PREHISTORIC STONE FOUND - 1919

MCCLEARY, SIRDOREUS, LOEHR, FAMIUE

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 3/10/2006 at 21:01:00

"The Fairfield Daily Journal"
Tuesday, December 16, 1919
Page 2, Column 4

PREHISTORIC STONE FOUND ON FARM OF J. LOUIS McCLEARY.

Ed SIRDOREUS has donated a remarkable prehistoric stone to the Old Settlers Park Association. The stone was this morning placed on the south side of public square, through the courtesy of the City Parks Commissioners.... Mr. SIRDOREUS deserves credit for giving citizens a chance to see this wonderful stone, which weighs 1750 pounds, having been weighed by City Weighmaster John LOEHR.

Mr. SIRDOREUS uncovered the stone about a year ago when he was stripping off seven feet of earth from a twenty inch vein of coal on the McCLEARY farm, better known to the older citizens as the John FAMIUE (Famulener?) farm four and a half miles southwest of Fairfield near the west bank of Cedar Creek.

In the seven foot of soil over the stone was growing an elm tree about 18 inches in diameter. Mr. SIRDOREUS put several sticks of dynamite under the tree and on top of the rock to displace the elm but it did not displace the stone. It was his intention to bring the stone to the city last winter but this was not done and he was delayed until now when the coal shortage induced the stripping for more coal and incidentally the bringing in of the interesting stone.

The most interesting feature about the stone is a groove that has been cut clear around the stone by pre-historic man, just as a civilized man would cut it now if he wished to put on a wire cable or chain, or some other device to use it for an anchor of some kind.

It has been suggested that it was an anchor by some who have seen the stone anchors in the Minneapolis Museum of Antique Curios, which were used for Indian war canoes and rafts. A similar crease is cut clear around these stones. The largest on in the Minneapolis collection only weighed 400 pounds against 1750 pounds for the SIRDOREUS find. The State Zoologist will be asked to examine it.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s).