Did an amateur
archaeologist find proof
of a Jewish presence in
ancient America?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
STO
n 1860, David Wyrick—by all stone was everywhere. Rabbis and schol-
accounts a modest man of un- ars rushed to study it. A number of them
questionable integrity — re- declared irrefutably authentic both the
turned from an archaeological Keystone and Wyrick's second find, the
dig with an astonishing dis-. Decalogue Stone. The New York Times
and Harper's Weekly ran prominent sto-
covery.
Just outside Newark, Ohio, ries.
Even more astonishing was what the
he had found a smooth, dark
rock. It was triangular, the shape of a key- discovery represented. Clearly, advocates
stone, and engraved on all sides with He- said, it could mean only one thing ancient
brew. It read: The Holy of Holies, King of Hebrews, likely one of the mythical Lost
the Earth, The Word of the Lord, God's Tribes, had managed to make their way
to America.
Torah.
More than 135 years later, David
As if this wasn't enough, five months
later Wyrick stumbled upon another Ohio Wyrick's stones continue to fascinate ob-
relic, much more intricate and detailed servers throughout the world. A file at the
than the first. Bearing a primitive profile Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in
of Moses, it was engraved with what would Coshocton, Ohio, where the stones are on
later be translated as a curious form of He- exhibit, contains recent requests from as
brew. The words were an abbreviated form far off as Australia and England. Invari-
ably they ask: "Can I get a photo of the
of the Ten Commandments.
So what if there was a Civil War? So Holy Stones?"
Scholars, too, remain mystified. Some
what if Charles Darwin had just dared
suggest man was descended from the have become so absorbed they've learned
apes? So what if there was a brand-new Hebrew, or become impressively well-
state called Oregon? So what if John Stu- versed in Jewish history and culture, or
art Mill and George Eliot and Wilkie learned every detail about the lives of
Collins were putting pen to paper? Could David Wyrick and those involved in the
any of this compare with news of David finding of the relics.
J. Huston McCulloch may not be ready
Wyrick's remarkable find?
In a matter of days, news of the Key- to bet his life's savings that the stones were
I
Ohio, in the mid-1800s. He was married
and had a son, who was with him when
he found the Keystone. Though plagued
by terrible rheumatism — so much so
that his hands and feet were deformed
— Wyrick loved archaeology and devot-
ed his spare time to digging for relics.
Col. Charles Whittlesey was a lead-
ing expert on archaeological finds. A West
Point graduate, an attorney, a surveyor
and newspaper editor, he would become
Wyrick's chief critic.
J.C. Nicol was a dentist who accom-
panied Wyrick on his dig for the Deca-
logue Stone, then perpetrated his own
clever hoax.
The Rev. Robert McIlvaine was
Episcopalian bishop of the state of Ohio.
An avid supporter and friend of Abraham
Lincoln, he was deeply opposed to slavery.
John Winspeare McCarty, rector of
Trinity Episcopal Church in Ohio, was a
friend of Israel Dille (see below), and for
many years a defender of David Wyrick.
Josiah Nott advocated polygenism,
the theory that human beings were not
descended from one man (Adam) but
from many — and of these, whites were
by far superior. Not surprisingly, Nott
David Wyrick was a surveyor, born in was not especially fond of Jews, either,
Pennsylvania, who settled in Newark, labeling them "Christ killers."
left by one of the Lost Tribes, but he's fair-
ly certain they are not forgeries. The Ohio
State University economics professor has
been studying the Keystone and the Deca-
logue Stone for years now, and he has no
difficulty countering virtually any and
every charge that questions the stones' in-
tegrity.
Bradley Lepper is also fascinated by the
stones, but not for the same reasons as
Professor McCulloch. Dr. Lepper, a cu-
rator of archaeology with the Ohio His-
torical Society who holds a doctorate in
anthropology from Ohio State Universi-
ty, is convinced that the Keystone and
Decalogue Stone are out-and-out fakes.
What's more, he believes he has at last
solved the mystery of exactly who made
the stones and why, then left them in an
Ohio mound for an unsuspecting David
Wyrick to find. It is a story of political in-
trigue, of racism and anti-Semitism, and
of profound religious conviction. Most of
all, it is a story of men with the purest of
intentions, though their methods may, in
retrospect, seem questionable.
The Cast of Characters: