A2.9 GOLD CHAIN IN CARBONIFEROUS COAL
FROM MORRISONVILLE, ILLINOIS
On June 11, 1891, The Morrisonville Times reported: "A curious find
was brought to light by Mrs. S. W. Culp last Tuesday morning. As she
was breaking a lump of coal preparatory to putting it in the scuttle,
she discovered, as the lump fell apart, embedded in a circular shape
a small gold chain about ten inches in length of antique and quaint
workmanship. At first Mrs. Culp thought the chain had been dropped
accidentally in the coal, but as she undertook to lift the chain up,
the idea of its having been recently dropped was at once made
fallacious, for as the lump of coal broke it separated almost in the
middle, and the circular position of the chain placed the two ends
near to each other, and as the lump separated, the middle of the
chain became loosened while each end remained fastened to the coal.
This is a study for the students of archaeology who love to puzzle
their brains over the geological construction of the earth from whose
ancient depth the curious is always dropping out. The lump of coal
from which this chain was taken is supposed to come from the
Taylorville or Pana mines [southern Illinois] and almost hushes one's
breath with mystery when it is thought for how many long ages the
earth has been forming strata after strata which hid the golden links
from view. The chain was an eight carat gold and weighed eight penny
weights."
In a letter to Ron Calais, Mrs. Vernon W. Lauer, the present
publisher of the Morrisonville Times, stated: "Mr. Culp was editor
and publisher of the Times in 1891. Mrs. Culp, who made the
discovery, moved to Taylorville after his death remarried and her
death occurred on February 3, 1959." Calais told our research
assistant ( Stephen Bernath ) that he had information the chain was
given to one of Mrs. Culp's relatives after her death, but Calais
could not trace the chain further.
The Illinois Geological Survey has said the coal in which the gold
chain was found is 260 320 million years old. This raises the
possibility that culturally advanced human beings we represent in
North America during that time.