Chapter 1

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THE AMERICAN GOLIAH A Wonderful Geological Discovery

A PETRIFIED GIANT Ten And One-Half Feet High Discovered In Onondaga County, N.Y.

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History of the discovery on October 16, 1869, of an image of stone, the same being a perfectly formed and well developed man, descriptions of the petrification, with the opinions of scientific men thereon.

(Entered according to Act of Congress, A.D., 1869, by Redington & Howe, in the Clerk's Office of the Northern District of N.Y.

SPECIAL NOTICE

This pamphlet is the only authorized account of the discovery of the great wonder and the latest facts regarding management; and is the only publication furnished by the owners of the Giant with immediate and authentic information of any examinations, experiments or new developments regarding it. Such new facts will be immediately added to this pamphlet, together with such scientific opinions as may be of interest or value to the public.

The statements herein contained have been taken from the lips of living witnesses on the ground where the events transpired, (excepting where reports are credited to other sources,) and can be depended upon as reliable.

This publication will be found valuable for preservation, as it records perhaps the most important scientific discovery of this century. Certainly the wonder is something that in the whole history of this country has never been exceeded, even if ever equaled.

This pamphlet combines all the important facts as narrated by the newspaper press, in addition to whatever others may occur, placing them in a convenient form for permanent preservation. Cuts are being prepared, illustrating, the various points of interest.

The Trade supplied by Redington & Howe, on liberal terms, to whom all orders (either wholesale or retail) should be addressed.

WONDERFUL SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. A GIANT OF STONE, 10 1-2 FEET HIGH, EXHUMED IN ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y.

On Saturday forenoon, Oct. 16th, 1869, William C. Newell, a farmer residing near the village of Cardiff, in the town of Lafayette, County of Onondaga, commenced to dig a well near his barn. Two workmen were employed, Gideon Emmons and Henry Nichols; Mr. Newell being engaged meanwhile in drawing stone with which to line the well. At the depth of about three feet one of the workmen struck a stone, as he at first supposed. A moment later he thought it a water lime pipe, and asked for an ax with which to break it. Before the ax arrived the foot was partially uncovered, with the exclamation, "I declare, some old Indian has been buried here!" Farther excavation disclosed the entire foot, and a part of the leg. One of the workmen, seeing the direction in which the body lay, dug down just above where he thought the head might be, and his shovel struck the nose. The face and head were soon uncovered, and in a short time the entire figure exposed to view. There then appeared to the few assembled spectators the colossal, well-proportioned form of a human being of the following remarkable

DIMENSIONS.

From top of head to instep of sole, ten feet three inches. If standing in a perfectly upright position, the height would be ten feet, seven or eight inches.

Length of head from chin to top of head, twenty-one inches.

Nose, from brow to tip, six inches--across base of nostrils, three and one-half inches.

Mouth four inches.

Shoulders from point to point, three feet.

Circumference of neck thirty-seven inches.

Length of right arm from point of shoulder to end of middle finger, four feet, nine and one-half inches.

Across palm of hand, seven inches.

Length of second finger from knuckle joint, eight inches.

Across wrist, five inches. Distance around thighs, (about half way between knee and thigh joints,) five feet, seven and one-half inches.

Leg, from hip joint to knee joint, three feet; through thigh, one foot; through calf, nine and one-half inches.

Foot, nineteen and one-half inches.

The discovery, as may be supposed, created an immense sensation. Mr. Newell was much perplexed and annoyed and determined at one time to fill up the excavation and keep the discovery from the knowledge of the public. Some years ago a razor was found in a hollow stump near by and suspicions were then thrown out that a murder had been committed. The family feared that the corpse of the murdered man would in some manner confront them through this discovery.

A rush occurred of neighbors and others to see the exhumed wonder, for intelligence of the Giant spread on the wings of the wind. The excitement and ceaseless questions still farther confused the mind of the quiet proprietor and he almost unconsciously consented to various suggestions. One was that the body be raised that day (Saturday,)--consent for which Mr. Newell acknowledges to have given. Ropes were procured and preparations made therefor, but the lateness of the afternoon hour caused its postponement. This is a matter of rejoicing to scientific men, as well as the public generally; for every one naturally wishes to see the Giant as he had slept in his bed for centuries, and for themselves examine the winding sheets he wrapped about him.

POSITION OF THE FIGURE.

The form is lying on its back, the head towards the east and the feet toward the west. The reclining posture is a perfectly natural one, the limbs and feet being slightly drawn up. The figure appears as if a person had fallen there and died. There seem to be evidences of considerable physical anguish in the position of the limbs, of the body, and in the tension of the nerves as well as the contraction of the muscles (which are fully developed.) The right hand rests upon the lower abdomen, and the left is pressed against the back directly opposite. The left foot is thrown partially over the right one, the leg resting partly upon its fellow, but not crossing it. The head is inclined to the right.

The face is the only part seemingly free from traces of the agony of dissolution. The expression is calm, thoughtful, almost sweet. The high, massive forehead sets off with grand, yet benevolent dignity, the well rounded and proportioned features. The countenance is a study. Beautiful despite its immensity, it displays a largeness of kindly feeling not commonly surmised from Fairy tales of Giants and Giant deeds. The spectator gazes upon the grand old sleeper with feelings of admiration and awe. "Nothing like it has ever been seen," say all who have gazed upon it. "It is a great event in our lives to behold it," (is the universal verdict,)--" worth coming hundreds of miles for this alone." "I would not for anything have missed seeing it, for I consider it the greatest natural curiosity of the age," say Geologists, Naturalists, Students and all who can intelligently examine the Onondaga County Wonder.

The increasing interest of the public and the constantly enlarging attendance corroborate the previously expressed opinions of the inestimable value of the discovery, and sanction the verdict that the Cardiff Giant is the great wonder of the Nineteenth Century.

WHAT IS IT?

This question has been diligently asked and variously answered. Dr. John F. Boynton, of Syracuse, a celebrated Geologist, went among the first to the scene and examined the figure with much care. His opinion, (which was the first one expressed by any distinguished scientific authority) has been given decidedly that the body is a massive and beautiful statue. His own language will best state his reasons for declining to think it a petrifaction. A letter of his is subjoined, which was kindly furnished by him for publication. The letter was written to one of the most scientific men of America.

SYRACUSE, Oct. 18th, 1869. Henry Morton, Prof. in Pennsylvania University and Franklin Institute:

DEAR SIR:--On Saturday last, some laborers engaged in digging a well on the farm of W.C. Newell, near the village of Cardiff, about 13 miles south of this city, discovered, lying at about three feet below the surface of the earth, what they supposed to be the "petrified body" of a human being, of colossal size. Its length is ten feet and three inches, and the rest of the body is proportionately large. The excitement in this locality over the discovery is immense and unprecedented. Thousands have visited the locality within the last three days, and the general opinion seems to be that the discovery was the "petrified body" of a human being.

I spent most of yesterday and to-day, at the location of the so-called "FOSSIL MAN," and made a survey of the surroundings of the place where this wonderful curiosity was found. On a careful examination, I am convinced that it is not a fossil, but was cut from a piece of stratified sulphate of lime, (known as the Onondaga Gypsum.) If it were pulverized or ground, a farmer would call it plaster. It was quarried, probably, somewhere in this county, from our Gypsum beds. The layers are of different colors--dark and light. The statue was evidently designed to lie on its back, or partially so, and represents a dead person in a position he would naturally assume when dying. The body lies nearly upon the back, the right side a little lower; the head leaning a little to the right. The legs lie nearly one above the other; the feet partially crossed. The toe of the right foot, a little lower, showing plainly, that the statue was never designed to stand erect upon its feet. The left arm lies down by the left side of the body, the forearm and hand being partially covered by the body. The right hand rests a short distance below the umbilicus, the little finger spreading from the others, reaching to the pubes. The whole statue evidently represents the position that a body would naturally take at the departure of life.

There is perfect harmony in the different proportions of the different parts of the statue. The features are strictly Caucasian, having not the high bones of the Indian type, neither the outlines of the Negro race, and being entirely unlike any statuary yet discovered of Aztec or Indian origin. The chin is magnificent and generous; the eyebrow, or supercilliary ridge, is well arched; the mouth is pleasant; the brow and forehead are noble, and the "Adam's apple" has a full development. The external genital organs are large; but that which represents the integuments, would lead us the conclusion that the artist did not wish to represent the erectal tissues injected.

The statue, being colossal and massive, strikes the beholder with a feeling of awe. Some portions of the features would remind one of the bust of De Witt Clinton, and others of the Napoleonic type. My opinion is that this piece of statuary was made to represent some person of Caucasian origin, and designed by the artist to perpetuate the memory of a great mind and noble deeds. It would serve to impress inferior minds or races with the great and noble, and for this purpose only was sculptured of colossal dimensions. The block of gypsum is stratified, and a dark stratum passes just below the outer portion of the left eyebrow, appears again on the left breast, having been chiseled out between the eyebrow and chest, and makes its appearance again in a portion of the hip. Some portions of the strata are dissolved more than others by the action of the water, leaving a bolder outcroping along the descent of the breast toward the neck. The same may, less distinctly, be seen on the side of the face and head. I think that this piece of reclining statuary is not 300 years old, but is the work of the early Jesuit Fathers of this country, who are known to have frequented the Onondaga Valley from 220 to 250 years ago; that it would probably bear a date in history corresponding with the monumental stone which was found at Pompey Hill, in this county, and now deposited in the Academy at Albany. There are no marks of violence upon the work; had it been an image or idol of worship by the Indians, it could have been easily destroyed or mutilated with a slight blow by a small stone, and the toes and fingers could have been easily broken off. It lay in quicksand, which, in turn, rested upon compact clay.

My conclusion regarding the object of the deposit of the statue in this place, is as follows:--It was for the purpose of hiding and protecting it from an enemy who would have destroyed it, had it been discovered. It must have been carefully laid down, and as carefully covered with boughs and twigs of trees which prevented it from being discovered. Traces of this new decomposed vegetable covering can be seen on every side of the trench, and it is quite evident this vegetable matter originally extended across and above the statue.

Above this stratum of decayed matter, there is a deposit of very recent date, from eighteen inches to two feet in thickness, which may have been washed in, and likewise turned on by plowing. A farmer who had worked the land, told me that he had "back furrowed" around it, for the purpose of filling up the slough where the statue now lies.

It is positively absurd to consider this a "fossil man." It has none of the indications that would designate it as such, when examined by a practical chemist, geologist or naturalist. The underside is somewhat dissolved, and presents a very rough surface, and it is probable that all the back or lower portion, was never chiseled into form, and may have been designed to rest as a tablet. However, as the statue has not been raised, the correct appearance of the under surface has not been determined, save by feeling as I pressed my hand as far as I could reach under different portions of the body, while its lower half lay beneath the water.

This is one of the greatest curiosities of the early history of Onondaga county, and my great desire is that it should be preserved for the Onondaga Historical Society. Efforts are being made by some of our citizens to secure this in the county where it belongs, and not suffer it to bear the fate of other archeological specimens found in this region.

Hoping to be able to write you more in a few days, I remain yours truly, JOHN F. BOYNTON."

IS THE BODY A PETRIFACTION?

"The majority of visitors disagree with the opinion of Dr. Boynton, that the figure is a statue, and pronounce it a petrified man. It is claimed that no sculptor would have invented such an unheard of position and design for a statue. No sculptor could have so perfectly imitated nature, especially in the minutiae which render the image such a wonder. It is claimed by the stone cutters and quarrymen who are constantly engaged in cutting the Onondaga County stone, that no single block could have been found of sufficient size, without a seam, from which to have chiseled out such a monster, (they claiming that the seam would have caused any such statue to split and fall apart under the necessary concussions required for cutting it to anything like its perfection in form.)

Other persons argue that no model of such a human being would have been likely to have been presented to any of the Indian or other inhabitants of America, within the past few centuries.

Many also ask for what reason should such an immense and expensive statue be hewn out and placed in so unfrequented a part of the country? How could it have been transported from the region of rocks to its present location, in a swamp entirely free from stones) especially since it is completely without any base or support of stone on which it can rest." "No statue is known to have been constructed," say the petrified advocates, "in reclining posture, unless the artist left some portion of the block of stone upon which the figure should rest, and be supported and strengthened for a durability of ages."

Other incidental suggestions are set forth as follows, by a writer in the Syracuse Daily Standard. "

The probabilities of its being a petrifaction have a better foundation, independent of outward appearances. First, is the fact that within a very short time, in the work of grading on section six of the Cazenovia & Canastota R.R., the skeletons of five mammoth human beings were exhumed, one of them eleven feet tall. The point of exhumation is not twenty miles distant from Cardiff. There are proofs of a giant race on this continent, and in this part of it; how far back, no one can tell. Second--There is now in the possession of the Onondaga Historical Association, a fish near one foot long, petrified to a perfect stone solidity, which was found near Cardiff, and the color of this petrified fish is very similar to the Cardiff giant stone. Mr. W.B. Kirk, of this city, when living at Cardiff many years ago, found near there a good sized Perch, that was perfectly petrified. Third--Five miles further down the valley, at what is known as the Onondaga Valley Cemetery, in taking up a human body for removal some years ago, it was found to be solid stone; still further north, but in the same range, the corpse of a child, on being taken up was found to be petrified--solid stone.--Still another case--the body of a man who had been buried a few years was taken up for removal, and being found a perfect petrifaction, the widow had it taken home, and it is yet retained in the house, and has never been reburied. We might give names, but do not feel at liberty to do so without first consulting family friends or relatives. These, and other samples that might be given, prove that petrification is not uncommon in the vicinity of Cardiff, where our ten feet two and a half inches, and well proportioned, giant was found."

A different statement still is made by Mr. Wright, father-in-law of Mr. Newell, who formerly owned Mr. Newell's present farm. Mr. Wright says that within a short distance of the present discovery, there is a spring of water which will within a few months turn into solid stone any small deposits of sand and gravel. Neighbors corroborate the statement. A wag has suggested that a factory be at once established there and petrified dogs, cats and small fry generally be furnished to order.

The unsettled point of what it is, undoubtedly furnishes an additional attraction regarding the mysterious stranger, as every person wishes to see for himself and become judge in the trial of Statue versus Fossil.

In this connection an interesting letter is subjoined from the Hon. George Geddes.

To the Editor of the Syracuse Standard:--I find a notice in your paper of this morning of the "Stone Giant" at Cardiff, in which the fact that I visited it yesterday is stated, with the remark that you are told that I believe it to be a petrifaction. Allow me room in your paper to say that this is stating my views a little stronger than I desire. I have formed no opinion as to the origin of this wonderful thing. I was not allowed to make an examination of it beyond the privilege of looking from over a railing into the pit where the giant lay, and this pit was shaded by a tent, and the railing surrounded by double and triple rows of people, all anxious to see. I do not complain that I was not allowed a more perfect examination; there were too many to see to allow the descent into the pit of any one. All questions by me of the gentlemen in charge were politely answered. My impressions were decided that I saw before and below me the figure of a giant in stone of some kind, but what kind I could not tell for in that light and position it did not resemble any rock that our system has in it. I thought it was quite unlike our limestone or our gypsum formations; and that if it was sulphate of lime, and the work of human hands, that it was more likely to have been built up, than hewn from a solid rock. But as I have said, I had no means or liberty to make a close examination. I wish to say in addition, that I have traveled far and spent much money to see things of not one-tenth the interest that this stone giant was to me, and thought I had made good use of time and money.

Respectfully yours, GEORGE GEDDES. Oct. 20th, 1869.

WHAT IS THE CHARACTER OF THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE IMAGE?

The spot is perhaps twenty-five feet below the house. The soil on the surface is a loose one, half sand and half muck (dark.) The spot has undoubtedly been filled in to a considerable extent from washings from the hills around. Mr. Wright, the former owner, says that the spot used to be covered with water, and that he had at one time a bridge constructed over this very point, in order to reach the higher land beyond. Even after the water failed to stand there constantly, he was obliged to use the bridge, as the soft muck was four or five feet deep, and was impassable for cattle and teams. The Onondaga Creek was within twenty rods of the spot, and at some seasons of the year overflows it. Some suppose the channel of the Creek was once there. The place had been a regular swamp for years. Mr. Newell has owned the farm for three years, and has occasionally ploughed around and thrown in dirt, to the depth of at least a foot.

Under the three or more feet of muck is found a strata of gravel from two to six and eight inches in depth. The body rests in and upon this gravel bed. The gravel under the neck of the image was very solidly pressed down. Underneath the gravel is found red clay, into which the gravel is pressed.

The right limb is perfect all around with slight exceptions. The left arm is perfect nearly to the hand, excepting that the shoulder is worn off some by the water underneath. The bottom of the right foot seems to be perfect. Some slight portions of the left foot have been cleaved off.

The family and the neighbors give, it might be remarked, an original hypothesis of their own, regarding the death of the man; viz: that in passing along over this spot he was either drowned or swallowed up in the mire and suffocated to death.

HOW TO FIND THE GIANT

Passengers by the Central or Oswego Railroads leave the cars at Syracuse, and will find an excellent road through the beautiful Onondaga Valley, to Mr. Newell's residence, twelve miles from Syracuse. Strangers will find the principal hack stand of the city near the Wieting Block, on Salina street. The entire force of drivers became within three days perfectly acquainted, not only with the road, but with the leading facts regarding the wonderful discovery. The demand for carriages has been immense, and is constantly increasing. If parties desire to spend the day at Cardiff, they can take the Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad to Lafayette Station, and (with considerable difficulty,) secure a team across to Mr. Newell's house, a distance of about three miles. There is no village at Lafayette Station.

WHO VISITS THE WONDER?

Everybody. Old and young, male and female, people of all classes of community, rush in a constant stream to view the immense curiosity. People from all parts of the United States are hastening to see the Giant before he shall be removed from his long resting place. The average daily attendance for the first week was from three to five hundred persons.

HOW LONG WILL HE BE KEPT WHERE HE WAS FOUND?

Probably for some time, as that seems to be the public wish. Arrangements have been made for some of the chief scientific men of the country to examine critically the colossus. Their opinion or opinions, (which will be published promptly in this work,) will have much weight in the minds of the managers in deciding when and what to do.

WHO OWN THE IMAGE?

Three capitalists have bought of Mr. Newell, (who has declined probably over one hundred offers,) a three-fourths interest in the enterprise. The tour partners will determine what course to pursue.

We subjoin several reports of the Press for a few days succeeding the discovery of his Giantship.

From the Syracuse Daily Standard Oct. 18th, 1869.