This photo was taken in 1933.
(By Stephen Kelley from the People’s Defender 1984)
Continuing from last week, Nathaniel Kirkpatrick purchased the James Finley farm in March, 1854. Kirkpatrick was 37 years old and the father of three at that time. Shortly after moving into the brick home the Finley’s had constructed in the mid 1830’s, Nathaniel’s wife, Margaret Patton, died. He remarried in 1856 to America Kerr.
As was James Finley, Nathaniel Kirkpatrick was a member of the Cherry Fork Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. As we have written in the past, members of that congregation were radically anti-slavery and many were directly involved in aiding runaway slaves who were seeking their way north to Canada and freedom. Kirkpatrick was directly involved in this anti-slavery movement and began using his home as a “station on the Underground Railroad. It is believed he used part of the attic in the old brick home in which to temporarily seclude the frightened blacks fleeing bondage in the South.
Nathaniel also acted as “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. Under cover of darkness, he would guide his fugitive guests from his home to the next station north at the residence of Joseph W. Rothrock in the Mt. Leigh community. Kirkpatrick also conducted slaves from the General William McIntire home (presently the home of Ronald Osman on Ohio 137) to the Rothrock station.
It was later told by his children that no runaway slave had ever sought Nathaniel’s help in vain, and that no fugitive taken under his protection was ever caught and returned to slavery. As we relate this, it must be remembered that abolitionist activity such as existed on the Underground Railroad was illegal and against both state and federal law. Participants in this clandestine activity were under almost constant surveillance by southern sympathizers who acted as informants and by bounty hunters and professional slave catchers. Many of these characters were desperate, destructive men who often used violence to capture runaways and return them for the rewards placed on their heads. Therefore, individuals such as Nathaniel Kirkpatrick not only risked their reputations and fortunes in their underground activities, but of times placed their lives on the line.
It was late afternoon on July 15, 1863 when Nathaniel and America heard what sounded like approaching thunder to the west of their property. It was just minutes later that they witnessed one of the most exciting and spectacular events to ever occur in Adams County. A column of two thousand gray clad rebel soldiers came galloping into view as they traveled eastwardly through southern Ohio. They were led by the gallant Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, a native of Lexington, Kentucky. Beside him rode his brother-in-law and second in command, Colonel Basil Duke.
Popularly known as Morgan’s Raiders, the troops scoured the surrounding countryside looking for food and fresh horses to replace their own worn-out steeds. As they thundered past the Kirkpatrick farm on the Harshaville Pike (presently Grace’s Run Road), a small contingent of the rebels rode up the hill to the brick house and began “confiscating” needed supplies. Among other things the Kirkpatrick’s lost three horses, seventy-five bushels of corn and a harness to the raiders. Fortunately, General Morgan was a true southern gentleman and kept his soldiers under control. For the most part, civilians were not unnecessarily molested and non-miliary facilities (such as homes, barns, etc.) were left basically untouched.
In 1878 the Kirkpatrick’s experienced financial difficulties and their farm was sold as ordered by the probate court. Although the property was transferred in January 1879, the Kirkpatrick’s remained in the old brick home until 1882 when they removed to North Liberty (Cherry Fork) where Nathaniel died four years later. The new owner of the farm was Daniel Houston Harsha, son of the founder of Harshaville. Houston was a prosperous farmer and lived at Hillcrest, the stately brick home erected by his parents that overlooked the Harshaville community. Following Houston’s death, the Kirpatrick farm was acquired by this nephew, Paul Howard Harsha who was the grandfather of William H. Harsha, twenty-year veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives. Paul M. Harsha kept the Kirkpatrick farm for only four years before selling it in 1919 to James W. Cole, a native of the Mt. Sterling, Kentucky area. James, with his wife Amanda , made the old brick home their residence for the next three decades. The property remained in the Cole family for fifty-five years, being sold in 1974. The home, which had not been occupied for twenty years, was razed the following year.
Pictured this week is the old, covered bridge that spanned Grace’s run a short distance below the old Kirpatrick homestead. It was a seventy-seven foot long Burr Truss with open sides. According to the Southern Ohio Covered bridge Assocation which provided the photo, it was a common practice to cut openings in the siding of covered bridges that were built on a sharp curve. This was to permit approaching travelers to see if anyone was already in the bridge so that a possible collision could be avoided. Records are missing, but it is probable that this structure was built ca. 1890 when a number of turnpikes were being built and improved in Adams County. The old bridge burned ca. 1940 when a county truck loaded with hot mix caved through the wooden structure and burst into flames.
