Marion A. Ross The Dayton Diggers secured permission to hunt the historic Ross farm on Honey Creek in Christiansburg, Jackson Township, Champaign County. The farm was the site of two homes, a small tile factory and several barns. The houses had been razed but at least one had been still standing in 1959.
Levi and Mary Ross came to Champaign County from Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia) between 1827 and 1832 and settled on this farm.
Levi Ross was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on February 16, 1792, son of Jonathan and Martha Brown Ross. He married Mary Ruffner between 1820 and 1827. Mary was born in Virginia on February 20, 1802. The Rosses had at least nine children and possibly as many as thirteen. Their most famous son, Marion was born on the farm.
Marion Andrew Ross was born October 9, 1832. He was a student at Antioch College and was a musician. He enlisted in the Union Army on April 15, 1861. He was a Sergeant Major in Company B of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ross participated in the ill fated Andrews Raid. The raid brought the first Union soldiers into north Georgia, lasted just seven hours and involved the only locomotive chase of the Civil War. These links have more information about Andrews Raid and Ross' part in the Great Locomotive Chase. (Some may have seen the 1956 Disney movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" based on these events.)
From the State Library of Ohio website, "Ross enlisted with a group of other Ohioans volunteered to be part of a secret mission deep into Confederate territory to disrupt transportation and communication lines in 1862. The group purchased tickets and boarded a train just north of Marietta, Georgia on the morning of April 12, 1862. When the train stopped at the town of Big Shanty for breakfast, the soldiers separated the engine, called The General, the coal tender, and three boxcars from the rest of the train. With the Confederate crew in pursuit, Andrew's Raiders headed toward Chattanooga, tearing up track and cutting telegraph lines. The Confederates picked up a new engine, The Texas, at the next railroad station and continued to pursue the Raiders. Although they released two of the boxcars and tried to set fire to a bridge, it soon became clear that the Raiders would never make it to Chattanooga. They abandoned The General about half way to Chattanooga. Andrew's Raiders fled on foot, but all 21 were captured within a week. Eight of them were hanged and the rest sent to Confederate prison camps." Ross was executed in mid June 1862 for his part in the raid. He is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Tennessee.
Levi and Mary Ross came to Champaign County from Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia) between 1827 and 1832 and settled on this farm.
Levi Ross was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on February 16, 1792, son of Jonathan and Martha Brown Ross. He married Mary Ruffner between 1820 and 1827. Mary was born in Virginia on February 20, 1802. The Rosses had at least nine children and possibly as many as thirteen. Their most famous son, Marion was born on the farm.
Marion Andrew Ross was born October 9, 1832. He was a student at Antioch College and was a musician. He enlisted in the Union Army on April 15, 1861. He was a Sergeant Major in Company B of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ross participated in the ill fated Andrews Raid. The raid brought the first Union soldiers into north Georgia, lasted just seven hours and involved the only locomotive chase of the Civil War. These links have more information about Andrews Raid and Ross' part in the Great Locomotive Chase. (Some may have seen the 1956 Disney movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" based on these events.)
From the State Library of Ohio website, "Ross enlisted with a group of other Ohioans volunteered to be part of a secret mission deep into Confederate territory to disrupt transportation and communication lines in 1862. The group purchased tickets and boarded a train just north of Marietta, Georgia on the morning of April 12, 1862. When the train stopped at the town of Big Shanty for breakfast, the soldiers separated the engine, called The General, the coal tender, and three boxcars from the rest of the train. With the Confederate crew in pursuit, Andrew's Raiders headed toward Chattanooga, tearing up track and cutting telegraph lines. The Confederates picked up a new engine, The Texas, at the next railroad station and continued to pursue the Raiders. Although they released two of the boxcars and tried to set fire to a bridge, it soon became clear that the Raiders would never make it to Chattanooga. They abandoned The General about half way to Chattanooga. Andrew's Raiders fled on foot, but all 21 were captured within a week. Eight of them were hanged and the rest sent to Confederate prison camps." Ross was executed in mid June 1862 for his part in the raid. He is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Tennessee.
Levi Ross died on November 25, 1863. Mary died March 10, 1865. The Rosses are buried at Honey Creek Cemetery in Christiansburg. The farm was inherited by their son, Marine Ruffner Ross (1835-1886), whose name appears on the property in the 1875 Champaign County Atlas.
The Hunt
A large group of Diggers arrived for the 9:00 am start, and everyone was excited to see what finds might come to light. As we hit the fields we had to contend with tall pasture grass, corn stubble, a few cows and their...pies. The group exploring the tile factory site gathered around Jared Shank who dug an 1881 Indian Head cent stuck in some asphalt. Others were finding Wheat cents and other relics around the old home site.
A small group went to explore another potential home site that Steve Greene had pointed out. Pottery, glass and brick amongst the corn stubble showed that it was the right place, though the only coin to come to light was an 1882 Indian Head cent found by Mark Ferguson. I had joined this group and after not finding much worth digging, set off back across the field.
At first, I was just carrying my detector while walking back to the main site, but then decided I should be swinging, even in the narrow corn stubble rows. Most of the time I was just getting false signals from the grommets on my boots or it was dead silent, but then I got a higher pitched signal worth investigating. I turned over some soil and pinpointed the item in a clod of dirt. I saw what looked like a thin silver coin sticking out of the side. I thought maybe I had a half dime. None of the other Diggers were near enough to share the find with. Thinking others might like might like to see before I broke the clod open, I wrapped the clod in a paper towel I had in my pocket. When I got back to the main group, people asked if I had found anything and I got to show off the coin in the clod which fueled a lot of speculation as to what it could be. Guesses included pulltab, silver three cent, half dime, aluminum play money and a half reale.
The next event was the seeded token hunt. There were 45 green painted cents that were prize tokens as well as a handful of Buffalo nickels scattered over the surface of a portion of the cornfield where the stubble was flattened. Almost everyone darted around the field looking for the targets. People left the field as it got harder and harder to find the planted coins. Amazingly, all the prize tokens were found! The most tokens found by any one person was six. Diggers then exchanged their tokens for prize boxes which contained old coins, many of them silver, including an 1877-S Seated Liberty half, Barber quarters and dimes, newer silver quarters and dimes and other old coins.
The Diggers then enjoyed a great lunch of fried chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and baked beans as well as other snacks and treats brought by members. Following lunch was the raffle. Raffle prizes included a Garrett ProPointer, a small fireproof safe, a Lesche digger, a Morgan silver dollar, two Walking Liberty Halves, a finds pouch, a metal water bottle, a Roman coin, some assorted foreign coins and even some peppers!
Jared then asked who had found coins or anything else interesting that morning. Several members reported finding Wheat cents, a pocket spill of a 1939 Walking Liberty half, 1940 Jefferson nickel, two Wheats and two 1943 steel cents was discovered near the tile factory site. By this point almost everyone was itching to discover what the coin was, in my pocket, still in the clod of dirt. We did a reveal and it turned out to be an 1810s silver Spanish half reale!
Jared then asked who had found coins or anything else interesting that morning. Several members reported finding Wheat cents, a pocket spill of a 1939 Walking Liberty half, 1940 Jefferson nickel, two Wheats and two 1943 steel cents was discovered near the tile factory site. By this point almost everyone was itching to discover what the coin was, in my pocket, still in the clod of dirt. We did a reveal and it turned out to be an 1810s silver Spanish half reale!
After that excitement, some folks decided to call it a day, while others returned to the fields to see what else might turn up. I did not hear of any other coin finds from the afternoon though Doug Schilling found an old brass stirrup and Gary Fishman and I both found small lead "musketballs."
While nothing turned up that we could attribute as belonging to the Ross family, it was still a fun day full of great people and friends, detecting and history seeking.
While nothing turned up that we could attribute as belonging to the Ross family, it was still a fun day full of great people and friends, detecting and history seeking.
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