![[1906 - The Coppock Barn, Monroe Township, Miami County, Ohio]](images/index/CoppockBarnMasthead2.jpg)
For the most part, the entries presented here are verbatim as originally recorded. However, most misspellings or word omissions have been corrected, while grammar and punctuation have not been. In a few cases, the language has been softened. The author sometimes became very frustrated with events, and that frustration was sometimes strongly reflected in an entry. On some occasions, entries stray a bit from the barn work at hand, but they none-the-less reflect what was on the author's mind at the time, and as such have been included here.
A number of identical footnotes appear throughout the log from month-to-month, so that each month's entries can be better understood on their own. For example, when a person is named in multiple month's log entries, that person is introduced by footnote at their first invocation in each month's log.
It should be noted that the author's primary concern was preserving the Pennsylvania Barn built by the Coppocks in 1857. As such, a great majority of the log entries concern work done there, as opposed to portions of the barn complex built many decades later, such as the milking parlor or grain storage bins.
When photographs were taken on the same day that a log entry was made, those photos can be viewed via the links in the calendar. In many cases, links to the photos can also be found within the log entry for that day.
Admittedly, reading this entire log would be a tedious task for almost all. It is, however, the only contemporaneous record of what occurred at the barn (along with photographs) during the period from its sale out of the Coppock family until it was demolished, and thus is rightly included on this website.
Days Logged in October: 24
Hours/Minutes Worked in October: Ken 43/25; Jim 40/15; Other(s) 6/30
Amount Expended in October: $1,866.50
| October 2003 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
Picked Dalton's 1 brain a little more at work. He volunteers to help me pick up beams at Lowes 2 to support sagging wall; suggests I get chain saw. Bought BS 3 a thank you flower pot and arrangement for $200.00+. Talked to Jim 4; he says he will look at beam problem and will help with putting doors up soon - if I'm tight on funds, he'll defer his payments for a while if necessary. Talked to Paul, brought him chocolate shake as bribe 5; he said that he and John Plank 6 would come out tomorrow night to look at beam problem. Did not go to barn tonight. Got e-mail from Sarah Werling 7 that I met at Barn Again! expressing happiness at me getting the barn. Told Scott 8 at work I bought the barn.
Thursday, the 2nd
Spent two hours at barn; 25 minutes weed-whacking, with little success, and the rest talking with Jim, looking at barn. He feels the NW wall needs to be fixed ASAP 9. He is just as worried about the roof, maybe even feels it's more important. Other major problem appears to be the foundation bowing in because of pressure from the ramp (one of the beams is down), and the west wall above it is in a precarious position because of erosion in the sill area above the top of the ramp. He agreed to help me lift the west doors into place soon, and to try to think of a cheap way to temporarily repair the roof. He felt tar paper repairs wouldn't be that helpful, as water would roll down the roof and under the fix, unless the material ran all the way to the peak of the roof.
Friday, the 3rd
Sent a request for a free estimate for repairs via website to the NY 10 folks that were at the Barn Again! seminar in Preble County. Called Paul to find out what was happening; Jay told me he said that John 11 wasn't around or something. I'm moving on, will try to find Paul again later and get any helpful info I can without pushing him to come out. Talked to Jim - he had an idea to use tar paper in rolls for roofing and using Lally Columns for supports.
Saturday, the 4th
Jim and I took about six and a half hours to get the Lally Columns and other materials at Lowes, cut some wood to length, gather tools and go out to the barn and install six columns. We apparently did a lot of good, as the wall is up at least six inches and looks much better. Expenses are accounted for in my "EXPENSES.xls" spreadsheet 12. We then got pizza, and I was pretty wasted the rest of the day. We are planning to put three more columns in this week and fix the doors on the west side of the barn. Hope to have Tom K 13 out before too long with his chain saw so to cut small trees so I can clear brush in my spare time.
Sunday, the 5th
Went to Lowes this morning and purchased three more Lally Columns. Talked to Jim this evening and decided we would work tomorrow and Wednesday night, as he had a scheduling conflict if he worked Tues/Thurs as he first suggested. I told him I would pick up another 2x6x8, and then we could work.
Monday, the 6th
Dalton told me the name of his roofer. I called, and they are supposed to come out and give me a free estimate. Got an automated response form the NY Barn repair people about getting back with me for a time for a free estimate. Stopped by Wolohan 14 and got a 2x6x8. Worked with Jim to cut lumber and then jack up wall some more at barn for about two and a half hours. We work again Wednesday. Have a ton of chigger bites. BS called late (as I was deleting 28,000 e-mails) 15 and thanked me for the giant potted plant/flowers I sent as thank you about 30 September. He said he would be sending the man lift out before too long. 16 Got a quick e-mail from Steve Gordon 17 at Ohio Historical Office showing pleasure at me buying the barn.
Wednesday, the 8th
Jim and I spent 3 hours working on jacking up the NE wall. It's now to a point where it's pretty solid. We move on to putting the west doors up on Saturday. My legs are badly bit or infected with Poison Ivy or something.
Saturday, the 11th
I spent about seven hours and fifteen minutes at the barn clearing brush, helping Jim put up the west door on the north side of the barn, and running to Lowes to get materials we needed to lock the door in place. Jim worked a little over six hours. Tom K. came out and spent three and half hours clearing brush and small trees with his chain saw and pruners and Jim's machete. My ankles aren't itching as much. It must have been Poison Ivy causing problems. The wound in my leg continues to tear and seep. 18 Fell into a gopher hole and was lucky not to break my leg or screw up my knee.
Sunday, the 12th
Jim and I spent four hours putting up the west door to the south, and straightening and securing all doors, so they couldn't be slid open. Found out I could use the stairs. Asked Leshers 19 about recommending a roofer. They said they would let me know - they had a guy I could call.
Monday, the 13th
Stopped by Paul's twice to talk to him about a roofer. He wasn't there either time. Called a couple roofers from the yellow pages - neither answered.
Tuesday, the 14th
Tom K. gave me a couple names of roofing contractors they deal with in Building 1. 20 Called his first recommendation, Enterprise Roofing in Dayton, and they are now scheduled to come out tomorrow at 4 PM to give me an estimate on repairs. Also got a letter from the Woodford Brothers in NY saying they would be contacting me about an estimate soon, and some other materials explaining about their business, with references. Called Jim and told him about the roofer coming out. Thinking about buying a big ladder Thursday, and working on east door that is stuck open.
Wednesday, the 15th
Called Pro-Safe Exterminators; they are to be out Friday 17 October 03 between 12 and 2PM for an inspection. Enterprise Roofing showed up and basically was leery of doing the roof. He thought it was in horrible condition. Quoted $20 - $40,000 for a good job, not just emergency repairs. Jim and I spent considerable time trying to come up with a way to cover the roof cheaply - came up with ladder design. One door caved in, and we partially fixed it. Pretty discouraged with Enterprise's comments. Leg seems to be getting better - probably had Poison Ivy which is causing all my itching, rather than chiggers or fleas. Roofing guy stayed about 30 minutes.
Thursday, the 16th
Spent time thinking about roof cover design - talked to Jim; we discussed some refinements.
Friday, the 17th
Took time off work and waited for exterminator. Yellow Jacket nest to be killed; no termite problems. But, Powderpost Beetles definitely active. Have to get the paint off the beams in the lower lever, and them coat them this Spring to kill the beetles. Mailed Tom K. and asked if we could see if his power sprayer would strip the paint. This isn't good news. Exterminator guy stayed about 30 minutes - asked him a ton of questions. Went back to Lowes and got some additional lumber to fix one of the doors that caved a bit. Also got tarp and PVC pipe to make prototype of the "Gumbert Magic Roof Carpet" 21. Spent considerable time in the evening talking with Jim about various tarps and combinations of sizes, line spacing and PVC weight. Decided to go up to Tractor Supply 22 Saturday morning to check their tarps. Jim is busy with a canal 23 deal.
Saturday, the 18th
Went to Tractor Supply in Troy and bought 3 16x24 tarps to build a large experimental roof cover. Talked to Jim in the evening at length about how to build it and what other materials would be needed.
Sunday, the 19th
Went to Lowes and bought 40 PVC pipes, couplers, glue and nylon tie straps for the first large prototype. Talked to Jim - we decided to start building this week after he finds the rope we need, probably at the surplus store in Dayton. E-mailed Patsy to ask about vent color and water source. 24
Tuesday, the 21st
Tom came out with the pressure sprayer and tried taking the paint off the lower beams. It worked great; the paint came off and the bark stayed. And the wood looked great. What a great deal. Now I have to shovel it all out before he comes back. Jeff Woodford of Woodford Bros. came out to give me an estimate on repairs. He told me about a man in Greenville that I should have do the roof. He said he'd call and give me his name and number. Also told me about some oyster shell stuff I could spray on to stop the Powder Post Beetles. He'll get back with me on that name too. He felt the barn wasn't in too bad of shape. Looks like they would do the barn for $30,000 to $40,000, short of the roof. $7-$8,000 for a couple post supports and replacing the purlin; $15,000-$20,000 for other repairs; $13,000 for replacing the wall with cement under the ramp. 25 Jim and I talked more after Jeff left about the roof cover. Up at barn a total of two and a half hours. Tom left after about 2 hours. Also asked Tom at work about trailers. He said Swall 26 had one for sale. Talked to Swall - he has one, and wants $600. Tom said offer him $500.
Friday, the 24th
Jim has been busy with other projects. He was to call me when he was ready to work. I opted to catch him on an HF net 27 and ask about his schedule. We agreed to work tomorrow morning for a few hours. We talked briefly on HF about it and more on the phone later.
Saturday, the 25th
Jim and I worked three hours on assembling the PVC pipe, and figuring out where to drill holes, line spacing, etc. We put a tarp out in the yard and worked on it, held down with screw drivers. We agreed to work tomorrow for several hours to try to get the tarps as ready as possible. Jim will buy more rope down in Dayton. I worked a half hour gluing PVC together later in the day.
Sunday, the 26th
Went to Lowes and bought a wheel barrow - needs to be assembled. Jim came over and we worked for four hours on the tarp. Got one section (16x24) pretty much together - looked good. He is pretty much free to work this week if the weather permits it. I'm starting to think the toughest part of this will be getting the thing up on the roof in the right position.
Tuesday, the 28th
Raining today, so we couldn't do anything. We decided to probably work tomorrow on the second tarp. Talked to Jim by phone in the evening, and also planned about Lowes purchases Friday - ladder, circular saw, Jim's pieces for a roof platform, more PVC, etc.
Wednesday, the 29th
Jim and I spent two hours working on the tarp. Got more PVC drilled, and started to assemble the second third of the 16x72 tarp. We worked until dark. We agreed to go to Lowes Friday morning to buy materials.
Thursday, the 30th
Went to Ace Hardware 28 after work and bought the remaining PVC we need to finish the first tarp. Glued them; they didn't seem to be coupling or bonding very well.
Friday, the 31st
Jim came out about 9:20AM and we went to Lowes. Looked at circular saws, but didn't buy one. Bought lumber for Jim's ladder scaffold for the roof; more PVC, as the stuff from Ace didn't bond right and was complete junk; a forty foot ladder, and other hardware and misc. items. Got some pictures of the SUV loaded up. Delivered lumber to Jim's garage, ladder to the barn, and worked on the tarp more, drilling, running lines, etc. Jim and I also went to Tractor Supply to get stuff for a dipole at the switching station in Bradford 29. We stopped to eat lunch, and opted to finish around 2PM. Jim said work at Bradford should take 45 minutes. I had a feeling it would take much longer, and that's why I wanted to stop at 2PM. Left for Bradford at 2:30PM; got home at 7:30PM and the antenna still wasn't right. He's going up to work on it again tomorrow afternoon; we are supposed to do some tarp work in the morning, then I metal detect with Mr. Staub 30 at noon.
1. David Dalton, a co-worker of mine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Return to October 1st entry
2. This is the Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse, located on the west side of Troy, Ohio on State Route 41. On very rare occasions we would visit the Lowes in Huber Heights, Ohio. Return to October 1st entry
3. BS (Barn Seller) refers to the person who purchased the Homestead, including the barn, from the estate of Audrey Coppock in 2001. He sold me the barn in 2003, but issues discussed elsewhere on this website eventually took the barn out of my control and to its demise. Return to October 1st entry
4. James C. Gumbert, a close friend of mine since we met in elementary school around 1965. Jim did much of the most dangerous and physically demanding work on the barn - this entire barn preservation project would not have been possible without him. He also took hundreds of photographs initially to help us document the barn as were first found it. Return to October 1st entry
5. Paul Lee, a friend of mine, as well as of John and Jim Gumbert. Paul has been an auto mechanic all of his life, and at this writing, operates Lee's Garage on West Main in Tipp City. Paul was always willing to lend a tool or his expertise to me on this project. In this instance, I brought him a chocolate shake drink from Dairy Queen since I was coming to ask him for a favor. Return to October 1st entry
6. Paul Lee's brother-in-law, John Plank. John never did make it out to see the barn. Return to October 1st entry
7. Sarah Werling, whom I met at the 2003 Barn Again! seminar held in Preble County, Ohio. Return to October 1st entry
8. Scott MacDonald was a co-worker of mine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Return to October 1st entry
9. The northwest corner of the barn's limestone foundation had begun to separate and fall away from underneath the barn, due to soil erosion under that portion of the foundation. Without the support offered by the limestone, the timber sitting atop that part of the foundation was being dangerously stressed. This stress would eventually have caused a failure resulting in massive damage to that area of the barn's timber frame. Return to October 2nd entry
10. Woodford Brothers, Inc. Return to October 3rd entry
11. John Plank, Paul Lee's brother-in-law. Return to October 3rd entry
12. I used this spreadsheet to keep track of barn related expenses throughout the course of the barn restoration project. Amounts expended and accounted for at the top of each month's log entries came from that spreadsheet. The actual amount expended over the life of the project likely well exceeds the total of the amounts for each month found here. This was due to the difficulty in keeping track of all expenses, especially those only indirectly related to the project. For example, I made no effort to record the cost of the gasoline used in my vehicle when making the many trips to various businesses to purchase items required for barn repairs. My vehicle was often used for travel unrelated to the barn project, sometimes in the same trip as those where barn materials were purchased. Keeping track of mileage for each trip, or only that portion of a trip that was barn related, and then calculating fuel costs from that mileage was simply deemed too much trouble for the information garnered. Return to October 4th entry
13. Tom Kielbaso was a co-worker of mine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Return to October 4th entry
14. Wolohan Lumber Co. located on Old Springfield Road just north of Vandalia, Ohio. Return to October 6th entry
15. One of the World Wide Web domains I owned at the time was used illegally as the return address for one or more spam e-mailings. Addresses sent to by the spammer that were invalid or that simply rejected the spam caused a notice of failed delivery to be generated for each. These notifications were all sent to me, because I was owner of the domain that the spammer used illegally. I received more than 28,000 of these notifications, which took me quite a long time to delete from my inbox. I was mad enough about it to mention it in the barn log. Return to October 6th entry
16. The man lift never arrived. I'm still waiting. Return to October 6th entry
17. I met Gordon in 2003 at the Barn Again! seminar put on by a group of people in Ohio concerned about preserving its barns. While at the seminar I told him about the Coppock barn and how it appeared it would be torn down. I was happy to send him an e-mail reporting the good news about my purchase of the barn. Return to October 6th entry
18. The wound in my leg was an area of Poison Ivy (or some irritant) that was particularly inflamed with blistering. While walking around the barn, I had the misfortune to have a twig on a bush jam itself directly into this area, causing a lot of pain and the tearing and seeping mentioned in my log entry. This turned out to be the worst injury I received while working at the barn for more than two years. For that I feel fortunate, as some of the work was hazardous. Return to October 11th entry
19. Emilie and Joe (April 18, 1941 - June 3, 2019) Lesher purchased the Coppock Homestead house and immediate surrounding grounds (not including the barn and most out-buildings) from BS on May 29, 2002. Emilie and Joe kindly permitted Jim Gumbert and I access to the barn via their driveway. Without permission to use their drive, the barn work would have been impossible. For that, I'll always appreciate their kindness. Return to October 12th entry
20. Building 1 refers to the building at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio where Tom worked at the time. Much of the work conducted in that building dealt with contracting with local businesses to keep the facilities on the base in good working order. Tom thought that some of these businesses would be able to perform work I would need done on the barn. Return to October 14th entry
21. My rather silly name for Jim's first design for a tarp to cover large areas of the roof. The barn roof was very old and leaking like a sieve, allowing water into the barn which had caused a lot of damage. It became clear rather quickly that it would not be prudent to re-roof the barn until I knew for sure that it would remain under my ownership and control. Re-roofing the barn would cost a huge amount of money, more than I wanted to gamble on essentially a handshake agreement with BS. In the interim, Jim and I decided to use tarps to cover the roof. We recognized immediately that wind was going to present a major problem in keeping the tarps on the roof. This first design used PVC pipes spread over the tarp at regular intervals, a few feet apart, connected with rope. This design failed soon after we put the tarp in place. The wind got under that tarp lifting it, even with PVC pipes on top of tarp being held down with ropes anchored at the eaves and elsewhere. A much more robust method of holding the tarps down would be necessary. Return to October 17th entry
22. Tractor Supply Company on Stanfield Road in Troy, Ohio. Return to October 17th entry
23. Jim Gumbert has an extensive interest in, and knowledge of, history. In this case, he was attending a meeting somewhere nearby for those interested in preserving the local remains of the Miami and Erie Canal. The Canal ran from Toledo to Cincinnati and was in service from roughly 1845 until 1913. Return to October 17th entry
24. Patsy Coppock, my cousin who grew up on the farm and the daughter of Audrey Coppock, the last Coppock to live on the farm prior to its sale in 2001. My reference to vent color concerned her memory of the colors that the barn vents had been painted over the years she lived there. Some of the vents had a blue paint on them that appeared to have been applied quite a long time ago. I was curious if she ever remembered seeing them painted blue - she did not, as I recall. I do not now remember what my question was to her about a "water source". Return to October 19th entry
25. These estimates illustrate the magnitude of the cost to bring the barn back from its run-down state. I was not willing to commit to any of these multi-thousand-dollar repairs until I knew I had achieved complete ownership and control of the barn, the land immediately surrounding it, as well as proper access to it. Until that time, my plan was for Jim and I to do as much work as we could ourselves on the areas of the barn most critically in need of repair. Ultimately, I never gained control of the barn and it was demolished, as explained elsewhere on this website. Return to October 21st entry
26. John Swall, a co-worker of mine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. I made him an offer on the trailer but he sold it to someone else, never mentioning that fact until I asked him about the trailer sometime later. Oh well. Return to October 21st entry
27. Jim Gumbert and I are Amateur (ham) Radio operators. An "HF net" is a meeting of ham operators on a specific radio frequency at a specific time. It is held to allow for discussion among groups of hams, or to provide a mechanism by which ham radio related services can be accomplished, such as passing messages from one place to another. Jim's callsign is NC8Y; mine, AE8I. Return to October 24th entry
28. Ace Hardware on West Main Street in Tipp City, Ohio. Return to October 30th entry
29. One of Jim Gumbert's primary hobby interests was and is railroading. Bradford, Ohio, at one time, had significant railroad activity. It is now one of the relatively few sites left in Ohio where an old switching tower remains in its original location, long after the track that passed through the area was taken out of service. Jim and several other people in the area banded together to preserve what remained of the railroad in Bradford, including its iconic switching tower. Jim is also a ham radio operator, and he wanted to erect an antenna near the tower so that he could contact other hams from there using a ham radio. Jim's project was part of a larger plan by the group, promoting their efforts in Bradford to preserve its place in Ohio railroading history. Return to October 31st entry
30. At the time of my log entry, Mr. Staub owned the land directly across the road to the east from the barn. This property, at that time, had been in the hands of the Smith family and their heirs for probably more than 100 years. The last person to live on the land, Sid Smith, died around 1971, and the buildings on the land were demolished soon after his death. I wanted to search around the house's remaining limestone foundation with my metal detector to see what I could find, and Mr. Staub did in fact grant me access as alluded to in the log entry. Nothing of note was found, but I took a number of photos of the very old limestone foundation, including in the spring house area where water was still bubbling up from underground. As of this writing in 2020, it appears the land has recently been sold. Likely it will soon be cleared, and Tipp City will have more of what it loves most, yet another ugly business building surrounded by copious amounts of asphalt. And that little stream that has been bubbling up out of the ground for hundreds, if not thousands of years, will be covered up forever. Return to October 31st entry