Purpose of Meeting
Hatfield will give a brief overview of the spiritualist medium Jonathan Koons and explain the fascination that he and his fellow 19-century spiritualists had with Native American culture. Incorporating data from surveyor W. E. Peters and Koons’s own accounts, the talk will show the prevalence of Indian mounds and enclosures in Dover Township where Koons lived in the 1850s. It will detail Koons’s efforts to investigate the Native American artifacts as part of his religious practice, though his actions would be questionable by current standards of preservation. Hatfield will also highlight some of the myths and legends associated with the Mt. Nebo area that linger into the present.
Bio:
Sharon Hatfield is the author of Enchanted Ground: The Spirit Room of Jonathan Koons and a longtime resident of the Athens area. She is a member of Friends of The Plains Mounds and the Southeast Ohio History Center.