The Lenape Stone; or, The Indian and the Mammoth — John Shaqi
The Lenape Stone; or, The Indian and the MammothMercer, Henry C.
History
The Lenape Stone; or, The Indian and the Mammoth
Mercer, Henry C.
Delaware Indians; Mammoths; Picture-writing, Indian
I saw the stone first, I think, in November, in the fall of
1881, and a few days after Mr. Paxon had obtained the second
piece. He had said to me that he had a curious stone which he
wished to show me. I remember his mentioning the figure of a
turtle, a snake, and an elephant carved on the stone, although
he did not first mention the elephant figure or show that he
appreciated the mammoth. It was not till he had read my article
in the county newspaper that he came to know the value of the
carving. He was only eighteen or nineteen then, and I believe
would have sold the stone for a comparatively trifling sum.
As soon as I took the stone home, after Mr. Paxon had lent it
to me, all my family saw it. Judge Paxon, his uncle, did not
realize its archæological importance, neither did Mr. Paxon,
the owner's father. I showed it to Judge Paxon before I wrote
the article. The first time Mr. Harry Paxon showed me the
stone I remember his saying that "he could sell it for five
dollars." He wanted me to glue or cement the pieces together,
but I discountenanced the plan. I think he must have scraped
out the original soil clinging to it with a nail or some sharp
instrument, and I told him that he had cleaned the lines too
much and that the stone had lost the look of age. The next
time I saw it he had filled the lines with clay, and this I
advised him to remove, as it did not resemble the soil of the
original field. So the next time I saw it he had cleaned it
again. I took the stone to the January or April meeting of the
Bucks County Historical Society, 1882, and showed it to all the
members present. I showed it to Gen. Davis, who advised me in
connection with it to prepare an article on the Indian relics
found in Bucks County, to be read before the July meeting at
Penn's Manor. A few days after that I returned the stone to Mr.
Paxon. Somewhere in June or July (1882) I borrowed it again, and
kept it until two or three weeks after the meeting at Pennsbury.
This meeting was on the third Tuesday in July, 1882. Mr. Paxon
did not go to the meeting, but after reading my article in the
paper he set a higher value on his relic and wished me to return
it. I do not recollect seeing either part separately. The two
pieces were together when I first saw it. I think Hansell told
me that the large part had been found first. Very many people
saw the stone at my lecture at Penn's Manor. I had a large
diagram of the inscription, several feet long. Two hundred
people must have seen it. There was an article in the Bucks
County _Intelligencer_ about it, and it was at the Bi-Centennial
and there seen by everybody.
[Signed] JOHN S. BAILEY.
Affirmed to before
ELIAS EASTBURN, J. P., Nov. 8, 1884.
Letter from Dr. D. G. Brinton, Professor of Archæology and Ethnology in
the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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