Mastodon Bones in Lorain County – Feb. 1952

This mastodon once roamed Prehistoric Forest
on the Marblehead Peninsula in Ohio

Bones seem to be a reoccurring topic on this blog, whether they were uncovered in a road bed or plowed up in a field by a farmer.

But those were human bones. Here’s a report of some mastodon bones being turned up on a farm. The story ran in the Lorain Journal back on Feb. 11, 1952.

Scientists Identify Portions of Skeleton as Remains of Eight-Ton Animal

Bones of Huge Mastodon Uncovered in Lorain County

Bones believed to be part of the skeleton of a huge Mastodon which roamed Lorain County in prehistoric days have been uncovered on a Columbia Township farm.

The bones were turned up on the farm of Ray F. Petch, West River Road, late last summer but not until last week did scientists identify them as parts of a Mastodon, eight-ton forerunner of the elephant, which became extinct 6,000 years ago.

Only portions of the beast’s tusk have been recovered so far but further excavation is scheduled for this spring at which time it is hoped the complete skeleton will be found.

A series of coincidences led to the discovery of the bones in the first place and their subsequent identification as valuable scientific items.

The Petch family, who are associated with Mrs. Petch’s father, Willard Keyse, in the operation of a greenhouse business, cast an eye toward a swampy portion of their farm last August when they needed a new water supply.

Early in September they arranged with a contractor to excavate a circular pond about 90 feet in diameter and six feet deep. A “back hole” machine bit into the earth and a bull dozer pushed the earth to the side of the pond.

Petch found the bone fragments lying on top of the excavated earth but dismissed them as of little value. However, later his 10-year-old son Russell brought one of the pieces into the house and left it on the porch.

“Ray planned to take it into Prof. Surrarrer (Prof. Thomas C. Surrarrer, head of the department of biology at nearby Baldwin Wallace College who had been one of Petch’s undergraduate instructors) but never got around to it” his wife recalled today.

Then last week Mr. and Mrs. Petch visited the home of a friend, Dale Hummon, and the conversation turned to geology. Hummon showed them bone fragments he had picked up on a recent Alaskan trip and Mrs. Petch remarked that they looked like the fragments found in their bog.

“Mr. Hummon got very excited,” said Mrs. Petch, and rushed over to the Petch household to examine the bones. Then Prof. Surrarrer was summoned and after examining the fragments said “almost without a doubt” they were parts of a mastodon.

Mrs. Petch said William F. Scheele, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, planned to come to the farm tomorrow to examine the fragments and arrange for further excavation.

“I imagine they will wait until spring or summer when the ground softens to continue the digging,” Mrs. Petch said.

The area in which the fragments, one of them 25 inches long, were found has always been swampy. Apparently it was a prehistoric bog. Mrs. Petch said waiter was struck after only three feet of digging last summer.

Generally, it is in swampy earth of this nature that well-preserved prehistoric animal reminants are found. The animals, which roamed the earth before the dawn of recorded history, became entrapped in the bog and died. The muck preserved their skeletons.

The digging halted just on the edge of where the tusk fragments were discovered. It is expected that further digging will uncover the rest of the skeleton.

Petch, and his wife the former Anna May Keyse, met while both were students at Baldwin Wallace. Petch, 29, is a native of Berea. The couple, which went into business with Mrs. Petch’s father, are the parents of three children, Russell, 10, Leroy, 13, and Ruth, 7.

Keyse has been operating his greenhouse in that area for 21 years. He raises tomatoes.

Mrs. Petch is thrilled about the discovery of what may turn out to be a valuable scientific find at her home, but has only one worry.

“I am keeping my fingers crossed” she said. “I hope the scientific digging won’t destroy our pond. We want to use it as a swimming hole.”