The Bell

The bell - if only it could talk. It hangs quietly at Campus Martius Museum in Marietta, Ohio, next to the Rufus Putnam House. I’ve passed it dozens of times giving tours of the house. A few visitors ask about it; most pass by unaware of its presence.

Photo by author

Stories have circulated about the bell and how it got here. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was said to have sent a bell to Marietta, in appreciation for the town’s being named for her. The bell never made it, the story goes; the ship carrying it from France sank. This is a captivating narrative, but it’s never been verified.

It’s a small bell - 7” high and 8” wide at the base - what might today be called a dinner bell or farm bell, not the kind you expect to see in a church or court house bell tower. Would a bell like that have been used at the Campus Martius fortification? Though the bell is small, its ring sound is bright and clear. It could be heard for a few hundred yards when rung outdoors in the relatively quiet (no noise pollution from traffic, etc.) frontier times.

Where did this bell come from and where was it used? The bell itself gives part of the answer through the inscription on it, appearing from top to bottom:

PIERRE

DUBOIS

LAMY

NEVEU

AUPUY

Bells with this type inscription were made at the Dubois bell foundry in Le Puy en Velay village in France. Jean Dubois (1667-1725) established the foundry in the early 1700s.

Le Puy en Velay village in south central France

Decoding the bell’s inscription helps us identify the Dubois family member who made the Campus Martius bell. 

PIERRE  )

DUBOIS ) -  shortened name of foundryman Jean-Pierre Dubois (1716-1792), grandson of Jean Dubois Dubois, the original founder.

LAMY - Jean-Pierre Dubois married Agathe Lamy in 1764. Her name appears on bells attributed to Jean-Pierre made after that date.

NEVEU is French for “nephew.” This acknowledged the family affiliation of Jean-Pierre Dubois with his uncle Louis-Gabriel Dubois (1697-1767). NEVEU may have been included to avoid confusion with his uncle or to document the family connection for authenticity as a Dubois foundry bell.

AUPUY - the meaning of this term as used in the inscription is not clear. Other Dubois bells have this name, possibly referring to the name or location of the foundry.

OTHER IMAGES ON THE BELL: Some of Jean-Pierre Dubois’ bells have fleur-de-lis symbols. One image on this bell is similar:

Photo by author of bell fleur-de-lis feature

Clues in the inscription suggest that the bell was likely made at the Dubois foundry in France by Jean-Pierre Dubois, in the late 1700s. The patina of the bell matches the time period. 

Questions remain: how and when did it arrive in Marietta and where was it used?

The Marie Antoinette origin has not been documented, though the bell was made in France during the period that included her reign. She was queen from 1774 until 1789 and was beheaded in 1793.

The most explicit reference to a bell being given to Marietta appears in minutes of a meeting of the 

Ohio Company dated July 2, 1788:

“Upon information from Col. John May that Mr. Joseph May of Boston had presented a Bell to the Ohio Company, for the first public building to be erected in the Territory of the Company and such building being ordered by the agents. 

RESOLVED That the thanks of the company be presented to that Gentleman and that the Directors be directed to take measures for transporting it from Boston to the City of Marietta.”

A footnote on the page with this entry in the Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Volume  1, published by the Marietta Historical Commission in 1917, says: “This bell was placed on a corner blockhouse of the Campus Martius and now hangs in the Marietta Historical Museum.” 

There is evidence that a bell was used at Campus Martius. Hildreth’s Pioneer History states that “On the top of the fourth (blockhouse) (in the north-west corner), above the watch tower, is a balcony with a cupola, spire, &c., for the reception of a bell, which we are told is coming on as a present from a gentleman at Boston.”

Detailed drawing of cupola for the bell (though the bell is not shown) on the Northwest blockhouse at Campus Martius. This is a copy of an original drawing from digital records at Marietta College Legacy Library - Special Collections.

Illustrations below of the Campus Martius structure from that period show an extended tower on the northwest blockhouse. This was likely the bell cupola.

Plan of Campus Martius stockade made by Winthrop Sargent which appeared in Columbian Magazine in November 1788. See elevated tower on left (northwest) corner blockhouse.

Period drawing of Campus Martius fortification ca 1789-90. The left front corner blockhouse tower is noticeably taller.

A bell is mentioned at Marietta’s centennial celebration in 1888. A list of relic items displayed at the armory for the centennial celebration was printed in The Marietta Times, July 19, 1888 edition. It includes: “59. Old bell used in Campus Martius….”  

There is no explicit reference in histories, journals, or documents that I have seen about the bell’s having been installed and rung at Campus Martius. But based on what we know, the most plausible scenario is summarized by Bill Reynolds, Campus Martius Museum historian: “I am convinced this is the bell sent to the Ohio Company (at Marietta) from the gentleman in Boston and was installed in the blockhouse for calling alarms and for assemblies such as church and court or mourning an important death.” He also believes that the same bell was used in the courthouse after Campus Martius was dismantled until the “Davidson” bell (on display at Campus Martius Museum) was installed in 1802.

This is our story, and until other explanations surface, we’re sticking to it. If you know anything about the bell or have questions, let me know. 

Note: special thanks to Bill Reynolds for his suggestion of the bell history as a blog topic and for his input in the article.

Sources:

Hildreth, Samuel P., Pioneer History

Historical Marietta blog, November 21, 2021, “Relic Department, Marietta Centennial Celebration, Marietta Times, June 19, 1888,” viewed at historicalmarietta.blogspot.com.

Marietta Historical Commission, Records of the Original Proceedings of the Ohio Company, Vol I, 1917

Reynolds, William, Historian at Campus Martius Museum, personal interviews

Sonailles.net, “Dubois-au-puy,” viewed at https://www-sonnailles-net.translate.goog/index.php/histoire/fondeurs-et-forgerons/les-dubois?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

The Low Tablet, a valuable Adena artifact

Edward Low was 12 years old in 1943, playing with two friends on a sandy hill overlooking the Ohio River near Parkersburg WV. He had sneaked away from home to explore. They dug a trench to make their game of war more realistic and struck something about a foot below the surface. He unearthed a thin rectangular stone with Indian-like carvings and took it home with him. He kept his "Indian rock" in a drawer. Years passed; he married and raised a family. His children took the stone to "show and tell" sessions at school.

In 1971 he had moved to Columbus and took the stone to the Ohio Historical Society (OHS - now Ohio History Connection) for analysis. OHS staff were excited by his find and complimented him on protecting it and seeking a professional assessment. He donated it to OHS. The Low Tablet was a significant addition to the group of other similar Adena stone tablets. It has been researched and on display continuously at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus.

Images of Low Tablet from Ohio Historical Society (now Ohio History Connection)

The image of the Low Tablet below right with black and white tones makes the design details more visible. The images on the left are of the Wilmington tablet which has some design similarities.


The Low Tablet became an unexpected center of controversy in 2007. Mr. Low tried to reclaim the tablet, stating that he had merely lent it to OHS. A five year legal proceeding and occasional public debate on his case ensued. The court eventually sided with the OHS position that he had donated the tablet. Edward Low died in 2010.

2008 photo WV Gazette of Edward Low with the tablet

The Adena people were a prehistoric civilization who inhabited the midwest during the Early Woodland period from about 1000 BCE to 500 CE. They were hunters, gatherers, and collectors. They were the first people in this region to settle in small villages, cultivate crops, use pottery vessels, use materials such as copper and shells to make ornaments and jewelry, and bury their honored dead in burial mounds.

Adena was the name of the estate of Thomas Worthington, sixth governor of Ohio. It was there that a mound yielded artifacts establishing the existence of the Adena culture. They are best known today as the mound builders. They built mounds for burial, as territorial markers, and effigy mounds depicting animals or symbols. The most prominent of the latter is the Serpent Mound near Peebles, OH.

Most evidence of their culture has come from excavation of mounds and village sites. Recovered artifacts include human remains, tools, jewelry, and the stone tablets, such as the Low Tablet. The purpose of the stone tablets is not entirely clear. Some researchers believe that they were used to imprint designs on cloth, animal hides, or human skin. Some tablets have been found with residue of ocher or hematite, a primitive type of paint that could have been used for imprinting. Others suggest that the stones' art works were ceremonial in nature, perhaps an image of a shaman or a mythological spiritual being.

The Low Tablet carvings include a human features, raptor images, and stylized wings which are typical designs found on other tablets. The frontal human face with more detailed features is unique, not found on other tablets. The human/raptor features been suggested by some researchers to represent shamans dressed in raptor bird costumes. This imagery is consistent with shaman costumes in other Indian cultures.

The Low Tablet is considered an excellent and valuable example of the Adena stone tablets. Robert Converse, editor of Ohio Archaeologist, appraised the tablet at Mr. Low's request and valued it at a minumum of $25,000. It could bring up to $250,000 if auctioned on the international market, he said. "It's irreplaceable."

OHS archaeologist Martha Otto concluded her Low Tablet research report in 1975 by noting that: "It is obvious that the task of interpreting the adena tablets is quite incomplete. Hopefully additional specimens will be found......In the meantime, we must be grateful for people like Mr. Edward Low who are curious enough and concerned enough to report their discoveries."

Some additional specimens have been found, including a stone tablet fragment in Washington County. See the fragment and article by Robert Converse in Ohio Archaeologist by clicking here.

The Low Tablet will be displayed at Campus Martius Museum in Marietta at their Night at the Museum fund raising event November 21, 2014 from 6:00-8:00 pm. Tickets are $50 per person and may be purchased at the Museum 740-373-3750.


Cincinnati tablet


Gaitskill clay tablet

Capt. James Selby

The story of Capt. Selby is a poignant, stark reminder of the hardship of war. It is told simply in the Campus Martius Museum exhibit “Touched by Conflict: Southeastern Ohio & the Civil War.” http://campusmartiusmuseum.org/exhibits.html. The photos, displays, artifacts are on loan from noted Civil War collector Larry Strayer.

As I viewed Capt. Selby’s exhibit, I was touched by his bravery, perseverance, and calm acceptance of his impending death. Here is part of his story from the exhibit:

Captain James C. Selby

Enlisted at Lowell and was mustered in as 2nd Lieutenant, Co. A, 36th Ohio under Capt.Hiram Devol and 1st Lieutenant James Gage Barker. After Battle of Antietam he was promoted to Capt of Co. K.

On November 25, 1863, he lost his right arm at the battle of Mission Ridge. After a short recuperation, Selby returned to his company with a modified sword and left-handed script.

At the battle of Berrysville, Virginia, on Sept 3, 1864, he received a wound to his right thigh, severing the vein and shattering the bone. When informed he would not survive, he calmly sent for the chaplain to make final disposition of his property and instructed his lieutenant to prepare the monthly returns. Death came eleven days later.

Below are photos of the exhibit, which includes his field desk and other items. The morphine box offers mute testimony to the pain he endured from the arm amputation – and yet he returned to duty after that.

If any readers have more information about Capt Selby, let your author know.

Photo taken after loss of his right arm




Morphine box is at right of his hat