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Resident recounts multi-generation history as Miller Farm is celebrated in Monroe County
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Summary
At a Monroe County preservation event in Jackson Township, a longtime resident recounted nearly two centuries of family ownership at the Miller Farm and thanked county staff and commissioners for helping secure the property's protected status.
At a preservation event in Jackson Township, a longtime resident described his family's multi-century ties to the Miller Farm and thanked county staff and commissioners for helping secure the property's protected status.
The presenter opened by identifying the site and a painting of the first preserved property, saying, "This is our preserved farmland site" and naming the place the Miller Farm in Jackson Township. The presenter also stated, verbatim, that the site "will be 820 ninth farm preserved in Montmore County," a phrasing that was unclear in the transcript and could not be verified from the record.
A resident who described living and working on the property for decades then traced his family's history on the land. He said the Metzger branch of the family arrived in 1730 as indentured servants, and that an ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War was later paid with land in Cherry Valley. "I have lived on this farm. . . and our family has been on this farm 196 years," the resident said, describing successive generations and moves that left the Hinkle family and later relations in charge of the property.
The resident provided specific historical details including a claim that a purchase of 178 acres occurred for $900 (as stated in the remarks), and recounted that the farm was bisected by local roads and included a barn composed of two separate pieces used by different family branches. He said the family repurchased their side of the barn in 1972 after shared use dating to the early 20th century.
Describing mid-20th-century life on the farm, the resident said he began selling milk in 1951, served in the army, and married in 1960. He recounted buying and moving a historic Shipper House onto the property in 1961 and noted the family's later purchase of an 11-acre parcel adjacent to the original farm around 1972.
The resident singled out local staff and officials for thanks, saying, "I want to take this opportunity to thank Christine Meinhardt, Julia Sherrer, the commissioners, and our children without whose help we would not have done any of this." He emphasized family labor, noting that his three sons helped with early-morning milking while he also drove a school bus.
The remarks in the transcript were personal testimony and celebration of the farm's preservation; the record does not show any formal vote or ordinance during these remarks. The resident closed by offering thanks and reflection on the family's long tenure on the land.
