David, what an exciting treasure you have! It is so hard for some of us to imagine life
and land as our ancestors have seen, and I love reading stories about it...especially true
'diaries'...thank you so much for sharing it! The name that the Indians gave the
St. Mary's was totally unfamiliar to me. I think it would be great fun to look for
Indian relics in that area.
Tell me, is the farm still in the family today?
Karin King
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "David G Smith" <beekeeper(a)baybroadband.net>
To: "Adams Co. Roots Web" <INADAMS(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 8:23:51 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [INADAMS] Some History of Adams County
My grandmother was a Kunkel and quite a few years ago my dad gave me a letter that he had
in his family papers. I thought some of you might enjoy reading the history:
The following letter, written by Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Kunkel in about 1948, conveys their
family values and attachment to the area of Monmouth, Adams County, Indiana:
"Our farm has been in the family for 103 years, and has been the center of an
interesting, happy, full life for each of the succeeding fine generations who have, and
are at present living on it. On the south west side it is bounded by the St. Marys river,
which was named Kekionga by the Indians. On the other side State Highway 27 runs for three
quarters of a mile. In one corner of the farm is a 21-acre tract of classified forest made
up largely of maple trees from which syrup is made, also trees of many other vanities. As
it is left in its natural state continuously, it abounds in wild life; flowers, berries,
mushrooms and nuts. As trees reach their prime, they are cut for fuel or lumber, in this
way making room for new growth. At one time when the river was the main means of travel
and transportation, the settlement which later became the village of Monmouth, the oldest
in the county, was situated on part of our farm. When roads became more popular as the
means of getting f!
rom one place to another, the village gradually moved over a short distance to the Piqua
road which was built entirely of white oak planks laid on girders of white oak and
extended from Piqua, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Indiana. It has been proved that around 1790
there was a large camp site of the Miami Indians under Little Turtle just a few miles
north of our farm along the St. Marys river. They were at this site for several months
preparing to go up the river and attack Gen. St. Clair and his army at Fort Recovery,
Ohio. In a surprise attack, they killed around 1800 men of his army. In our fields along
the river have been found many arrow heads and Indian relics which makes us believe that
there was an Indian battle there. We like to imagine how the country looked at that time
and then realize what changes have taken place in 160 years. Each generation living on the
farm has had love of nature, the love of growing things and complete love of the land. We
have practiced conserv!
ation of the land and conserved its natural resources as much as possi
ble. At present we have diversified farming, raising corn, oats, wheat, soybeans and
tomatoes to sell for canning. We also have guernsey cows from which we sell milk. Each
year we raise a flock of broad breasted bronze turkeys and this month we are starting 2600
baby turkeys which we sell at Thanksgiving time. Our youngest son has decided that he
likes farming better than anything else and is staying at home preparing to make it his
life's work. We believe that if it became necessary, any of the other children who
have married and gone away, would come back and take over rather than have the farm leave
the family. We feel that the farm is the most pleasant place to live and that farm life is
conducive to good health and long life. After living so long in one place, we feel sure
that no other place could really be home."
Capt. David G. Smith, USN (Ret.)
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