MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR

Farm owner seeks to secure a piece of historic Ohio

Sheri Trusty

FREMONT – When Don Miller purchased his home and 480 acres on the banks of the Sandusky River north of Fremont in 1979, he became a part of the rich history of Sandusky County and the state.

The land, named Peninsular Farms in the 1920s, was named the site of the first permanent continuous white home in Ohio.

When he joined that history, he also became a preservationist of the farm, as well as a conservationist dedicated to protecting the land on which it sits.

Driving down the long, paved, and neatly landscaped drive to Miller’s home, visitors can view the grave site of James and Elizabeth (Foulks) Whitaker, the first residents of the property and the first settlers of the state. Both were captured by the Wyandot tribe in the 1770s, and they married in captivity about 1782.

“This is historically the oldest property in the state of Ohio and the first land settled in Ohio,” Miller said.

Miller said Whitaker traveled from England on his uncle’s ship when he was 12 years old and was captured by the Wyandot near present-day Pittsburgh.

“He was brought back to Ohio and was made to run the gantlet. He did it so bravely that a squaw made him her son,” Miller said. “Elizabeth Foulks was captured near Butler, Pennsylvania, and ended up in the same tribe.”

Tribe gave them land

When they married, the Wyandot tribe gave them 1,280 acres of land, and Miller owns 480 acres of that original tract. A legal deed of ownership was eventually granted to the Whitakers, and Miller owns a copy of the original deed, signed by James Monroe.

Whitaker set up a trading post on the site, and Miller discovered the original foundation of the post a few years ago while trenching for a gas line. He has left a portion of it exposed for visitors to see.

The history of the land didn’t stop with the Whitakers. In the late 1920s, John J. Mooney, of Detroit, purchased the land for his roughly 150 Standardbred harness racing horses. Mooney renovated an elaborate nineteenth century farmhouse on the property, built a training racetrack for the horses, and used the home as a summer retreat.

“When old man Mooney owned it, it was a showplace. I remember going by as a kid,” Miller said.

Mooney’s son had little interest in the farm after his father’s death in 1950. He sold the horses, and the farm was idle for years. When Miller purchased it in 1979, the house and buildings were in disrepair.

Farm went into ‘total neglect’

“The farm went into total neglect. It looked like something out of a ghost movie. There was a mud road coming down here with deep ruts, and doors on the house were hanging by one hinge,” Miller said.

Miller’s original intention for the land was as a building site for a new home, but after his daughter asked him to spend a summer in the house, he became, he said, “totally bit” by the idea of restoration.

“Instead of building new, I decided to remodel. Gradually, over the next 30 years, we restored the farm,” he said of himself and his wife, Carolyn. “It would have been cheaper to build a new one, but I’m glad I didn’t. This old house fits the farm.”

The first year of construction was spent keeping the home and buildings from further deterioration.

“The first year, we just went and gave first aid to the buildings, so they wouldn’t come falling down,” Miller said. “We kept whatever we could, to keep the character of the place. Like the old corn crib — it’s not good for anything, but it’s part of the farm.”

Not only did Miller work to restore the home site, but he also did everything he could to protect the land. In 2000, he designated 474 acres as a conservation easement. The land, which is rich in wildlife and is home to tall trees that were saplings when the Whitakers lived there, will be protected in perpetuity.

Today, visitors describe Miller’s farm the same way he described it when Mooney owned it — a showplace. To the gratitude of the people of Sandusky County, Miller often hosts events on the farm, and he occasionally allows tours led by the Sandusky County Park District. He feels the historical and ecological value is too important to keep to himself.

“I love to share the farm,” he said. “Not everything I do is productive from a financial standpoint, but I want to enjoy the farm, and I want others to enjoy it.”