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STRATTON -- The Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society will host guest lecturer John Boileigh at its Sept. 11 meeting to be held at the Stratton Municipal Building, located at 136 Second Ave., Stratton, beginning at 1 p.m.
"Prehistory of Ohio" will be the topic of the presentation that is open to the public and sponsored by the chapter. Light refreshments will be served.
Boileigh, who works for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as an archeologist, botanist and naturalist, will offer an informal lecture about the pre-historic period of Ohio as part of a presentation that will include photos and a display.
A few topics of interest will include the Paleo Indians, who were the first humans known in Ohio, arriving 15,000 and 12,000 years ago. Ohio's early inhabitants were hunters and gatherers who left behind traces of their existence that have been found through archaeological digs -- everything from arrowheads and spear throwers to pottery and knives.
"We know that the Serpent Mount and various burial mounds exist and have been found in Ohio," noted Flora VerStraten-Merrin, chapter president. "Did you know that we have two early Indian mounds in Jefferson County? We have the Mound -- now known as Hodgens Cemetery -- and also the Speedway Mound in Rayland," she explained.
For information about the mound burial site, visit the genealogy website at www.jeffcochapter.com, scroll down to "Warren Township Cemeteries" and then scroll down to the Mound/Hodgens Cemetery and click.
The site includes detailed information written by the late local historical author Robert Richardson, who discovered the early history of the mound. Richardson was a friend of VerStraten-Merrin, who noted she "was privileged to visit him and hear and record his stories about the mound, the history and who was buried there before the white man began burying their dead there, too.
Richardson donated a box of his published books and a box of his research materials to the chapter.
"Ohio is a great state for viewing and finding various types of spearheads, which some refer to arrowheads," VerStraten-Merrin noted. "It was common once a farming field was plowed in the spring and the rain came, many farmers would find artifacts in the plowed and wet fields."
The genealogy chapter will hold one final program from its lecture series for 2022 on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. at the same location in Stratton. It, too, is free and open to the public.
David Simmons, an expert on the bridge history of Ohio, with special emphasis on the "the romance of the covered bridges," will be the guest speaker.
The genealogy office is open on the first and third Tuesday of every month and every Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, by appointments only. The office is located at 501 Fifth St., Stratton, and houses many of the earliest records for Jefferson County.
There is an annual membership drive for 2023 under way. For information, visit the website at www.jeffcochapter.com or make an inquiry at either lecture series.
Aside from VerStraten-Merrin, who has served as president for 20 years, other officers are Rena Goss, vice president; Connie Rohall, recording secretary; and Naomi Furbee, treasurer.
The office can be reached through the website; phone (leave a message) at (740) 346-2820; e-mail at jeffersoncounty1@att.net; or the Facebook page at "Jefferson County, Ohio Genealogy Society. The mailing address is P.O. Box 2367, Wintersville, OH, 43953.
Office volunteers can assist anyone local or out of state in researching their ancestors who lived anywhere in Jefferson County from about 1797 to 1930.