Father Time- Paleo-Indians update, and an unexpected find.

Let's begin with an update. I looked for the quartz outcrop (located northeast of the intersection of West Chester Pike and Delchester Road) the Paleo-Indians may have cut spearpoints from, but I didn't find anything. I am going to keep looking, and I will let you know if anything turns up.

My search for the soapstone quarry in Embreeville Center, which the Paleo-Indians apparently mined for bowl making material, was also unsuccessful. However, while I was there I did come across something interesting. The resting place of "Indian Hannah", described as the "Last of the Lenni Lenape in Chester County" is located on the grounds of Embreeville Center.

Hannah was born in 1730, and died in 1802. No doubt the Chester County she knew was a far cry from the one we know today. Indeed, during her lifetime, it was still common for bears to steal piglets from the pens of local farmers. I'm sure one of the problems facing residents today- the swelling deer population- would be one she wouldn't have minded having.

I am not learned enough to know if Hannah's Lenni Lenape tribe is directly related to the Paleo-Indians who first came to this area around 16,000 years ago. But it's interesting to think that despite the passage of so many years, the Chester County Hannah knew in her youth was largely as unspoiled a wilderness as the one encountered by her ice age predecessors. Of course, things would change quite a bit during her lifetime, and even more so in the comparatively few years that have passed since her death.

I am disappointed that I didn't find the Paleo-Indian sites I was looking for, but I am glad to have discovered Hannah. In life you have to play the hand you are dealt, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. I'm sure that's something the Paleo-Indians and the Lenni Lenape understood very well. Somethings never change.