While Americans were busy making a living, many have awakened to the fact that a majority of the old barns on family farms across the country have disappeared and that many of the remainder are rapidly following. 'Grandfather's old barn' seems to have always been there. We are now shocked and dismayed to find it hopelessly tumbled down. Whatever it may represent to us, with its passing we lose a part of our agrarian heritage that cannot be replaced. It may be too late for many of these veteran structures, but there are those who are feverishly repairing and restoring a few that are left. Witness this old barn, the Winegardner barn, an excellent example of the few older ones destined to survive:
This story started when Johannes Harbard Winegardner (1713-1779), sailed on the ship "Two Brothers" from the Electorate of Palatine, Triers, Hapsburg, Germany and landed at Philadelphia in September 15, 1752. He first lived in Lancaster County, the Pennsylvania colony, and then ultimately settled near Leesburg in the colony of Virginia.
The patriarchal Johannes gave his Leesburg, Virginia, plantation solely to Herbert (equiv., Harbard, born 1752) his namesake, in his will. The older brother, Henry Winegardner (born 1750), inherited no land to tie him down, and so 'adventured' to the wild frontier. He pioneered near Gratiot, Ohio, resulting in that area's wide proliferation of the Winegardner name today. Many early Winegardner cousins are buried in the Poplar Fork Cemetery near the site of the "Olde School" Baptist Church. Herbert Winegardner and his wife Elizabeth Barb also soon followed to take up farming in Richland Township of Fairfield County, near what would become Rushville, in 1805-6. They were doubtless enticed by brother Henry's letters from the frontier. Southeastern Ohio was new territory just opened up in 1798 by the construction of Zane's Trace , the very first trail in the Northwest Territories outside of the original thirteen colonies. It was interior Ohio's pioneer days but already all of the area's homesteading (ie., free) land with rich soil was grabbed up. In order to allow for the selection of the better soils they chose to purchase lands set aside by federal law, some still unsold and unsettled. The sale of these lands was to fund construction of those famous one-room schoolhouses that dotted the early frontier. There were two such schools on the "school lands" purchased by Herbert, the Kerlin School and the Oakthorpe School. The farm site was also selected so as to be near a reliable source of fresh water. The springhouse marks the spot.
The brother, Henry, probably did not go into farming. Indeed, he may have had no interest at all in agriculture, or else he might have inherited his father's plantation instead of his younger brother. Family records mention that in 1817 a son of Henry traveled to his uncle's farm, referring to Herbert's, to pick out seedlings for his father's orchard. This means that by that early time Herbert Winegardner's farm orchard was already cleared, planted and yielding. The stone foundation of the Rushing Spring springhouse dates from these earliest times.
Herbert was a distiller and became quite a wealthy landowner. In those times a distiller's living was considered a lawful, if tawdry, occupation. Only after being banned by the Prohibition did the livelihood become known as 'moonshining.' Unearthed foundation stones downstream of the spring, just to the north of the springhouse itself, outline the location of the old stillhouse. Old Herbert died December 17, 1830, and was buried in his Winegardner Cemetery (on the east side of Marsh's Chapel Road, now known as Thornville Road, about two miles north of Zane's Trace, US 22; State Route 664 did not yet exist). His will, signed in German, made sons, Anthony and Jacob, executors of his 1,500 acre estate resulting in the 'A&JW ' designations on land maps of the day and impressed into old cement work near the barn.
The estate was maintained undivided, and thrived under the management of its executor, Jacob (1809-1891), Anthony having predeceased Jacob. "Jake," personally, would have inherited 'merely' the 160-acre "Home Farm" portion where the old Winegardner barn stands today. As executor, however, he remained in authority over the entire estate, and acted in the place of Herbert, Sr. Although this unusual arrangement probably left some disgruntled there is a strong suggestion that it was a part of a larger agreement between Jake and his siblings. This provided continuity for, and slowed the generational scattering of the family estate as well as allowing for its continued growth. The estate eventually included not only numerous farms complete with their farm buildings, but also two water mills, several residential properties (at least one is still standing), and a saloon; paradoxically, Jake had also funded construction of 'the Winegardner Chapel,' in Rushville as well! This, the main barn's cavernous interior (dimensions 50' w 90' l 40' h) suggests abundance and the three-story brick I-house home indicated conspicuous wealth. The original brick home was a classic complete with solid black walnut paneling and six fireplaces. Jacob married late in life to the widow Mary Rader of Amanda. Although the marriage was a happy one, it was allegedly her son, his stepson, that broke in and stole the old gentleman's gold horde stored in a hearth cupboard. The stolen gold coins carried a face value of $20,000! The robbery resulted in a posse chase, two hangings, and a fugitive escapee (young master Rader), creating significant excitement for the regional papers.
An important local tradition that probably started during Jake's era was the "Winegardner Reunion." The family name, in-laws, and influence had scattered far and wide. The 'home place' was the natural location, and provided the manpower, preparation and facility to celebrate it annually. Multitudes of cousins, in-laws, friends and neighbors came from the Thornville area to the Amanda region and beyond. It was the social event for the entire community and where many people and couples met and fell in love.
The initials "S W" on the old barn's cornerstone, referring to its builder, are plainly visible but the apparent date of 1732 seems a mystery. Perhaps it is an early 'typo' hinting of 1832 as the construction date? Native Indians were still present near Rushville on Winegardner lands! Most likely the initials belong to a Samuel Winegardner (1799-1868). Sam was a younger brother of the senior Herbert, and thus, Jake's uncle. He was an influential businessman of the local community, the first ever postmaster of Gratiot, then mayor of Newark, Ohio State Senator 1846-48, and eventual president of the old Franklin Bank. Might he have been the one made responsible for overseeing and contracting the erection of the large Pennsylvania-Dutch styled barn? The mortice-and-tenon barn frame is constructed largely of virgin oak. The barn's wooden pinned hand-hewn open framing beams average 10" x 10", and when green weighed about 100 pounds per foot of length. A 50' long oak beam, such as those used as floor sills in this barn, would have weighed two to three tons! Planned overbuilding was a hallmark of early barn builders!
Of the various types of American barns, Pennsylvania-Dutch barns were typically the largest. They featured two stories, two mammoth hay bays, two granaries, two harness or tack areas, a ground-level bank entrance to the second story, and a forebay or overhang to the rear. The lower level was reserved for the draft animals and other livestock. Ohio barn builders mainly used open frame construction, allowing for quick assembly, although the oldest examples were built of logs. In Pennsylvania many builders used stone or brick in the upper walls as well as in the foundation. Hand-hewn timbers were present in all. They were also known as German or Switzer barns reflecting their ancient Teutonic origins.
In a huge barn raising party the first section of massive frame was assembled flat on the ground, then pushed up by hand, using poles. The following sections were pulled up by ropes and pulley systems tethered to the first. This open timber frame's "Yankee" construction technique became generally widespread after 1830. One can only imagine the brawn required of those early barn builders! The earlier "Old World" frame construction method was that of one timber hoisted atop another one at a time, and was slower. The barn's huge sandstone masonry foundation is typical of that used before the 1840's. Probably quarried nearby just off of Avalon Road, in nearby Perry County, many of its stones weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds! Impressively, they are still level. Indeed, the continuing levelness yet today of the entire barn, top to bottom, is amazing. Later masonry work utilized finer detailed, smaller, more easily handled stones. The comparative crudeness of the springhouse and stillhouse foundation stones compellingly suggests that they were laid even earlier than the barn itself. The family cemetery's stone walls, however, resemble those of the barn's. The earliest tombstone date it contains is 1820.
A barn was the early farmer's most critical structure, providing shelter for the all-important draft animals, other livestock and harvested crops. Thus in early America it was normally built before other farm buildings, even the house, and certainly before the cemetery, but then this family was not typical. The old Winegardner barn's actual construction date is uncertain. It may have been as early as 1807, but its architecture suggests circa 1825-1835.
Neither Jake nor Anthony left any children. After Jake's passing in 1891, the Winegardner "Home Farm" went to his 'beloved nephew,' young Herbert (1827-1903), his brother Absalom's son. Absalom, born in 1799 in Virginia, had died in 1833 of cholera. Absalom's grandson, Amos Jefferson Winegardner (born 1869), in turn lived in the home of his great-grandfather, Herbert, Sr. after the passing of his own father, the younger Herbert. Locals say that more than one neighbor borrowed money of 'old Jeff.' He had it to loan out. He did not keep it in a regular bank, but rather, according to lore, in his special hiding places. The "Home Farm" was eventually passed on to Raymond, Amos' son. Dale, Raymond's brother, also grew up on the home place, but obtained the adjacent farm by repurchase and other family holdings by inheritance. The last Winegardner to live on family land, Dale, is still widely remembered. Both brothers, and other family members, have left vintage graffiti which has been discovered in various places in the old barn.
In 1951 Raymond, wanting to move to the city, sold the Winegardner Home Farm to Benjamin R. and Lew W. Finke, brothers; my father, Ben, and Lew, my uncle. It is here that the pioneer's old barn stands today.

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