congress Lands. All of these lands were for sale but you had to go to a government land office to make the purchase. At the time the Kepler’s came to Green, the land office was in Steubenville, Ohio – 284 miles away from the Kepler’s home in Strasburg, PA. From Steubenville, the Kepler’s would have to travel about 80 more miles to get to their new lands. There were no roads for parts of this journey in 1810.
Mr. Berry knew exactly where the Kepler Farm was located and local Kepler descendants told Mr. Berry where on the property their homes had been located.
Native Americans - When the Kepler’s arrived in 1809 were there Native Americans here in Green? Yes, the Keplers had a good relationship with the Native Americans and they would trade meal and other dry goods for Venison. Mrs. Kepler even had several local Natives into her home for dinner. Some other settlers did not have such good relationships with the Natives. The Native Americans enjoyed hunting in Green Township and there is evidence of their hunting in our artifacts here today.
Are the Native American artifacts found at the dig site from the same time period as the Keplers? Maybe – some could be much older. The Native Americans hunted these lands for thousands of years before the Keplers. Scientists believe the first Native American nomadic hunters arrived in Ohio 15,000 years ago after the last ice age.
Trash - So what do people leave behind? What did families do with their trash back in the 1800s? There was no municipal trash service in Green until the 1950’s. Families burnt their trash outside in their yards! Many things won’t burn up in a trash fire like glass, metal, and pottery. Whatever didn’t burn in the trash fire would be buried. These burn piles are an excellent source of artifacts.
Spring Hill Artifacts on Display Upstairs at Lichtenwalter Schoolhouse (behind front door):
These artifacts are primarily from the Spring Hill Dig performed by Mr. Berry and his high school students. The artifacts include many items from burn piles outside the ruins of the Kepler’s early homes. There are buttons, coins, china bits, doll parts, glass ware, buckles and pipes. There are also fossils (see fossil that looks like a button with a flower shaped hole) and Native American flint pieces and arrowheads.
Early Smoking Pipes - Called red clay pipes, particularly Mogadore hexagonal stemmed milled Chesterfields, made by the Akron Smoking Pipe Company. The Akron Smoking Pipe Company operated in Mogadore from 1885 to 1895. So, how old are these pipes? Are they as old as the Kepler ruins? Or are they younger?
