Archaeological interest has existed in Jersey County for a long period of time. As early as 1875, and up to about 1890, Mr. William McAdams was actively interested in collecting and excavating in Jersey, Calhoun, and Madison counties. His work was quite extensive, but unfortunately no detailed report of his Jersey County activities was made. The vast amount of material that he gathered has been widely scattered, except for a few thousand pieces which are in the Museum of the Monticello Seminary at Godfrey, Illinois. Mr. Charles A. Ruebel of Grafton has been collecting for sixty years. About one-half of his material is from Jersey County and the remainder from Calhoun County across the Illinois River. About fifty per cent of his collection was lost in a fire in 1912, and since that time the remainder has been stored and is not available for study at this time.