“There has been one incident in my life that has fascinated me for years,” declared T.J. Saulter, traveling salesman of Norfolk, Va., who was in Charlotte Saturday.
“My pet hobby is collecting Indian relics. Ever since I was a boy I loved to roam over fields in which relics could be found. I have a splendid collection which I have added to for years.
“About 10 years ago I had a friend who lived in the country near the Chowan river, in the Eastern part of North Carolina. He was also interested in Indian relics. One day I received a letter from him, telling me that he had discovered a queer looking mound near a large swamp on the banks of the river. He stated that he believed it to be the grave of an Indian of the Tuscarora tribe. This tribe used to roam on the banks of the Neuse and Tar river mostly, but many of them had small settlements on other North Carolina rivers also. T5hey suffered several losses in battle about 1713, and the remnant of the tribe joined the Five Nations of Indians, making what was known as the Six Nations. Their history is interesting and I was enthused over the idea of opening the grave.
“I reached the home of my friend a few days later. We had some difficulty locating the mound, as it was well in a swamp covered with underbrush and briars. We carried a pick axe and shovel. We finally stumbled across it. In appearance it was merely a place where the earth a foot or so higher than the ground around it. Several bushes and a small tree were growing upon it.
“The work of digging down into the mound held us with enchantment. We knew not what we might unearth. We were silent as we worked.
“We dug down probably five feet when I struck some hard object with my pick. I quickly too my hands and scratched the dirt away from around it. It was an Indian tomahawk, beautifully made. We knew then that it was an Indian grave. We found several pieces of bone, some arrow heads and a pipe made of some kind of green stone. We searched a good while longer, and, finding nothing else, we were just beginning to stop work when I noticed an object of some kind protruding from the loose dirt in the hole. I snatched it up. It was no Indian relic. It was a ring set with a small, dull red stone of some kind.
“When I examined it more carefully. I saw that it was gold. It took my handkerchief and rubbed it for some time to brighten it up. I chanced to glance inside of the gold band then and there was engraved there in tiny English letters the words, “Think of Mary.” In appearance it looked to be a man’s ring, although the design was different from any I ever saw. I later showed it to a jeweler, who told me the stone was a ruby. The ring had evidently been worn much, for the inscription inside was barely legible and the entire ring worn considerably.
”How it got in that grave will always be a mystery. No one will ever solve it. It is reasonable to suppose that the ring was given to some man from the old country by his sweetheart left behind when he came to the new world to prepare a place for her. Possibly he was killed by the Indian, who was later buried with the ring which he had taken from the white man’s finger. At any rate, there is a weird history of some kind attached to the ring. I have it still, and I don’t think money would make me part with it.”
From the Charlotte News, Sunday morning, July 3, 1921
No comments:
Post a Comment