The Pearl Gordon Vestal material will begin at this point

Introduction:

Dr. B.  C.  Kappmeyer, of Hamilton Illinois, purchased the George Brant, Cottage on the east bluff of the Mississippi River, north of Hamilton, 1949.  It is north of the entrance to Lake View clubhouse and faces west, upon Route 96, to a view of the river.  The house was built by Earl Wood, attorney, when he married George Brant's daughter, Golda.

(From the hamilton Press, February 16th, 1950)

The man doing the excavating work in the basement of the house recently purchased by Dr. B. C. Kappmeyer were startled when they unearthed what appeared to be a human skull.  It was so discolored and ready to crumble that it took close and careful examination to verify its human origin.  When fully released from the hard soil, this skull broke in several places, disclosing solid teeth, perfectly preserved, and the tiny marks on the inside of this skull, showing the pattern of the blood vessels gone for possibly more than a hundred years.

As the earth was picked away from the ribs of the skeleton the bones partially disintegrated, and were lost in the rubble.  At last reports from the diggers, none of the usual "Indian darts" or the other items usually found in Indian graves had been found, indicating that either a young pioneer had met with the Indians in a bad mood, or an early settler had passed away in his early 30's and been laid to rest in a shallow grave, the body covered with overlapping flat rocks to keep the wild beasts away.