LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP ‒ Archaeologists have been uncovering bones, flakes from stone tools and lead since they began digging at the site of Fort Laurens outside of Bolivar in preparation for the reconstruction of Ohio’s only Revolutionary War fort.
The team, which includes Hope Scott, an archaeological field technician from Zanesville, has been working under the direction of Jonathan Brewster, a professional archaeologist working for the Ohio History Connection, which owns the site.
Notable items found so far have included one unfired bullet, two fired bullets, a few nails and a lot of pre-contact native American items. Brewster noted people have been camping at the site of Fort Laurens for centuries.
After doing some digging in the area of the fort’s parade ground, the archaeologists have shifted their attention to the walls of Fort Laurens.
“We’re going to need to uncover a lot more foundations to figure out exactly what went where, start looking at building foundations, things like,” he said. “We’ll be here at least another year, and then when construction goes, there will be one or two of us, keeping an eye on the dirt as it comes up, to make sure we don’t run across a grave of something important like that.”
Background on the project
In 2024, the state of Ohio awarded $3.2 million to make improvements to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the only tomb for an unknown Revolutionary War soldier; renovations to the museum; and a partial reconstruction of the fort. The reconstruction is expected to be done by 2028, the 250th anniversary of the establishment of Fort Laurens.
The current dig is designed to uncover the exact locations of the fort’s construction. “We want to rebuild the fort exactly as it stood, or as close as we can possibly come,” Brewster said.
Fort Laurens was built in 1778 as part of a campaign by the Americans to drive the British out of their base in Detroit. The fort was doomed by attacks by native Americans and logistical problems. It was abandoned in1779.
The site is far from untouched. The Gibler family farmed the area in the 19th century until the property was purchased by the state of Ohio in 1915. R. Michael Gramly conducted excavations at the site in 1972 and 1973. Excavations of the fort cemetery were done in 1984 and 1986.
“We’re kind of popping in and out of his digs,” Brewster said of Gramly’s excavations. “One of the things they didn’t do back then was screen the dirt. So, we’re rescreening some of his dirt to see how much is in there.”
Brewster was hired in November to oversee the project. He didn’t know much about Fort Laurens at that time. “I knew about the Revolutionary War and the ebb and flow of the strategy. I didn’t know anything about this area. So, when I started, they gave me a stack of books that I just started going through.”
He also looked at old maps and consulted Revolutionary War pension records in preparation.
Volunteering his time
Working alongside the professional archaeologists from the Ohio History Connection is Douglas Angeloni from Canton, who is volunteering his time. A retired teacher, he taught history at Malvern High School for 35 years.
“I’ve been involved in this site since I was in high school. I came down here for the first digs. I’m a trustee of the Friends of Fort Laurens Foundation and do a lot of maintenance work around here. I’ve assisting in the digging of the cemetery in 1986,” he said.
The archeologists painstaking remove dirt from areas where they are digging, put the dirt into buckets, and then Angeloni screens the dirt, looking for tiny artifacts in the soil.
What is he finding?
“A lot of prehistoric stuff, flakes and flints and cherts and things, which is typical for this area. A few Fort Laurens-related items. They found one .32 caliber buckshot, a couple of flat fired balls, some nail fragments and things,” he said.
“Right now, we’re just trying to gain more information and save what artifacts are still here and we can find and move on from there.”
Looking for people’s stuff
Brewster estimated that he and his crew will be at Fort Laurens until at least September or October.
What does he expect to find and what does he hope to find during that time?
“I’m expecting to find foundations. What I’d really like to find is people’s stuff ‒ a knife that somebody dropped. But that’s always a long shot. You never know. But mostly what we’ll find is foundations and traces of the work they did, which is fine ‒ enough to get the job done here,” he said.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Ohio archaeologists find traces of the distant past during dig at site of Fort Laurens
Reporting by Jon Baker, The Times-Reporter / The Times-Reporter
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