Box 2, Folder 7: Typewritten Letters, 1811-1828

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1828.

At New Albany we took dinner after which we returned to Shippingsport. Thunder storm in the evening.

Shippingsport Oct. 19th, 1828.

Dear Brother,-

*********** A few days ago Dr. Clapp gave me a paper showing what he found in boring 301.10 feet. Variable quantities of carburetted hydrogen gas combined with a small quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen from the first lime stone to 251 ft., then carbonic acid gas disappeared and the carburetted hydrogen again made its appearance.

From this it would appear that 125 feet is through bituminous shale and the rest is entirely within the stratum called Liss or Calcigerous Rock of Eaton.

Dr. Clapp considers the gas which rises through the boiling spring a mixture of carb.-ed and Sulph,-ed hydrogen gas. I found two large pieces of petrified wood lying on the bituminous shale in Indiana.*******

As to my intended visit home I am rather in doubt. If I go on the 1st of Nov. I must be back by the 1st of Dec., but if I wait until sometime in Dec. I can probably stay two or three months, or, I may have to wait until April.- it all depends on whether Mr. Henry goes east or not. I should like to have father's opinion on the subject.********

Your affectionate brother,

Increase A. Lapham.

D. Lapham.

On-the-hill-side-quarry. Shippingsport Ky. Oct. 23rd, 1828.

Dear Sir,--

I have received yours of the 23rd of September, and am happy to learn that I have been useful to you in establishing a new species of shell. I suppose that all such questions should be settled as soon as possible and this is the only apology I have to of

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-fer for taking the liberty of writing to you a perfect stranger.

I have pretty well ascertained that the rocks which occur here are the Lias of Prof. Katon, the geodiferous and corniferous lime rocks appear to be wanting.

From the best information I have been able to obtain it appears that the Lias first rises from under the sand rock near Marysville, where it continues to be the only rock in situ, until you arrive at the Falls where it again passes under the sandstone.

At Utica Indiana six miles above Louisville this lime rock forms a hill one hundred feet above the surface of the water in the river.

You could not have found a subject more consistent with my inclination than that of collecting minerals and petrified shells. I have given to Mr. Chambers a small box containing the following specimens from my collection for you.

No. 1 Water lime.

No. 2. Hornstone, this occurs in beds and nodules in the lime rock.

No. 3. Calcareous Spar,- this specimen is from one of these cavities in the lime rock which were filled with petroleum, as you will perceive by its peculiar odor.

No. 4. Bituminous Shale. On Silver Creek about a mile and a half from its mouth is a perpendicular ledge of this rock 80 ft. high, on the shelves and horizontal projections of which is found alum and copperas in an efflorescent state.

No. 5. Flint (two varieties) it occurs in nodular masses, in the water lime, at the bridge over the canal and in the rocky bar in front of Louisville.

No. 6. Radiated Sulphuret of Iron, it occurs in small nodular masses disseminated through the shale.

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No. 7. Sulphuret of Zine, from the water lime rock near the canal bridge. It has hitherto been found only in small quantities, but as we have just broken into the layer of rock which contains it I am in hopes of finding some sufficiently large for good specimens before the canal is completed.

No. 8. Fossil wood. A fragment of two large pieces which I found laying loose upon the shale. They have evidently been imbedded in the rock near where I found them.

9, 10, 11 and 12 are fossil shells from the water lime rock.

13 to 20. Fossil shells & c. from Rocky Run in front of Louisville.

21 to 29. Fossil shells from different places about the Falls.

No. 30. Fossil shell from the sand rock at the quarry, ten miles below this place. It appears to have a part of the unaltered shell attached.

Some of these fossil shells were exhibited at the Western Museum, Cincinnati by my brother Darius Lapham.********

Having no work before me, except the little encyclopedia of Nicholson, which contains descriptions of fossil animals I am not certain whether mine are correctly named. Of each of the varieties [on] univalve shells which I have discovered I have sent you two specimens. If it be not too much trouble to you I should be very glad to obtain their names and to enable you to give me the names, I have placed a number on each specimen and the same number on a similar shell remaining in my collection.

I wish to make a collection of minerals and fossils, but as yet have no specimens except those collected here. Should my specimens be of any value to you, I would be glad to have any specimens sent in return.

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Coming originally from New York and having never been further west than here, I have no acquaintances in Illinois interested in making collections.

Dr. S.P. Hildreth, Marietta, O.

Yours respectfully,

I.A. Lapham.

Nov. 1. A rainy day. Ascertained that the "Talisman" would leave Louisville for Cincinnati tomorrow morning at 9 o' clock.

Nov. 2. This morning after breakfast, rode in a hack to Louisville got on board the steamboat Talisman and at 9:30 got underway for Cincinnati.

Nov. 3. On account of our having to lay by for a fog in the night we did not arrive at Cincinnati until evening. The fare going up the river is $6.00, going down is $4.00.

The hills which gradually increase in height as we proceed up the river are composed of lime rock, presenting mural precipices of this rock near their summit. I found Pazzi at his boarding house, where I took supper, after which we brought my trunk and keg of specimens up to the office of the "Western Tiller."***

Nov. 4. Put up at Dennison's Inn, Cincinnati, showed my specimens to the proprietor of the Western Museum, Mr. Dorfenile, who, said he would exchange for some of them. He chose such as he wanted and gave me in return two varieties of lava, carmelian &c. turritela, pentamera and floualis from Kentucky and a trilobite from Indiana besides some others.********** I took a walk along the bank of the river up the reservoir from which they city is supplied with water.

Found in the clay slate, which is here interposed between the layers of lime rock, several specimens of meliporites. Saw the Unio ovatus, sumatres cylindricus, foliatus and one species which I observed I did not recollect having seen at the Ohio Falls.

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1828.

Nov. 5. At ten this morning I started in the stage for Chillecothe. We passed along the base of the hill to Columbia at the mouth of the Little Miami, thence north through Newtown and Batavia to Williamsburgh, where we put up for the night. (28 miles).

Nov. 6. We left our lodgings at three o' clock this morning and passing through Hillsborough and Bainbridge, arrived at Chillecothe at nine o' clock p.m. (72 miles).

This route is the same as that taken by Darius in June last and described by him in a letter dated June 23rd, 1828.

The rock at the mouth of Rocky fork of Paint creek belongs I think to the Lias and that this rock is here, as at the Falls overlaid by the 3rd Graywacke, without the intervention of the geodiferous and corniferous lime rocks as was supposed by Darius.

Nov. 7. Found Darius this morning and after breakfast we went to the quarry, which is of sandstone similar to that found at the quarry ten miles below the Ohio Falls, belonging to the 3rd Graywacke formation of Eaton.**********

Nov. 8. ************* Father arrived at noon with a horse for each of us to ride up to Yellow Bud Creek, about ten miles from here in a northern direction where father's contract is and where the family reside. We arrived a little before night, found several of the younger members of the family shaking with fever and ague.

Nov. 10. I made a table for writing on and laid out a grindstone for William to cut.

Nov. 12. Father left for Lancaster where forty five miles of canal is to be let on the 14th inst. Lock to be constructed of wood, he will probably be home Sunday next.

I followed the meander of the creek about a quarter of a mile, found several species of unio, one of the genus cyclas and some univalve shells.