Wayne’s Legion member Cait Clark-Pence is shown with Levi Olson at an October 2022 dig at Fort Jefferson.

Submitted photo

GREENVILLE – On Thursday, Nov. 7 from 6 to 7 p.m., Greenville Public Library will be welcoming Greg Shipley, group coordinator of the Wayne’s Legion Research Group, for his presentation, Recent Amateur Investigations & Discoveries at Wayne’s Legion military sites in Western Ohio.

This PowerPoint program will provide information about the data research and field investigation activities that have been conducted by the Wayne’s Legion Research Group – a non-professional group of historians and amateur archaeologists, who began their organized activities in 2013.

Since the WLRG was organized, extensive field surveys have been performed at several Wayne’s Legion era military sites in western Ohio and, especially, at the Fort Loramie, Greene Ville, Fort Jefferson sites – where extensive excavation projects have been ongoing, annually, for the past decade.

Shipley will present information and visual images of WLRG member’s research, excavation activities and the thousands of recovered 1790s US military artifacts that have been discovered.

The program will be approximately one hour with a question-and-answer period at the end.

At age six, Shipley’s fascination with archaeology began with his finding an arrowhead on his family farm, in 1961. That chance discovery sparked a life-long interest in forgotten peoples and the cultural materials they’d left behind. During the past six decades, that interest has only continued to grow.

A lifelong resident of Champaign County, Ohio, save for his college years at The Ohio State University, Shipley and his wife, Linda, recently relocated to a home outside of West Liberty, in Logan County.

In 2009, after retiring from his professional career, as an Engineering Coordinator for the Honda of America automotive division, Shipley began conducting more lengthy and detailed site investigations, that includes the use of modern-day geophysical technologies and standard excavation methods.

Shipley’s amateur archaeological activities include personally conducted excavation projects on dozens of prehistoric and historical period sites in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri. Cultural periods investigated include: Archaic, Woodland, Fort Ancient, Mississippian + 18th century Native American sites and 1790s~War of 1812 US military sites in Western Ohio.

In 2013, Shipley worked to form the Wayne’s Legion Research Group, whose members are focused on researching, locating, and excavating 1790s period St Clair & Wayne’s Legion + later 1700s native sites in western Ohio. The Fort Loramie site was constructed and garrisoned by Wayne’s Legion troops, from 1795 to 1798, and has become a primary focal point of Shipley’s annual investigative activities.

During the past 40 years, along with writing many articles for archaeological and hobbyist publications, Shipley has utilized his past 50 years of field excavation data and associated photography archives to create 18 different prehistoric and frontier era themed PowerPoint archaeological programs, which he presents to historical societies and archaeological groups throughout Ohio and adjoining Midwestern states.

For more information on this program, contact the library at (937) 548-3915.