Archaeological Dig 1984: Bliss Wood Knoll, First Cabin Site in Sugar Grove
In May and June of 1984, an archaeological dig was conducted on Bliss Wood Knoll near the location of the first log cabin built in Sugar Grove based on descriptions of the historic site. Several volunteers carefully delineated the dig site, surveyed the land, excavated the soil, photographed findings, cataloged artifacts, and preserved artifacts for storage.
Records from the 1984 Bliss Wood Knoll Archaeological Dig include photographs of the volunteers at work and artifacts found, as well as Artifact Catalog Cards and Photographic Logs.
Among the items found were:
Barbed wire
Metal shell casing
Metal cylinder
Bead
Glass pieces
Bone
A description of the historic site can be found in both of the following resources as excerpted below:
"Sugar Grove, Illinois 1834 - 1984" by Ruth Frantz and Frank Damon
"Sin-Qua-Sip: A History of Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Illinois" by Patsy Mighell Paxton
"Spring of 1834 - Black Swamp, Ohio, six men happened to make camp together: Asa McDole from Chemung County, New York; brothers James and Isaac Isbell; nephew Parmeno Isbell; James Carmen; and Mr. Bishop, all from Medina, Ohio. Friendships were formed around the campfire when they discovered they all had the same destination.
May 10, 1834 they left Oswego on the Fox River - then just two cabins. With two carts, two yoke of cattle, four cows, a couple of axes and each man his 'flint lock’, they followed Blackberry Creek north. An abandoned Native American Indian sugar camp by the Mounds and creek enticed them to stay in what is now the Bliss Woods area of Sugar Grove.
Taking shelter in a brush wigwam, they set about building the first log cabin. Soon after, in the area south of Merrill Road, they built a larger and better log house, preparing for the arrival in July 1834 of James and Isaac’s mother, sister Miranda, brother Lyman, his wife and two children.
These first white women to see Sugar Grove also brought the first team of horses here. Claim Laws of that day allowed a main to claim what he could plow around with a team in a day. That summer they broke the first ground readying if for a crop of wheat in 1835.”
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Logs from one of these first log cabins were believed to have been used later to build a barn. According to notes on a sketch of the barn, the original log cabin was located on the north side of Blackberry Creek in what became the T. & A. Judd Farm (Section 9, Sugar Grove Township), and which is now in the area of Bliss Woods Forest Preserve.
The barn in the sketch was located on Galena Blvd., 1/2 mile east of Illinois Route 47 on the north side in the area that is now Windsor Pointe East Subdivision. The barn was located on the Dexter C. Judd estate (Section 15, Sugar Grove Township), which is spanned both the north and south sides of Galena Blvd.
See Item #728 “Sketch: Old Barn on Galena Boulevard that contained wood from one of the first log cabins in Sugar Grove”
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A description of the historic site and the logs used in another structure can be found in the following resource as excerpted below:
“Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois. 1878” page 412:
“As Lyman Isbell, an older brother of Isaac and James, was expected, with their mother, sister and his own family, consisting of his wife and two children, a [second] log house was built, on a more ample plan, to receive them. It stood not far from the residence of P.Y. Bliss, and some of the logs from its walls are still in existence.”
Click on the first image to open a PDF containing a compilation of photos, artifact catalog cards, and photograph logs.
Part 1: Full document with Photographs and Logs
Part 2: Volunteers at Dig Site
Part 3: Volunteers at Dig Site
Part 4: Volunteers at Dig Site
Part 5: Dig Site
Part 6: Artifacts
Part 7: Artifact Catalog Cards
Part 8: Artifact Log Sheets